Glad Times Change.....

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Tewdric

Tewdric

Teenage Guinea Pig
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I run a small college library. Today I found some old RSPCA guinea pig care books, stored in a cupboard, but that used to be out on the shelves - they hadn't been loaned out since about 2006.

According to those books, written and published by the RSPCA, guinea pigs and rabbits can live quite happily together and make good companions; especially if you want to keep a male pig and can't get hold of litter brothers! :mal:

Those books have gone straight to the recycling bin in case they're every found by anyone who wants to get pigs. Glad I brought several copies of the Peter Gurney book a few years back for our students to use.
 
My friend rehomed a rabbit and guinea pig together from the RSPCA at that time. I knew it wasn't right even back then but they'd said it was Okay and I couldn't persuade her different. But then I now know a lot of things I did for my pigs over the last 50 years were wrong/not best practise and despite that I had some live to great ages without a vet visit! Glad you got rid of those books.
 
Just surprised that the RSPCA had written then, then realised that 2006 is actually quite a while ago now and then I felt really old!

I know we had one rabbit and pig combination when I was a child. It worked for them, and the rabbit ate the guinea pig pellets. Probably not great for her in retrospect. They never stayed together at night though....
 
I know what you mean about feeling old when you see dates. Our car is starting to play up and I said but it's not that old, it's got a 2003 plate!
 
Welfare of piggies has moved on such a lot. That is the advantage Internet has over print, things can be updated.
 
BTW I have the revised edition of the RSPCA book and I'm sure you'll be glad to know it says rabbits and Guinea pigs must never be housed together.

It is amazing how welfare standards and understanding progresses over what is actually a fairly short space of time, in the grand scheme of things.

I'm very surprised that RSPCA said that as late as 2006 though. I had Guinea pigs in the late 90's and mom always said it was cruel to keep them (rabbits and Guinea pigs) together, they didn't have the same communication, etc. Then again, from things like this i read, I think my mom was somehow ahead of her time in welfare standards. My guineas were always paired (or in a trio) and had a 3'6" hutch (which from things I read now was considered very large for Guinea pigs back then) with permanently attached 12' x 3'6" run (half of which was completely covered, so really well sheltered). - virtually unheard of back then from everything I read now.
 
The books had last been loaned out from the library in 2006, they were written a good few years before that - can't remember when.

I think I'll be having a good rumage through the 'pet' section today, just in case anything old has slipped past my beedy eyes and is still sitting out on the shelves. I'd hate to be the one who let a student borrow a book to get a pet with old information in it.
 
Tewdric said:
The books had last been loaned out from the library in 2006, they were written a good few years before that - can't remember when.

I think I'll be having a good rumage through the 'pet' section today, just in case anything old has slipped past my beedy eyes and is still sitting out on the shelves. I'd hate to be the one who let a student borrow a book to get a pet with old information in it.
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Sorry misread that - so last loaned in 2006 but written years before.
 
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