Reflecting on my first 3 months

Richard Pashley

Richard Pashley

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jun 25, 2018
Messages
87
Reaction score
76
Points
220
Location
West Yorkshire, UK
Happy Friday everyone, let's hope we get some rain soon.
I'm feeling reflective today as I've had my guinea pigs for 3 months. It feels more like 6 months and in that time I feel I've swept up enough poop that could have filled my atonement. Ok, to be honest it has been hard work at at times more like blood sweat and tears. Looking back when I first saved them from Pets@home I really hadn't a glue what it would be like, life with piggies.
I've had a rollercoaster of ups and downs and as a dad I've made sure my daughter gets the cuddles while I clean up. The hardest thing was I got boys as they are social and like company, but I never thought I'd have to permanently desperate them. Maybe when they become old men I like to think they will get together again. This has impacted everything from feeding, cleaning, cuddling and space in the house. I solved that by moving them outside.
However, looking back this is what it means to look after a pet like we do for family in that sense, they are part of my family. I don't regret buying them and they are great pets for children with lots of cuteness like when they clean themselves or shout for their favourite food.
It's still a work in progress for me, but my piggies are happy.
Would anyone else like to share a reflection of life with guinea pigs, if so let's get posting.
 
I have had 2 of my piggies since April, I couldn't imagine life without them, in May we got a third piggie and they have all bonded well. They have a place in heart, my son who is 11 loves the piggies too and really enjoys helping me care for them and give them lots of cuddles.

The piggies have settled well with a nice routine and I just love watching them running around and love giving them cuddles. The first few weeks were filled with lap time whilst they got used to us and we got used to them. I love in the evening how they wait for me to bring them their evening veg and how confident they have have become and now don't run away when I approach the hutch. It has been a Labour of love, but I really wouldn't be with out them now
.
 
I've had pigs in my life for just over 20 years and it's been tough and also very rewarding and fun.

I love watching them interact, but I'm also aware that I've never had a holiday for over 8 years and I can't imagine how many hours of my life I've spent cleaning cages.
 
I love watching them popcorning whilst in the outside run and I probably need to do more lap time.
Spelling on my phone with auto-correction on doesn't help as the word atonement should have read allotment. Ah, ah, ah!
So that sentence should read, 'I've swept up enough poop that could have filled my allotment'.
Wow, 20 years and no holiday you truly are a piggy slave. :)
 
I’ve had piggies in my life for over 20 years, too and rescue piggies in my life for 8 years.

In that time I’ve learned that in general (and always accepting that there are exceptions) pet shops are not the best place to source piggies, don’t sell the best equipment for piggies and don’t provide the best advice on caring for piggies. I’ve learned that not all “rescues”are reputable and that standards vary tremendously. I’ve learned that not all vets know as much about piggies as we owners do, and that a vets who treat them as exotics are more likely to have a clue about how to treat them. I’ve had to deal with mis-sexing, pregnancies (unplanned and and unexpected), miscarriages, still births, live births and the trauma of rehoming little beings who’ve been born into your care. I’ve dealt with bust ups, separations, joyous and failed bondings, bereavements and true grief at the loss of these adorable pets. I’ve learned how to clean grease glands, free impactions, clip nails, cut costs administer meds and even give sub cut fluids when needed. I’ve learned how to spot an abnormal poop and identify the owner, and how to get a urine sample. I’ve set up make shift nebuliser chambers and done many nights of night care and syringe feeding. I’ve learned how to spot signs of illness in piggies who like to hide it, and signs of parasites etc.

I’ve learned how adorable and utterly manipulative piggies are. I’ve learned to interpret their individual noises and behaviours. I’ve enjoyed cuddles, pancaked piggies, popcorning piggies and piggies wheeking for joy. I’ve given up my dining room, bought additional dining tables to house my piggies and tell friends there’s nowhere to eat but the kitchen now as the piggies have taken over the house. I’ve learned to set aside a chunk of my salary each month for vets bills and never to go online after a g and t and search for anything piggy related as the resulting pile of fleece, houses and tunnels raises eyebrows with the OH and the kids. And I’ve learned that despite my adoration and fascination for these creatures my own children are completely indifferent to them.

