I am posting this story on behalf of @Caviesgalore (EPGPR), who now runs East Peckham Guinea Pig Rescue in the Southeast London/Kent area to a very high standard, as she has kindly found the (all too sparse) free time to write it for me. It is sadly just one of many rescue stories, but it is one that I have been following over the past few weeks.
There are always guinea pigs that are too fragile, chronically ill or too old to be able to find a new home. These piggies remain as permanent residents at their rescue, where they are being looked after with love and care. Many rescues offer the opportunity to sponsor these guinea pigs, so they can have at least a human "godparent" who cares specially about them. If you would like to have more guinea pigs and can't, or have lost a beloved guinea pig and would like to make a gesture in their memory, please consider sponsoring a rescue resident in your own or a special piggy's name and help the rescue with the cost of their care!
Let's bring a bit of Easter cheer to some guinea pigs who have to remain live under the shadow of their sad past!
The Story of the ‘Dinner Plate’ Girls
Duchess
and Lavender
With Easter around the corner sadly lots of families (the two legged kind) are likely to be heading off to pet stores and garden centres in the search for small furry friends. A special few will make their way to rescues, and to those that do we say a huge thank you. Rescues are struggling to find forever homes for their charges and until some piggies move on to their new homes we are unable to help those other pigs who are desperately waiting to come in. At the moment we, like most rescues, are taking phone calls on an almost daily and it is incredibly hard to have to tell people you can’t always help. So please, if you are looking for a pair of piggies to join your family, or know of people who are, please please please send them in the direction of their nearest Piggy Bank rescue http://goo.gl/maps/mKDT
As the Dinner Plate girls story below shows breeding guinea pigs is not for the faint-hearted (and certainly something we would NEVER do here at EPGPR any pregnant ladies arrive that way), things do not always go smoothly either at birth, or further down the line so if you are considering having a litter of piggies, even just one, please don’t, it really isn’t worth risking your sows life or those of her little ones.
In January of this year (2015) we were asked by Crawley Guinea Pig Rescue if we could make space for two heavily pregnant sows that had been removed from a ‘sanctuary’ in the South East of England. The sanctuary didn’t believe in ‘caging’ animals so had an aviary housing a large number of guinea pigs, a rabbit, degus and birds and sadly boars had been mixed in with the sows and all were free ranging with no real shelters and bedded on coarse straw rather than hay. One of the sanctuary volunteers had asked for help as breeding had got out of control, they were unable to successfully sex the pups so things were going from bad to worse.
Crawley GPR and Palace Piggies Rescue removed all the sows on the first day (we returned later to remove the bunny, boars and a single degu), some of whom were imminently pregnant, others with tiny pups. On the 11th January the ‘Dinner Plate’ girls arrived here with us at EPGPR. Dinner Plate was to become Duchess and Side Plate, Lavender - so named because on arrival poor Duchess was the size of a dinner plate and her friend being a little smaller became Side Plate.
The state poor Duchess was in:
Within hours of being with us Duchess gave birth to 3 pups, Melba (now Poppy), Willow and Denby. Melba was the first to arrive, a large healthy sow shortly followed by her sister Willow and brother Denby. Duchess was unable to clean both Willow and Denby as the babies arrived almost together, so we stepped in to clean up Willow who was struggling to breathe. Thankfully after a few stressful moments, which seemed never ending, little Willow took her first breath. Duchess was a tiny scrap of a piggy, only a youngster herself and it quickly became apparent that she had mobility issues, with bumble foot affecting one front paw and stiffness in one of her rear legs. Despite her disabilities Duchess raised her babies brilliantly and the little family settled well and initially thrived.
Two weeks later Lavender aka ‘Side Plate’ gave birth to her own three pups, again two sows Minton and Roslyn (now Marge) and Albert, a little boar. Like Duchess before her, Lavender was a fantastic mum and her babies were soon getting into trouble with Melba, Willow and Denby.
