Ahhhh!! What to do!

Okay... bear with me.

I was going to rescue a chunky little guinea pig named Dexter. He was to come home with me tomorrow. Aside from being kept in a dirty cage and not getting any hay or veggies, he is otherwise healthy and lives with his girlfriend piggy. He's 4 years old, and I wanted to rescue him, but now I am in a bind.

I have these two other bonded guinea pigs that need to be rescued, and this dude wants $40 for me to take them off his hands. Deal. I'm supposed to be getting them tomorrow. But, they are severely sick and in need of a lot of medical help. They have mange mites, ear mites, URI's, one has a UTI, bumblefoot, one is missing toenails from where they have been ripped out of her foot, and she has epilepsy. She has about 2 seizures a day, but they don't seem overly bad. They last under a minute.

Here's my problem. I feel guilty. These two girls ARE coming home with me, because they are in depserate need of rescuing. However, I have NO room for Dexter right now, the chubby guinea pig that I was going to rescue. I feel bad that I am turning my back on him, even though he isn't in as much need of help, he just needs a good home. I'm trying to do a triage thing here... take the more critical ones. I've only got so much room for rescues!

Someone tell me not to feel guilty! It'll make me feel better.

BTW, I need help with names. One is light beige and white, and one is a tri-color; black, white, and brown. I'm thinking... Charlie for the beige and white.... what do you guys think I should name the other one?

Where is Dexter being kept right now? Perhaps you could clean out his cage and give him some hay without having to take him.

You definitely need to take the sick ones first.

You are :blueribbon:

I like Charlie and Emma for names, what do you guys think?

Charlie and Emma...

or

Charlie and Hannah?

or...

Emma and Hannah?

I *love* the name Charlie, no idea why. It can be a girl's name, right?

Dexter is being housed at his current owners. What I am going to do is take the two sick ones, and in a couple weeks, if he is still available, I'll go back for Dexter.

MyBoyHarper wrote:

I *love* the name Charlie, no idea why. It can be a girl's name, right?

Click to expand...

Yep, it be a nickname for Charlotte.

Ooooo, nice!

I think I like Charlie and Emma, those sound like good names.

I'll be posting pics of my new gals tomorrow. I'm picking them up first thing in the morning.

I guess not having hay and vegetables and in a bitof a dirty cage isn't the worst that could be happening with him. It's just reality if you don't have enough space, you can't rescue themall. If he's a nice chubby guinea pig, he's obviously not being starved! Also, wouldn't he feel distressed if he were taken away from his little girly? Maybe you could give the owner a bag of hay to encourage her to start improving the piggys diet?

Oh Charlie is acute name! I had two guinea pigs named Tobby and Penny awhile ago when I was little . I think Charlie and Emma sound VERY cute!

Well, Dexter really isn't in the MOST need of rescuing, however he isn't being properly cared for.

However, the two I am getting tomorrow will be dead eventually, and soon, if something isn't done to help them. Which is why I am stepping in. I'm really excited, and cannot wait to receive them tomorrow!

They are both pretty shy, but will come up to you through the cage bars for some lovin'. They just want love and attention, something I don't think they have ever had.

The story of these two are, they were left in a box in front of a vet clinic awhile back. It's about 100 here, we're in south Louisiana mind you. No holes cut in the box for ventilation. Vet found them when they opened that morning. Covered in flea's and mange mites and everything else mentioned above.

They gave them to the pet store down the street, and the owner is 'fostering' them. He refuses to treat the mange mites or fleas, or anything else. He figures if they die, they don't cost him anything. Well, I found out about it, and he wants $40 for the pair. Which, of course, I am handing over tomorrow so I can get them.

The one with epilepsy is the worst off. Half her hair is missing, and her skin is scabbed over with big holes all in it. In one of the scabbed over area's on her shoulderis a huge pocket of infection.Poor babies, I can't wait to get them tomorrow. A few weeks from now, they will be feeling so much better!

Poor babies. :inlove:You are such a wonderful person. I only wish I had the room and time to do rescues right now. Be sure to take some photos and show us when you get them. :hug1

Don't feel bad about it either, you are doing the best you can and Dexter sounds like while he's not in the best hands, he's doing alright for now. The other two little ones need you so desperatley. btw - shame on the pet shop guy for charging you for taking the two babies. He should hand them over for free, I mean how cruel can people get??

:hug1Good luck with them. Keep us posted.

Will do!

I'm off to bed for the night, I am flat out exhausted. I just came back from a concert (local rock band) and it's been yearssince I went to a concert. Forgot how exhausting they can be!

