Hopefully I Made A Difference...

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piglet_and_rogers_mama

piglet_and_rogers_mama

Adult Guinea Pig
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An old coworker of mine recently got a guinea pig (well her boyfriend's daughter did, but I think she helps take care of it). Well I guess they ran out of food for it, and she couldn't leave work to get more. Since she works at a grocery store, she wanted to know if she could just buy some lettuce. This told me a few things: 1. The pig has never had any fresh fruit or vegetables, so springing a handful of new food (especially lettuce) would probably upset its stomach 2. If she didn't know pigs could eat veggies, she probably didn't know that they need to eat hay. So I bagged up some of the Oxbow pellets and timothy hay I have for my pigs and ran them up to her at work. I showed her the hay (she didn't know as it turns out) and explained how important unlimited hay is, told her that it would do her pig good if she got him a same sex companion, and what kind of vegetables to feed. I would have liked to have talked to her longer about needs and other kinds of tips, but she was working so I didn't stick around. I hope she takes my advice to heart!
 
Whether people take the advice or not it's always one of the most important things you can do to share your knowledge. It can be frustrating if they don't act on the information you pass on but many people are genuinely grateful for help and really want the best for their pets.

Paws crossed your education has made a difference. One piggy at a time we can make a difference :)
 
How sad they did not even research into piggies needs. I hope they listen to your advice.
 
You did a lovely thing. Hopefully they take your advice and start taking better care of their guinea pig.
Whenever someone asks me a question about guinea pigs I turn into some kind of human guinea-pedia and just go on and on and on about guinea pigs and their care. I just can't help myself, I love to talk about guinea pigs! People must think I'm a crazy guinea pig lady hahaha.
 
I think you pitched things about right . I agree that you need to let people aware of the fundamentals ( hay in this case ) but , if you go overboard with information, people just switch off and think that you're a guinea pig bore!

It came up in conversation at work that I have 2 guinea pigs and colleague told me that her daughter is going to "adopt" a single boar from someone who can no longer look after him. I have explained that guinea pigs should really be kept with at least one more as they are social animals . I can do no more than explain. I know she will come back to me if she wants any more advice . I have also given her the link to this forum as I learnt far more from here than I ever learnt from a book .
 
Just talked to her and asked her if her pig "liked the hay" (silly question obviously)! And she said he loved it. I said "I thought he might. You can get it at Walmart and it keeps there teeth and tummys happy." Too much? lol just trying to get it out of my system. I just feel bad for a pig who can't eat hay...god knows mine would rebel and wheek the house down if they didn't have hay for more than 30 seconds!
 
I can almost, almost, understand somebody not doing much research before getting a pet - there's a general misunderstanding around about what it takes to look after an animal, particularly small animals, I quite often hit up against people who think guinea pigs needs are similar to hamsters! What I don't understand is how someone can sell/give away a guinea pig and not ensure the new owner knows how to look after it, even at the basic level of 'they need lots of hay'!

Well done, you've most definitely saved a little piggy's life no doubt :)
 
Good for you on giving them some advice yet not scaring them off.
I know its hard to hold back so you did well.

Hopefully they in turn decide to look up more information, or at least basic knowledge of the piggie diet.
 
Well done, it's a fine line between being helpful and educating people and seeming judgmental but it sounds like you got it just right. Hopefully they will learn from this and their piggie will have a better a life as a result.
 
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