Well, I went and got York today.
Honestly, I wish she just would have met me at the door with him instead of inviting me inside, because it was horrible. In the living room of her run-down house, she had 23 guinea pigs. Most (including York) were in separate cages not really big enough to turn around in; others were stuffed 3 to a pet store size cage. I couldn't see the bedding in the cages for all the crushed, trampled poop--layers upon layers, although she claims to clean the cages out once a week. I just happened to come "the day before they get cleaned." Other cages had mesh bottoms--the kind with grids GPs get their poor feet stuck in. They all had water bottles, but who knows when the last time was that the water was changed. The food bowls were empty except for the poop in them. She said she fed them sweet feed and calf manna--no veggies or hay. The smell that punched me in the face when she opened the front door about killed me. There were flies everywhere... and to top it all off, there was a mousetrap in the floor!! I said something about it, and she said she had a problem with mice that she was trying to get rid of.... and not 10 minutes later she started talking about how one day one of her GPs got out of his cage somehow. I was like, "WHAT IF HE HAD STEPPED ON THE MOUSETRAP?!" She looked horrified--she'd never thought of that possibility. The conditions were simply disgusting and horrible. And I really don't want to talk about the 50 (yes, FIFTY) rabbits she had in a shed outside.
What I don't understand (other than the obvious) is the following. This woman is such a sweet old lady. She's as nice as can be and broke into tears when I took York out of her arms. She seems to care about her animals in some weird way. But if so, how can she if she keep them in such conditions?!? I honestly think it has to be pure ignorance rather than intentional cruelty. I just... I don't know. I made some suggestions about different bedding (she's using pine and corncob), bigger cages (C&C to be exact), better food, and a few other things... but she said she has been on disability for 15 years and money is tight so she couldn't do any of that. She also doesn't take any of her animals to the vet, as that also costs money. She's such a nice old lady. But I wanted to punch her in the freaking face (and then report her to Animal Control, PETA, the health inspector, and anyone else possible)!
Anyway, I'm just glad York is out of those disgusting conditions. She was definitely right about his breathing. It's incredibly loud and raspy, but has been this way his whole life--so probably not a URI She may be right about it being allergies. I'm going to get an air purifier soon and get him to the vet just as soon as payday rolls around. For now, he's in a temporary quarantine--a 1.5'x3' cage. It's not the biggest thing in the world, but it's a whole new world compared to what he's been living in for the past year! When I know he's not a health danger to my other two boys, I'll try introducing them and adding on to their current cage.
Anyway, so that's the story on getting my little York--or I shouldn't really say little, he's huge! Much bigger than Wiggley and Narco. He's a year and a half old. Below are some pigtures of him I took about an hour ago after he got settled into his new place. :)
By the way, can anyone tell me about Ivermectin (sp?) Should I go ahead and get that for him now, or wait on a vet to diagnose him?
On with the pics:
Hiding... he's camera shy!
The poor boy had never eaten veggies before... he dug in!
This is his temporary home during quarantine.