Valentine was part of a large rescue 'oop north" and on 13th February last year, armed with pre-packed carriers of assorted sizes to accommodate .a plethora of singles/pairs/combinations of boars and sows, I set off from Sussex to drive to Walsall to pick up 38 piggies to take them to their various rescue spaces in Wales and the West Country.
I was asked to step in by Piggy Bank as "an official Piggy Train" at short notice.
My first port of call was to drop off 22 piggies at Glynneath GPR - where we also inspected all the rest of the pigs before I travelled onwards. Valentine was packed with a couple of little boys (who may have been his sons?) and the moment I picked him up it was love at first sight! Boar trios don;t work out very well so Littlest Rescue agreed at the handover that I could adopt him and he could come back with me that evening to his forever home.
After a very long day, having travelled some 516 miles, we arrived back home at 10past midnight on 14th Feb - hence his name. And it is very apt - he is one of the most friendly, loving and loveable guinea pigs I have ever had the priivilege to share my home with.
He completed his quarantine (having had to be treated successfully for a URI) , but unfortunately it appears Valentine has a long term medical (dental) condition connected to a nasty deformity in his jaw . At one point, just after Xmas, there was a very real possibility I would have to make the decision he be helped to The Bridge. Thankfully my own vets together with Uncle Simon (neither had seen anything like his condition before) together came up with a plan for Valentine who then underwent a (thankfully single) molar extraction just after Xmas from my vets.
He is going to become a temporary resident at TEAS next week so Simon can keep his teeth properly trimmed whilst he adjusts to life without one of his molars. And he is getting better in that he can now attack a whole carrot and has just started nibbling hay for the first time in 8 weeks!
My lovely little boy has already had a long hard road to travel given where he came from - and he is not out of the woods yet. Every day with him is precious and I am so grateful to everyone - my vets, Simon, the H & I advisers and also Furrryfriends at TEAS for all their help. advice and assistance in getting him to the positive stage we are at now.
I was asked to step in by Piggy Bank as "an official Piggy Train" at short notice.
My first port of call was to drop off 22 piggies at Glynneath GPR - where we also inspected all the rest of the pigs before I travelled onwards. Valentine was packed with a couple of little boys (who may have been his sons?) and the moment I picked him up it was love at first sight! Boar trios don;t work out very well so Littlest Rescue agreed at the handover that I could adopt him and he could come back with me that evening to his forever home.
After a very long day, having travelled some 516 miles, we arrived back home at 10past midnight on 14th Feb - hence his name. And it is very apt - he is one of the most friendly, loving and loveable guinea pigs I have ever had the priivilege to share my home with.
He completed his quarantine (having had to be treated successfully for a URI) , but unfortunately it appears Valentine has a long term medical (dental) condition connected to a nasty deformity in his jaw . At one point, just after Xmas, there was a very real possibility I would have to make the decision he be helped to The Bridge. Thankfully my own vets together with Uncle Simon (neither had seen anything like his condition before) together came up with a plan for Valentine who then underwent a (thankfully single) molar extraction just after Xmas from my vets.
He is going to become a temporary resident at TEAS next week so Simon can keep his teeth properly trimmed whilst he adjusts to life without one of his molars. And he is getting better in that he can now attack a whole carrot and has just started nibbling hay for the first time in 8 weeks!
My lovely little boy has already had a long hard road to travel given where he came from - and he is not out of the woods yet. Every day with him is precious and I am so grateful to everyone - my vets, Simon, the H & I advisers and also Furrryfriends at TEAS for all their help. advice and assistance in getting him to the positive stage we are at now.
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Sorry to hear hes having so much trouble with his teeth - paws crossed things improve quickly.
