Guinea Pig Attachment.

My fluffy monkey Cody.

This is a LONG one...

Okay guys, I know I haven't done a blog post for a few days now, but there has been a genuine reason. 

And this reason is pictured above,

and this is my Cody.

I write about and photograph all things fashion and beauty related right?! But I also have 'life' attached to the end of that little heading. And this right here is part of my life, it's real.

I wanted to take the time to write a post about something that effects my every day life in the most stressful ways, but also in the best ways. 

To most people, yes, he is "just a guinea pig", but to me he is regarded in the same manner as if he were a dog or a cat. He is still a living creature, he has feelings and he has the most awesome personality.

Cody hasn't been an easy ride, let me tell you! You would think just by going into a pet store to buy an animal it would be easy as pie, yeah? 

No. No it wasn't.

What was about to hit me like a tonne of bricks was something I had NEVER anticipated when homing this monkey. In a way this post is telling you my story (in short as it is majorly long) but also advising you readers out there that are animal lovers. 

I got Cody at around 8 weeks old. He was teeny, alert and most of all he was cute and already had a quirky personality. 

I fell in love instantly.

Unfortunately, after this picture was taken (the day I got him home) I noticed something wasn't quite right with him. He was sneezing constantly and scratching like a maniac. 

I love to research, especially when it is to do with animals as I have a major passion for them and their care, and I concluded by his symptoms that he had a URI (Upper Respiratory Infection) and Ringworm. Now, the URI needed to be dealt with straight away, as guinea pigs go down hill very rapidly and they hide their illnesses well until the last minute. And well, the ringworm was contagious as hell and it must have been hurting him.

Ha, no word of a lie my mum was cleaning everything like a dog on heat, she wouldn't leave anything untouched.

Bleach became our new best friend!!

The next day, he went back to the vets and this is where my hell began. He stayed in their care for months, it was horrible. I didn't really get to see him and I felt so helpless. I was even suggested that I "swap" him for another one or "given back". These remarks made me furious. He isn't a mobile phone that you can just send back because it's faulty. He is a living creature. Just imagine if I had given him back, I would have never of forgiven myself. 

I believed in Cody and I knew he would make it. He was strong.

He was however in a bad way. He was on antibiotics for months and even to this day he is still on them. My knowledge on guinea pigs, their care, medicines, diet, warning signs and illness is above average and most of the time I have diagnosed him before the vets have even figured out what is wrong. 

That is the shocking thing, I am untrained yet I spotted all the signs and symptoms! (That is is a WHOLE different story on its own.)

I won't go into major details as this post would be going on for weeks, ha.  But yeah, I eventually got him back like this.

He had grown LOADS and was sooooo long. I was a little shocked. Obviously, now he is quite the chunk but it was still strange and he was so tame too. 

I thought my ordeal was over. 

He was on continuous medication but when I brought him back on this day, I noticed a scabby patch on his right ear and some on his nose before that and it wasn't again picked up. So he had another trip back to the vets. I literally spend most of my time there these days. They suspected ringworm on his ear and took him back in. It was then confirmed a week or so later that it was a bacterial infection.

From the very beginning of me taking Cody to the vets I complained about his ear scratching and head flicking but nothing was really done about it. 

And now, we come to the present day. For over a year Cody has been on various different types of medication; Septrin, Baytril, Metronidazole, Loxicom and Emeprid. It's got to the point now where I indistinctly know when to give him medicine and what type. Oh, and another thing I learnt, just like humans, guinea pigs very much dislike having to take their foul tasting medicine. It is a daily struggle, but I have been doing it for so long now I am a pro. 

I now know all about GI Statis, bloat, rhinitis  when he becomes what the professionals call 'Anoretic' (stops eating and drinking), I have to deal with seizures, him almost dying from poor advice. You name it I have been through it with this guinea. I know A LOT. 

And now chronic middle ear infection. 

I would just like to point out that, I have tried SO hard to save his life because I had a gut instinct and knew he was too healthy to be put to sleep. And that if at any point he was severely suffering I would NOT of kept him alive for my own benefit.

 Cody had gotten over his persistent URI and stubborn Ringworm but was left with Rhinitis (which is rare in guinea pigs) that makes him allergic and sensitive to a lot of things. He cannot have wood shavings as his main bedding so now his cage is made of fleecing, he is allergic to grass (his favourite) and his hay irritates him. 

It's a lot of hard work. I never did think when I brought him that both me and him would be going through all of this stress. 