Anyways, I'm getting them first thing in the morning (8:30am, actually). I'll have pictures upbefore noon of the little ladies.

Home with the new girls!!

I named the beige and white Charlie, and the black one Emma.

Charlie has a urinary tract infection, and one of her toes are infected from where her nail was ripped out on a wire bottom floor. She also has puss pocket sores on her back, and a bad outbreak of mange mites.

Emma also has nailed ripped out, and one is scabbed over. She keeps eating the scab, and it keeps bleeding. She has mange mites as well, scabs all over her skin under her hair, but not much loss of hair. Both of them have ear mites, and an upper respiratory infection. They also had severely overgrown nails.

Charlie also has epilepsy, and had a seizure this morning.

They're on Baytril for the sores, URI, and UTI. Ivomec for the mange mites, and both were bathed with prescription Malseb antibacterial shampoo. They each get sprayed with the malaseb spray twice a day as well. Man oh man, the money...

Anyways, they are extremely scared. After being brought home, they've been shampoo'd, dried, nails clipped, ears clean, medicine put in the ears, medicine put in the mouth, and medicine put on their skin for the mites. They aren't happy campers! But should be feeling better soon. Here's the pics!

BTW, in the pic, Charlie's (the beige and white) eyes appear red. But believe it or not, they are BLUE! I've never seen a guinea pig with BLUE eyes!

Oh those poor things! It made me in tears how bad they are! Poor babies. The first picture looked like they were pretty good, but the close ups are terrible. I hope they recover well!

:bigtearsoor Pigs

I am in tears too.

I am SOOO glad you got them.

Sending lots of love and encouragement your way! You are so great for taking them in. Really, you are my hero!!

That pet store owner sounds like a real jerk. How the heck is he charging you for taking them? You think he would just want to find them a good home with someone who will pay the vet bills...I doubt a regular customer would pay for them in that condition. Grrr.

Glad you stepped in. Im sure they are too!

Haley

PS. It made me laugh when I read you were thinking of naming one Hannah...thats my last name (then you would have 2 pets with my first and last name .

LOL Haley, I must have ESPN or something! That is weird about the names...

I stuck with Charlie and Emma though, the names just "fit".

I put them a small amount of veggies in there -- red bell peppers, mustard greens, and parsley, to see if they'd eat it. I went with the top 3 veggies highest in vitamin C, since they need it so badly right now. Emma likes it, Charlie is still too nervous. They both love the timothy hay though! I'm sure they never had any in their life...

The owner was an ass, pardon my french. And, he wanted to put them up for sell as well, to any customer that wanted a guinea pig. I was floored. Unless you know what you are doing, or plan to take them to a good vet, they would end up dying a painful death. Especially with the amount of problems they are having.

They are in a smallcage for the time being. It'll be a few weeks before I can get them a massive sizecage. I'm already broke and I haven't even gotten my paycheck yet, LOL.

The cage is suitable for now though. Plus they'll get plenty of out of cage time in a few days, once they aren't in so much pain, and are a little more relaxed.

I wish I knew who owned these girls before... I'd like to do a number on them, then turn them in for animal cruelty. Some people have no heart!

Here's their temporary cage:

You mean ESP? lol. you must!

Glad youre getting them some good healthy food! That ought to help them feel better. That cage is probably better than whatever conditions they were being housed in at their former home. They're really lucky to have you.

It just kills me how people can neglect their animals so badly. And the pet store owner is just criminal for trying to sell these little ones to just anyone. Not many people would be willing to get them the care they need.

Your an Angel :bunnyangel:!

Piggy update:

Charlie, the beige and white one, looks baaaddd. She had 3 seizures yesterday, and 2 last night. She didn't sleep at all from the pain, she sat there and screamed all night. Obviously, I didn't get any sleep.

The vet gave her some Rymadil today for pain, so hopefully she'll feel better. It makes her a little sleepy, so she's resting.

Come to find out, she also has a severe fungal infection from being kept in unsanitary conditions. So she is being bathed with this prescription antibiotic fungal shampoo, and being sprayed with this spray twice a day.

She is going back to the vet Monday, because she may have something called systemic mycosis, which is when they've got such a severe fungal infection that fungal spores have been ingested into their system, causing them to be ill.

If it's not one thing it's another...

Aww. the poor little darling. Hope shes feeling better today. Your vet bill must be incredible! Shes lucky she has you.

Sending lots of love and prayers your way...

-Haley, Basil, Max, and Tumnus

Awww its really sad how sick they are. I used to have little piggies. They are cute animals.. not that hard to take care of.. No reason for their condition. Hope your able with the help of the vet pull them around.

Cristy