Larry-Jasper's thread

[chesca_27]

Thank you Serendipity ! Good advice. Thankfully, I only have to work another two more sessions there, before I can get the volunteering section of my Bronze DofE signed off, after which I will be leaving the practice as a volunteer and a client. Fortunately, the nurse only upset me just as I was leaving, so I quite literally ran out the vets, towards my Mum's car and burst into tears. The nurse was basically making me feel really guilty because my shift had technically ended and I was looking after a really badly behaved dog, while they were dealing with an emergency. I had already stayed an extra 5 minutes because I thought someone would come back to take over from me. Anyway, I explained that I was supposed to have finished 5 minutes ago and my Mum was outside waiting and it wasn't fair to keep her waiting as she was recovering from an operation. She said there was no one else to look after the dog and asked if I could stay a few extra minutes, to which I said no. She said "Fine! Go!" in a really horrible tone to me, which really upset me as she was trying to make me feel guilty for no reason. I then said I could wait another 2 or 3 minutes and the nurse said "Just go", but I waited with the dog until the receptionist's daughter came in to look after the dog.

Maybe this sounds pathetic, but I'm really not used to people speaking harshly to me, unnecessarily, as I will do what I'm told when I'm working.

Sure Hamsterita ! Here you go. Jasper's diet thread (this thread isn't as interesting as the other one)

This is the better thread, where you can read about me asking Cypher for a lot of help with my own food but also other people discussing nutrition.

Thanks

Anyway, I had an excellent day at the show. My mum and I also spent wayyyyyy too much, but it's pretty much the only time we splurge on the guinea pigs.

I got to meet PiggiePigPigs (guinea pig YouTuber who has her own shop) which was amazing. She's so lovely! We ended up chatting for ages and I saw one of her guinea pigs, Gizmo. We also ordered two custom fleece cage liners and three bottle pads (but my Mum wants to email and ask if we can get more). I got the luxury fleece and it is the softest thing ever! We got a fox print set and an owl set. I ended up buying a piggie dig as well, in a beautiful sail boat pattern with navy fleece (I have a weakness for navy, red and white beach themes ). I bought another Carrot Cottage as someone *cough* Pemba has wrecked the current one. I got some Burgess dried herbs and flowers for the pigs and a couple of bags of Wood Green's (an animal charity) forage, which always goes down well. I bought a pack of nuggets as they were so cheap and got given a sample for other ones. I also got a wooden chew toy for the piggies and I had a go at willow ball-making, which ended up as a willow wreath. These are pretty much the guinea pig's birthday presents. I just need to get a play pen, but I will order that next month. The only thing I got for Jasper was a log shelf, as it was his birthday recently and he got so much then.

The SHC had a stand and I saw a beautiful banded sable Syrian on the table, who was quite active considering it was the middle of the day.

There were quite a lot of small pet stores compared to last year, but I'm not complaining. I got to stroke a chinchilla and a chicken as well, which was pretty cool. Chinchillas are so soft! Chickens just look hilarious and adorable.

I didn't really go to any of the talks this year, as I feel my hamster knowledge is just about sufficient and I know a fair bit about the piggies as well. I did watch an interesting stunt dog performance with the most beautiful, well-trained German Shepherd.

That pretty much sums up my day. I could go into more detail, but I'll be typing for hours.

Unfortunately, I didn't get round to sorting Jasper's food out, but hopefully I might have some time this week. I am seeing my Dad on Thursday, so I will order it then if I can sort it out by Thursday.

I am quite excited as on Thursday, we are going to visit some Labrador puppies as my Dad is considering getting one. My Dad's girlfriend already has a black lab, Harvey, but we want another one. These puppies are Harvey's great-nephews and were actually born on Harvey's birthday, so getting one from this litter would be very special. I will share photos if I can take any. From what I hear, there are 5 yellow labs and 5 black labs. We are not definitely getting a dog, as we do need to organise who can care for the dog and when, as we all have different holidays planned at different times.

