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Our Story, The Cliff Notes Version:

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Gus&Charlie

Gus&Charlie

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Location
Boston, Massachusetts USA
image.jpg image.jpg VERY LONG story, BUT- I'll give you all the cliff notes version:

Daughter (age 10) got 1st guinea pig, Cinnamon roll, last summer. We knew once she was settled we'd get her a friend, enter Lovie.

Lovie & Cinny only shared two months together before Cinny died of a vicious URI.

Lovie is alone. Sad being alone, so enter our next girl, Abby. (Baby Abbysinnian, my favorite breed!)

Abby was barely with us a month before she too passed of a nasty URI.

Huge grey cloud hovers over our little corner of Boston.

Kept in constant touch with my friend Tim (manager of PETCO) to alert me the instant another Abbysinnian arrives.

Weeks go by, no Abbysinnian.
Tired of seeing Lovie sad & alone, I went to Tim again & brought home another girl:
Now enter Mocaccino, our American short haired girl.

We STILL HAVE her AND Lovie, and the two were fast friends and, aside from the occasional pissing contest for pole position from Moca, no incidents to speak of.

(Knocks on wood)

Fast forward to Nov 6th, 2014.
Phone rings, it's Tim.
He has good news and bad news:
Yes they have an Abbysinnian, but no it's not a female.
It's a male.

I asked Tim to describe him for me and the minute he said he was all white & grey, I knew IMMEDIATELY that he was my boy and he was Gus.

Gus became my heart walking around outside my body and remains so to this day. I fell so hard for him... As I type this he is SNORING, Eyes closed, on my chest. It was after Gus that I joined the forum for support & friendship from like minded guinea pig lovers. Being a part of something so amazingly understanding & welcoming has been the biggest gift having guinea pigs has brought into my life.

With Gus, I had two URI scares within the first two months and it was the forum that got me through. Once Gus, after hundreds in vet bills, tons of prayers and lots of meds- was finally healthy- I "SWORE" that I'd never get him a friend merely to avoid compromising his now stable health. The thought of losing him was just NOT AN OPTION! Introducing another piggie is ALWAYS a mountain of uncertainty & risk, and I just WASNT willing to risk Gus for anything!

Months go by, jan, feb, mar, April...
Each month I just perchance happen into petco to "visit" the piggies & on May 14th, there were no baby piggies, I asked why and Tim said, because we only have one and I saved him outback just for you, I had a feeling you'd be in. (Which was weird!)

So, obviously I was shocked, but Tim disappeared to the back room & reemerged with one of the most adorable, soft as a bunny's ass, baby boy tri-colored Abbysinnians I'd ever seen aside from Gus! This little fuzzy lover, who obviously was Charlie, was clearly meant to be Gus's baby brother. I said a prayer & took a leap of faith.

Generally, one should keep them apart for at LEAST two to three weeks prior to introducing to be sure of health etc... But keeping these boys apart proved impossible after two straight nights of crying for one another, nose to nose as their habitats were side by side.

I knew in my heart they'd be fine, put them together the third night & they've been inseparable since!
If Gus is out with me,
Charlie's crying for him to return. If I have Charlie, Gus nervously bites on the corner of their habitat until I promptly return his baby brother to him, where he belongs.

It's nuts but these two go together like peanut butter & Jelly. (US version), or like toast & beans (British version)

It's a love story unlike any other and the fact that I get to be a part of it, is pretty freaking amazing!

So there, there's my cliff notes version. (I excelled in English, creative writing & public speaking... Trust me you didn't want my FULL version!)

Hehehe
YEAH FOR GUINEA PIGS AND US SILY HUMANS WHO LOVE THEM SO!

Sincerely,
Amy, Ruby, Gus, Charlie, Moca & Lovie.

(& Michael too, our senior gerbil!)

Ps. I'd LOVE to hear similar family stories from any & all willing to spin a yarn for me...
 
Wonderful story & lovely that 4 piggies are now healthy & settled in beautifully. Sure I'll spin you my yarn, although I might not write it as well as you did yours!

My 2 granddaughters like to shop with me at a certain shopping centre as there is a pet shop there & they always like to look at the animals. This pet shop sells fish, birds, mice, ratties, guinea pigs, puppies & kitties. The 3 of us were there just before Xmas 2010 & as usual there were heaps of baby piggies for sale.

One of my granddaughters & I were back in mid-January 2011 & looking at the lone boy still there. All of a sudden a shop assistant rushed over & offered us this piggy for half price because "he is 11 weeks old & has to go". Both of us looked at each other horrified. For some reason, because of the way she said it, we both feared he was going to be killed! Scared to death for his life we bought the piggy & everything else the shop assistant said we'd need as neither of us knew anything about guinea pigs.

