General: Pig sitting for a friend

[Matt Ceja]

So my wife's friend was going on vacation and has a guinea pig. She asked us to watch her pig Lenny for 3 weeks. So she brings Lenny over and it is a VERY SMALL store bought cage. All he can do is walk out of his house and he has literally just enough room to turn around and walk back in the house. He does not even have the room to stretch out!

As far as his diet goes... She is giving him yogurt drops, pellets mixed with nuts/corn pieces, suger snap peas, carrots, cilantro and I think some bell pepper. Barely anything good for Lenny the pig. Lenny also gets those stupid wood blocks to chew on.

I am very concerned about Lenny the pig for more than a few reasons. Other than his poor diet and lack of run room. I have never had a boar and I only have experience with sows. Also, I have never had and or been around a guinea pig that was terrified of humans at over a year or two years old. Lenny hides when you walk in the room. He is so terrified of people that he shakes and freaks out. He barely poops and he just sits in one place all the time.

Other things I have noticed is the cage looks like it has not been cleaned out in a year or longer. Every piece of carefresh was caked/soaked in urine. The cage liner was covered in urine as well. The only thing I could tell that they were doing was scooping the poop off the top of the bedding. It also appears he has running live. As I noticed little black worm-like things in his hair.

What should I do to help Lenny? His owner says they don't have time to build a cage and the usual excuses. I feel terrible about his condition and I wish I had extra grids to build him a cage. How should I go about telling this person to take responsibility for their animal? I would take Lenny to the vet today and pay out of my own pocket but I have a pregnant sow from someone else who didn't take of their animals. She is due any time now and I have vet money for her saved. So I can't afford to get Lenny looked at.

[JD In Van]

I would tell the owner to take responsibility for the animal. In the mean time while he's living with you take good care of Lenny and get him as much floor time as possible? (Make sure you disinfect though after his floor time if its the same space your pigs use)

Can you call your local Cavy rescue, tell them you have an extremely neglected cavy and explain your situation? They may help you with the vet?

Can you offer to take Lenny in if the owner won't take care of him?

[Duffinvt]

I am so very sorry for poor Lenny. Can you suggest to the owner that she surrender him to a rescue? This is animal abuse to be sure. You are kind to care for him and I hope someone with more experience can give you some good advice. And for sure, keep him away from your own animals and wash up well after handling him. Maybe even change clothing. You'd not want to transfer a disease to your pets.

[Matt Ceja]

Originally Posted by JD In Van

I would tell the owner to take responsibility for the animal. In the mean time while he's living with you take good care of Lenny and get him as much floor time as possible? (Make sure you disinfect though after his floor time if its the same space your pigs use)

Can you call your local Cavy rescue, tell them you have an extremely neglected cavy and explain your situation? They may help you with the vet?

Can you offer to take Lenny in if the owner won't take care of him?

Right now I could give him floor time but I really am avoiding him leaving his cage. I would hate for my pigs/new pups to get lice or worse from him. I want to make him more comfortable but not at the risk of getting my pigs sick. I think there is a rescue within a few hours of me that deals with guinea pigs. I can try to call them and see what they can do.

I cannot take in Lenny though. I have a turtle, 4 guinea pigs + pups on the way, a 15 month old son and another baby on the way. I would not have time to give Lenny the attention he deserves.

[Dichotomy83]

That is so sad.

Obviously the most simple thing you can do is clean out his cage. But please be sure to disinfect and also wash hands/change clothes before handling your pigs. Do you happen to have anything lying around your house that could provide a bigger space for Lenny while he is in your care? A shower curtain on the floor and even boxes or something secured together to form a barricade of sorts would give him some ample running space, even if only temporary. Or maybe a kiddie pool?

I would also consider asking your wife to talk to her friend regarding Lenny's care. The conditions she is keeping him are not only "sub-par", but they are downright inhumane!! And if you call her telling her that Lenny is ill, is it possible she would cover his vet costs??

If not, I would suggest she relinquish her "parenting" rights, and find him a better, LOVING home.

[Matt Ceja]

Originally Posted by Duffinvt

I am so very sorry for poor Lenny. Can you suggest to the owner that she surrender him to a rescue? This is animal abuse to be sure. You are kind to care for him and I hope someone with more experience can give you some good advice. And for sure, keep him away from your own animals and wash up well after handling him. Maybe even change clothing. You'd not want to transfer a disease to your pets.

I change my clothes and scrub myself if I touch him. My wife has been taking care of him mostly so that way only one of us is exposed to him. She isn't playing with our pigs while Lenny is here just so we can be sure nothing gets transmitted.

[Dichotomy83]

Also, I realize you are hesitant to invest money on a pig that doesnt belong you you...but is it possible you could spare even $30 towards his well being? A box of grids or A Clean Living Playpen would give the little guy tons more room. Check with the shelters, they may be able to help.

[Matt Ceja]

Originally Posted by Dichotomy83

I would also consider asking your wife to talk to her friend regarding Lenny's care. The conditions she is keeping him are not only "sub-par", but they are downright inhumane!! And if you call her telling her that Lenny is ill, is it possible she would cover his vet costs??

If not, I would suggest she relinquish her "parenting" rights, and find him a better, LOVING home.

Negative, my wife asked indirectly already and mentioned Lenny is ill. I am going to have my wife offer to let us build a cage for him if she pays us like 40 or 50 dollars. I think that would cover a 2x3 or 2x4, fleece and towels. I would throw in a bag of cavy cuisine and give her the contact info of the feed store we buy from.