I’ve learned that times, practices and medicine change and that knowledge about piggies health, welfare and socialisation are under constant discovery and that none of us has all the answers. I’ve made some firm friends through this forum and am truly thankful for finding it several years ago for the help and support it’s given to me and how it has improved the lives of my own and other people’s piggies.
 
Richard Pashley said:
Wow VickiA, I'm very impressed with your post. I'm just a 3-month-year-old puppy starting out.
Maybe after a few years, I can use the saying I've got the T-shirt :)
Click to expand...

@Richard Pashley the first 3 months learning curve is the steepest. You’ve already dealt with more than you expected. You’ve already earned the t shirt x
 
Thanks for this-time has gone by. I was thinking I started with a guinea pig less time then it actually has been.

We got our first guinea pig when we relocated here for my daughter only 7 months ago, gave her a new room with a cage in our new home and otherwise blissfully ignorant in the moment. Now, in the past month, we have 5 boars (3 itty bitty babies from a mis-sexing of a second one) and 4 sows (one itty bitty from that same pregnancy) and, as of this weekend, an empty room with a bed and all the boars as my daughter is going away on her 18th birthday for a huge opportunity.

So it is a happy time for the circumstances and her opportunity and I am in charge of the girls and the newly adopted upstairs guinea room for the guys. Mom here is hitting empty nest syndrome big time. My daughter is the original guinea pig lover and passed the love to me with her first rescue. We spend our days with schedules, salad time, cuddles and 'all talk guinea talk'. Time has flown owning these babies as well. M (my daughter) and I built all the cages and spent a lot of hours choosing materials for the fleece blankets and design and bad sewing jobs that our guineas forgave us for. It has become our shared thing in only the last 6 months. We've had our new babies a couple weeks but gone through an evolution of learning and experience (mis-sexing to proper care) together. She promised to call every night when in the US and I promised to send pics of all the babies every day.

She will be gone 4 years to begin with. It's her birthday and she is leaving that day this weekend. We have to take a trip. She is spending every day today and tomorrow holding the babies and helping with the newest cavy cage in preparation for the boars being separated from mom next week (will be three weeks). My daughter and I always had a close relationship as we lived in two different countries as a family and she has been home-schooled. We shared life in that way. When our first rescue came home and our guinea pigs entered our lives, M and I began a surprising shared passion. My husband and 20 year old son will help with the babies and love them but not with our passion. They generally will get a tolerant attitude when we bring our babies around or we spend hours talking about them. They will pet them or will smile at me and humor me but M and I have been bonded more, much more, in the past 6 months from these little guys.

I will miss her more for that and it's getting rough (probably a normal thing for a mom) but I am so happy to have our guinea pigs when she is leaving. My son and husband are offering to help cuddle them more and M has extracted promises from them for proof as well :-) for her babies getting as much love and attention. These babies have changed this home and really made it more alive. They are also saving me from a complete meltdown as the clock is ticking for M to leave :-).
 
fanniephina said:
Thanks for this-time has gone by. I was thinking I started with a guinea pig less time then it actually has been.

We got our first guinea pig when we relocated here for my daughter only 7 months ago, gave her a new room with a cage in our new home and otherwise blissfully ignorant in the moment. Now, in the past month, we have 5 boars (3 itty bitty babies from a mis-sexing of a second one) and 4 sows (one itty bitty from that same pregnancy) and, as of this weekend, an empty room with a bed and all the boars as my daughter is going away on her 18th birthday for a huge opportunity.

