Danielle Smith
Teenage Guinea Pig
We never thought we’d keep you, you know. You and BJ came to us as fosters, and we had an agreement with the rescue that we’d swap out our fosters once every month or two.
You both came to us in a bit of a state. You were rescued from a hoarding situation and you both had a bad case of mites, a touch of fungal, and extremely long nails with the biggest spurs I have seen. We treated you with ivermectin immediately, and a fungal bath a couple of days later. You showed us that you could be very grumpy indeed!
In time, you forgave us, though you and BJ were still very skittish. You loved your first floortime (quite possibly the first one ever), and you were delighted to learn there were other pigs to say hello to. You never showed any malice or showed off, you just wanted to sniff and lick these newcomers through the bars.
It came to end of month two, I told Callum there were other pigs who would enjoy one-on-one care and attention. He refused, and said you’d stay with us until you were adopted. I then decided to go all-out on an adoption campaign for you both and got some beautiful headshots that detailed your gentleboarly nature and your wonderful doughnut lipples.
Sadly, there wasn’t much interest in you due to your age. Callum and I resolved to give you the best life possible while we found the perfect adoptee (for the longest while we were considering my MIL, she always loved you best, Rolo). You figured out what fleecy items were for. You were so happy at what you considered ultimate comfort. With the help of these cosies, you ventured out from under your wooden bed and began to sit in the cage and let me stroke you. It was a magic moment, just you lying there being happy and letting me stroke your head and scratch your ears.
When we first had you, we only had enough cosies for our current 9 “perma-pigs”, and not much left over if anything for you and BJ. That changed once I saw how much you enjoyed fleecy items, and I bought a bunch of new cosies. You loved every single one, but especially the huge oversized cuddle sacks.
After we’d had you a few months, I noticed something very subtle – you looked a little uncomfortable and hadn’t eaten anything for the past couple of hours. You loved your hay (to a surprising extent, you and BJ needed twice the hay of my other pigs, maybe due to your bad start in life). I knew something was up and called the emergency vet at 11pm. This started what was due to become a pattern of late-night vet visits for you. When we got there, the vet diagnosed mild bloat and gave you the appropriate medications. We took you home and, oh, Callum and I cheered so hard when you ate your first strand of hay unaided at 2am! It took a couple weeks, but you were soon back to normal.
A couple of months after the first bloat episode, you had another. It was at this time we decided you couldn’t be adopted out as it wasn’t fair on the adoptee or on you. Callum and I made the choice to adopt you and BJ permanently on the 3rd of August 2018. Unfortunately you’d just been at the vet again so you were a bit grumpy at me.
From then on, you had your good days and bad days. I’m glad to say many many more good days, you were such a happy little (fat…. Er…. Big-boned) chap.
You both came to us in a bit of a state. You were rescued from a hoarding situation and you both had a bad case of mites, a touch of fungal, and extremely long nails with the biggest spurs I have seen. We treated you with ivermectin immediately, and a fungal bath a couple of days later. You showed us that you could be very grumpy indeed!
In time, you forgave us, though you and BJ were still very skittish. You loved your first floortime (quite possibly the first one ever), and you were delighted to learn there were other pigs to say hello to. You never showed any malice or showed off, you just wanted to sniff and lick these newcomers through the bars.
It came to end of month two, I told Callum there were other pigs who would enjoy one-on-one care and attention. He refused, and said you’d stay with us until you were adopted. I then decided to go all-out on an adoption campaign for you both and got some beautiful headshots that detailed your gentleboarly nature and your wonderful doughnut lipples.
Sadly, there wasn’t much interest in you due to your age. Callum and I resolved to give you the best life possible while we found the perfect adoptee (for the longest while we were considering my MIL, she always loved you best, Rolo). You figured out what fleecy items were for. You were so happy at what you considered ultimate comfort. With the help of these cosies, you ventured out from under your wooden bed and began to sit in the cage and let me stroke you. It was a magic moment, just you lying there being happy and letting me stroke your head and scratch your ears.
When we first had you, we only had enough cosies for our current 9 “perma-pigs”, and not much left over if anything for you and BJ. That changed once I saw how much you enjoyed fleecy items, and I bought a bunch of new cosies. You loved every single one, but especially the huge oversized cuddle sacks.
After we’d had you a few months, I noticed something very subtle – you looked a little uncomfortable and hadn’t eaten anything for the past couple of hours. You loved your hay (to a surprising extent, you and BJ needed twice the hay of my other pigs, maybe due to your bad start in life). I knew something was up and called the emergency vet at 11pm. This started what was due to become a pattern of late-night vet visits for you. When we got there, the vet diagnosed mild bloat and gave you the appropriate medications. We took you home and, oh, Callum and I cheered so hard when you ate your first strand of hay unaided at 2am! It took a couple weeks, but you were soon back to normal.
A couple of months after the first bloat episode, you had another. It was at this time we decided you couldn’t be adopted out as it wasn’t fair on the adoptee or on you. Callum and I made the choice to adopt you and BJ permanently on the 3rd of August 2018. Unfortunately you’d just been at the vet again so you were a bit grumpy at me.
From then on, you had your good days and bad days. I’m glad to say many many more good days, you were such a happy little (fat…. Er…. Big-boned) chap.
