A welcome addition

[JanJam]

Just to announce we have got the girls a boyfriend!!! (Neutered, of course). We went to a local rescue last night, they had a lot of piggies and the decision was hard, but my husband settled on a tri colour short haired.

He is as yet un-named (any suggestions? The girls are called Lola, Dora and Poppy). He likes his cuddles but I do feel so sorry for him at the moment, he's in quarentine in the living room, all alone. But it has to be done.

He has a cateract in one eye, his estimated age is 18 months. I've been looking up information and so far can see nothing too much to worry about except diabetes, we will of course keep an eye on his progress. He was part of a large group of boys and girls, the previous owner was an old lady who just got too elderly to look after them properly, she couldn't even bend over to pick them up. At least the boys and girls had been spearated, but he lived in on outdoor run in the garden all the time. He has a few battle scars on his ears from being in a group of males (maybe the cateract could have been one of these scars?) but otherwise healthy.

I'm really looking forward to him joining the girls in the 3x5 C&C fleece and towel cage with daily access to THEIR dining room containing THEIR fridge (I swear they don't believe we keep our own food in there! The fridge is in the dining room as the kitchen is too small). We like having a group of four, it's a good number.

Well I'd better go and see how he is. I haven't yet weighed him so will do that now. He's such a little sweetheart, all the piggies at the rescue were! My heart nearly broke over the two Satins and one other (non-satin) piggie who was born with no lower incisors and a receded jaw. I'm told he'll need regular upper incisor teeth trims for the rest of his life, and he's obviously had a few already as he is very comfortable being held with his tummy in the air! There was another boy as well who is an amputee!He has had one leg amputated from the hip (was done before he got to the rescue) but he seemed to manage just fine on the remaining 3!

It's so hard visiting rescues! I'd love to be able to take them ALL home!!!!

[babyboo]

You are so lucky! I really wouldn't mind getting a male GP but the ones at our rescue are not neutered so I would have to take him to the vet and have it done when I would rather bring a male pig home already neutered.
Do you know any rescues in Minnesota that have there males neutered?

[Ziggy&Herald]

Aw, he sounds just lovely. I'm sure he'll love being with the girls after such a long time of battling boys. The eye was probably most definitely caused by a scratch or something that was not treated, poor boy. Can't wait to see pics of him and see how well he fits in with the girls.

[pigsforlife]

Not necessarily Ziggy. Toff has cataracts, one that takes up 2/3s of one eye, and another that is in the middle of her other eye. We tested her urine, and the glucose levels were normal so diabetes were ruled out. The vet said there were a couple of things that could have caused the cataracts, one being mineral deposits (I think - I can look up her thread on GL if it helps?). Basically all you can do is monitor them and watch for any inflammation, or anything unusual.

[pigsforlife]

I should add that I check each of the girls over daily during cuddle time, and never did she have any scratches or infection or anything on her eyes.

[Ziggy&Herald]

Oh, well I mentioned that because he is pretty young and I thought true cataracts came with age. I could be wrong though as I never have dealt with this yet.

Also, I thought that could be the cause because he does have scars from fighting and someone I know had females that fought and one did get a scratch on her eye that led to permanent cloudiness in that eye. It was just a thought and as I said, I could be wrong.

[pigsforlife]

Toff turned one in May 08. She is not old.

[paula.m.moore]

Congrats to you and your girls' new piggy friend!

And I know what you mean about rescues - If I ever found one out here that rescued/housed exclusively guinea pigs I'm sure I'd go there and leave with roughly 25 new pigs.

Best of luck to you and your new boy.

[JanJam]

Thank you all, especially the advice about his eye. We will of course monitor him, so far OK but it IS early days.

Good news - we have named him! He is Earl Barnabus Nelson, or Barney for short. He's still extremely cute and does enjoy a cuddle. Since Tuesday he's been in an old shop bought cage (about twice the size of the one he was in at the rescue) but I've just built him a 2x3 C&C cage. He seems to love it! We've seen him do a few laps and popcorn a bit.

He's in the living room with us where we are watching the Euro 2008 football tournament. Well, I say watching the football but most of the time we are just watching Barney. I'm sure he'd be proud to know we find him more fascinating than 22 overpaid footballers

I'm really looking forward to him going in with the girls, they are a little more shy than he is so I'm hoping he will be a good influence on them (although it could go the other way and he becomes more shy!) But it's quarentine time for now, so he will stay alone for at least another 2 weeks.

I don't have a digital camera but can borrow one shortly, will put up some pics of him as soon as I can, including if I can get it a good shot of his bad eye.