smileyface:)
Teenage Guinea Pig
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2014
- Messages
- 656
- Reaction score
- 575
- Points
- 550
- Location
- Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Haven't been on here for ages! How time flies - Stopped checking in for a bit when my two boys Spud and Freckles passed away early last year (they are the two in my pic). At first it was because I just couldn't post they had passed.
An estimate of their ages they were probably close to 5, as I adopted them at over 2 at a guess! Freckles was always the weaker one, getting skin problems and had a huge amount of treatment and nursing, but in the end it was Spud the hardy one who just died suddenly overnight - one day lethargic, the next gone, the vet thought he was a bit solid inside, and thought he might not live - was a shock at the time as I thought he'd go on forever - straight after Freckles went really downhill, he refused his meds by mouth, (which he had always taken) and think he gave up once Spud went, he was so run down I had him put to sleep as his sight was bad and didn't want him going through the stress of adapting to another . Best buddies!
Before these boys passed, I had adopted Chewy, a long haired piggie from Pets at Home in the adoption section, who I knew needed someone who could care all his hair, and got him neutered and teamed up with a six month piggy from rescue who had been handed in following a surprise pregnancy.
So to bring the story up to date, Poppy passed away suddenly last week, only 3 and a half and no symptoms before hand, and now Chewy is alone in the hutch outside (albeit a super insulated double story hutch in a bike shed) and now I am at that junction of more pigs or not?
I say 'not' as living here in Northern Ireland we seem to get nothing but continuous rain (I'm Scottish and it never rained as much there, though was colder) so I know that I don't want to continue having pigs that live outside. They always seemed to be closed in, with me going back and forth with food etc but not much else in the way of interaction over the winter - the summers are totally different, lots of attention, out in runs etc.
I am on my third shed conversion, a bike shed with insulation, and I know the time that Spud and Freckles originally spent in the house for a year in a cage, was for me a much more rewarding and easier experience for me, but at the time we needed space in the kitchen for our young kids, so we got them a shed - but as years have passed, as much as I'd like to have time to spend with the pigs out at the shed in the winter, I just don't, I'm a self employed, mum with young children and their increasingly hectic school and social routine, and the guilt of not being able to see much of the pigs over the winter keep eating me up, to the extent I dread winter coming as I know if it's a long wet one like last year it will be a long time before they get out in the run.
So on Poppy passing my husband offered me a deal - has said Chewy can come in to the house to live in a cage upstairs, and he can get the bike shed back - but this time he will be living up in my daughters bedroom - so away from the dining area (as a cage in the kitchen was something he couldn't cope with - even though they didn't smell he couldn't handle seeing their poop in the cage - even just the odd one!).
Being inside he will get a ton of attention over the winter, and that brings me then to the decision of is he going to be the last pig?
I know pigs need companions, but I really don't want to rush into getting another, especially as we need to test if we can all get on well with a pig living in the house, the gerbils already keep my daughter awake and we had to move them onto the landing, and if Chewy does the same, or causes my daughters asthma to get worse, he might have to go out again - so early days. Not even thinking yet what I'd do if that was the case as I know he can't be alone outside.
Would be interesting to hear if anyone has faced a similar situation and how they dealt with it, but also, I am just pleased I am back in posting again with my pig mad peers!
p.s. sorry for long post, but it's been a while!
An estimate of their ages they were probably close to 5, as I adopted them at over 2 at a guess! Freckles was always the weaker one, getting skin problems and had a huge amount of treatment and nursing, but in the end it was Spud the hardy one who just died suddenly overnight - one day lethargic, the next gone, the vet thought he was a bit solid inside, and thought he might not live - was a shock at the time as I thought he'd go on forever - straight after Freckles went really downhill, he refused his meds by mouth, (which he had always taken) and think he gave up once Spud went, he was so run down I had him put to sleep as his sight was bad and didn't want him going through the stress of adapting to another . Best buddies!
Before these boys passed, I had adopted Chewy, a long haired piggie from Pets at Home in the adoption section, who I knew needed someone who could care all his hair, and got him neutered and teamed up with a six month piggy from rescue who had been handed in following a surprise pregnancy.
So to bring the story up to date, Poppy passed away suddenly last week, only 3 and a half and no symptoms before hand, and now Chewy is alone in the hutch outside (albeit a super insulated double story hutch in a bike shed) and now I am at that junction of more pigs or not?
I say 'not' as living here in Northern Ireland we seem to get nothing but continuous rain (I'm Scottish and it never rained as much there, though was colder) so I know that I don't want to continue having pigs that live outside. They always seemed to be closed in, with me going back and forth with food etc but not much else in the way of interaction over the winter - the summers are totally different, lots of attention, out in runs etc.
I am on my third shed conversion, a bike shed with insulation, and I know the time that Spud and Freckles originally spent in the house for a year in a cage, was for me a much more rewarding and easier experience for me, but at the time we needed space in the kitchen for our young kids, so we got them a shed - but as years have passed, as much as I'd like to have time to spend with the pigs out at the shed in the winter, I just don't, I'm a self employed, mum with young children and their increasingly hectic school and social routine, and the guilt of not being able to see much of the pigs over the winter keep eating me up, to the extent I dread winter coming as I know if it's a long wet one like last year it will be a long time before they get out in the run.
So on Poppy passing my husband offered me a deal - has said Chewy can come in to the house to live in a cage upstairs, and he can get the bike shed back - but this time he will be living up in my daughters bedroom - so away from the dining area (as a cage in the kitchen was something he couldn't cope with - even though they didn't smell he couldn't handle seeing their poop in the cage - even just the odd one!).
Being inside he will get a ton of attention over the winter, and that brings me then to the decision of is he going to be the last pig?
I know pigs need companions, but I really don't want to rush into getting another, especially as we need to test if we can all get on well with a pig living in the house, the gerbils already keep my daughter awake and we had to move them onto the landing, and if Chewy does the same, or causes my daughters asthma to get worse, he might have to go out again - so early days. Not even thinking yet what I'd do if that was the case as I know he can't be alone outside.
Would be interesting to hear if anyone has faced a similar situation and how they dealt with it, but also, I am just pleased I am back in posting again with my pig mad peers!
p.s. sorry for long post, but it's been a while!
just don't tell my husband.....