So it is a happy time for the circumstances and her opportunity and I am in charge of the girls and the newly adopted upstairs guinea room for the guys. Mom here is hitting empty nest syndrome big time. My daughter is the original guinea pig lover and passed the love to me with her first rescue. We spend our days with schedules, salad time, cuddles and 'all talk guinea talk'. Time has flown owning these babies as well. M (my daughter) and I built all the cages and spent a lot of hours choosing materials for the fleece blankets and design and bad sewing jobs that our guineas forgave us for. It has become our shared thing in only the last 6 months. We've had our new babies a couple weeks but gone through an evolution of learning and experience (mis-sexing to proper care) together. She promised to call every night when in the US and I promised to send pics of all the babies every day.

She will be gone 4 years to begin with. It's her birthday and she is leaving that day this weekend. We have to take a trip. She is spending every day today and tomorrow holding the babies and helping with the newest cavy cage in preparation for the boars being separated from mom next week (will be three weeks). My daughter and I always had a close relationship as we lived in two different countries as a family and she has been home-schooled. We shared life in that way. When our first rescue came home and our guinea pigs entered our lives, M and I began a surprising shared passion. My husband and 20 year old son will help with the babies and love them but not with our passion. They generally will get a tolerant attitude when we bring our babies around or we spend hours talking about them. They will pet them or will smile at me and humor me but M and I have been bonded more, much more, in the past 6 months from these little guys.

I will miss her more for that and it's getting rough (probably a normal thing for a mom) but I am so happy to have our guinea pigs when she is leaving. My son and husband are offering to help cuddle them more and M has extracted promises from them for proof as well :-) for her babies getting as much love and attention. These babies have changed this home and really made it more alive. They are also saving me from a complete meltdown as the clock is ticking for M to leave :-).
Click to expand...


Oh wow, I really feel for you @fanniephina. My nest may suddenly become empty in September, too. Hugs xx
 
fanniephina said:
hey are also saving me from a complete meltdown as the clock is ticking for M to leave :-).
Click to expand...
It is very hard when your first one leaves home @fanniephina. I was doing OK when I left my eldest at Uni until my youngest (then 10 years old) flung his arms round my eldest and said "I want to stay with Mark!" I literally had to peel his hands apart, and drag him away from Mark and that was it I was a complete mess all the way home (about 2 and a half hours). I missed Mark so much. I found the first 2 weeks were the hardest. You'll find yourself making more dinner than you need first of all and just feeling lost that your child is no longer with you. It does get easier over time. It's a very strange emotion to go through. It's like a bereavement only you know that they are still alive. I'll be thinking of you I know what you are going through.:hug::hug:
 
VickiA said:
Oh wow, I really feel for you @fanniephina. My nest may suddenly become empty in September, too. Hugs xx
Click to expand...

Thank you @VickiA. Have a night of cake and a little cry yourself :-).

My son started working with hubby and finishing his emt classes now around the same time you are expecting your empty nest. He's excited about getting his own apt soon as well. I see him a lot less-in fact almost never now with his schedule and friends but maybe it's a little extra, not sadness, but difference for the huge change. Hubby and I get to know each other again without the kids :-) always around.
 
Betsy said:
It is very hard when your first one leaves home @fanniephina. I was doing OK when I left my eldest at Uni until my youngest (then 10 years old) flung his arms round my eldest and said "I want to stay with Mark!" I literally had to peel his hands apart, and drag him away from Mark and that was it I was a complete mess all the way home (about 2 and a half hours). I missed Mark so much. I found the first 2 weeks were the hardest. You'll find yourself making more dinner than you need first of all and just feeling lost that your child is no longer with you. It does get easier over time. It's a very strange emotion to go through. It's like a bereavement only you know that they are still alive. I'll be thinking of you I know what you are going through.:hug::hug:
Click to expand...

Wow, that would have done it for me too. I'm thinking for sure the first night will be very hard for both of us; Medb is expecting the same. I'm already finding myself making home made mashed potatoes every night now and bought something like 10 large bags of spuds as it's her favorite meal. She jokes she should always have been leaving for all the good meals and cake she's been getting the past few days :-).

