Reasons For Rehoming?

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TheCavySlave

TheCavySlave

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Okay I REALLY do not want to be insensitive or cause upset or anything, but the thing is I worry. And I know some people have to rehome their beloved pigs and I was wondering why? Because I can't imagine how difficult that would be and I was just thinking about it and was curious as to some reasons for it. But I don't want to come across as unkind or selfish, if that makes sense? Just general reasons. Sort of trying to eliminate things to worry about:(
 
The last time I had to rehome a pig was about 6 years ago and it nearly killed me to do it - Comet and Blitzen are actually the first piggies I've had since. I was due to go to England for a wedding I was not going to be allowed to miss under any circumstances, and I'd made arrangements for him to be looked after while I was gone. We were leaving on the Monday morning, heading for Dublin at 3am,so definitely an early start. I hobbled out of the hospital on the Thursday prior, leg in a brand new plaster cast, couldn't find my bus ticket to get home...and the friend who agreed to look after him told me she was going camping instead.

I cried that entire night. I needed something sorted for him by the Friday, but it was too last minute to contact a rescue and nobody else I knew was available. I wasn't going to be able to cry off from going to England and tbh with the state my leg was in, I couldn't even get myself to the shops much less take care of the pig without help.

I ended up taking him to the vet to have him euthanised. I didn't want to and he was perfectly fine otherwise but I had no other options. I signed the forms and everything, the vet checked him over, but before doing anything he gave me a lifeline - if I was happy not euthanising him and happy to still say goodbye to him, one of the vet nurses would give him a permanent home. I didn't need to think twice. I told her about his habits, his routine, what he ate...then I said goodbye. Still nearly killed me, but he didn't need to be put to sleep and that was what mattered most, that he still had a chance.

But that's also why I had no pets for so long afterwards. I couldn't do it. It didn't help that family kept saying that I should have had something in place for that kind of situation, like I should be able to see the future or something. And that if I wasn't prepared for every situation ever, then I shouldn't have had guinea pigs in the first place. I think that's wrong, if that was the case nothing would ever get done, but I didn't want to hear it from the middle repeatedly either. Took a long time to heal that particular broken heart.
 
@Lorcan....I am so sorry. We can never be prepared for all outcomes- it's like having a child. Or anything, for that matter. We can't think of every "what if" and prepare for it. I hope I didn't bring back bad memories for you? I understand completely how you must have felt, that's awful.
 
TheCavySlave said:
@Lorcan....I am so sorry. We can never be prepared for all outcomes- it's like having a child. Or anything, for that matter. We can't think of every "what if" and prepare for it. I hope I didn't bring back bad memories for you? I understand completely how you must have felt, that's awful.
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I wouldn't have replied if it was an issue, so you're fine, nothing to apologise for. I tend not to mention it much, aside from anything else having a healthy piggy put down, no matter what the circumstances were, is extreme. I know that. There's a lot of people out there who won't understand that I had no other options, and I can't really say I blame them. It's not even remotely an easy decision to make. But if I had to do it all over again, I'd do things the exact same way,because I would have to. Sometimes that's the only thing that needs reminding.
 
I have rehomed some of my piggies and is does break your heart.
I rehomed one as a permanent resident to TEAS, this was to give her the best chance at life as I couldn't give it to her. Unfortunately she didn't make it and died at TEAS but I knew giving her up gave her the very best chance.

The others were a male and female pair that I rescued because I felt bad. I rehomed the boy as at the time I had no space for boys only my current girls and the new girl. He got a lovely home and his new owner got him a friend.
I then had to rehome the girl Ruby when she was separated from her baby as she didn't bond with any of my girls as she was so so timid. This was again heart breaking but I knew I did the best for her and she found a lovely guinea friend and owner right here from the forum and although it broke my heart she is now happy.
I then had to rehome her baby who I had gotten a male friend and this again was so sad as I love those boys but again they went to a great home and are flourishing.

Last re-home now is my beloved boy Harley. I have fallen head over heals with this boy after only 2 months owing him but now have no choice but to rehome as he is a bully and has bullied Cookie and is now not bullying but not getting along with baby Sherman (Sherman is aggressive too). This is the worst re-home as it is not because I can't keep him.

Nothing is easy when it comes to re-homing pigs but it helps if you know you are doing the right thing for the pig. You always need to keep the best interest of the guinea pig in mind and even if it is heart breaking it is for the best.
 