He is worth it though. :) 

Last week, I had to take Cody to Bristol (UK) for a CT scan. It is a long way from where I live but I needed to know what was going on with his ears. As I mentioned earlier from the beginning he had been constantly irritated by his ears and on Christmas day  13' he developed a 'head tilt' which becomes present when an animal has an ear problem. He lost his balance and began having mini seizures which was so upsetting to watch. Again, I researched and I concluded he had signs of a middle ear infection. He also had green matter being brought up his ear canal which showed he had some sort of infection that just wasn't budging. Cody isn't an ordinary guinea, he is a moody piggy and dislikes being touched and held and is very anti-social that way.

With what he has been through I am not surprised. 

I wouldn't have him any other way though, he isn't boring that's for sure. 

Codes loves to travel and often sleeps. 

So, yeah the results came back yesterday and it wasn't great news. I was told the bone structure in both ears had severely thickened and there was fluid stuck down there. The vet also said that he is almost definitely completely deaf but otherwise he is healthy and happy. And it was confirmed this was all down to the URI he had in the beginning and that it is common knowledge that middle ear infections result from a URI. The first signs were the patch of skin on his ear, that I noticed in the beginning. The bacterial infection. 

Speaks for itself really. 

I was told they wouldn't recommend surgery after all as his ears are so small and to drain the ears could do more harm than good. 

So it is now a case of trying the last few antibiotics to try and alleviate the symptoms but he will at some point become immune to them and the day will come where I will have to make the decision to put him to sleep. 

I was and still am devastated. I have battled so hard, and apart from his ears he is a healthy and happy guinea pig. He has hair that I am jealous of, he popcorns (a jump they do when they are happy) eats like a horse (he costs me so much money) and is so funny I could watch him for hours. 

I have spent months looking after him, a lot of money, so much stress and heartache but I wouldn't change him for the world.

When you fall in love, you fall in love. 

I don't know how much time I have left with him and I am hoping we can defy the odds like we always have and I can make him better. But whatever time we do have I will make sure it's the best time he has. 

He is my little buddy and I will not give up on him. 

I hope you liked this post and at some point I will be doing an advice post on guinea pigs from my own personal experience. 

If anyone would like to ask me anything regarding this post just drop me a comment. :) 

I will now leave you with a few pictures as the vids won't upload so I will put them up at a later date.

Enjoy.

♥

This is a state of total relaxation. 

Love this picture!

What guinea pig even does this?! Look at his little frog legs! Ha ha.

Cuddles ♥

He actually puts his head on the pillow to sleep. He even moves it
to where he wants it. Too cute. 

His favourite place to 'chill'.

All of my babies :)

♥

Primark Kimono & More Lush Bath Bombs.

Before I begin, I would like to apologise for my picture quality on this post.

They are a little grainy due to poor lighting as we occurred a horrible little storm when I took these photos. 

I seriously need a DSLR but that isn't happening straight away so I am trying my best with what I have. 

I will state, that I LOVE to take photo's and I love to edit them too, I just don't have the amazing equipment that most of the 'cool' bloggers have. :( 

I hope that's okay? :)

Lets get started!

I went into town with my parents again Friday as I needed to grab Cody's (my guinea pigs) fruit and veg and decided to have a look around the shops whilst I was there. And since I am currently jobless it is killing me walking around the shops because I am wanting everything that is in there. Girl problems. 

I originally went into town to see if I could upgrade my phone at Phones 4 U, but their prices and tariffs are stupidly high. So I thought I would just leave it until my contract ends. 

It's not worth the trouble in the long run!

So, after visiting there I went into Primark. I tried on a couple of t-shirts and some jumpers and I didn't like any of them or the fit in particular. I made my way down to the bag section (my favourite isle) and to the left of me something caught my eye. 

It was a black knitted kimono with tassels. 

I was like "YES". Finally I have found one I like. 

I tried on a size medium and a size large as I like my clothes at the moment to be kind of baggy and boyish. I ended up going for the medium as the large was a little overwhelming and engulfed me to say the least. Plus it seemed a lot heavier than the medium. 

I had no one to take the picture. You want a job done... Do it yourself. 

 Ha, I took that picture in my parent's room as the lighting was way better than in mine. The kimono is the right length and you can't go wrong with black as it goes pretty much with everything you own. 

Well, most of the clothes I own are black. I really need to change it up. 

I love the Boohoo Kimono that I featured in my 'Wish List' post earlier in the month as it had splashes of floral colour and well, was more interesting to look at than this one. 

BUT...

This Primark Kimono is a complete steal at £14 and the quality isn't that bad considering it's from there. I find sometimes with their products that they can be of poor quality and actually quite expensive for what it is. I am very picky when it comes to spending my money in Primarni. I have a good eye for detail and getting value for money so I tend to walk out of there with nothing at all. That said, they can sometimes have some great pieces and this item is one of them.

The hang.

