I love ALL the boarders....but sometimes one just steals my heart away......

Status
Not open for further replies.
Teejay

Teejay

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
1,335
Reaction score
34
Points
445
Location
Oldbury, West Midlands
....sigh.....I have in the most yummy little sow, Maisie, boarding with me at the moment, she's been with me for about 10 days. She's due to leave in a few days, and it's breaking my heart 8...

I really enjoy having all my boarders, whether they be rabbits, guinea pigs or hamsters, but this one has really found a place in my heart. I don't know what it is about her, but I really don't want her to go home!

Her owner is a really lovely lady who obviously adores Maisie, but I don't think Maisie's had the best of piggie lives.....apparently, she's only just been moved from living with a rabbit (grrrr) who's also boarding with us, and she now lives alone :(. There's a slight air of neglect about her.....for example, her claws were very long (I've now trimmed them), and she was a little bit skinny-looking when she arrived with us.

Anyway, she's been a timid little girl since she arrived.....so timid that I basically made her a tent out of a fleece pegged to the bars of the cage so that she could hide away and feel a bit more secure. She barely showed herself for the first couple of days, and i was concerned about how little she seemed to be eating, so i kept a very close eye on her and spent loads of time hand-feeding her all kinds of yummy treats, which she would only pick at. After two days of this, I weighed her and saw she'd lost about 40g in a couple of days, so, of course, I was worried.

While i was weighing her, I noticed that her breathing was a bit noisy.....she had no other obvious URI symptoms, but the poor appetite, the weight loss and the noisy breathing concerned me enough that i took her to the vets as an emergency. Yup, she had a URI with a possible UTI and the vet could also feel a "mass" in her abdomen....she thought the stress of being alone in a strange environment might have triggered a chain reaction of infections, bless her.

Of course, i didn't have the authority to get further tests on the "mass", but I called her owner to pass on what the vet said :{ and I discovered that apparently, Maisie may be pregnant (she accidentally got in with a boar when she was staying somewhere else a few weeks ago.....)

Anyway, Maisie was given Septrin and Metacam and I was sent home with instructions to syringe feed her Critical Care every two hours. Not a problem, I would've done anything to get her well again.

So she was syringe-fed as instructed for the first couple of days (basically until her appetite picked up), and she's now finished her medication, and she seems to be pretty much back to full health (YAY! :)))

But you know what all this means.....?......all the time I spent hand-feeding and nursing her means that I've really developed a massive bond with her........and I just don't know how I'm going to hand her back to her owner next week......

She'd be soooo much happier in a herd (she's such a scared, fragile-looking, timid little girl, obviously not coping with being a lone piggie).....and I keep having these thoughts of how she'd fit right in with my Squeaky and Coco......then i have to keep banishing those naughty thoughts from my head! LOL!

I wonder what the sentence is for Piggie-Napping? LOL!

Tracey
 
Ooh dear.
Could you have a chat with her owner when she gets back and offer her a home within a herd - pregnancy will mean possible boars blah blah...?/ Can the owner provide separate pens etc. if there are boys born...does she understand they are fertile at 3 weeks and risk multiple pregnancies.
Think that's the only route to go tbh but failing that, offer her any support she may need. Maybe if you explained what care she will require, vets expenses with the 'mass' (lay things on really thick) she may consider handing her over to you ?
This is one reason I couldn't foster as I would not be able to hand them over, even to the best of homes :red
Please keep us updated on little Maisie, she sounds a little sweetie x>>
Be sickly sweet as well :) Her owner would surely only want the best for her in the long run.
 
Last edited:
awww bless!

If your not able to keep her (which is an utter shame!) why not mention to the owner about getting another guinea to keep her company? At least if she's willing to do that you'll then know she's no longer alone. x
 
She really is a sweetheart. Here's a couple of piccies of her:
016.jpg
[/IMG]

015.jpg
[/IMG]

As you can see from the second pic, she's still a bit skinny-looking, but she;s put back on the weight she lost and she's also gained a bit more.

I've had a couple of phone conversations with Maisie's owner since she was taken ill, and I've already tentatively mentioned that being alone wouldn't have helped with her getting so stressed and that she'd be happier in a herd......the owner really is a lovely, lovely lady but she's just a bit ignorant of Maisie's needs.

I will definitely offer her as much support and advice as I can, without being 'in her face', and I'll lay it on thick about the problems ahead with the abdominal mass/possible pregnancy (although they may be one and the same thing by the looks of it!)

I just really can't see her owner wanting to give her up, she really cares about her (she's called several times from her holidays to check up on how she is), she only wants the best for her so I think my best course of action is to suggest her getting a cage-mate for little Maisie.

