The Case of Gumbo the Guinea Pig - or Why Not to House Rabbits with Guinea Pigs - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**VoodooJoint** · #1 03-06-06, 10:30 pm

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]On January 26 2005 I pulled from a backyard a Male Guinea Pig and two Rabbits (male and female), survivors of Hurricane Katrina and the last survivors of 11 rabbits and 3 guinea pigs.. The rabbits were transported north where they would have a chance of adoption. The male Guinea Pig stayed with me. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Gumbo, as the guinea pig was renamed, was in good/poor condition. He was a bit underweight, dirty and his nails were overgrown and curling around. He also had a large foot spur. Under loving care he quickly put weight back on and his injuries and issues from neglect were soon healed. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Gumbo’s physical appearance was starling. He has a general tattered look to him. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Upon investigating the story of his life before the storm I found out that Gumbo was housed in an outdoor hutch with at least one rabbit. The hutch he and the rabbit lived in was inadequate. It had a wire floor, no resting boards, no enclosed housing for the animals to get out of the weather or stay warm in and was open to the wind on 3 sides. The only furnishings in the hutch was a cinder block, a plastic milk crate and a bowl of scummy water that once held food. A couple of handfuls of poor quality hay and pine needles along with newspaper were thrown into the hutch as their only means of burrowing for warmth and relief from the wires. Gumbo’s feet were red and inflamed but luckily he did not yet have a full blown case of Bumblefoot. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]The hutch where Gumbo lived [/FONT]

(continued)

**VoodooJoint** · #2 03-06-06, 10:31 pm

On Gumbo’s health check with the vet several old and healed injuries were found. All of the injuries are consistent with damage a rabbit could inflict upon a Guinea Pig if they shared a cage.

All over Gumbos body are scars of various sizes including one or two that could have been from ruptured abscesses. I could not get clear pictures of those because of his hair coat.

His ear is torn and tattered.

His torn ear

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]His healthy ear [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]He has a great deal of scarring on his left eye. The vet suspects a traumatic injury caused this rather then a simple infection. Once again the vet said it is consistent with an injury that can be inflicted by a rabbit. The scarring covers so much of the guinea pig’s field of vision that it is suspected he has no real vision in that eye at all. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Left eye with scar tissue [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]The middle digit of his left hind food has been amputated. The vet concluded that is was a traumatic amputation. The cause could have been getting it caught somehow or bitten off by another animal. Considering the other injuries and scars the vet believes it was probably bitten off, most likely by a rabbit. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Amputated middle toe [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]The owner of the rabbits and guinea pigs told me that Gumbo and his rabbit companion were “best friends” and that they got along wonderfully. All evidence points to the opposite. These injuries may not even have been caused by fighting between the animals. It could have been, in the rabbits mind, playful tussling. Unfortunately a Guinea Pig is not equipped for such rough handling and the injuries Gumbo suffered are proof of that. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Please NEVER house guinea pigs and rabbits together.[/FONT]

**MetallichicA** · #3 03-06-06, 10:33 pm

Pics aren't working for me, Voodoo... and from the story, honestly not sure I want to see

Poor baby.

**nonamian_girl** · #4 03-06-06, 10:35 pm

Poor CG. Is he with the girls yet?

**VoodooJoint** · #5 03-06-06, 10:45 pm

Sorry. I forgot Lynx hosted those pics on her site. I'm fixing them now.

**VoodooJoint** · #6 03-06-06, 10:50 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by nonamian_girl

Poor CG. Is he with the girls yet?

His big date day is March 8th, so Wednesday. He is so ready to be with his girls and after the life he's had he deserves a beautiful harem.

**MetallichicA** · #7 03-06-06, 10:54 pm

That's horrid... to think that someone would think that's a good life for ANY animal, much less a pretty-helpless guinea pig.

How in the world did you find him and the rabbits, though?

**nonamian_girl** · #8 03-06-06, 10:57 pm

I can't wait to see pictures of the big day!

That toe is really awful looking, poor little guy.

Yes, now that I think about it, I would really like more pics

. But not so much battle scar ones.

**VoodooJoint** · #9 03-06-06, 11:14 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetallichicA

How in the world did you find him and the rabbits, though?

When I came back to New Orleans after my long Evacuation friends of mine alerted me to the situation.

Both of my friends' homes were destroyed by the hurricane. They lived seperatly before the storm but now are sharing a house. They moved into a house belonging to the owner of the rabbits and Gps. They had been caring for the surviving animals and had the presence of mind to take Gumbo out of the hutch and house him indoors. They had him in a petstore cage but it's all they could fit.

Anyway, they did an excellent job with Gumbo and the rabbits. Gumbo put on lots of the weight he had lost under their care (they know all about good pellets, hay and veggies) and did the same for the rabbits. They found 3 rabbits alive. Two were near death when found. One died within hours of them finding it the other they managed to bring back to health.

Anyway, once I was back in town they knew to call me knowing that I would get those animals to safety.

The full story of the rescue is on GL here http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27010

**BabyGrl** · #10 03-06-06, 11:15 pm

Is this the same pig your hubby named Corpsegrinder or something like that?

**VoodooJoint** · #11 03-06-06, 11:19 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by babygrl1234

Is this the same pig your hubby named Corpsegrinder or something like that?

Yup. CorpseGrinder is his official name. His nickname is Chicken Gumbo or Gumbo for short.

For those of you who don't know my hubby has a rule that he gets to name all of the rescues that come through this house. As far as my GPs these are their official-nicknames

Humungo - Daisy
Gigantor - Daffodil (Dilly)
MEGABEAST - Baby Elly Lil Ly (Meg or Lil Ly for short)
CorpseGrinder - Gumbo

I won't get into the long list of rescue animal names for beasties that got rehomed. Half of them I'm still trying to forget like the greyhound mix he named Spazoid McDumbSh!t

**BabyGrl** · #12 03-06-06, 11:20 pm

Hehe. That just cracks me up. I love the name Gigantor. Probably because I use that word on a daily basis.

**Percy's Mom** · #13 03-07-06, 04:52 am

Poor little Gumbo! He definitely is going to deserve his harem! We need to see a new full body pigture of him though VJ.

**muffin** · #14 03-07-06, 01:38 pm

I'm so glad you found them VJ. It's horrible to think how many people must have left their animals, thinking they'd be back in a couple of days and that there'd be no damage (I know they shouldn't have left them at all). He was lucky to survive. We saw some pretty horrific news footage over here in the UK of the Hurricaine Katrina-social order seemed to break down completely. People were struggling to stay alive, never mind the poor animals trapped in homes and back yards. Oh it's too horrible.

Does your hubby stress out every time you bring a new animal home/ if so, the names at least keep him occupied! My boyfriend is getting twitchy at the thought of a quarantine cage in the living room for 3 weeks. That's only if we go ahead with another adoption-still deciding on the practicalities.

**Crysta** · #15 03-07-06, 01:48 pm

That is horrible, what he went throught, thankfully you found him and he is going to okay now.

Crystal

**Tatalp** · #16 03-07-06, 05:19 pm

That's just awful! I'm glad he's going to good home now, though.