Confused And Annoyed

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Amysmom

Amysmom

Teenage Guinea Pig
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I haven't used the forum for some time but feel the need to vent about just how difficult we are finding it to rescue a piggy. Some may have read my daughters post a while ago about Cookie losing his second mate Dougie. Cookie has been on his own indoors since and is often showing signs of being lonely. We really want a new friend for Cookie and are trying to avoid buying from a pet shop again but I feel that's what's going to have to happen.

My daughter has messaged RSPCA about Cookie needing a friend but they will not let two boars live together-this is rediculous, Cookie is a lovely placid boy who got on well with both of his mates and I have a friend who has three boys living together happily. I'm sure there are people here who have boys living happily together. Our vet suggested we go to Walsall RSPCA because they have many Piggys on pregnancy watch-when I told her what they said she was annoyed and said 'and they wonder why people go to breeders'! They suggested we get Cookie neutered but our vet is against putting three year old Cookie through the stress of that. My daughter explained about Cookies nature and suggested boar dating but they refuse-no wonder they have so many Piggys needing homes! Why can't they assess an individual situation? We would be giving a piggy a loving home but no that's not enough. I feel its cruel to put every boar that comes to them through neutering, it seems to me they can't be bothered with the boar dating process so they simply say boars can't live together-this is a myth! In effect they are saying that boars in pet shops are unwanted! I'm sure many people can't afford to buy one and neuter so are they saying it should live alone? I just don't get.....

Our vet is going to do some searching around but if she has no luck we going to have to put Cookies needs first and if that means going to a pet shop then so be it. RSPCA need to LISTEN to a situation and not be hell bound in sticking to their rules. What happened to the animals needs being the most important thing?
 
I struggled to find a lone boar through a rescue, in the end I saw a ad at work for someone who had had a litter, so I took a boy from them. Being so young Davros excepted him and the have been happy together so far.
 
I am sorry to hear of your difficulty. It is so strange they think two boars cannot live together. That is total nonsense. I agree with you not wanting to put cookie through neutering. Is it possible for you to travel to a guinea pig rescue who actually understands pihggies and will allow you to boar date? I worry that if you get a piggy from a pet shop they may not be compatible and you will end up with two lone boars.

Before I got piggies I was turned down by the RSPCA as I do not have a garden. They really do not seem to understand guinea pigs. Surely it would be better they are loved in a flat then stuck in rescue?
 
I sympathise with how you feel but please don't give up. I agree that you should not necessarily have to get Cookie neutered - it's not the solution to everything. Last year, I had 2 boars and decided to get them neutered. One has done well but unfortunately the other developed an abscess and , in the end, I decided to have him PTS. It was a horrible time for me - I will never forget poor Monty and what I put him through. The boar who recovered is now paired with 2 sows and I am delighted with how they are getting on.
Please remember the following.
If you are prepared to do what is best for your guinea pigs , you may need to look further field for a rescue and you may need to travel .
A lot of rescues are working hard purely on looking after their guinea pigs and don't necessarily get back to your enquiry straight away. When I was enquiring to pair my boar, I had to wait a while but I was adamant that I wasn't going to buy a companion for him from a pet shop.
I think it is a good idea to try boar dating first and suggest you see if any of the rescue centres on the rescue locator on this forum can help you.
 
I totally sympathise with this, no rescues in my area offer boar dating and refuse to house males together so my seperated boys have contact through a divider. I don't feel comfortable having them neutered due in part to no vets in my area being Cavy savy. If you have to buy a pig don't feel bad about it, rescuing is preferable but it doesn't make you a bad person if you buy! Especially as you've tried :)
 
Was it the Walsall branch of RSPCA that you originally spoke to? I may be wrong but I'm fairly certain the RSPCA are all individual branches and therefore they may have different advice from one another depending on the experience of the staff and volunteers in each one.

From the little I know of RSPCA Walsall I'm fairly certain they'd be happy to rehome boars with boars - I'm not sure if they offer boar dating themselves though. I think it may be worth speaking to them anyway. (If indeed it wasn't them you spoke to originally).
 
I agree, it is really difficult to find a rescue pig. I live in Lincoln and other than the RSPCA we don't have any rescues. The RSPCA were my first port of call but Muffin didn't bond with any of their boars. I contacted some places further away but they didn't have any lone boars; they were already paired up with other boars. Or they were neutered and the rescue only wanted to pair them with a female. I think as long as breeders aren't producing a large amount of pigs then you needn't feel guilty. I would avoid buying from a pet shop though.
 