Wednesday is going to be a tough day for me......saying goodbye to her....:(
 
I fell in love with an Amos

Aw,its so hard when you fall in love with a piggy, I know just how you feel- I fell in love with a little boar called Amos,but just missed him as he had been sold - but was told he was not bonding with the boar he had been bought for and was probably coming back to the lady who had sold him,and I would then be able to have him - well I waited every day for a wheek and kept chasing the poor woman who he was supposed to be going back to,only to be told new owner wasnt returning calls, so Amos wasnt going to be mine- fast forward 3 weeks and I get a call from the old owner again saying that Amos's new owner had been on the phone distraught because her origional piggy had got out when she was at work and something had happened to send him to the rainbow bridge and she didnt want Amos any more so would I like him, yipee ! - a friend had a new born loan boar who would be a piggy companion for him so I said yes - I was so happy - then Amos new owner again wouldnt answer calls from his origional owner about giving him back - so I cried & cried over a piggy I never met, only saw a pgture of,was told twice I could have him,but it was never meant to be - but Bumble is lovely and is on the waiting list for a lady pig from Tracey up in Rugby.
 
Aww Maisie is gorgeous. I can see why you have bonded with her so much. Well done for getting her the vet treatment she needed. Its an awkward situation for you really isn't it. As you have said I would really let her owner know how much work is involved and how she will probably need a lot of vet treatment.
 
It is so hard when you fall for a piggy you just can't have 8...
There's this gorgeous long haired sow at Wheek & Squeak rescue who just snuggled up and fell asleep in my arms. Sadly she wasn't the girl for Hector, Matilda won his heart. I wouldn't change Matilda for the world but I'd love to be able to give the other sow a home. I do need to win the lottery to get a bigger house!
It might be worth a gentle conversation about how much Maisie would benefit from a friend and how much you've fallen in love with her and say if ever the lady's circumstances change there would be a home for her with you. You never know....
 
I agree with what Guinea Pig Slave and others have said. Explain to her how much work and expense will be involved with the mass or possible pregnancy. Needing to sex and seperate babies then eventually find homes for them etc. Say that Maisie really needs a friend as stress can make them ill and another sow to live with her will keep her happier. Of course another piggy means more expense and may need a new cage depending on size of original. If you point out all the pitfalls and problems she may decide it is too much. Let her know you will always offer help as you've really taken to Maisie and should she feel she doesn't want to deal with it all, you would love to take Maisie to live with your herd. Once she's had time to think she may decide it's too much for her.
 
Oh, TAN, you must've been devastated with all that raising your hopes and them being disappointed. Amos would have been a very lucky boar to have been so loved by you.

You all talk a lot of sense! I'll definitely go with the 'helpful friend' approach.....I really would love to keep her, but I don't think it will pan out that way, being realistic.....it's obvious her owner is very attached to her (who wouldn't be?), but maybe, when she realises how much work is ahead of her, she might reconsider.

Watch this space.....and fingers and toes all crossed!

Tracey x
 
Well done for getting her to the vets so quickly. It's always a hard choice - most of my clients are abroad and I don't have any communication with them - sometimes family who really aren't bothered :( - so it comes down to me and what I feel I would do with my own.

However, though her nails are long perhaps the owner doesn't know how to clip them - it may be worth showing her or say you will do it for a very small fee. Where on earth was she to mix with a male - another boarding establishment? That is terrible.

BUT .......

Please think the owner may well look on-line for information on the supposed pregnancy/mass - low and behold there's her guinea pig and everyone saying they hope you get to keep her :x Perhaps not best to post her photo :x

Jo x
 
Hi LordBernieBouffant, I did think hard about posting her pic, but to be honest, I'm 99.9% sure that her owner wouldn't look online, and certainly not on a forum.

I might take the photos off my Photobucket account just to be on the safe side, but even without the pics, Maisie would be easily identifiable from the rest of the information on this post.

Apparently, the owners parents looked after her a few weeks ago, and she accidentally got in with their own boar.

Her owner is abroad, but I texted her when I first took Maisie to the vets, and she responded with a call, and has called/texted a couple of times since; she really does love her, I'm sure of that.
 
Posiesparkles said:
What happened with the piggie?
xx
Click to expand...

Hiya, she's fine and she went home with her owner....I tried very hard to persuade her owner that she'd be loads happier with a little friend of her own, but she was adamant that there was no way she could have a second piggie :(

I also subtly let her owner know that my door was always open, and should Maisie actually turn out to be pregnant, I was always here for advice/support/rehoming.....it was all very good natured and non confrontational though, and Maisie's already booked in for boarding in November and again in January, so I get to see my favourite little blonde-bombshell again! Yay!
 
Last edited:
awww she is so beautiful and looks like my bonnie..
Bonnie.jpg


could almost be sisters

jo and the piggies x
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top