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Foster Piggies
#1
As you may know we have been playing host to two rather frightened girlies from the Glynneath Guinea pig rescue.
Leah and Tabitha came from a Social Services referral, their elderly owner had gone into hospital and was very unlikely to come out. It took a while for her family to accept this, but when they did they realised that they had to give up the piggies. A social worker delivered them to Suzy with very little information about them.
They did their 2 weeks quarantine, but because of the lack of info they had to do a 10 week pregnancy watch, just to be on the safe side. They spent the last 7 weeks of that with us.
They have really blossomed into curious, affectionate piggies that will take food from your hand and let you stroke them while they eat it. They sleep out in the open. They let you handle their feet and ears without objection, and just love lap time.
Sadly we are not able to keep them and they have returned to the rescue in search of a forever home.  (Hint hint.....Any takers??!!)
I hope it won't be long before these wonderful, beautiful girlies go home.

After returning these girls we brought home an extremely scared little boy called Cecil.
He has been at the rescue for weeks and hasn't settled. He is the most frightened creature I have ever come across. All he wants to do is leap away regardless of where he's leaping. It's rather scary. I feel so sorry for him as no piggy should have to live like that. He is about 8 months old and came from large surrender of animals in England and was piggy trained to Suzy along with 2 other boys. The other two were clearly bonded and are finally settling in, but poor little Cecil is still terrified, so he has come to stay to see if we can help him.
At the moment he is hiding in a castle-type hidey in his cage. I've covered the top of the cage with a blanket to make him feel as secure as possible. We're going to leave him be until clear out day, which will be Saturday or Sunday and build up handling gradually. He is so hard to handle that his nails haven't been trimmed much and really need doing, as my poor scratched arms will attest!! but I think we will have to work our way up to that. Heaven help us if he should need a vet visit!!

Please send all your calming thoughts to Cecil, his prospects of a forever home are severely limited if he is unable to "warm" up to people. He may face the prospect of living out his days at the rescue, not so bad really, but how much nicer to be in a family home with devoted Piggy "slaves"?
Greeting from Wales.
Hwyl Fawr o'r Cymru.
This is the web site of the rescue I volunteer at.
http://guinearescue.blogspot.co.uk/
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#2
Poor Cecil. It sounds like his life has been too much for him so far. I am sure some time in your loving home with your happy piggies around him, will make all the difference. He is still pretty young.
I am expecting a miracle. Love and calm will transform him and he will go on to a loving forever home.

I wish Leah and Tabitha all the best. They are pretty girls so someone will fall in love with them.

If only I lived closer. Of course random piggies in need find their way to my door anyhow.

Keep us posted. When we finally get to see pictures we will know that he is doing better.
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Catherine

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#3
Cecil has been with us for a couple of days now and we haven't seen much of him yet, although yesterday he did venture out while we were in the room to have drink.
I'm putting his veggies just outside the front of his hidey so he has to peek out to get them, and whilst I haven't seen him do it yet the veggies are disappearing while we are there. His hay is going too.
Last night Ruby was squabbling with her Mum over who should sit under which stool and she can be quite loud and we actually heard Cecil calling out to them. They stopped for a moment and called back and then settled under the same stool together ( which is what they usually do. I think Marigold just wanted to stretch out.) So Cecil is aware that there are other piggies in the room with him and is responding to their calls.
Today he tried beetroot for the first time. Our girlies love it and he seems to have eaten it all.
we are all being very careful not to make any loud or sudden noises around him but of course the "Business" of the room must go on as normal. We all talk to him in a calm voice as we pass and will occasionally pop something nice in as a treat.
It's going to be a long haul but the fact that he is responding to our piggies gives me hope that we will get there in the end.
Greeting from Wales.
Hwyl Fawr o'r Cymru.
This is the web site of the rescue I volunteer at.
http://guinearescue.blogspot.co.uk/
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#4
It sounds very hopeful to me. He may be timid, but he is responding. The girls will talk to him and he will feel safer because they feel safe.

Nothing like treats to catch a piggies attention. he knows the treats are coming from you. I may take time, but I bet he opens up and becomes a happy little guinea pig.
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Catherine

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#5
Sounds like progress already, Cibach. I'm sure that he will "come out of his shell" in the next few days.
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#6
We look forward to seeing his picture. I am sure he is very cute.
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Catherine

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#7
You're right, Catherine, he is very cute.
We're calling him our Bumble Bee Boy because he has a bee stripe. He has a white stripe down his nose as well. It may be some time before we get any photos, but we will try.

If you want to see him, this links to Suzy's new arrivals page. Scroll down to the three boys who arrived on 17/5/14 and Cecil is the one hiding at the back. You can just about see him.
http://guinearescue.blogspot.co.uk/p/new-arrivals.html
We had Clean out day yesterday and Cecil was handled for the first time since he arrived. So as not to stress him out too much I encouraged him into a cuddle pocket which I had left in the cage overnight. I then lifted him out in the pocket and he sat on Anna's lap with her hand inside the pocket. All he did was sit and wait, but he didn't seem too stressed by it.
He has been out and about in his cage, but scuttles away if there is any sudden movement, or if we walk past the cage, but he does seem to be getting a little bolder.
After clean out I gave him a huge pile of hay and this seems to be his thing. He came right out of hiding and sat in the open beside it, munching away and even popcorned about a bit, until he realised we were watching and ran for the hidey. But the lure of the hay was too great and he was soon out again.
So lots of hay it is!!Smiley4
Greeting from Wales.
Hwyl Fawr o'r Cymru.
This is the web site of the rescue I volunteer at.
http://guinearescue.blogspot.co.uk/
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#8
They always have a weakness, something they can't resist. Hay is the key to his heart.
He is so cute. You can see he is shy. His eyes look frightened.

Piggy Bank UK Rescue Network! The name is brilliant. The whole idea of calling it a Piggy Bank is smart. The contents of a piggy bank are valuable.

I am glad Cecil is starting to feel more at home. I am sure he will find a way to trust you and bond with people. He just needs to see that his current good care is really going to last. I am sure with 200 piggies, no one piggie got much attention or treats. It would have been impossible to keep them clean and fed just the basics.

Piggie hug from my piggies to Cecil.Heart
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

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#9
A quick update on Leah and Tabitha.
They went home on Sunday!! A lovely family from Newport visited Suzy's rescue and fell in love with them.
The father was not keen on have piggies until he saw them all and then was captivated. Luckily Mum and the kids were already well prepared for the arrival of a couple of new family members.
Apparently Leah and Tabitha were the Dad's choice as he fell for them completely, and they liked him!!
So off they go to start their new life.
The next day Suzy was at the vet and met the social worker who had brought them to her and was able to tell her all about the new owners. She's a piggy keeper herself and was delighted to hear the news and said she would pass it on to the original owner's family.

Cecil continues to improve and we have a few photos of him in his cage, just before he scampered off to the hidey!! I will be uploading them soon.
Greeting from Wales.
Hwyl Fawr o'r Cymru.
This is the web site of the rescue I volunteer at.
http://guinearescue.blogspot.co.uk/
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#10
Cecil will be homed in the not too distant future, I'm sure.....
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