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Terfel's Train - My Cataract Group

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Wiebke

Wiebke

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Here is an updated group picture of my closely bonded group. All three ladies have got cataracts; they are now all 5-6 years old. On the right is their gentle master diplomat of a husboar, Terfel; he is coming up to 4 years old.

Taffy has been with me since 2009; she was part of a large RSPCA rescue action in Gateshead and came here via Sokel/Becklen rescue then in Gretna with her last rescue born daughter Telyn. Tegyd from Crawley Guinea Pig Rescue in West Sussex arrived in 2011 and caused quite a stir. After splitting the two sows, who had become fast friends after Telyn's sudden death, from the Tribe they dated Terfel at RNGP Welfare in Rugby. He was a Piggy Bank rescue (one of the Brackley boys). Feisty Mali from Milhaven in West Yorkshire joined at the end of 2012 after she didn't settle with the residential sow herd. She's the oldest of the quartet. Tegyd and Mali have come here specifically because of their eye problem.

 
They are gorgeous! Are they obviously affected by having cataracts? My horse Domino now has cataract in his right eye and it does not seem to be affecting his behaviour at all. I think Terfel is my favourite. A very stately Pig!
 
Taffy, who is practically blind with very advanced cataracts, is most affected; she can only see light and dark. The other still have at least partial sight, but it has made them more difficult to bond, as they feel more vulnerable.

Mali is still zooming around the living room every now and then, but it took rather a lot of patience and help from her friends to give Taffy the confidence back to move around freely during roaming time once her cataracts got too bad.

Terfel is a rather shy hugger of shadows, but he is also my much loved cuddle pig. He's put some weight on since he stopped running around as much but hasn't curtailed his appetite...
 
Awwww :love:

Tegyd :drool: I have a piggie crush on her!
 
Am glad to see your cataract piggies as several of my oldies 5-6 years have also developed cataracts. I was a little worried whether I should give them any special treatment ie separate them from the rest of the herd. I have noticed that two piggies which I adopted because they were born blind seem to be less affected by their blindness than piggies who have gone almost blind in their old age .Do you think it necessary to separate the older cataract ones from the herd,though they seem to be coping ok, just a little more hesitant.at moving around.
I have also noticed that any ones which I have temporarily housed on their own for various reasons absolutely hate to be away from the others.
 
christine said:
Am glad to see your cataract piggies as several of my oldies 5-6 years have also developed cataracts. I was a little worried whether I should give them any special treatment ie separate them from the rest of the herd. I have noticed that two piggies which I adopted because they were born blind seem to be less affected by their blindness than piggies who have gone almost blind in their old age .Do you think it necessary to separate the older cataract ones from the herd,though they seem to be coping ok, just a little more hesitant.at moving around.
I have also noticed that any ones which I have temporarily housed on their own for various reasons absolutely hate to be away from the others.
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As long as your cataract piggies have a stable weight and are getting enough food etc. then they are perfectly fine; if there is some degree of bullying, then I separate.

I split Taffy and Tegyd from the Tribe when Tegyd ultimately failed to integrate with the big group, but she had become fast friends with Taffy, who had just lost her two year old daughter to sudden heart failure and was a bit lost. By that time, Taffy's cataracts had started to get worse quite quickly and she was losing her high standing in the hierarchy and finding that quite hard. Tegyd I rehomed because she was stuck in rescue due to her cataracts and her very dominant nature. Funnily enough, she became Teffy's devoted slave until last year when Taffy's cataracts rendered her so blind that all she can see is light and dark. Once she was happily settled in a group with piggies of her choice, Tegyd has been a very changed piggy, as has Mali, who also found it very hard to bond again after she'd lost her (loving) home, her blind companion and her own eye sight.

I make sure that none of my cataract sows is ever alone; they always have a companion, even when going to the vets for an operation. Terfel worships Taffy and Mali has become Tegyd's faithful sidekick. Taffy very much relies on her companions; but she has thankfully regained her confidence enough that she is roaming around the living room on her own. We had to adjust the ramp in her cage to a shallower angle for Taffy's sake (she was afraid to use the steeper one), but that is the only concession I have made.

Sadly, after three years of rehoming piggies with already existing eye problems, I have now two more of my own with the early stages of cataracts. :(

You might enjoy this litte children's story about another (RIP) cataract piggy of mine: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...nd-eye-on-mischief-another-piggy-story.33420/

It is easier on blind born piggiesbecause they don't know different!
 
Thanks for the advice it is reassuring . When I said about separating them from the group ,I meant all the cataract piggies together as a sub group. I only put a piggy on its own post op for a while or if there is a chance of any contagion.
Thanks for taking the time to reply.It is good to have advice from another person with a biggish group and lots of experience.
 
christine said:
Thanks for the advice it is reassuring . When I said about separating them from the group ,I meant all the cataract piggies together as a sub group. I only put a piggy on its own post op for a while or if there is a chance of any contagion.
Thanks for taking the time to reply.It is good to have advice from another person with a biggish group and lots of experience.
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I did find that the bonding with 5 year old Mali (who I had tried with my elderlies group first) started to go really well once she realised that the other girls had the same problem as her. From that moment on she wanted to belong. Terfel helped a lot with that bonding; he trotted after her at her own speed and let himself be trotted after and be mounted as often as she liked. But he also made it clear to her when she was misbehaving and was very protective of Taffy. It was a two day bonding that was not for quite for the faint-hearted, but well worth sitting through! While the cataracts don't really impede the girls in their daily life, they create a strong bond between the three feisty and strong characters.
 
It's lovely to see how well they are doing Wiebke. I love hearing about the catarract group as Fuzzy has the early stages, though you wouldn't think she did the way she zooms about.
 
helen105281 said:
It's lovely to see how well they are doing Wiebke. I love hearing about the catarract group as Fuzzy has the early stages, though you wouldn't think she did the way she zooms about.
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I have got Tanni, who has just been found to have the early stages in both eyes and Hywel where one eye is going... So there will be a supply of more cataract piggies for me, too!
 
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