Trilobite

Banjo’s surgery:

It went well. Gained 17 staples and two drains. Lost two lipomas. 10cm long and 2cm long. Large one was under the muscle…had some bruising.

At the consultation I asked them if it would be a problem that I lived in an apartment with lots of steps. Originally they said it would not be a problem – just that he should not run up them. As I left they told me not to have him on stairs – since his perception of depth was off…But when I picked him up I was surprised he even jumped into the car. He was still out of it and walking alone was tough.

So Banjo and I stayed at Ma and Pa’s place for three nights. Ma and I had to carry him from the car into the house. I set up his bed not far from the door and he barely moved for two days. By the third day he was more active, but he was quite a bit of discomfort especially at night. It was a bit gross with him having drains and leaking everywhere. His bedding was being changed several times a day.

Drains were removed on Saturday. Ok open the tap! Blaah. But the vet said he looked good.

24hrs surveillance. Had to keep him from licking and picking at his wound. Slept lightly next to him. Between Banjo and the baby squirrel I was not getting much sleep. Thank goodness for the grandparents…they watched them during day while I was at work.

Happy Earth Day! Well, thought about walking to work….but I was late and did not have the energy. Then I thought of riding my bike, but it probably had flat tires since it has not been used since last summer. I wanted to do something helpful…then an answer came to me later that day.

A few days ago “Fluffy” Tri-Art’s mascot (black squirrel that has been living in the building the past year) was caught in a live trap. Steve drove her approximately 30km away. I worried because I thought she might have a litter of pups. Sure enough Friday rolled around and a hungry pup appeared. One of the staff rushed it to the Kingston Humane Society. When I heard of it – I requested one of the guys go look for other ones. It would be unusual for a litter to consist of only one. Sure enough while Justin was searching a squawking pup crawled up to him. Not far from it was a dead one. This little guy was pretty feisty. He was considerably bigger than the first one found and his eyes were open. He was very hungry and he managed to gain strength in licking up some peanut butter. The first lick was funny to watch. He was not interested in solid food yet – as he spat up the peanut chucks. He was very eager to get the water through the pipette after that. Surprisingly, I learned that a few employees had friends or family that had fostered squirrels before. Unfortunately, they could not be reached or take on the responsibility at the time. With some consultation, I decided to take on the “little project”. Now on the third night (24 April) I am getting used to the routine of feeding soya formula 4-5 times a day and stimulating the pup to go to the bathroom after. Today he wanted some more peanut butter at dinner time. That is a good sign. From reading on the internet we believe he is about 5 weeks old and should be able to go on his own in a week or so. I am not sure if I can take care of him the whole time as Banjo is going in for surgery this coming Wednesday. He will need some TLC after that. I have yet to decide. Well the experience has been refreshing.

He claimed my sweater!
Thirsty.
Can I have some?
Thank God he can’t jump yet!
I never thought I would be feeding a squirrel like this…

I made some paprika chicken with some fancy paprika that Dad brought me from Hungary. It wasn’t as good as Grandma’s, though. I guess the problem is that I’m not using any lard. That must be the secret ingredient.

I posted about some old stuff. See the entries for February 12th and 26th.

It is that time of the year again. I made an appointment for Banjo. Michael and I took him for his annual check up, blood work, vaccinations and consultation on his large lipoma. Cha-ching$$$ ouch! I was very worried about the lipoma. Had another biopsy done on it. Yep…still just fat. *sigh* I mentioned that it caused Banjo discomfort and this time the vet advised a removal or reduction. I made the appointment for surgery this coming Wednesday (27 April). If his liver and kidneys are healthy, then they will proceed with the surgery. Depending on the position of the lipoma it will be reduced or completely removed. Nervous about the surgery and concerned about the husbandry required after. Hopefully Banjo’s temporary discomfort after the procedure won’t outweigh his current state.

Bluh. We are sick. I had a very sore throat and am taking penicillin for it. Then it turned into a sinus cold, and I got Celine sick too. Luckily, her throat is a bit better than mine was. At the hospital when the doctor put a mirror down my throat to look at my vocal cords, he told me I was very good not gagging and he asked if his student could practice on me! That was sort of fun, I guess.

Classes are over now and I am home for a little while. I brought my books with me and have two weeks to study for exams.

The other day I read in the news that my favourite author was shortlisted for a Hugo award so I went to the bookstore and had a look at the book. The description on the back made it sound very long-winded and boring, but I bought it anyway. I read the first 50 pages on the bus ride home, and it’s actually pretty good. I’ll have to make sure I either finish the whole book very quickly or that I only read a little bit a day, so it doesn’t interfere with my studying!