RSPCA Award

“Certificate of meritorious service presented to Chrissie Slade by the Council in recognition of many years loyal service to the Society.”

These were the words on the framed certificate received by my wonderful home visitor this weekend, along with an RSPCA pin brooch.

Chrissie joined ‘the team’ in 2002 as a home visitor and was also responsible for the original website. All that aside Chrissie has adopted more guineas from me than anyone else. Chrissie adopts the older guineas, Mr Happy being the oldest- adopted at 5 years old. Over the seven years Chrissie has adopted well over 10 guinea pigs from me including 3 pairs of boars, the famous Florence who left us aged 9 after spending 6 years as a Gorgeous Guinea and Marvellous Marbles (also one of the pairs of boars), whose bladder issues are well documented and often used as an example for helping other guineas in similar situations.

Chrissie has also been there for the real emergencies when I’ve been full, one of whom was the Gorgeous Eclipse who was about to be put to sleep because of his ’skin condition’ (but that’s another story!).

A home visitor that thinks along exactly the same lines as me is of prime importance, if we’re not thinking along the same lines and do not have the same ideals then it’s not a team that will work effectively for me. So a ‘thank you’ from me too, and all the guineas we have rehomed over the years
Karen (who thinks that words are not enough but some things need to be said )

Eclipse, who spent his first wheeks with Chrissie who also treated his skin condition along with Jenny at Active Vetcare.

What’s my medicine?

The responsibility of what medical treatment your guinea pig receives is in your hands, ultimately; it is you that decides on who will treat your guineas and this is likely to affect the eventual outcome. However, one would hope that  your vet can guide you in this treatment with the benefit of their knowledge and, if you are fortunate, their good experience.

Information is much more accessible now, both to the veterinary proffession and to the general public. This, however, does not prevent mistakes. In the last 2 weeks RGPR have been aware of 2 vets prescribing Penicillin to guinea pigs- something they CANNOT tolerate! The problem is that the drug is not ‘called’ Penicillin which, unintentionally, disguises the active ingredient to those who might know that it should not be given. Generally speaking anything ending in ‘cillin’ or ‘mycin’ must be investigated further for the active ingredient. Unless all other options have been tried and the situation is a do or die one giving Penicillin is not wise!

The instances that RGPR are aware of were not ‘do or die’ ones and alternatives had not been tried. Never be afraid to ask your vet what’s really in the medicine, better still ask if it contains Penicillin. At the end of the day it’s your Guinea’s life in your hands…

See NOAH for more information, but feedback should be to your vet.

All by myself, (The Early Days)

don’t wanna live all by myself, anymore…

Violet’s Human contacted me when a sow she had taken in from a friend wasn’t reponding to being rehablitated and bonded with other guinea pigs. Previously Violet had lived with a sow where there had been much animosity and the situation escalated so much it got to point where the Human handed over Violet over to a friend who also had guineas.  The intention was to rehabilitate Violet and then rehome her. However after weeks of trying to bond Violet with several groups her new Human contacted me and asked for help, unfortunately it isn’t as black and white as just giving advice so I offered to take Violet in long term and, after working through her issues, to find her a new home.

Violet spent 7 days on her own in C+C caging next to my group (who have no issues and are a laid back bunch).

She had minimal handling from me, only a checkover daily, no cuddling etc. She’s also had a Melt and shampoo. That way she could adjust to the surroundings with nothing else to bother her.

She spent much of her time from day 2 onwards just stood up on the base of the cage watching the other guineas eat and sleep etc. They came over to have a look at her on day one but by day 2 they left her alone.

She had some time outside, I put a small run inside the big one so she was still with the group but couldn’t get with them. She moved ‘with’ them, as they moved up the run so did she, she seemed to follow one sow in particular. I put the others away and left Hope in the big run and opened the door of  Violet’s run, Hope went in and had a nosey and then hopped out again with Violet following her. They had about 5 minutes together (Violet doing lots of sniffing!) then I put them back in their pens (Violet on her own).