[Matt Ceja]

Originally Posted by Dichotomy83

Also, I realize you are hesitant to invest money on a pig that doesnt belong you you...but is it possible you could spare even $30 towards his well being? A box of grids or A Clean Living Playpen would give the little guy tons more room. Check with the shelters, they may be able to help.

Honestly things are tight and the money we have is for our own pets emergencies and or for our son. I am a disabled veteran who cannot work due to the nature of my disabilities. Currently my wife is not working because she is having a hard time finding work. We are living off my disability which does not cover all of our bills. We cannot afford to spend money on Lenny. I would gladly spend money on him if I had it though. Right now my animals and family have to take priority.

You did give me an idea though. =P I have a playpen we used for my son. I could probably line it and let Lenny crash there until he leaves our home. It would be a major improvement.

[Matt Ceja]

One last thing I forgot to share. This is really sad... I pulled out this giant pellet feeder and hay ball that took up the remaining space his house didn't take up. I gave him some cavy cuisine on a little dish and some fresh hay. The first thing he did after I closed his cage was he wheeked and then popcorned... It was pretty sad to see a guinea pig popcorn over something like that.

[1frankie7]

my c&c costed 38$ but I one of the members here built her cage for $7!

[JD In Van]

Originally Posted by 1frankie7

my c&c costed 38$ but I one of the members here built her cage for $7!

I built my cage for free! And had to pay only 3.99/each for fleece blankets, I used old towels I was going to throw out any how.

[Duffinvt]

Originally Posted by 1frankie7

my c&c costed 38$ but I one of the members here built her cage for $7!

I got my cubes for free on Freecycle.org and used an old shower curtain, old towels and $2.50 fleece throws from Big Lots. My original cage with changes of fleece was $5 plus tax. Then got a piece of coroplast later.

[NicholsS10]

Matt, I'm so sorry that you were put in this situation, but maybe if you can improve his life enough while he is with you, and the current owner witnesses the change in Lenny, maybe she will change how she cares for Lenny in a positive way? I know that sounds hopeful and optimistic, but we can hope can't we?

I understand that you are in a tight situation, and I am glad you found a way to give him more space while he is with you guys, and I am glad that you will be giving him all the proper care you can while he is in your care.

Would it be possible to explain your situation to your vet, and ask him if maybe you could JUST pay for the medicine, that will cut the cost of a vet visit tremendously. It's worth a shot, right?

Please keep us updated on his situation....

[Dichotomy83]

Originally Posted by Matt Ceja

You did give me an idea though. =P I have a playpen we used for my son. I could probably line it and let Lenny crash there until he leaves our home. It would be a major improvement.

I think that's a great idea. Just keep careful watch on the sides of the playpen. If they are mesh sides you will need to make sure Lenny doesn't chew holes into the side of them, and free himself!

[Matt Ceja]

Originally Posted by Dichotomy83

I think that's a great idea. Just keep careful watch on the sides of the playpen. If they are mesh sides you will need to make sure Lenny doesn't chew holes into the side of them, and free himself!

Hopefully he is not living in it that long! It really isn't suitable for a guinea pig but certainly better than his current home. We are going to try to convince his piggy parents tonight or tomorrow to let him have a real cage.

[Matt Ceja]

So I built him a cage using a play pen my son grew out of. It is about the same size as a 2x3 grid cage. Probably just a little smaller. So it is a large improvement. Also, I managed to get time to give Lenny a good exam.

I noticed some things that kind of worried me. He has some dark red sores on his feet. They are barely swollen but I am worried it could be bumble foot. He has spots on all of his feet I think. Another thing is I checked out his perineal sac. It appeared to have NEVER been cleaned. This was a first for me and it was terrible. It was so gross and caked in all kinds of debris. It smelled so strong my wife could smell it from across the room... Not sure if that is normal but it was really disgusting.

Next I had a chance to cut his nails. I am not sure his nails ever get cut. It looks like his nails have just been breaking and or they get ripped out. The quick was all the way back towards his toes and his nails were curled up under his paws and sort of clear which I found odd. I have never seen nails that bad. Other than that I didn't think there was much I could do for him. At least I was able to clean him up and give him some space to live in.

As far as the medical issues mentioned. Is there anything else I should be checking out? I have 0 experience with boars. Also, I have sows and have never read anything about cleaning out their rectums like on boars. Is it ever needed? This is just for my own information thanks again guys for all the suggestions.

[NicholsS10]

I have 1 boar (neutered) and 4 girls. I've never had to clean the girls up down there. My boy on the other had, well that's a whole another story.

When I adopted Bodie (my boar) from a humane society, he was severely neglected. He was over a half pound UNDERWEIGHT (I have since gotten him to his ideal weight) and he also had nails that grew into the pads of his feet. The humane society clipped his nails as much as they could, and I clipped them even more once he was in my care. I had to give his grease gland a good cleaning.

Bodie was not neutered when I first got him (he was fixed a month later, I wanted to earn some level of trust before putting him through that). I think he was a lone pig before he came to me too. Anyways, when he was able to smell my girls (their scent was on my shirt) he started rumblestrutting, and a horrible smell came from his sac... I mean HORRIBLE.

It had never been cleaned, and I had entered the world of anal sac cleanings. I put on some latex gloves (I always keep them handy since I use them to clean the loose bedding out of the cage), put a towel on my lap, and well, went to work with q-tips and lots of mineral oil.

It wasn't a pleasant experience for Bodie OR me, but once it was done, the odor coming from there pretty much stopped. Since my cage is mostly fleece, I don't have to clean him down there often, but I do when needed.

So to answer your question, yeah it's disgusting, and in cases of neglect, normal to it to be really bad.

[Matt Ceja]

The smell was so strong my wife almost threw up and she only came within 5 feet. Yuck!