Here is a video of Duchess' and Lavender's babies
At 20 days old Willow was suddenly taken ill and within a very short space of time she slipped away to Rainbow Bridge, comforted by her mum. We were all totally shocked and gutted, she was such a stunning little piggy who had her whole life ahead of her, but sadly due to her inbreeding, we suspect she had heart issues and her little body gave up on her.
In time the little families were old enough to move on to their forever homes. We were exceptionally lucky as one of our previous adopters offered Lavender and Melba a home within her mini herd. Little Roslyn joined one of our rescue supporters who had just lost one of her beloved sows so she is now living happily with Marmite. Minton and Albert found a forever home with a wonderful couple who also took a pair of baby girls from the same rescue situation who were born at CGPR – these babies are all dark eyed whites who affectionately became known as the ‘dirty white babies’. In addition to the youngsters, they also offered a home to a pair of elderly sows who had been returned to EPGPR so Biscuit and Fudge are honorary grannies to the dirty white gang. Little Albert is currently living alongside the ladies and when he is old enough he will be neutered to join the gang.
As for Duchess, I’m delighted to report that after a course of antibiotics and the application of some wonderful foot cream from Gorgeous Guineas, decent nutrition and clean bedding, her bumble foot is looking much better. Because of her health issues she has become a permanent rescue resident here at EPGPR and she lives indoors with her pal, skinny girl, Gloria (both of whom are part of our sponsor a piggy scheme - to sponsor either of the girls please pm us for details).
Duchess' bumblefoot
Thank you for taking the time to read this, sadly Duchess and Lavender are just two little sows who have had to go through the trauma of birth unnecessarily. Little Jilly who arrived at EPGPR a few weeks ago is another expectant mum who is due to give birth to her second litter any day now – she was left with her husboar/baby sons so is expecting a back to back litter, never good, but particularly worrying as she is only a baby herself.
If you would like to help your local rescue this Easter why not send a small donation or something from the rescue’s wish list (most have them) so that a rescue piggy or two can be spoilt this holiday. If you would like to make a donation to EPGPR we have a PayPal account [email protected] and an Amazon wish list http://www.amazon.co.uk/…/3E…/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_ws_7Lc3rb17FGWF
There are always guinea pigs that are too fragile, chronically ill or too old to be able to find a new home. These piggies remain as permanent residents at their rescue, where they are being looked after with love and care. Many rescues offer the opportunity to sponsor these guinea pigs, so they can have at least a human "godparent" who cares specially about them. If you would like to have more guinea pigs and can't, or have lost a beloved guinea pig and would like to make a gesture in their memory, please consider sponsoring a rescue resident in your own or a special piggy's name and help the rescue with the cost of their care!
Let's bring a bit of Easter cheer to some guinea pigs who have to remain live under the shadow of their sad past!
The Story of the ‘Dinner Plate’ Girls
Duchess
and Lavender
With Easter around the corner sadly lots of families (the two legged kind) are likely to be heading off to pet stores and garden centres in the search for small furry friends. A special few will make their way to rescues, and to those that do we say a huge thank you. Rescues are struggling to find forever homes for their charges and until some piggies move on to their new homes we are unable to help those other pigs who are desperately waiting to come in. At the moment we, like most rescues, are taking phone calls on an almost daily and it is incredibly hard to have to tell people you can’t always help. So please, if you are looking for a pair of piggies to join your family, or know of people who are, please please please send them in the direction of their nearest Piggy Bank rescue http://goo.gl/maps/mKDT
As the Dinner Plate girls story below shows breeding guinea pigs is not for the faint-hearted (and certainly something we would NEVER do here at EPGPR any pregnant ladies arrive that way), things do not always go smoothly either at birth, or further down the line so if you are considering having a litter of piggies, even just one, please don’t, it really isn’t worth risking your sows life or those of her little ones.
