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Sick, sad, starving piggy. A soon-to-be rescue!

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To keep the story short a friend of mine has a sick, starving, terribly underweight pig with crust filled eyes, who eats no veggies, hasn't had hay in months, and lives off of pellets placed outside of his tiny HAMSTER [seriously, with about a single cubic foot of space] cage to make him 'excersize'. I wish I'd known sooner what his conditions were- I would have scooped him up already!

I told her I'd take him home earlier today, and she insisted people wanted to buy him on Kijiji for $40. I nearly lost it- and after a few harsh words of reality, we settled on me taking him home.

I have the most amazing vet who's been treating my pet rats over the last fews years, and he specializes in Guinea pigs, and other small animals as well. Unlike most vets who claim to be experienced in 'exotics' and small animals.
And I myself have done plenty of research about guineapigs as I've considered adopting one or two but never got to it. This seems like a good time to me. I should be picking him up asap, maybe tomorrow if his owner lets me, or within the next few days. [fingers crossed that he isn't much worse]


So that's covered, BUT

This is where I need your help. I know the needs of diet, attention, cage maintenance, vet needs, dangerous medications, no-no foods, and the like, but..

How do I even get him home? It'll only be about 8 - 10 celsius for the next four, five days, so would it be okay to transport him in his little cage? It seems a bit cold, and she lives about 40 minutes away from my house. Nobody in my immediate family has a car, but a few good family friends do, so I may be able to get a ride.

Also, what can I use for a temporary cage? Between the cost of what the vet bill is going to be, and the cage itself it's either or for the time being.

For rats, I know of 'bin cages'. I have a large bin [about the size of the cages sold for guinea pigs in stores], and an old [powder coated] bird cage I can use for the 'grid' part. Would that be suitable for a while?

And what should I feed him for the first few days? Seeing as he's been virtually eating nothing, I wouldn't want to upset his belly with a sudden onslaught of nutrition.

:( I know I'll get plenty of this information from the vet, but.. it's great to hear from all passionate piggy owners, and any advice you guys can give me would really help!
 
Hello & welcome to the forum. Well done on (hopefully) rescuing this little guy. Can you give us an idea of what country you are in so we have an idea of what sort of cages etc you could have access to? Guineas need cages that are suitable to their needs, hamster/rat cages usually are not good for them, especially any with wire floors. Something like this is what we usually would recommend:

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/guinea_pig_cages/120_cm_cages/83034

For food you need good quality hay like Timothy hay & pellets like Burgess or Wagg. They need fresh veg daily, like sweet peppers/bell peppers (not hot type) & things like celery, romaine lettuce etc. There are lots of things which are helpful on this site too:
http://www.guinealynx.info/
 
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Hiya and welcome :)

Well done on rescuing this little fella:)

As for the cage, the fact you are rescuing him and giving him vet care, I can understand how you can't afford to buy a new cage ATM. I'm sure the cage you are describing is fine on a temporary basis as the main thing is to get the little fella out checked over and back to being a happy healthy piggie!

Well done again and thankyou for rescuing him! All the best! Xxxxxx
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Hello & welcome to the forum. Well done on (hopefully) rescuing this little guy. Can you give us an idea of what country you are in so we have an idea of what sort of cages etc you could have access to? Guineas need cages that are suitable to their needs, hamster/rat cages usually are not good for them, especially any with wire floors. Something like this is what we usually would recommend:

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/guinea_pig_cages/120_cm_cages/83034

For food you need good quality hay like Timothy hay & pellets like Burgess or Wagg. They need fresh veg daily, like sweet peppers/bell peppers (not hot type) & things like celery, romaine lettuce etc. There are lots of things which are helpful on this site too:
http://www.guinealynx.info/
Click to expand...

Haha, thank you for the information but please be assured I know the difference between rats and guinea pigs! :) I planned on nursing him back to health and then ... possibly ... putting him up for adoption, [but to be honest, I'm already smitten] though, in the event that I keep him, I'd make him a C&C cage. Of course he'd need a comfortable cage in the meantime.

Bins are just alternatives for when you're in a pinch, and work for ICU cages as well. [who are prone to bumblefoot as well, so I'm very anti wire floors already]

I live in Toronto, Ontario, and any cages I've seen being sold in-store are too small for guinea pigs. There is a very nice cage sold on amazon that's 8 cubic feet, though!

In terms of food, I already have Timothy hay [perhaps some alfalfa mixed in to help fatten him up], high quality pellets with vitamic c, and romaine lettuce and green peppers on my "to get" list.

My main concern is the 'beginning'. :( As in, just trying to figure out what to -initially- introduce him to so he isn't overloaded with new food, and if a bin cage will suit him for now while he's being treated and nursed back to health.
 
I would suggest a diet of hay to start with because if he's not used to veg it's going to upset his stomach having too much too quickly. Maybe getting him eating hay for a couple of days then introduce a small amount of one veg so you can gradually build him up. I'm sure some experienced rescue people who've been through this will be on in the morning (it's 2am in the UK) and can give you some more detailed advice.
As for transporting him can you put his cage inside a cardboard box to keep the heat in (obviously make sure there are some holes so oxygen can get in!) or wrap a blanket round the cage?
Well done for giving him a new home.
 
Hey, I'm in Kingston - nice to see another Canadian! Good job with rescuing that poor piggy. I can't believe anyone would keep an animal in those conditions. Some people just shouldn't have pets. If you can, you might want to wrap a blanket around the cage AND put it in a box - that way it's unlikely that wind will cause any problems, and hopefully at least a bit of heat will build up in there! If he's skinny, then he probably won't be able to stand much cold.

Good luck! I hope that despite his rough start he's still in good health!
 
i wouls recommend start him with hay, hay and more hay. Introduce the new pellets slowly as well as the veggies. The better conditions and TLC, he will naturally be happier and eat more.

Well done for rescuing this wee fella.Pigtures soon please :) x
 
You could always put something warm underneath the cage to try and give out heat, in England we have snuggle pads which are brilliant for this sort of thing. Just make sure hes not directly on it as he won't be able to move away if he gets too hot.
 
I would suggest what everyone else has said, lots of good quality hay. You could try a small piece of veg, just a few pieces of cucumber for example, see if he likes it, give it a day or too to check his poops remain normal then try something again. Just build it up, little by little.
Once you have him on good hay, pellets and a little veg you may notice his poops change, they may become larger, darker and kinda shiny. This is a good thing and obviously anything else is not, loose or runny poops for example.
I changed my biys from gerty guinea pig to burgess excess last year and this was something I noticed.
Good luck :)
 
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