ViskyCat
Cavy Quiet
Cavy Gazer
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2012
- Posts
- 31
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2012
- Messages
- 31
Hey guys! First of all I need to warn you this will be a long post with a lot of tragic details, BUT it could also do you a lot of good reading it. It's about forgiving yourself, learning and moving on.
I was thinking of past piggies today and was wondering if anyone else has a hard time letting go of past misstakes? I had my first pig when I was 8 years old. Although my parents were very responsible when it came to educating me about the piggies they honestly didn't know a lot about them themselves. We did one thing right: we adopted two abandoned brothers who were around 10 months old at the time.
Misstake no 1: They lived together in a cage that was no bigger than 3x2 feet, which resulted in a lot of rumblestrutting and minor fights. We had no idea this was normal, so we separated them. They got more space, but the separation resulted in them never being able to live together again.
Misstake no 2: We kept them on straw that we bought at a local farm, and fed them horse hay. They were fed storebought pet food with seeds and corn. They became seriously overweight, bloated and got some kind of lice from the straw.
Misstake no 3: Even though my mother KNEW the piggies needed extra C-vitamin, one of the boars fell ill with scurvy. He lost fur on his back and if I remember it correctly had trouble walking. We started giving him and his brother large amount of cabbage to fend off the scurvy, and he made a "full" recovery.
And now here comes the part that really haunts me: Suddenly we had two overweight, bloated, lonely, sick guinea pigs who were fed lots of cabbage. First of all, they boath developed impaction, a conditioin that I learned about 2 MONTHS ago! Sweden in a goddamned nutshell. One brother died of what I today realize was torsion and gas build-up in his GI tract. He was put to sleep in severe pain. He was three years old. The other brother died a month later in his cage from impaction/depression.
After a while the worst grief settled and I was ready to start over with new pigs. I was a bit older, still a child, but I promised myself that this time I would do RIGHT by my piggies.
Misstake no 1: I bought two boars from a pet store. They were not related and hade never lived together before. No one at the pet store tould us that we needed to do a supervised introduction. We just put them in a cage a bit bigger than our last one, a way too small one - that would be, and figured they would get along. They really didn't. They were both sexually mature, roughly the same age and size. They too were quickly separated.
I tried not to let this bring me down completely. I decided to spend twice as much time with them instead, and to let them have supervised floor time together. They had vitamin drops in their water, and I bought the most expensive brand of food I could find. (Figured it was the best too, silly me.) I bought them hay suited for piggies and rabbits.
Misstake no 2: To provide maximum freedom I let the piggies hop in and out of their cages as they pleased. This resulted in the following: Forgetting to close one of the cages before opening the other one, resulting in violent fights. One fight I got so desperate I just plain stuck my hands in between them to separate them. I was bitten badly and was home alone for an hour afterwards. The wound got so infected the doctors were talking about flushing the joints, tendons and the bone in my finger, or even amputation! But the worst of all was that the constant hopping in and out of store bought cages with bars that eventually led to one of my boars getting stuck in the bar and breaking his leg. It is physically hurting me to write this down. He was put to sleep at only four years old.
I didn't have pigs for a couple of years after that. But one day I woke up and realized I was 18, I had a job, and a lot of spare time. It was time for some new piggies. This time I bought them from a breeder - however I refuse to see this as a misstake. We don't really have a big scale problem with homeless piggies, I tried to look for rescues to adopt but there simply were none in my area! I immediately had them both insured, put them in the largest home-made cage I could possibly build and started reading up on cavy care. It's been three months and I learn new things every day. The reason I had to make this post was because I always had the best intentions, but your intentions are worth nothing to a piggie dying from improper care. Maybe I should go easier on myself, but I can't help feeling directly responsible for the death of three piggies. Please don't make the same misstakes that I did. Educate people! Especially if you live in Scandinavia/Europe! We have great animal welfare here, but not a lot of scientifical progress when it comes to pet care!
