Guinea pigs back in the day

I had piggies as a child, l cringe to recall as both were kept alone, in a hutch built from an orange box l recall. They were fed hay, porridge oats and carrots.
I remember dad bringing home the first one, snowball, in his pocket, he was a police officer so he was probably given it by someone.
I have a photo of my sister who was only a toddler carrying him down the garden in a very precarious manner.
I am pretty sure one died of heatstroke as l remember her flaked out in her run on the grass.
Ever since then l have been paying penance, l know people didn't know any better and l was only a child, but l still feel sad if l think about it 😔😔
 
pig in the city said:
I had piggies as a child, l cringe to recall as both were kept alone, in a hutch built from an orange box l recall. They were fed hay, porridge oats and carrots.
I remember dad bringing home the first one, snowball, in his pocket, he was a police officer so he was probably given it by someone.
I have a photo of my sister who was only a toddler carrying him down the garden in a very precarious manner.
I am pretty sure one died of heatstroke as l remember her flaked out in her run on the grass.
Ever since then l have been paying penance, l know people didn't know any better and l was only a child, but l still feel sad if l think about it 😔😔
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I had a rabbit called Casper in my early teens. I still cringe now on how he lived but my parents tried their best and thought they were doing right.

He lived on his own in a tiny hutch in the shed. He was fed straw, muesli food and bread.

I then moved away to go to university and had to leave him at home. My parents looked after him but it was only basic care and I’m sure he was very lonely.

He lived like that until he died at age 9 and it still makes me sad now that he lived his 9 years like that 😢 And looking back to a poorly eye he had, I’m pretty sure he had teeth problems 😢

But this was in the early 90’s when rabbit care and guinea pig care was rubbish compared to what it is today. I just try and remember how much I loved him and how I tried my best xx
 
Claire W said:
I had a rabbit called Casper in my early teens. I still cringe now on how he lived but my parents tried their best and thought they were doing right.

He lived on his own in a tiny hutch in the shed. He was fed straw, muesli food and bread.

I then moved away to go to university and had to leave him at home. My parents looked after him but it was only basic care and I’m sure he was very lonely.

He lived like that until he died at age 9 and it still makes me sad now that he lived his 9 years like that 😢 And looking back to a poorly eye he had, I’m pretty sure he had teeth problems 😢

But this was in the early 90’s when rabbit care and guinea pig care was rubbish compared to what it is today. I just try and remember how much I loved him and how I tried my best xx
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Thankfully our knowledge of animals needs has vastly improved @Claire W xx
 
I had rabbits in the 70s. 2 bucks who we had neutered by our awesome vet (who was delighted to be given what was then such an unusual job).

Our guinea pigs all lived in a huge chicken run with fresh grass hay, muesli and bran mash (made with warm water in winter).

Rabbits had a huge shed to live in and had hay, grass and muesli.

So not all bad in the dark ages!
 
My parents had one pig who died/froze to death one winter as she was the last one left after her sister pig and the rabbit died. My mum hates thinking about it even to this day. I also had an old male pig years ago who stopped running around and just used to sit being grumpy in his house. He was always wet underneath and I thought it was because he just sat all day long, but now I’m older and wiser, I realise that he probably had a UTI 😭 (still ate like a horse though).

In other news, Elizabeth I had guinea pigs in The Royal Menagerie, so good knows how they were kept!
 
You all did the best you could, and took care of them the best you knew at the time. So please try not to feel guilty 😞

Luckily things have moved on now and you’re even better slaves for it 😚
 
I had a guinea pig and a rabbit in the late sixties, I rescued them from an older boy who lived over the road and had lost interest. The little guinea pig was bald on its back from being constantly mounted by a much bigger rabbit☹ We separated them into two hutches. The rabbit had a weeping eye which after lots of vet trips and ointment that did not work eventually had to have him PTS, like @Claire W he probably had tooth problems. The piggie lived a long life, but was probably quite lonely 😔 being on her own
 
Bill & Ted said:
I had a guinea pig and a rabbit in the late sixties, I rescued them from an older boy who lived over the road and had lost interest. The little guinea pig was bald on its back from being constantly mounted by a much bigger rabbit☹ We separated them into two hutches. The rabbit had a weeping eye which after lots of vet trips and ointment that did not work eventually had to have him PTS, like @Claire W he probably had tooth problems. The piggie lived a long life, but was probably quite lonely 😔 being on her own
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Yes, my rabbit had a wheeping eye too :( But just remember the love and care that you gave them both
 
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