Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Agents Of the Month AND A New Pig!

Hello Cavy Savvy readers! For our 100th post, we're proud to announce two exciting pieces of news. First, we won Undercover Guinea Pigs Halloween costume contest and as a reward, we are featured as November's Agents Of The Month! Thanks to everyone who voted! We were neck and neck with Flower, who we have to admit, made a very adorable witch this Halloween.

Second, we appear to have a new cage mate. Well, he's sort of a new cage mate, as he's in a separate cage next to our own. His name is Broccoli (Broc for short), and he's in a different cage because he's an unneutered male. Not only that, Broc has an amazing, heartbreaking story that you won't believe. Brace yourselves, humans.


Broccoli was found living outside, fending for himself in a nearby yard. The human who found him said he appeared to have been living outdoors for several weeks at least, and was keeping warm in the chilly Autumn weather by nesting under someone's porch. The human who found him knocked on the doors of homes nearby to see if anyone owned him, but nobody claimed him or knew how he ended up there. The best they can figure is that someone cruelly abandoned him because they no longer wanted him.

This is perhaps the worst thing a human can do. Humans, listen up: If you can no longer care for your pig, never, ever, ever leave them outside to fend for themselves. We cannot survive outdoors, where there is cold weather and predators after us. It's a miracle that Broccoli survived for as long as he did. He was extremely lucky that his guardian angel human found him when he did.

She took him in by luring him to her with a piece of Broccoli (hence his name), and then took him to a vet to get checked out. Aside from a dirty ear, some malnourishment, and teeth that have grown too long from not having access to timothy hay, he's doing okay. The vet thinks that giving him some chew toys and timothy hay will help get his teeth down to a healthy size. He had his ear cleaned out and he seems to be recovering well.

Our humans heard about Broccoli's story and adopted him from the human that found him. She would have kept him, except that she has dogs and Broccoli finds them scary. Now that our humans have him, he's being lavished with an insane amount of attention. The day after they adopted him, they went out and bought him all new chew toys and treats and cage accessories. We are so jealous, but we're glad that he's safe now.


If the vet decides that he can be neutered, and if we accept him into our cage, he will become our new cagemate. For now, he's a very interesting roommate to have. For one thing, he's a BOY. We've never actually seen a male pig before, and we are absolutely fascinated by him. He smells differently, he looks differently, and he even wheeks differently. He seems equally interested in us. He perches on the split level of his cage and looks at us all day. How's that for an exciting 100th post?


SPECIAL NOTE:
If you are as moved by Broc's story as much as we are, and would like to know how you can help save guinea pigs in similar situations, we suggest donating to your local animal shelter. If you live in an area that has a guinea pig rescue, even better. One such rescue in our area is the Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue, and you can donate to them here: http://www.mgpr.org/MGPR/Donate.htm

7 comments:

  1. We are all so pleased that Broccoli was found and that he now has a safe home with you.

    We once had a piggy here that was found fending for himself in a churchyard in winter. He was picked up by a dog walker, taken to our vets and they called to see if we could take him in. Of course we could!

    Love and hugs for little Broccoli. Great name.

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  2. Awwww, Broccoli is so cute! I am so moved by his story! Will either Buffy or Lola be breed with him? He'll make an ADORABLE FATHER!

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  3. We won't be breeding them (as cute as their babies might be) for two reasons: first, Lola and Buffy are past the safe age that they can get pregnant. If they get pregnant now, they could die giving birth because their pelvic bones are no longer in the optimal shape for breeding.

    The second reason is because here in the United States, we have a lot of homeless guinea pigs who are in need of adoption, so it wouldn't be ethical to breed more. I think your situation in Australia might be different though- in other countries, there are fewer guinea pigs than people who wish to adopt them.

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  4. okay! lol - we have NO homeless pigs in Australia unless they are in adoption centers! It's actually quite hard to find guinea pigs in Australia, mainly because of the breeders keeping them or them getting sold out SUPER fast in pet stores... took three days for Astro's brothers to go, once one goes more people come, interested in buying them! Mika was the last left in two days and he had five siblings!

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  5. Isn't he handsome!!?? :) He's so little compared to all the other piggy pictures!

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  6. hey this is rolo and vanila agan we just wanna say hey broc we know how u feel we were abonded to at walmart

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