In case you made it to the bottom, thank you for listening. Don't hesitate contacting me with tips, information or questions. Thanks!
I was thinking of past piggies today and was wondering if anyone else has a hard time letting go of past misstakes? I had my first pig when I was 8 years old. Although my parents were very responsible when it came to educating me about the piggies they honestly didn't know a lot about them themselves. We did one thing right: we adopted two abandoned brothers who were around 10 months old at the time.
Misstake no 1: They lived together in a cage that was no bigger than 3x2 feet, which resulted in a lot of rumblestrutting and minor fights. We had no idea this was normal, so we separated them. They got more space, but the separation resulted in them never being able to live together again.
Misstake no 2: We kept them on straw that we bought at a local farm, and fed them horse hay. They were fed storebought pet food with seeds and corn. They became seriously overweight, bloated and got some kind of lice from the straw.
Misstake no 3: Even though my mother KNEW the piggies needed extra C-vitamin, one of the boars fell ill with scurvy. He lost fur on his back and if I remember it correctly had trouble walking. We started giving him and his brother large amount of cabbage to fend off the scurvy, and he made a "full" recovery.
And now here comes the part that really haunts me: Suddenly we had two overweight, bloated, lonely, sick guinea pigs who were fed lots of cabbage. First of all, they boath developed impaction, a conditioin that I learned about 2 MONTHS ago! Sweden in a goddamned nutshell. One brother died of what I today realize was torsion and gas build-up in his GI tract. He was put to sleep in severe pain. He was three years old. The other brother died a month later in his cage from impaction/depression.
After a while the worst grief settled and I was ready to start over with new pigs. I was a bit older, still a child, but I promised myself that this time I would do RIGHT by my piggies.
Misstake no 1: I bought two boars from a pet store. They were not related and hade never lived together before. No one at the pet store tould us that we needed to do a supervised introduction. We just put them in a cage a bit bigger than our last one, a way too small one - that would be, and figured they would get along. They really didn't. They were both sexually mature, roughly the same age and size. They too were quickly separated.
I tried not to let this bring me down completely. I decided to spend twice as much time with them instead, and to let them have supervised floor time together. They had vitamin drops in their water, and I bought the most expensive brand of food I could find. (Figured it was the best too, silly me.) I bought them hay suited for piggies and rabbits.
Misstake no 2: To provide maximum freedom I let the piggies hop in and out of their cages as they pleased. This resulted in the following: Forgetting to close one of the cages before opening the other one, resulting in violent fights. One fight I got so desperate I just plain stuck my hands in between them to separate them. I was bitten badly and was home alone for an hour afterwards. The wound got so infected the doctors were talking about flushing the joints, tendons and the bone in my finger, or even amputation! But the worst of all was that the constant hopping in and out of store bought cages with bars that eventually led to one of my boars getting stuck in the bar and breaking his leg. It is physically hurting me to write this down. He was put to sleep at only four years old.
I didn't have pigs for a couple of years after that. But one day I woke up and realized I was 18, I had a job, and a lot of spare time. It was time for some new piggies. This time I bought them from a breeder - however I refuse to see this as a misstake. We don't really have a big scale problem with homeless piggies, I tried to look for rescues to adopt but there simply were none in my area! I immediately had them both insured, put them in the largest home-made cage I could possibly build and started reading up on cavy care. It's been three months and I learn new things every day. The reason I had to make this post was because I always had the best intentions, but your intentions are worth nothing to a piggie dying from improper care. Maybe I should go easier on myself, but I can't help feeling directly responsible for the death of three piggies. Please don't make the same misstakes that I did. Educate people! Especially if you live in Scandinavia/Europe! We have great animal welfare here, but not a lot of scientifical progress when it comes to pet care!
In case you made it to the bottom, thank you for listening. Don't hesitate contacting me with tips, information or questions. Thanks!