I started doing some research & the first thing I discovered was that the cage was way too small, piggies needed vitamin C & they need a friend! Eventually I zeroed in on this forum. When they mentioned rescues I did some research near me & sure enough there were 3 piggy rescues within 1 hour's drive from me. I've always had rescue dogs but never thought little piggies needed shelters as well. We don't have boar dating but as the forum mentioned an older boy with a male baby might get along I put in a request for the first baby boy they had available. When Hazelnut was 7 months old, the rescue called to say they had a few baby boys who were now 4 weeks old & could be adopted. My 2 granddaughters & I rushed up there with a carrier lined with a fleece baby blanket we had bought specifically in anticipation for the purpose. There were a few baby boys running in & out of a plastic pigloo so we finally chose one. As the shelter assistant went to collect him, suddenly another one we had not seen darted out of the pigloo & all 3 of us yelled "no that one!" He was just a lovely cream & white with a bit of a butt mullet.

Peanut Butter turned out to be rather a sickly boy. He has had to have monthly dental work since we discovered the problem at only 8 weeks of age. At 2.5 years of age he had a nasty 3 month UTI that was finally cured after we tried the 3rd antibiotic Zithromax which I had only heard about on this forum. Fortunately I have a vet who is willing to try things when the usual methods don't work instead of just being dogmatic & insisting she knows best. At 3.5 years of age late in 2014 PB came down with benign prostatic hyperplasia & a ruptured vas deferens tube. Dreadful pain. He had to be neutered & was fine for a while & still a good weight post-surgery. Then his weight plummeted. He had developed an abscess at the surgery site. Several drainings after & good old Zithromax, the abscess healed but he was still not gaining weight. Discovered he had a nasty yeast invasion which can happen after heaps of anti-biotics have cleared out all the good bacteria even though he was getting pro-biotics. Got him on Nystatin which cleared that up. It took 3 months & slightly over $1000AUD to cover the cost of all the lab tests, the surgery, abscess draining & meds, which I have never regretted. He is now back to his normal weight, healthy & happy. He will be 4 in August. I always like to think that he ran out of that pigloo at the last minute so we could pick him & take good care of him.

Having discovered these shelters, I always try to buy hay & other piggy items from them to help them out. In Sep 2014 I saw 2 boys, a grey sheltie & a black & white Texel, bonded, 2.5 years old & up for adoption. Donny & Mason they were called. Hazelnut & PB are just ordinary short-haired piggies. I didn't have any preferences for any type of breed & certainly wasn't keen on a long-haired piggy whose hair would have to be trimmed regularly. But their story broke my heart. Their owner had put them out "for the cats to play with" (!!) & fortunately a neighbour saw it, saved the piggies & took them to the shelter. 3 months later they were still up for adoption so I decided to take them. The shelter told me this sort of thing often happens with pure-bred males at 2.5 years of age if they were used for breeding or showing. The horror of it all!

So now I have 4 lovely boys. I discovered a piggy groomer who comes to the house once a month, cuts all the boys' nails for $30AUD & cuts Donny's hair for another $30AUD every 2nd month. Really cheap & time-saving.

I won't be getting any more piggies unless I buy a bigger house as they all live inside, have huge cages & playpens, & have just taken up heaps of space.

In Feb 2013 I also acquired a pooch from the RSPCA, accidentally of course. Went to donate some stuff & the friend who was with me said "let's go look at the animals!". No I could not resist the little shi-tzu / maltese cross who jumped into my lap & started licking me to death. despite her sign saying that she was a little quiet but would be a good companion once she got to know you. I reckon she got to know me real quick! Oreo. the poochie, & all 4 piggies enjoy sofa time with each other. I just have to watch PB who seems to like chewing on her tail hair a bit too much.

So, that's my story!
 
Lilly said:
Wonderful story & lovely that 4 piggies are now healthy & settled in beautifully. Sure I'll spin you my yarn, although I might not write it as well as you did yours!

My 2 granddaughters like to shop with me at a certain shopping centre as there is a pet shop there & they always like to look at the animals. This pet shop sells fish, birds, mice, ratties, guinea pigs, puppies & kitties. The 3 of us were there just before Xmas 2010 & as usual there were heaps of baby piggies for sale.

One of my granddaughters & I were back in mid-January 2011 & looking at the lone boy still there. All of a sudden a shop assistant rushed over & offered us this piggy for half price because "he is 11 weeks old & has to go". Both of us looked at each other horrified. For some reason, because of the way she said it, we both feared he was going to be killed! Scared to death for his life we bought the piggy & everything else the shop assistant said we'd need as neither of us knew anything about guinea pigs.