I rehomed my beautiful boar Arthur. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do with my pets in my life. Sadly he and Romano, after a year and a bit together got in a big fight just as they were approaching the time boars would be together forever after their hormonal time. Arthur so badly bit Romano all over - Romano is an extremely passive guinea pig- and i took them both to the vets. At the time I thought Romano was the instigator as I only saw the last bite which was when I separated them and that was from Romano to Arthur's lip. When I took them to the vet I found out the truth. Arthur started the fight and Romano had many large bites all over his back and the last bite I saw was his final reaction to being attacked. With my heart heavy I knew I couldn't keep the boys together and I already had another pair of bonded boars so he couldn't go with them. I phoned up my local guineapig rescue and asked if they could take Arthur.
From what I know he was neutered and rehomed with a group of girlies. Romano I still own to this day and is as placcid a piggie as ever. He's on his third guinea pig friend after the second sadly passed away of old age. I've never given up any other piggies.
 
Firstly I think you have received some wonderful replies.
I am deeply impressed that so many people were able to share their difficult stories with you.

It isn't quite the same, but when I lived in the UK I used to volunteer for a breed specific dog rescue.
Obviously this meant I saw a lot of dogs rehomed and sadly a lot given back.

In my experience the absolute number one reason for people giving up their pets is because of a major change in their circumstances.
Things like job loss, new baby, divorce, moving house etc. Of course most people do not give up their pets when these things happen, but for some the thought of dealing with their pets at an already stressful time is just too much.
What I found interesting is that we had a volunteer who offered 'temporary fostering'. When people wanted to return a dog, depending on their circumstances, she would offer to take the dog for either 3 or 6 months, and then if they still didn't want it back, it would go back on the rehomng list. After the agreed period quite a few people would then take their dog back - they just needed a break or a chance to adjust to the changes in their life, and were then able to care for their dog again. I personally thought this was a great idea.

The second most common reason was people simply 'getting bored' of their pet.

And some are just plain silly.
I rehomed a black dog to one lady. She had done all the paperwork, passed the home check, and picked a black dog specifically (so elegant), which was great because statistically black dogs are the hardest to rehome.
Anyway at the follow up visit 6 weeks after rehoming it was a different story.
She loved the dog but it had torn up all the grass running around in the back garden, and it was getting black hairs everywhere.
Sigh.
The worst part was that she was still adamant she really wanted a dog, she just wanted to exchange the black dog for a white one so the hairs wouldn't show up on her furniture as badly....
 
Swissgreys said:
Firstly I think you have received some wonderful replies.
I am deeply impressed that so many people were able to share their difficult stories with you.

It isn't quite the same, but when I lived in the UK I used to volunteer for a breed specific dog rescue.
Obviously this meant I saw a lot of dogs rehomed and sadly a lot given back.

In my experience the absolute number one reason for people giving up their pets is because of a major change in their circumstances.
Things like job loss, new baby, divorce, moving house etc. Of course most people do not give up their pets when these things happen, but for some the thought of dealing with their pets at an already stressful time is just too much.
What I found interesting is that we had a volunteer who offered 'temporary fostering'. When people wanted to return a dog, depending on their circumstances, she would offer to take the dog for either 3 or 6 months, and then if they still didn't want it back, it would go back on the rehomng list. After the agreed period quite a few people would then take their dog back - they just needed a break or a chance to adjust to the changes in their life, and were then able to care for their dog again. I personally thought this was a great idea.

The second most common reason was people simply 'getting bored' of their pet.

And some are just plain silly.
I rehomed a black dog to one lady. She had done all the paperwork, passed the home check, and picked a black dog specifically (so elegant), which was great because statistically black dogs are the hardest to rehome.
Anyway at the follow up visit 6 weeks after rehoming it was a different story.
She loved the dog but it had torn up all the grass running around in the back garden, and it was getting black hairs everywhere.
Sigh.
The worst part was that she was still adamant she really wanted a dog, she just wanted to exchange the black dog for a white one so the hairs wouldn't show up on her furniture as badly....
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You know, people like that woman are not rare. It makes me angry that they would think that's in any way appropriate. I hear you about rehoming black dogs though, because black cats are the same. A friend of mine had to rehome her black cat because her toddler had the poor thing tortured, but she refused to take him to the local animal sanctuary/rescue because he was a black cat and an adult at that - if she took him there he'd probably never have been rehomed.

Life changes for everyone and it's not always in a good way, or within control. People like my parents who go on about "covering all bases" make the issue that much harder, especially when you have no control over how your situation has been. Even when the latest incident with my neighbour kicked off on Tuesday, I was hesitant about asking for help, because this is how I lost Jake. It wasn't about expecting to be judged, but expecting to hear the "you should have had something in place already" being whispered in my ear again.