I
kaycdee said:
I agree, it is really difficult to find a rescue pig. I live in Lincoln and other than the RSPCA we don't have any rescues. The RSPCA were my first port of call but Muffin didn't bond with any of their boars. I contacted some places further away but they didn't have any lone boars; they were already paired up with other boars. Or they were neutered and the rescue only wanted to pair them with a female. I think as long as breeders aren't producing a large amount of pigs then you needn't feel guilty. I would avoid buying from a pet shop though.
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I agree - don't feel guilty if you decide to buy companion for Cookie. You have to do what is best for you and him.
 
piggyfan said:
I am sorry to hear of your difficulty. It is so strange they think two boars cannot live together. That is total nonsense. I agree with you not wanting to put cookie through neutering. Is it possible for you to travel to a guinea pig rescue who actually understands pihggies and will allow you to boar date? I worry that if you get a piggy from a pet shop they may not be compatible and you will end up with two lone boars.

Before I got piggies I was turned down by the RSPCA as I do not have a garden. They really do not seem to understand guinea pigs. Surely it would be better they are loved in a flat then stuck in rescue?
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There are a couple of pet shops nearby that do offer to take the guinea pig back if things didnt work out.

I think RSPCA need to read up of guinea pigs!
 
Nicola_ said:
Was it the Walsall branch of RSPCA that you originally spoke to? I may be wrong but I'm fairly certain the RSPCA are all individual branches and therefore they may have different advice from one another depending on the experience of the staff and volunteers in each one.

From the little I know of RSPCA Walsall I'm fairly certain they'd be happy to rehome boars with boars - I'm not sure if they offer boar dating themselves though. I think it may be worth speaking to them anyway. (If indeed it wasn't them you spoke to originally).
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My daughter messaged Coventry RSPCA because they had some
lovely Piggys on their website and they are the ones that replied. I have looked on Walsall and they only have pigs that are neutered ready to be houses with females so it looks like they have the same policy. I did leave a message for the Walsall branch but nobody has got back to me and from what I've heard I don't hold out any hope that they will.
 
Agree not to feel guilty if you buy one. I bought my boys, i didnt know any better before i joined here x
 
newtoguineas said:
Agree not to feel guilty if you buy one. I bought my boys, i didnt know any better before i joined here x
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I have four girls in a C&C and three were bought from a pet shop, the other from a lady who no longer wanted some she had bred and she was in awful conditions so I like to think we 'rescued' her. Cookies other mates were from pet shops so this is why we would love to rescue one. We always said that we would never buy from a pet shop again until finding out just how difficult it is to actually rescue one.
 
Find one of the many that are "free to good home" I hate those adverts but at least you will be giving a piggy a home that knows pigs, my boys came from gumtree as "unwanted gifts" :hb: They are the best little guys ever
 
harveb said:
Find one of the many that are "free to good home" I hate those adverts but at least you will be giving a piggy a home that knows pigs, my boys came from gumtree as "unwanted gifts" :hb: They are the best little guys ever
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This is what I ended up doing with one of my piggies. After trying numerous rescues and none having any in. I felt it was still a form of rescue as they could have ended up in god knows what type of horrible home.
 
Have to agree. I know rescue's have to be extra careful BUT sometimes they go to far. Not just with pigs my friend recently lost her dog and they would not give her one because she worked full time, even though she could prove that the dog would be taken to her mother's while she was at work, but NO there is a no full time rule but ? if your not working how on earth can you be expected to pay for food, vets and all the other expenses that go along with ALL animals. I'm sure lots of these animals end up in rescue because their owners can no longer afford them.
 
I think Avalon guinea pig rescue (in Nottingham) will home a boar with a boar and do the boar dating. Can't be definite on this but I got my two boars from there which were two singles put together and remember they would rehome singles to piggies that had lost companions. This was a while ago though and my boys really love each other. Check their website, they might be able to help?
 
Walsall RSPCA are volunteer run and don't have a office as such and I know are very busy at the moment. Am tagging in @x-vic-x and @becky86 to see if they could help. Walsall don't offer boar dating but are very knowledgable
 
The RSPCA Walsall offers full boar-baby boar, neutered boar-sow, sow-sow dating. As they are entirely volunteer run, they do not have the capacity to offer full boar dating, which is very time intensive and requires an experienced bonder who is not having a normal job out of the house. I have rehomed from them myself and know that they are doing a great job in their free time.

The individual RSPCA branches are run independently and the capacities and knowledge differs enormously.

While the West Midlands are great for having several rescues with a neutered boar policy, they are less well equipped with rescues that offer full boar dating. Very few, if any, RSPCA branches have the capacity or knowledge to offer full boar/boar dating.

Have you contacted Honeybunnies near Leicester, the Potteries GP Rescue in Kidsgrove or TEAS sanctuary in Northampton? I know that TEAS has several single boars looking for a home in the next few weeks. @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary is offering boar dating at the sanctuary. You can find them all on our recommended guinea pig rescue locator on the top bar: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-rescue-locator/
We have included all British rescues that are running to a good standard, including all piggy savvy RSPCA branches. Avalon is not included in our list.
 
harveb said:
Find one of the many that are "free to good home" I hate those adverts but at least you will be giving a piggy a home that knows pigs, my boys came from gumtree as "unwanted gifts" :hb: They are the best little guys ever
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Please be aware that if you go down this route, you can easily end up with two piggies that do not get on, as well as an expensive vet bill. Rehoming freeads piggies means that all the responsibilities and risks are fully on your side.
 