On SundayI took one of the C+C grids out, when Violet noticed it was gone she hopped over the plastic base and into the next pen. Rather sheepishly she had a look round. No one took any notice of her.
There was some ‘handbags at dawn’ with one of the rescue sows that is in there, (she also has problems socialising, or did, but has come on leaps and bounds), after a while they settled and went their seperate ways. When it had quietened down and they’d sorted their differences (no blood:) ) I took the other rescue sow out for a while. When I put her back she wasn’t interested in Violet. I was in the shed all afternoon so could keep an eye on them but there were no problems Violet stayed with the group that night, and is still with them. She hasn’t made any friends yet, really, though my boar seems to like her.

I’ll leave her there for a while until she starts to come out of herself then try her with other rescue pigs, that will be  the true test!  I can see her fear, and that needs to go.

Strictly Guinea Pigs!

Getting compliments for the amount of help and useful information we give out when we rehome guinea pigs is always flattering, but when someone tells you that they only want RGPR to rehome their guineas and they’re happy to wait until there’s room in the rescue for them, it has to be the ultimate of all compliments.

There are many people who care desperately what happens to their guineas when they go into rescue and on many occasion I’ve been told that RGPR were ‘chosen’ because we are a guinea pig specific rescue. Whilst I could bluff my way through a few other animals I don’t believe that’s good enough for them and stick to what I know.

Recently I was referred to as having ’strict rehoming policies’ by a couple wishing to find somewhere that would take their beloved guinea pigs. They viewed this as a positive feature of rescue, also the fact that we only rescued and rehomed guinea pigs.

I feel ’strict’ is perhaps a little too harsh a word to use, more like firm but fair- firm with the Humans to achieve a fair placement for the guinea pigs in our care. Whilst we can’t map out the rest of their life for them and retain control over everything that happens to them we can arm their new Humans with information, get them off to a good start by ensuring the home meets the 5 Freedoms as outlined by the Animal Welfare Act 2007; and continue to keep the Humans up to date with information by inviting them to subscribe to our newsletter and come along to our Piggy PMs

Clover arrived at RGPR in late 2002 looking nothing like she does in the pigture! She was one of the first ever guinea pigs to trial Gorgeous Guineas shampoos, when veterinary treatments had failed.

Hormonally Yours…

This month we have 3 sows with Cystic Ovaries, each presenting with different ’symptoms’. Sandy has the classic bilateral hairloss, hopefully we will see some fuzz growing back soon Sandy has no dominance issues with the other guineas she lives with but does have crusty nipples- another sign of ovarian cysts/hormonal issues, but certainly not present on all cases.

Little Miss Lucky has hairloss in patches all over her body as well as the usual bilateral hairloss. She has been treated for mites and fungal problems but when this didn’t have any effect she had a course of Chorulon injections on day one and day ten. This ’symptom’ is also seen in dogs and in very rare cases they do not regain their hair. Since the injections the irritation to her skin that Miss Lucky was experiencing has ceased. In Humans there is often discomfort with Cystic Ovaries, it is possible they were irritating Little Miss Lucky. Little Miss Lucky has had behavioural issues in the past, possibly due to cysts, possibly not…

Fern has no hairloss, but the day after she arrived on Planet Guinea she was having heavy blood loss. She immediately went to see Jenny at Active Vetcare, Tilehurst, who felt a cyst in one of her Ovaries. She was prescribed Baytril @ 0.4ml x2 daily and given a Chorulon injection with another to follow in 10 days. The bleeding has now stopped. The most suprising thing  with Fern was how ‘normal’ she was whilst losing huge amounts of blood! She continued to eat and drink as normal and was happy with her friends- no dominance issues that are sometimes associated with hormonal problems.

These girls go to show that there is no obvious one sign and it was simply by handling Fern that her bloodloss was noticed, had she been left because all seemed well it could have been a different story.

Sandy, who also had mites (note hairloss around face and general ‘broken’ hair), has bilateral hairloss.

Golden Years…

Ursula, one of the Brightest and Biggest Stars.

