Sad Story with a happy ending?

[Seti313]

Hello!

I just thought that I would drop a line about my unfortunate baby. We have many guinea pigs. Rescues, mostly. One of the females that we rescued was pregnant at the time. We believe she had her babies prematurely, but can't be sure because it is impossible to tell when she got pregnant. She is a tan shorthair with a white crest. She had two babies, a solid white albino with a crest and a white with agouti patches. Both babies are female. When the babies were first born, their fur was very thin and they were very weak. The momma was given plenty of greens and veggies and vitamins after we brought her home, but she was probably pregnant for 3 weeks or a little longer before we got her. She didn't really pay much attention to her babies. My husband and I hand reared the babies for about 1 1/2 weeks until they could eat on their own. Sadly, and I don't know if this was from the possible short pregnancy or just a lethal gene in the mom, one is deformed and she is not the albino one. Her left leg sticks straight out from her body to the left. She gets around ok and is a very good eater. She is a very sweet girl. Her name is Quazi (Quasimodo) and she is about 9 months old

Anyhow, what I was wondering was if anyone else out there has had a deformed pig and if so, how did they cope? Should I expect a shorter life span? Any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[FurryCritters]

Hello!

I just thought that I would drop a line about my unfortunate baby. We have many guinea pigs. Rescues, mostly. One of the females that we rescued was pregnant at the time. We believe she had her babies prematurely, but can't be sure because it is impossible to tell when she got pregnant. She is a tan shorthair with a white crest. She had two babies, a solid white albino with a crest and a white with agouti patches. Both babies are female. When the babies were first born, their fur was very thin and they were very weak. The momma was given plenty of greens and veggies and vitamins after we brought her home, but she was probably pregnant for 3 weeks or a little longer before we got her. She didn't really pay much attention to her babies. My husband and I hand reared the babies for about 1 1/2 weeks until they could eat on their own. Sadly, and I don't know if this was from the possible short pregnancy or just a lethal gene in the mom, one is deformed and she is not the albino one. Her left leg sticks straight out from her body to the left. She gets around ok and is a very good eater. She is a very sweet girl. Her name is Quazi (Quasimodo) and she is about 9 months old

Anyhow, what I was wondering was if anyone else out there has had a deformed pig and if so, how did they cope? Should I expect a shorter life span? Any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi:

I don't have a deformed pig, but do have one that is disabled. She was dropped by her previous owners who then took her to a nearby pet store. She was then turned into a rescue and was treated for a spinal injury. The long term effect is she has no sense of balance and has no strength in her back legs. She gets around okay, though she spends most of her time on her side or back. She throws herself forward to move around, but I have to give her credit she manages okay. She is kept with 3 other pigs and they all get along fine. Originally, I had thought about keeping her separate, but decided to give the other a try. Recently, I moved her out because I thought the others were trying to hurt her - she is a squealer. Well, she was so unhappy being alone I put her back.

The positive of this situation is she has doubled in size since I got her almost a year ago, she can pull herself up the ramp into her cage with some guidance and is the only of all my pigs to sing like a little bird - she has honored me with this 3 times in the last several months.

Animals learn to survive with what has been given to them - though they probably wouldn't fair as well in the wild. So good luck with your special piggy.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

There are no "albino" pigs. You either have just a solid white pig or if it has pink eyes it's called a PEW (pink-eyed white). If her eyes are more of a dark red it would be a REW (ruby-eyed white).

I commend you on hand rearing the little ones and for taking in the pregnant rescue piggie.