Thanks lots for the thoughts. How long has Mark been gone now? How was the adjustment?
 
I have had guinea pigs on and off for 48 years, piggie knowledge and practise has changed a lot in that time. This time round the piggies have taken over my living room, my home, my garden and my days. When my nest became empty I took the opportunity to spread my wings and change the course of my life. When my health deteriorated I needed a new interest and returned to piggie keeping. 2 have become 6 with all their funny individual little ways and illnesses and temper tantrums and falings out, my days are full of piggieness. Thanks to the forum I believe my boars have the best life I can possibly give them and it teaches me something new every day. My partner and I no longer have holidays together as we can't bear the thought of leaving the boys to strangers and new routines.

Sending hugs to all you who are facing empty nests this year.
It's hard when your children leave home for the first time, these days chances are they will be back a few times! Try not to look at them leaving as an ending but as a new beggining for them and for you. The hardest thing about being a parent is the letting go, but after all we brought them up to be independant. I love to visit my children in their own homes and to spend time with my grandchildren, it took a few years to reach this stage, there has been a big reversal in the caring roles between Granny Guinea pig and her human family. X
 
Great to read all these stories and experiences.

I want to add mine although I still feel quite ashamed that I couldn't stick at being a piggy mum and that I gave up on my lot.

I think it's another story to tell and worth posting. I hope you'll agree.

So, a year ago my beautiful house bunny Panda, passed away. He was 8 years old and I missed him so much. A month after he passed I was given the chance to own a 2 year old female guinea pig and her one eyed baby daughter. I thought it through and did my research, joined this forum and agreed to take them. I also ended up taking another adult female who had been bonded with them (or so I thought). Both adults had been used as breeding machines and I wanted to give them a nice quiet home with no more pregnancy.

About 2 weeks after bringing them home, all was going very well but Eva (mum to the baby) was looking a bit fat with a lump on either side of her body. I posted on here about it:

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/body-shape-after-pregnancy.148760/

Long story short, Eva was pregnant and a few weeks later gave birth to 3 healthy babies.

I had to split Eva from her other daughter and the other adult (Edna) as they were hassling the babies. So now I had two cages, not one and 3 extra piggies. All within my first month!

One of the babies was a boy and had to be separated at 3 weeks of age but then Edna and Eva's original daughter would not be re-bonded to Eva and her new daughters no matter how much I tried, the bond had failed. I now had 3 cages and 6 piggies!

The boy was rehomed and I planned to keep the daughters but this was still too much as no matter what way I tried, they would not bond with each other and I still had 5 pigs in 2 setups. Then Edna and Eva's original daughter Eileen, had a fight and had to be separated. They would not go back together So, back to 3 cages.

Then I very suddenly lost Edna. She passed away overnight. I now had Eileen on her own and Eva and her 2 daughters together. I tried again, every combo possible to pair up the piggies in some way but failed every time.

Not long after that I decided maybe I was the problem and if I rehomed them, someone more experienced may be able to bond them or pair Eileen up with another piggy.

So I think it was around 7 months after bringing them home, I took them to a local rescue. At first I was going to keep Eileen but later I also took her as I felt as much as I loved her, keeping her alone was selfish.

Good news was that Eileen was paired up very quickly with an adult female :)

Recently I became the owner of a gorgeous male bunny who I had neutered and he now lives with his female companion and they bonded very easily.

I feel bad that I couldn't make it work with the piggies but I don't regret owning them at all. It was an adventure for sure. Full of highs and lows.
 
fanniephina said:
Wow, that would have done it for me too. I'm thinking for sure the first night will be very hard for both of us; Medb is expecting the same. I'm already finding myself making home made mashed potatoes every night now and bought something like 10 large bags of spuds as it's her favorite meal. She jokes she should always have been leaving for all the good meals and cake she's been getting the past few days :-).