Even though Cookie is a very easy going friendly biy who had no problems living with boys before we would only take a boar from somebody who was prepared to take it back if things did not work out.
 
Wiebke thank you for your suggestions. We will look into some of them although a few mentioned are simply too far away.
 
Amysmom said:
My daughter messaged Coventry RSPCA because they had some
lovely Piggys on their website and they are the ones that replied. I have looked on Walsall and they only have pigs that are neutered ready to be houses with females so it looks like they have the same policy. I did leave a message for the Walsall branch but nobody has got back to me and from what I've heard I don't hold out any hope that they will.
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I find this statement extremely offensive - can you please elaborate as to why you are under that impression? We are an entirely voluntary run branch, and in fact during last month alone we rehomed 20 guinea pigs, so we obviously do return calls!
 
becky86 said:
I find this statement extremely offensive - can you please elaborate as to why you are under that impression? We are an entirely voluntary run branch, and in fact during last month alone we rehomed 20 guinea pigs, so we obviously do return calls!
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I don't think you need to be so defensive-just saying it how it is.
Were those 20 pigs all neutered boys by any chance?
 
Ment to add I'm under that impression because a few years ago we wanted to adopt a pig off Walsall RSPCA website and although a phone call was returned initially we never heard anything more so guess what? We ended up buying one from a pet shop.
 
LydiaMinx said:
I totally sympathise with this, no rescues in my area offer boar dating and refuse to house males together so my seperated boys have contact through a divider. I don't feel comfortable having them neutered due in part to no vets in my area being Cavy savy. If you have to buy a pig don't feel bad about it, rescuing is preferable but it doesn't make you a bad person if you buy! Especially as you've tried :)
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I have ended doing this. I am not comfy with having them nutered but at the time Edgar seemed lonely without Poe. Poe beat him up bad when we were out one night. I have struggled with the thought of them being lonely so after they get on well at floortime I decided to build a 6x2 with a 2x1 hay loft either side and divided it down the middle with 2 grids. Now they eat side by side, have lots of interaction through this divide amd have plenty of floor time and they both seem happy and content. :)
 
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Amysmom said:
Ment to add I'm under that impression because a few years ago we wanted to adopt a pig off Walsall RSPCA website and although a phone call was returned initially we never heard anything more so guess what? We ended up buying one from a pet shop.
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Maybe you didn't pass their requirements as I phoned them about adopting silver, was called back a few days later, got a yes there and then but still had the home check done later the following week as it was a year since I adopted flash from my local RSPCA who didn't have any single neutered boars to go in the herd. Then a week after that I went to pick him up.

I found Walsall RSPCA to be very friendly and helpful and I don't particularly appreciate you giving such a bad impression of a lovely and well run rescue
 
Amysmom said:
Ment to add I'm under that impression because a few years ago we wanted to adopt a pig off Walsall RSPCA website and although a phone call was returned initially we never heard anything more so guess what? We ended up buying one from a pet shop.
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They're an entirely volunteer run branch, run by extremely dedicated people who have "normal" lives as well (full time jobs, kids, other commitments etc.). They're also a pretty busy branch in terms of small furries, having visited there before, I know that they have considerably higher numbers of small furries than other RSPCA branches. As such I'm sure that not returning your call was just an oversight as there must be one or two that slip through the net given how busy they are.

Volunteers wouldn't work as hard as they do unless their number 1 priority was getting animals back to 100% health and finding them new homes.

In terms of neutering, the RSPCA have a strict neutering policy as they strive to reduce unwanted litters whatever the animal. If you wanted a cat or dog treated by the RSPCA clinic vets for example, they won't see you unless the animal is neutered, unless you agree that they can neuter it at the same time. It has to be one rule for all.
 
All our piggies have been from Walsall RSPCA and I know first hand how hard Vicky and Becky work for the piggies in their care. Their dedication is second to none and they are primarily a small animal branch. As Amanda said all RSPCA branches neuter as a matter of course to prevent further breeding. Boar dating is something they struggle to offer as all piggies are in foster homes as they have no main base.
 
Amanda1801 said:
In terms of neutering, the RSPCA have a strict neutering policy as they strive to reduce unwanted litters whatever the animal. If you wanted a cat or dog treated by the RSPCA clinic vets for example, they won't see you unless the animal is neutered, unless you agree that they can neuter it at the same time. It has to be one rule for all.
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I find that a terrible shame, although I do understand the sentiment, particularly with some dogs castration does them no favours on the behaviour front and some owners grown up enough to have an entire male and not let him breed. If they fall on hard times does the RSPCA demand their animals suffer or put them through an unnecessary operation before they will treat them for example a simple ear infection?
 
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