I started doing some research & the first thing I discovered was that the cage was way too small, piggies needed vitamin C & they need a friend! Eventually I zeroed in on this forum. When they mentioned rescues I did some research near me & sure enough there were 3 piggy rescues within 1 hour's drive from me. I've always had rescue dogs but never thought little piggies needed shelters as well. We don't have boar dating but as the forum mentioned an older boy with a male baby might get along I put in a request for the first baby boy they had available. When Hazelnut was 7 months old, the rescue called to say they had a few baby boys who were now 4 weeks old & could be adopted. My 2 granddaughters & I rushed up there with a carrier lined with a fleece baby blanket we had bought specifically in anticipation for the purpose. There were a few baby boys running in & out of a plastic pigloo so we finally chose one. As the shelter assistant went to collect him, suddenly another one we had not seen darted out of the pigloo & all 3 of us yelled "no that one!" He was just a lovely cream & white with a bit of a butt mullet.

Peanut Butter turned out to be rather a sickly boy. He has had to have monthly dental work since we discovered the problem at only 8 weeks of age. At 2.5 years of age he had a nasty 3 month UTI that was finally cured after we tried the 3rd antibiotic Zithromax which I had only heard about on this forum. Fortunately I have a vet who is willing to try things when the usual methods don't work instead of just being dogmatic & insisting she knows best. At 3.5 years of age late in 2014 PB came down with benign prostatic hyperplasia & a ruptured vas deferens tube. Dreadful pain. He had to be neutered & was fine for a while & still a good weight post-surgery. Then his weight plummeted. He had developed an abscess at the surgery site. Several drainings after & good old Zithromax, the abscess healed but he was still not gaining weight. Discovered he had a nasty yeast invasion which can happen after heaps of anti-biotics have cleared out all the good bacteria even though he was getting pro-biotics. Got him on Nystatin which cleared that up. It took 3 months & slightly over $1000AUD to cover the cost of all the lab tests, the surgery, abscess draining & meds, which I have never regretted. He is now back to his normal weight, healthy & happy. He will be 4 in August. I always like to think that he ran out of that pigloo at the last minute so we could pick him & take good care of him.

Having discovered these shelters, I always try to buy hay & other piggy items from them to help them out. In Sep 2014 I saw 2 boys, a grey sheltie & a black & white Texel, bonded, 2.5 years old & up for adoption. Donny & Mason they were called. Hazelnut & PB are just ordinary short-haired piggies. I didn't have any preferences for any type of breed & certainly wasn't keen on a long-haired piggy whose hair would have to be trimmed regularly. But their story broke my heart. Their owner had put them out "for the cats to play with" (!) & fortunately a neighbour saw it, saved the piggies & took them to the shelter. 3 months later they were still up for adoption so I decided to take them. The shelter told me this sort of thing often happens with pure-bred males at 2.5 years of age if they were used for breeding or showing. The horror of it all!

So now I have 4 lovely boys. I discovered a piggy groomer who comes to the house once a month, cuts all the boys' nails for $30AUD & cuts Donny's hair for another $30AUD every 2nd month. Really cheap & time-saving.

I won't be getting any more piggies unless I buy a bigger house as they all live inside, have huge cages & playpens, & have just taken up heaps of space.

In Feb 2013 I also acquired a pooch from the RSPCA, accidentally of course. Went to donate some stuff & the friend who was with me said "let's go look at the animals!". No I could not resist the little shi-tzu / maltese cross who jumped into my lap & started licking me to death. despite her sign saying that she was a little quiet but would be a good companion once she got to know you. I reckon she got to know me real quick! Oreo. the poochie, & all 4 piggies enjoy sofa time with each other. I just have to watch PB who seems to like chewing on her tail hair a bit too much.

So, that's my story!
Click to expand...
First of all, THANK YOU! This was a LOVELY story to wake up to! (It's 7:00am here) and Secondly- WHO DOESNT LOVE A BUTT MULLETT!?!?! VERY lucky and Much loved boys, and for the record, as I was reading, the moment peanut butter darted out of his pigloo, I also thought- yup, he knows he NEEDS HER!

Lovely, just lovely!
And forgive my ignorance, but the USD VS. The AUD ? Similar, different? (I only know American/Euro conversion after many trips to Italy to visit family...)
 
Gus&Charlie said:
First of all, THANK YOU! This was a LOVELY story to wake up to! (It's 7:00am here) and Secondly- WHO DOESNT LOVE A BUTT MULLETT!?!?! VERY lucky and Much loved boys, and for the record, as I was reading, the moment peanut butter darted out of his pigloo, I also thought- yup, he knows he NEEDS HER!

Lovely, just lovely!
And forgive my ignorance, but the USD VS. The AUD ? Similar, different? (I only know American/Euro conversion after many trips to Italy to visit family...)
Click to expand...
1AUD is currently about 70 cents USD & half a British pound. No idea the Euro equivalent!
 
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