Thanks lots for the thoughts. How long has Mark been gone now? How was the adjustment?
Click to expand...
Mark was gone for 3 years and then came back home! He has a job with pwc and passed all his exams first time except for the last one which he failed. He retook it 2 days ago and hopefully he's passed it this time. He has been back at home now for 3 years and now at 24 he is looking to buy his own place. John (middle son) has passed his degree in Chemical Engineering with a first and is currently working the end of his year out at the Total Oil Refinery in Grimsby before he goes back to Nottingham Uni to complete his Masters and Tom (now 16) is awaiting the results of his GCSE's which are out on the 23rd August before his goes to 6th Form College to study Maths, Further Maths, Computer Science and Physics.

The adjustment to Mark being gone was OK after the first month. He phoned nearly every day which helped.

PS They do not get their brains from their Mother!
 
I have only had guinea pigs for 8 months and have learned such a lot in this short time. I bought two skinny pigs (Dora and ginger) in December which were mis-sexed (thankfully no babies). This forum helped me along the way with advice about separating them, neutering and post-op care. They also calmed me when Ginger was neutered and i was worried about him having the anesthetic. I have syringe fed Dora when she was poorly, given meds. and picked up more poop than i care to think about.

The forum are also responsible for us expanding our piggy family as we saw two lovely girls that were at Little Pips Guinea Pig Re-homing and they joined us in May. Truth be told guinea pigs have taken over our lives. I have watched with joy as Mavis and Peggy became more social and learnt to trust us and watched as the skinnys popcorn with happiness at fresh grass. We know we are only sharing our lives with them for a short time and are making the most of it, yet we know at some point we will have the heartache of having to say our goodbyes. Our lives are richer for sharing it with our piggy family and our home would seem a darker place without them.

So 8 months on we now have 4 piggy's and have made new friends through the Guinea Pig Forum. It is a great place to find help and advice, make new friends and just share our love of all things guinea pig.
 
I've had guinea pigs about 17 years now, As a child I wanted a tortoise but my parents figured thatd be a bit too much work at my age, so we got 2 guinea pigs instead, Fudge and Badger. As it turns out, these 2 ladies were not 2 ladies at all, and a few weeks later, Badger gave birth to 3 lovely little babies Patch, Tilly and Snowball. Of course by the time I found them she was pregnant again, Patch was sexed as a boy and was put with Fudge...until I looked and realised the mistake. I thought we got away with it as she never looked pregnant but nope! A couple of weeks after Badgers second litter of 6 with only one survivor (Pickle) along came Branston. That was a summer of hutch building, book buying (we didnt have the internet back then!) and talking to other keepers to correctly learn how to sex them. Badger was a great mum until the babies hit about 10 weeks where she would refuse to share space with them, she lived out her life very happily with Fudge separated by wire. When Badger passed at 8, we brought Fudge in to live by his children and their other friends, passing at around his 11th birthday!

Now because I never learn a lesson first time around apparently, we got another couple of ladies the following year, and while they were indeed ladies, one was already pregnant. So along came Bovril, Marmite and Tigger. We ended up with 16 in the end, some were given to us by friends who could no longer care for them, my brother brought 2 boars home from work from a building site. It was quite the experience!

About 5 or 6 years ago now the last of that group passed away, Maggie. Her passing was rather traumatic, she suffered with seizures in her old age which was a new experience for me, and unfortunately we lost her to one, one morning. I decided then and there that that would be the end of my adventures with piggies. 3 years later almost to the day, I decided I had been pigless long enough, my mental health was at an all time low, and I reflected on when I had been at my happiest, and my most treasured memory was sitting out on the lawn with my pigs, so one day on a trip to get cat litter I ended up coming home with Blackberry and Bramble. Of course, being me, it wasnt that simple and they were both very sick, but knowing that they needed me to care for them forced me to better take care of myself so in a way, we kind of needed each other. Luckily Bramble survived although we lost Blackberry. We were given Shelly and Leonard, as well as Ebony and Ivory...I had planned to just stick with a couple but as time went on, that didnt quite work out :lol!: so now we're at 12 and life is good.