If there was less stigma about having to give up an animal, maybe we'd be better off. No more abandoned animals, no more dead animals because someone couldn't pay bills. But instead, we tend to get annoyed at the people who can't give 100% to their pet at exactly the right moment.

Also I'm really sorry for the typos last night. That's what I get for typing messages on my phone. Gee thanks, autocorrect.
 
I think it's good to have such honest replies, and I really do feel for everyone's heartbreak on this.
I have not rehomed any, BUT totally understand that sometimes life bites people hard and there is no other choice. One of my piggies, Snowball, came to me from a really lovely young lady who adored her. This pig was the product of two pet shop (mis-sexed) piggies, who had been bought by this young lady's father, for her, as a pressie.
Snowball had been born in that household, and lived with her two parents after the Daddy-pig had been neutered. The parents eventually passed away, leaving Snowball as an only pig, but a much-loved and cared for pig.
And then things 'hit' the family. I do know the details but don't wish to publically share them. Basically it was a forced move at short notice that gave this young lady no other option but to rehome. It was heart-breaking for her.

Another piggy, Freddie, is a re-home through no fault of his, but he was bought to be paired up with another boar, and this didn't work out. Other boar pairs didn't work out for him either. Perhaps Freddie doesn't like other boars, perhaps he never found the right one. However he loves the ladies. So he was neutered and lived with several sows. However fall-outs in the herds and a subsequent lack of space meant that this lady had to rehome a few of her piggies, Freddie being one of them. It wasn't that she no longer cared, she literally struggled to house them after the fall-outs. His mate Oreo (after Snowball died) came to me from the same lady for the same reasons.

I have two others who were rehomed to me from this forum. I haven't pried into the reasons, it's none of my business, but all I know is that it was definitely done with a heavy-heart.

Sometimes things happen. I have read some views by some people, not on this forum I may add, on the lines of 'there's never an excuse to give your pets up'. Well this isn't true. No matter how much stability we think we have in our lives we can never really predict things, and my heart goes out to anyone in this position - of having to deal with the heartbreak and guilt of giving up a pet whilst dealing with the major crisis that has caused this to happen.

:hug:
 
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Good grief reading this thread was heartbreaking and made me immediately think that there are clearly not enough people in this world willing to help out their friends. I sincerely hope that if I ever got into some life difficulties, some of my friends or family would be willing to help me out until I was back on my feet, just as I would do for them. Compassion shouldn't be something as rare as it apparently is, it's horrifying to hear these stories that could have been very different if there had been someone willing to step up for a while. It's made me very happy places like this forum exist so at least you can put out an appeal for help if you need it. Long live the animal forums, I say.
 
I really couldn't imagine rehoming my boys, but honestly you just don't know what can happen.

I adopted a friend of a friends pig about a year ago. Housing issues meant she couldn't keep him and she really wanted him to go to a good home. So I took him in, and bonded him with my lone boar. I kept her updated by sending regular photos of them, so she still felt part of his life. And when he passed away we arranged for her to have his ashes so he could be with his original cagemate again.

As thanks she had a photo of him made into a painting, it's beautiful and such a lovely gift.
 
Thank you all for sharing this. It made me realise that so many people don't understand how close we get to our animals, and how heartbreaking rehoming is.
That woman and the dog is a horrible situation, people seem to see animals as inferior and it really winds me up. All pets are for life.
 
When I split with my husband the children and I ended up in temporary accomdation. We only had our dog then. I put him in foster care for 6 weeks but visited everyday. Giving him up was never an option. But I can really understand why some people have to rehome them as they don't have that option and like you say there are the stupid people that really don't understand that pets are for life not just until they get bored of them x x
 
There are many reasons why people are forced or have no other option. I've been lucky and not had too. But from that I've read (ignoring those above) and experienced with others, they are;

1. Human Illness - physical
2. Financial
3. Moving Home
4. Unexpected pregnancies
5. Bereavement of a loved piggy leaving a mate behind.
6. Piggy fighting
7. Human Illness - mental wellness

You can't have a Plan B for all of the above, it's just not feasible but you can consider a few of them. People underestimate how long piggies live for, the cost and time. I did!
 
I have had to surrender animals in the past. Got severe anxiety and was unable to go outside for weeks. Had outdoor rabbits and gpigs then. Luckily i found a great local rescue which still has one of my pigs, her cage mate died (she is now in a herd) and another rescue took the rabbits that i had got from them. My anxiety is loads better now but at the time i had no idea how long it would go on for.