In January of this year (2015) we were asked by Crawley Guinea Pig Rescue if we could make space for two heavily pregnant sows that had been removed from a ‘sanctuary’ in the South East of England. The sanctuary didn’t believe in ‘caging’ animals so had an aviary housing a large number of guinea pigs, a rabbit, degus and birds and sadly boars had been mixed in with the sows and all were free ranging with no real shelters and bedded on coarse straw rather than hay. One of the sanctuary volunteers had asked for help as breeding had got out of control, they were unable to successfully sex the pups so things were going from bad to worse.
Crawley GPR and Palace Piggies Rescue removed all the sows on the first day (we returned later to remove the bunny, boars and a single degu), some of whom were imminently pregnant, others with tiny pups. On the 11th January the ‘Dinner Plate’ girls arrived here with us at EPGPR. Dinner Plate was to become Duchess and Side Plate, Lavender - so named because on arrival poor Duchess was the size of a dinner plate and her friend being a little smaller became Side Plate.
The state poor Duchess was in:
Within hours of being with us Duchess gave birth to 3 pups, Melba (now Poppy), Willow and Denby. Melba was the first to arrive, a large healthy sow shortly followed by her sister Willow and brother Denby. Duchess was unable to clean both Willow and Denby as the babies arrived almost together, so we stepped in to clean up Willow who was struggling to breathe. Thankfully after a few stressful moments, which seemed never ending, little Willow took her first breath. Duchess was a tiny scrap of a piggy, only a youngster herself and it quickly became apparent that she had mobility issues, with bumble foot affecting one front paw and stiffness in one of her rear legs. Despite her disabilities Duchess raised her babies brilliantly and the little family settled well and initially thrived.
Two weeks later Lavender aka ‘Side Plate’ gave birth to her own three pups, again two sows Minton and Roslyn (now Marge) and Albert, a little boar. Like Duchess before her, Lavender was a fantastic mum and her babies were soon getting into trouble with Melba, Willow and Denby.
Here is a video of Duchess' and Lavender's babies
At 20 days old Willow was suddenly taken ill and within a very short space of time she slipped away to Rainbow Bridge, comforted by her mum. We were all totally shocked and gutted, she was such a stunning little piggy who had her whole life ahead of her, but sadly due to her inbreeding, we suspect she had heart issues and her little body gave up on her.
In time the little families were old enough to move on to their forever homes. We were exceptionally lucky as one of our previous adopters offered Lavender and Melba a home within her mini herd. Little Roslyn joined one of our rescue supporters who had just lost one of her beloved sows so she is now living happily with Marmite. Minton and Albert found a forever home with a wonderful couple who also took a pair of baby girls from the same rescue situation who were born at CGPR – these babies are all dark eyed whites who affectionately became known as the ‘dirty white babies’. In addition to the youngsters, they also offered a home to a pair of elderly sows who had been returned to EPGPR so Biscuit and Fudge are honorary grannies to the dirty white gang. Little Albert is currently living alongside the ladies and when he is old enough he will be neutered to join the gang.
As for Duchess, I’m delighted to report that after a course of antibiotics and the application of some wonderful foot cream from Gorgeous Guineas, decent nutrition and clean bedding, her bumble foot is looking much better. Because of her health issues she has become a permanent rescue resident here at EPGPR and she lives indoors with her pal, skinny girl, Gloria (both of whom are part of our sponsor a piggy scheme - to sponsor either of the girls please pm us for details).
Duchess' bumblefoot
Thank you for taking the time to read this, sadly Duchess and Lavender are just two little sows who have had to go through the trauma of birth unnecessarily. Little Jilly who arrived at EPGPR a few weeks ago is another expectant mum who is due to give birth to her second litter any day now – she was left with her husboar/baby sons so is expecting a back to back litter, never good, but particularly worrying as she is only a baby herself.
If you would like to help your local rescue this Easter why not send a small donation or something from the rescue’s wish list (most have them) so that a rescue piggy or two can be spoilt this holiday. If you would like to make a donation to EPGPR we have a PayPal account [email protected] and an Amazon wish list http://www.amazon.co.uk/…/3E…/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_ws_7Lc3rb17FGWF