This kimono is great to wear in the summer and ties in nicely with the festival season. But I think this would also wear nicely in the fall and winter, teamed with some jumper layering. 

I would like to add, that whilst coming out of Primark I got caught in a rain shower and got SOAKED. My Primark bag almost fell apart and I was running like Phoebe from Friends.

If you don't know what I am on about YouTube it and you will see what I mean. Too funny. 

Before I left the town, I HAD to pop into Lush again as I feel like I owed it to myself as I am that stupid and didn't realise we had one. I don't know where I have been for all of these years. 

Not in the real world. That's for sure!

And I picked up these bath bombs that were on my MUST HAVE list. 

'Think Pink' bath bomb. 

'Butterball' bath bomb

Each of these bath bombs were £2.50 which I think is pretty good and I cannot wait to use them!! The 'Think Pink' bomb apparently has heart shaped confetti inside so when it hits the water they explode into your bath. I am actually quite excited about using this one. And the 'Butterball' bomb is meant to be good for sensitive skin, which I have, so I hope it makes my skin feel nice after using it. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my little purchases. 

And if you liked it give me a follow. Or even subscribe.

Over and out. 

♥

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Lush Bath Bombs // My New Obsession.

Oh wow!! I have a brand new obsession with Lush!! 

I need to get out more, seriously, as I have never stepped foot into that shop until the other day. And even when I told the people that worked there that, they recoiled in shock. 

I said, and I quote " This is my new favourite shop. I have never been in here before" *store workers gasp*

"Yes, I know I am probably the only person that hasn't and that would make me a weirdo!" Ha. 

It was laughed off, it was fine. Deep inside though, I bet they did think that I was a little sad as EVERYONE has at least once in their lives shopped in there. 

I don't know why I haven't to be honest with you, I cannot give you a justified explanation to this absurdity. But all shall be forgiven as, I know I will be spending a lot more time in there from now on. 

I went to Bristol the other day, taking my little guinea pig Cody to the vets(it's a very long story and I will fill you in at some point), and baring in mind I live in Worcestershire, it was a long way to go. So whilst my little baby was getting a CT scan I had to wait around to be called back to collect the results and him of course. So I had a couple of hours to waste.

Papa Hutt (my dad) had to take me as, important fact number 1, I couldn't drive on my own with Cody as he is a freakin terror and tries to chew his way out of his box. And important fact number 2, I probably wouldn't even make it there as I am not great at driving to new places. Actually I was being too kind to myself, I suck ass. There I said it. 

Anyway, getting off track here. Ooopps. So I was on a mission to find the Lush shop. The night before I just decided I must have a bath bomb, just like that. I needed one in my life. I wanted to see what all the hype was about. A few minutes later, I FOUND IT!!

That shop smells AMAZING!!! If I could put the smell on this post I would, it was incredible. Granted, a little overwhelming and I had seriously bad hay fever, so it didn't do wonders for my nose. Nevertheless, that smell was super nice and I didn't know where to look first. 

What I did notice was that a few things in that shop were quite pricey and currently out of my price range. I found the bath bombs eventually and I was spoilt for choice. I had looked on-line the night before to make a mental note of the ones that I wanted to pick up. I get there, I had severe memory loss and couldn't decide which one to pick. Evidently, I actually brought the one I wanted without really realising it. 

And that was 'Phoenix Rising'. 

   

And it looks like this. 

 ♥

It's so pretty! I was drawn to this one because I am loving purple at the moment, and it reminded me of my wall in my bedroom at home. The bath bomb is laced with tiny flecks of gold glitter and has this indented line going through the centre. Well you can see this in the picture. Oh, and guys it smells awesome, it smells like cinnamon and that is one of my favourite smells. I kind of reminds me of Christmas, it's relaxing and in some ways has this powerful aura. 

The colour is so vibrant and pigmented it's easily caught by the eye, as are all the other bath bombs and bubble bars. I haven't used this bomb yet but I soon will be. When I do I will do a post on the results and what I thought. 

I may as well of said " I'll do a review". 

If any of you guys fancy purchasing this bath bomb or any other product that Lush sell then click HERE. 

Do you guys outside of the UK have Lush shops? If not, you are in luck as they ship internationally. Win, win. 

If you are a 'newbie' like me to this shop, take a look at their website or even go visit their shop as you won't be disappointed. I hope I don't change my mind when I have tested the bomb though! We will see. 

The customer service I received in the Bristol branch was really good and I even got complimented on my shoes! Score. 

I will leave you with a little video clip of where one of the girls showed me and pops how the bombs work. 

Enjoy. 

 ♥

Song: 'Get Outside!' by Jason Farnham (YouTube audio) 

Licensed under the Creative Commons Act.