Just a heads up for this weekend as well, I won't be active on Sunday and Monday as I am completing my Duke Of Edinburgh practice expedition, so I am pretty excited about that as well, but it means leaving the pets and having no internet or phone access, unless it is an emergency. I am allowed to take a camera and my FitBit, so I can still track my steps, sleep and time, while taking photos and recording the expedition.

Let's talk about who this thread is really about; Jasper. His belly looks a bit wet/dirty tonight but I'm not sure. He won't hold still enough for me to see if it's from his grease gland or if he just had a long wash before he came out. I will check again tomorrow but fingers crossed, he's just being 'clean'. I do have a vet appointment for the guinea pigs on Friday so I'm sure I could take Jasper along if I really needed to.

So this was a long update/ramble. Bet you guys are regretting telling me to just ramble . I've probably been typing this for about 30-45 minutes . Congratulations to anyone who made it this far .

[Thin Lizzy]

I'm like you, I don't or appreciate being spoken harshly too. I would've done the same, staying with the dog. I really don't like this nurse at all. I wouldn't be happy leaving my pet with her. It surprises me that she's still got a job. What goes around comes around. I so believe that.
I hope you're noting this down Chesca, I did that in a job with the supervisor, it got so bad, that I kept a diary and kept a notebook at work to write down her actions. She made my life hell but I had the last laugh when I reported her and she got demoted.
I get the feeling she's envious that you do the job so well.

[cypher]

Ramble on chesca
Sorry to hear about the incident with the nurse, I can imagine how that must have made you feel but it's hard to tell why people snap sometimes, sounds as though everyone was busy so maybe the nurse was feeling stressed, still no excuse but try not to let it get to you.

The show sounds great, the guins are going to be so spoilt

Probably nothing to worry about with LJ, their scent glands can look a bit wet or dirty sometimes, always good to check but most often it's fine.

[BorisPasha]

Ramble on all you like Chesca. It's good to talk and get things out your system rather than bottling it up

I would love to go to the show you went to it sounds fantastic with lots to see. I'd probably spend too much money though as I wouldn't be able to resist! It sounds like you got some really nice things for Pemba and Oreo and I'm sure they'll be really happy

Good luck with your Duke of Edinburgh practise expedition, hope it goes well

[AprilPearl]

What a horrible woman. Don't feel guilty at all. You did nothing wrong and should be praised for giving up the time that you do to volunteer!

Good luck with your bronze d of e. I remember being practically the only one in my year to forgo it (rebel ) but the camping expedition was my kind of thing so I regretted missing that part.

The London pet show sounds awesome! I'm glad you had fun

[Hamsterita]

No, I don't regret it, it's nice to read about different things and experiences.

I realized that I've already asked you about the thread in the past, but I didn't remember it! It was very interesting to read about it again (I still haven't ended fluffagrams' thread, but I will).

The show sounds so fun! I wish there were that kind of shows around here!

[chesca_27]

Thanks everyone! Your support and kind words mean a lot .

I think what happened with Jasper is he peed somewhere in his cage that was absorbent (like a shelf) and it just ended up staining his belly.

[Pebbles82]

The nurse was in the wrong. She asked you a favour, you did a bit extra but couldn't stay any longer. What she should have said was "Thank you for staying a bit extra, don't worry I'll get someone else to take over now. Off you go and good luck".

Rockets to her!

[chesca_27]

Right so no major updates for the pets really. Oreo's ear infection has finally cleared up though, so I'm very pleased about that. I visited the Labradors on Friday and I think we are definitely getting one in a couple of months.

I have my DofE expedition in the morning and I'm so nervous. I really shouldn't be up now, as I need my sleep, but oh well. I won't be active on here tomorrow at all but I might be on Monday afternoon, depending on how exhausted I am. I kind of hate the people on my DofE group as well as we don't get on very well, except my best friend, who will hopefully save my sanity over the next couple of days .

[cypher]

Hope you enjoy your weekend chesca, hang onto your sanity!