Tonight the sky will be even brighter on Planet Guinea, the Gorgeous Ursula has gone to be a Star . Now there are two very bright stars with white strips. When you’re looking for Ursula she’s the one with the longer strip of light. She’s always there commanding authority in a silent way, but tends to linger at the back waiting for a later opportunity to come forward. Ursula’s star moves gregariously around the sky  as if making a bid for freedom
Ursula’s Humans contacted me in 2004 when they could no longer keep her and her friend. Although I was full up I was in contact with a Human that had a lone Senior pig who was looking for friends and Ursula and friend went to live with them.

Three years later Ursula arrived here again, she was now the lone guinea looking for company; her Humans were moving and as devoted as they were thought it would be in Ursula’s best interests to stay in the Reading area. Ursula was now 6 years old, though a very spritely 6 year old, she went to live with one of my groups.

After finding a broken tooth on Ursula, I noticed her breath was smelly  when I was checking her mouth, although the regrowth of the new tooth was good it hadn’t been growing fast enough (should have been back to normal nearly) and it was wobbly- but not enough to come out.

So Ursula went to visit Jenny who swiftly removed the offending tooth with a pair of rongeurs and not a peep from Ursula There was a bit of blood but no pus thankfully. Ursula’s took some Baytril and Probiotics and some Rimadyl for pain relief. Oh, and plenty of Comfort food

Ursula was particularly fussy about food and had days of preferring different foods- nearly always the Phosphorus heavy ones. During her last few months on Planet Guinea I gave her what she wanted, if that was just baby corn all day then baby corn it was. She always ate her dry food although her hay intake had dropped dramatically. In her previous home Ursula was given Yogurt drops, daily and routinely. They were an expected part of her day, so much so that when she came back here for the second time around and nasal gazed at me whenever I came into the shed sooo expectantly I contacted her previous owner about it. This was when I found out about the yogurt drops and we concluded that she was waiting to be given them! Instead she was gently off them with apple, not the best food ever but better than yogurt drops. Apple was to become Ursula’s favourite food, where there was apple there was Ursula

Ursula’s Incisor never did grow back, and she was over 8 and a half when she left us, she had minimal dental work done; for the most part filing but occasional trimming was needed. The word minimal and Ursula don’t go together, Urs was BIG in every way, a BIG prescence.

Ursula also came along to Piggy PMs up until the age of 7 to show off her 3 Incisors and just how efficiently could eat with them Ursula is also a calendar girl for Guinea Pig Welfare.

Ursula’s decision to become a Star can only have a BIG impact… The sky on Planet Guinea is a brighter place now they have you

Karen (Missing her Golden Girl, BIGtime )

Ursula, summer, 2008

Blowing a Gale through the Forest…

Gale and Forest are Molly’s sisters, the three little girls born to Krystal and Gem whose story appears earlier on in The Pig Issue.

The 3 girls were still suckling from mums at 4 wheeks old so I decided to separate them! The girls went to live with Heath, a youthful boy born here last October. This would also be good for Molly who was  provisionally reserved to go and live with Mr Melt and Friends, pending guinea pig approval. Gale

The move went ultra smoothly, not problem. The next step was to separate Molly from her sisters, to make the move smoother for Molly she got to stay with Heath and her sisters got to live with Twig- Heath’s brother. Expecting great trauma at this point I was extremely surprised at the reaction to the split, or perhaps I should say lack of reaction! No calling to each other or pining, nothing! Lots of noise, these are vocal girls after all, but only the usual ‘feed me’ wheeks etc.

When Eclipse arrived at RGPR I decided to put him with the Squeaky Girls, Gale and Forest. Twig went to live with Krystal and Gem who made their feelings clear regarding frisky young boars from the start The change in behaviour towards Eclipse was quite something. Gale and Forest happily played with the younger Twig and Forest was often seen sitting on him, something she would do to Gem and Krystal. But Eclipse commanded respect from the moment they met. It was a silent command but very evident. The girls were almost like guilty schoolgirls who were half sure they had been found out. Things are mopre relaxed now and there have been some food fights but that air of respect is apparent.