Still miss my Jacky pig x
 
8 years ago my marriage broke down and I had to move into a small flat 160 miles from where I was living. I also had to find a full time job. So I went from having lots of time and room for my cat and 2 piggys who loved my big garden to having little time no room and no garden. I was also suffering a lot of mental anguish and could hardly look after myself. Family took over the care of my cat but they didn't want my piggies. A lovely family in the village took my piggys in and I know they had a very good life with them and lots of garden time. I have never forgiven myself for letting those animals down (all had been rehomed by me). It was 6 years before my life and mental health was stable and I felt worthy enough to have animals again. None of us know what's round the corner, I certainly didn't.
 
I am in the middle of a divorce right now and think about what will happen to Gizmo and Darwin. They will not need to be rehomed, but I will need to leave them with my husband and children while I rebuild my life (find a job, a place to live). The pigs are part of the family, they don't belong to any one family member. The kids will both be in middle school this fall and can't take care of the piggies all by themselves and my husband is at work all day and doesn't take an active role in the piggies care. He does pay for all the things they need though. It won't be an option for me to visit because I fear emotional abuse from my husband. I worry that my boars', Darwin and Gizmo, needs might be neglected, but I also know that I have to be able to take care of myself before I can care for them. It's never easy and no one can tell another what is the right thing to do. I am grateful to know I am not the only one.
 
So many sad stories! I have never had to rehome, but most of the people I've known who did made the choice due to major change in life circumstances. My cousin gave up her cat because she moved in with her new boyfriend and his children, and his three year old son was extremely allergic to cats (to the point of hives and eyes swelling shut.) She couldn't justify making her stepson sick in his own home, so the cat ended up going back to her ex-husband (it was his cat too when they were together, so at least she knew he was going to someone he knew who cared about him.) A friend of mine rehomed a rabbit several years ago after she developed a severe allergy to the rabbit... when she first got him he made her nose slightly stuffy which she didn't even identify as being the rabbit's fault, but with more exposure the allergy got worse and worse to the point of being on inhalers and breaking out in hives. Her mom was a teacher and ended up rehoming the rabbit with one of her students. More recently, a friend rehomed her dog because she had a baby and the dog just did not adjust... he was afraid of the baby and once the baby got mobile it was a safety risk, as he couldn't be trusted not to snap at the baby when she came by. She ended up putting in an ad at the vet's office and an older couple with no kids or grandkids adopted him (she was upfront with them about the issues, but he really was fine, although shy, with adults... it was just small children that scared him and made him act defensively.)
 
I saw a freead a couple of days ago rehoming 2 Guinea Pigs as they could no longer look after them as they had got a puppy :td:
 
@*kate*
That's how my piggy adventure started...bosses wife got a dog, childs got bored with them, having previously taken them for a holiday, they came back to me permanently...been in piggy heaven ever since.
 
I didn't rehome but I had to have a pair or rats euthanaized years ago after I finished studying.

I was unable to find accommodation that would allow pets before I graduated and friends and family were unwilling to take them on for a temporary period of time. Even family that was no nearby refused. I tried numerous rescues but either none had space o they didn't take rats. I tried some ads but honestly was worried they would end up as snake food as a few people asked me if they could have them for that purpose!

I also tried a notice board at the vets but no luck. So I booked them in to go to sleep forever, it was such a sad moment but they did not suffer and I know they went peacefully and not as reptile food.

A couple of months later I found new accommodation that allowed pets, so I moved again and got more. I was angry for a long time that for those weeks of "bad" accommodation no one would help me save those lives.
 
Mother Hubbard said:
@*kate*
That's how my piggy adventure started...bosses wife got a dog, childs got bored with them, having previously taken them for a holiday, they came back to me permanently...been in piggy heaven ever since.
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So glad they came to you! :)

Why get a dog if you then can't deal with having piggies too? why does the dog not go, why the piggies?

So awful :(
 
Squeakz said:
I didn't rehome but I had to have a pair or rats euthanaized years ago after I finished studying.

I was unable to find accommodation that would allow pets before I graduated and friends and family were unwilling to take them on for a temporary period of time. Even family that was no nearby refused. I tried numerous rescues but either none had space o they didn't take rats. I tried some ads but honestly was worried they would end up as snake food as a few people asked me if they could have them for that purpose!

I also tried a notice board at the vets but no luck. So I booked them in to go to sleep forever, it was such a sad moment but they did not suffer and I know they went peacefully and not as reptile food.

A couple of months later I found new accommodation that allowed pets, so I moved again and got more. I was angry for a long time that for those weeks of "bad" accommodation no one would help me save those lives.
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I was so angry about nearly having to put Jake down I think I threw my crutches at the car. It's not a situation I'd want anyone to go through again, it hurt more than losing pigs to old age did, probably because like your rats there was nothing wrong with them. I'm so sorry :(
 
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