Neglected boar from a rescue?

[julieandruth]

Hi, I've posted a couple of times here about my sow, Ruth who had cancer. She got put down on the 24th, and now I have gotten a neutered boar for Julie. I reserved him a couple of days before Ruth's death, and the rescue agreed to have him neutered on the 27th. Fast forward to now, I have collected him today from the rescue at about 4pm and only had him for 2 hours. I gave him a health check, and his feet are absolutely awful. His feet have yellow crust, are red and swollen, cracked, and he also has yellow crust around his eyes and ears, so I'm suspecting a fungal infection. Not only this, but I've also been told that his incision from the neutering has been fully healed, and it did look healed, though a little crusty at the rescue. However now it seems to be quite red and swollen, and seems to potentially have opened at one end even though its been 2 weeks since the operation! He has also been peeing blood and squeaking in pain! I'm really unsure of what to do, I'd understand if it was something that's began a couple of days after me getting him, but this is just not it! The state that he is in cannot just happen in a matter of a couple of hours, and If I showed you him without saying he is from a rescue, you'd assume he came from an awful neglect case! I just really need help as 1. this is obviously financially challenging, and I understand guinea pig vet bills are never cheap, however there is just so much going on with him all at once, especially as I have spent over £800 on my pigs vet bills (specifically the cancer pig) just since the end of january alone. 2. this is really not a state that an animal should be put up for adoption in, at all. 3. i've been talking to the rescue about it, and they almost sound like they're accusing me, saying that the incision was fine when they showed it to me, and how they checked and there was no blood on his fleece at the rescue, i'm not really sure what I could've possibly done wrong with his incision in the matter of hours, if it's been well healed for 2 weeks now then surely it shouldn't be opening, or being crusty this easily? I just need help on how to go about all of this, I'd like the rescue to pay for his vet bills, otherwise he is being surrendered to another rescue that I trust, and of course I'd prefer to not give this lovely boy away x I haven't told the rescue that I want them to pay off his vet bills fully yet, but they have offered to only refund me his adoption fee which was £50 (not including reservation deposit), and that's no where near enough to pay for all of his problems.

A (very quiet) video of him squeaking in pain, as well as a photo of his scar now and other problems, below.

 

[julieandruth]

The random photo of his fur is his grease gland! Now I've personally never had boars or a pig with a very reactive grease gland, but surely that's a little dirty, and should be cleaned more often?

 

[Roselina]

Gosh I’m so shocked to read this @julieandruth
I don’t know how to respond
It isn’t right that you have to contend with this
I would think the Rescue are definitely responsible.
Could you get a Vet letter stating what is going on with this boy and that it started before you got him?
Hopefully one of the experienced Monitors will be along to advise

 

[Wiebke]

Hi, I've posted a couple of times here about my sow, Ruth who had cancer. She got put down on the 24th, and now I have gotten a neutered boar for Julie. I reserved him a couple of days before Ruth's death, and the rescue agreed to have him neutered on the 27th. Fast forward to now, I have collected him today from the rescue at about 4pm and only had him for 2 hours. I gave him a health check, and his feet are absolutely awful. His feet have yellow crust, are red and swollen, cracked, and he also has yellow crust around his eyes and ears, so I'm suspecting a fungal infection. Not only this, but I've also been told that his incision from the neutering has been fully healed, and it did look healed, though a little crusty at the rescue. However now it seems to be quite red and swollen, and seems to potentially have opened at one end even though its been 2 weeks since the operation! He has also been peeing blood and squeaking in pain! I'm really unsure of what to do, I'd understand if it was something that's began a couple of days after me getting him, but this is just not it! The state that he is in cannot just happen in a matter of a couple of hours, and If I showed you him without saying he is from a rescue, you'd assume he came from an awful neglect case! I just really need help as 1. this is obviously financially challenging, and I understand guinea pig vet bills are never cheap, however there is just so much going on with him all at once, especially as I have spent over £800 on my pigs vet bills (specifically the cancer pig) just since the end of january alone. 2. this is really not a state that an animal should be put up for adoption in, at all. 3. i've been talking to the rescue about it, and they almost sound like they're accusing me, saying that the incision was fine when they showed it to me, and how they checked and there was no blood on his fleece at the rescue, i'm not really sure what I could've possibly done wrong with his incision in the matter of hours, if it's been well healed for 2 weeks now then surely it shouldn't be opening, or being crusty this easily? I just need help on how to go about all of this, I'd like the rescue to pay for his vet bills, otherwise he is being surrendered to another rescue that I trust, and of course I'd prefer to not give this lovely boy away x I haven't told the rescue that I want them to pay off his vet bills fully yet, but they have offered to only refund me his adoption fee which was £50 (not including reservation deposit), and that's no where near enough to pay for all of his problems.

A (very quiet) video of him squeaking in pain, as well as a photo of his scar now and other problems, below.

Hi

Please see a vet to verify in writing the deplorable state in which you have adopted your boy and of course have him treated.

I am very sorry that you have become the victim of a sub-standard rescue. Unfortunately, anybody can call themselves a rescue without any control or supervision of standards, and there are sadly some black sheep out there. You are only in safer hands if the rescue has qualified as a registered charity since that takes quite a lot to achieve and comes with regular checks.

You can also report the rescue to the RSPCA (although they are somewhat limited in what you can do) and the local council for trading standards once you have your vet's porfessional testimony that the state he is in cannot have happened in the short time you have had him at home.

 

[Merab]

How awful.
It’s a good thing this little chap has found such a good home.
I would echo all that @Wiebke has said.

 

[Betsy]

Poor little chap! He must be in a lot of pain.

 

[julieandruth]

Update on the boar: he got returned to the rescue a bit after this post as they promised they would take him to the vets, after i provided them with plenty of evidence of blood in his cage aswell as him whining in pain. Well... it seems like they actually won't! I asked for an update on how he is doing and they said that he is apparently perfectly fine, no blood, no whining, his feet "look better", and that apparently his neutering scar has completely healed over even though I highly doubt it has this quickly! I asked them whether he has gone to the vet yet or no, and they left me on read, still haven't replied! I will say that I do not feel comfortable adopting him if they refuse to take him to the vets, and ask for a refund unless they finally give in. I will also be putting in a report to the rscpa aswell as leaving a complaint if they refuse to have this boy treated. I feel awful as on one end I could adopt him and take him to the vets myself, however I do not have the money to be rescuing a neglected guinea pig with plenty of health problems, that will ramp up high vet bills. I do not mind spending money for the vet for my own piggies if i have to, however I unfortunately am not a rescue and do not have the funds to be taking in very poorly, neglected pigs. On the other end, I also feel awful as he is going to be forced to suffer for way longer than he should be, and they will most likely just pass the problem onto another unknowing person, and potentially even someone who is a new owner, or just isn't as vigilant as I was. Either way, I will still be making a complaint and report to the rscpa about this as this is basically medical neglect at this stage. I understand rescues are limited on money and will sometimes go for home treatments and cheaper ways of doing things, however a guinea pig peeing blood and whining in pain for hours, every 10-20 mins, is not something that can be fixed without a vet or can just fix itself over a couple of days.

 

[Truffolo]

Good on you for reporting them to the RSPCA, they certainly need to be investigated