I've learned that my favourite part of piggies seems to be most peoples least favourite, when they're settling in and they start sharing little bits of their personality and their character starts coming through. Winning over the trust of these little hairballs is so rewarding (plus it gives me a good excuse to spend lots of time sat with them feeding them treats XD:whistle: I don't mind the running off and hiding, I can quite understand, I feel like doing the same when I have to go somewhere new, maybe I was a guinea pig in a former life :roll:
 
Last edited:
I first had piggies as a child. I still cringe when I realise how little we knew then.
Pepi still holds a special place in my heart.
He loved to play chase on our back lawn 40+ years later he’s the one I miss most of the early piggies.
As an adult I kept hamsters for over 20 years as they suited my life.
Then 8 years ago this Christmas I went into Pets at Home to buy my nephews present and there in the adoption centre were 2 red eyed white brothers they said no-one wanted.
The rest, as they say, is history.
I quickly became totally besotted.
Philemon developed a brain tumour and had to be pts. I had Titus neutered so he could live with a sow - 1 ended up as 2. A local breeder didn’t want a sow any more so she came to me with her daughter. Sadly Tamar died very suddenly, I suspect a heart attack but I don’t think she had been particularly well cared for before.
Titus continued to live happily with Merab ( my avatar) until his death.
By now I’d found the forum and was learning so much about guinea pig care.

I decided to get 2 baby girls to be with Merab. She took to them instantly and we had 3 very happy years. I joined the forum instead of just browsing.

Sadly about a month ago we lost Keziah to a tumour and I decided to wait until either we moved or lost Merab, by now a 6 year old.
That resolve lasted all of 3 weeks until I came across a very young mother and daughter who needed to be rehomed and I couldn’t bear to think of them going somewhere where they wouldn’t be cared for as well as I knew I could care for them.

Now I have a herd of 4 and accept that I am well and truly enslaved to these wonderful, gorgeous animals
 
@Betsy You are a very lucky lady with such a full family; two legged and four legged :-). I think maybe the brains and obvious closeness both have a lot to do with mom!
 
Last edited:
YvonneBlue said:
I have only had guinea pigs for 8 months and have learned such a lot in this short time. I bought two skinny pigs (Dora and ginger) in December which were mis-sexed (thankfully no babies). This forum helped me along the way with advice about separating them, neutering and post-op care. They also calmed me when Ginger was neutered and i was worried about him having the anesthetic. I have syringe fed Dora when she was poorly, given meds. and picked up more poop than i care to think about.

The forum are also responsible for us expanding our piggy family as we saw two lovely girls that were at Little Pips Guinea Pig Re-homing and they joined us in May. Truth be told guinea pigs have taken over our lives. I have watched with joy as Mavis and Peggy became more social and learnt to trust us and watched as the skinnys popcorn with happiness at fresh grass. We know we are only sharing our lives with them for a short time and are making the most of it, yet we know at some point we will have the heartache of having to say our goodbyes. Our lives are richer for sharing it with our piggy family and our home would seem a darker place without them.

So 8 months on we now have 4 piggy's and have made new friends through the Guinea Pig Forum. It is a great place to find help and advice, make new friends and just share our love of all things guinea pig.
Click to expand...

Ive seen photos of skinny piggies and heard lots of people whom love them but never seen one yet. Sounds like another piggie parent hooked :-D
 
I've had guinea pigs for 6 years now (hubby had them for around 20+ years). During those times, I've learned that they can give you so much joy and happiness but it can also be so heartbreaking when they get sick and pass away. We've had 7 lovely guinea pigs in this time frame and 5 of them had problems that hubby never experienced in the past. But through it all we never gave up in treating all of them, even if it means travelling so far just to get them cured. Even if it means spending thousands of pounds for all the vet fees and operations (exluding all the money spent on food, housing & bedding, even boarding when we go on holiday). My guinea pigs will always be loved and well cared for no matter what.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top