Forest and Gale are funtime girls who would like a large cage for zooming please. Their new Human must be sensible and not be tempted to give in to them, they are very cute but also clever, their Human will be twice as clever and one step ahead of them!

Being slightly deaf would be a benefit too, their wheek is incredibly high and just happens at random times, optimistically…

Karen

Where there’s Hope… the sky shimmers :)

Gorgeous Hope went to join the other shiny stars on Planet Guinea last wheek. Hope is the incredibly LARGE Star sprawled across the night sky, shining down on Planet Guinea. She is very shiny and bright but has a dark patch. Life was for hoping more food would be along shortly, when it did arrive it was never enough…

Hope arrived at the London Show via a breeder who delivered her from the Midlands and some friends that had seen Hope and some other Satins in a pet shop. At the time I was looking for pet quality satins, breeders had been kind enough to give me purebreds but had no pets to give me and I wanted to compare the two regarding Osteodystrophy. That was 3 years ago and for a while it seemed that Hope was pregnant, but that was just her shape

Hope was undemanding but always stood her ground if she was challenged by anyone. Lately she has been the model for the Planet Guinea Cereal Grasses, has been featured in calendars and has done some Piggy PMs.

Karen (missing the little choc nose in the dry feed bowl )

Cinnamon Star- There You Are…

This wheek the very lovely Calista went to be a Star on Planet Guinea. Calista was 5 and had been gifted to Planet guinea as part of the Satin Study (to establish whether or not Osteodystrophy is present in UK guineas), Calista’s breeder kept impeccable records and we could see if OD was likely to happen. Because such care had been taken when selecting Calista’s line it was thought that there was unlikely to be any OD in it, her ancestors had shown no signs (though OD can be carried) and her breeder was also the owner of several generations of pigs before her.

Calista never showed any signs of OD, she did have some tooth root problems which she overcame. She had an horrific abscess and I was all for giving her every treatment available, however Jenny (our vet) calmly suggested we try the least invasive form of treatment first- antibiotics and flushing and go from there. Calista’s Incisors turned brown for nearly a year but they came back white and strong much to my suprise and she had no trouble after that.

Calista went to Piggy PMs where she was a ‘guinea pig’ in the Vet Room, she helped in the demonstration on syringe feeding and giving tablets etc. Her quiet and calm manner made the vets and nurses look quite professional!

At home Calista was a ‘nursey pig’, she snuggled up to the lovely Angel when she got older and washed her eyes for her . A very quiet and unassuming little girl but always standing her ground. I will always remember Calista for the way she snatched up food and held her head high before trotting off to some far corner to eat it, away from anyone else

Calista is the Cinnamon Agouti Shiny Star on Planet Guinea, a chocolate grey but subtly shiny star that hangs round in the foreground, unassuming but unmissable

Karen (who can’t believe how quickly the last 3 years have gone)…

A Red Shiny Star On Planet Guinea

This wheek Planet Guinea gained a bright red, shiny star when Mr Red left us suddenly. The star can be unpredictable in its movements, sometimes lingering at the back, at othertimes right at the forefront making sure it is seen.

Mr Red was living with his two sowfriends Gem and Krystal. Previously he was used to living on his own and lived his life accordingly, grazing his way through the day, not really sure what life was for. Then he met the girls and his life took shape! Life was for eating! Quickly eating everything before someone else did! No more grazing through the day, do that and there’d be nothing left Mornings were for wheeking for your breakfast, eating it, and then sleeping… If the Human comes into the shed and doesn’t offer food or rustles a bag yet gives you nothing then wheek! Very loudly just wheek!

Mr Red had some sort of mobility problem, possibly osteodystrophy, possibly not. However, he didn’t know he was ‘disabled’ with a problem and lived his life to the full Such a shock to find he had left Planet Guinea to become one of the shiny stars…

Karen (pleased to have given this boy the best wheeks of his life )