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April 2015
These two boars are two of four that came in together and are being treated for mites. As you can see, they are looking much better already :-) We also have a pregnant sow in at the moment called Sugar Puff, she is huge! She came in with 6 other piggies as the family were struggling to cope with them. Busy busy lol! Speak soon x
January 2015
Little Rupert has come in with a bad respiratory infection and a very sore eye, he's on antibiotics and eye drops and is responding well. He's only 10 weeks old bless him. He should make a full recovery and then we can find him a friend.
October 2014
One of the babies that came in was a young boar who Kate has named Pip. He was quite scabby and skinny when he arrived and Kate says he has something called Ringworm! Apparently its not as bad as it sounds and is a fungal infection. Poor little chap has had to be isolated though as Kate says its contagious and she doesn't want any of us getting it. Kate says he's responding well to treatment and will be back to normal in no time, so that's good news :-)
September 2014
A busy start to September so far, a few holiday stays in and a new group of three sisters and three babies came in at the weekend. Three boars being neutered this week and a neutered boar and two pregnant sows coming in tomorrow. The weather has been quite good recently so were getting out in garden a fair bit which is always good. Below are some photos of the 3 sisters and 3 babies. :)
June 2014
The babies have all found new homes and would you believe they were all boars!! The mummies are meeting a neutered boar tomorrow so hopefully that will go well and they have a wonderful new home to. We don't have many piggies in at all at the moment, which is good news that not many need rescuing but un usual all the same. Have you seen we are now on Facebook?!
April 2014
We have a group of new piggies in, another pet shop mix up! A lady wanted to get a friend for a lonely boar she had, but unfortunately although she was assured the one she chose was another boar it was in fact a sow. So she ended up with 3 babies. The poor lady did her best to split them into sexes but she got it wrong and so ended up with more babies! Jess, in the middle gave birth the next day and the two blonde/black sows either side are also pregnant. :-/
December 2013
This is Norman. He was dumped in a box with two others and they were all suffering badly with ringworm. After a long course of treatment including baths and medication they are all now recovered. Norman is approx. 6 years old and has doubled his weight since he has been with us. Kate is quite taken with Norman so he might stay with us but the other two Buttons and Hamish are booked in to be neutered and then will be looking for homes.
October 2013
This is Misty. She was found alone in a park and was suffering with mites. She has finished her treatment and is now looking for a home.
March 2013
Well including us, Kate has 28 guinea pigs in at the moment! Quite a lot. Lots of piggies being dumped, we had the three in the woods and then Candy who was left in a box by a school and then we had 5 that were left in a box in the toilets at Debenhams in Hemel. Very strange. I feel so lucky to have a good home here with Kate, there seems to be so many unwanted piggies at the moment. Floss had three babies with, two of which have already gone to a good home with a vet nurse and the other two are Barney and Bamm Bamm who are still looking. Kate thinks Floss may be pregnant again as she was still in with Barney with her babies. Kate featured in the Hemel and Dunstable Gazette and the piggies got filmed and photograghed! See the link below. Still it was a happy ending for Harry who went to live with a wife last week and Casper and Marley are going to a lovely new home later in the week. I sneaked out in the garden this morning when Kate was cleaning us out, she didn't seem to mind. It was such a lovely day! I'm hoping we can get out more if the weather stays good. Speak to you all soon. :-)
January 2013
These 3 guinea pigs were dumped in a woods in a remote area in this awful cold weather! Sadly there were 4 of them but one had already died. Luckerly someone walking their dog came across them and called the rspca. They are all girls and all healthy, although they will have to stay here a while so Kate can be sure they are not pregnant. Poor babies, if the lady hadn't found them! Some people can be so cruel. :-(
November 2012
This is Harry and yes Harry is a guinea pig!! Though it's not easy to see which end is which. Poor Harry came in today after a neighbour got sick of seeing him being neglected by his owner and drove over an hour to bring him to me. He was very matted and dirty and his ears were filthy. He's feeling much better now after being trimmed and bathed.
(Below) Before
(Below) After
September 2012
Hello everyone, we have some very sad news. Little Moomin passed away this week :-(
She wasn't very well on Monday so Kate took her to the vet and they put her on antibiotics, Kate was having to keep her warm and syringe feed her so Moomin moved into the kitchin where Kate could keep a close eye on her and keep her on a heat pad, by Tuesday she seemed a bit brighter and we were hopeful but sadly on Wednesday morning she passed away. We are all very sad, she was such a special little girl. But she had a lovely life here with us, far away from the box she was dumped in on that snowy morning.
We have a few piggies looking for homes, Kate took in 12 piggies off an ex breeder who was struggling to care for them, when Kate saw the state they were in she was only to happy to help. They were all matted and had very overgrown claws, they were also kept in very small cages! When Kate frst put them out on the grass they didn't know what to do, they just froze, I was dancing around them in our part of the garden trying to tell them to run about and eat the grass but they looked stunned! They are much better now and getting more confident.
(above) A pic of us enjoying the garden, Moomin bless her is in the top left of the photo.
June 2012
Hi Everybody. Wev'e finally got out in the sunshine! :-) The weather has been so hit and and miss that when Kate puts us all out it then starts to rain and we all have to come in. Its very strange weather for June! Anyway its quite queit here, though I probably shouldn't say that! Having been so busy the last few months we don't have that many piggies in at the moment, which is good as hopefully that means that all piggies are happy in homes with caring owners. Kate's wondering if it's the calm before the storm and she might end up taking a lot in in one go but at least she'll have the space! One thing is good about the rain, it's making Kate's garden grow so when we do go out there is plenty of yummy grass to eat, and Kate picks some for us to.
May 2012
Hello everyone! Sorry I have not posted for a while, we've been really busy! Kate helped a lady who had 18 guinea pigs and didn't know how to sex them. Kate said she wanted to keep a pair but re home the rest so Kate left her with a pair of boars and took all the others to find them new homes. Of them were 6 sows the rest were all babies. Kate says us piggies come into season straight away after giving birth so if housed with boars will get pregnant again straight away! She was right as all 6 that came in with babies turned out to be pregnant again! Kate knew this was highly likely so kept all the sows just in case, they are mostly now finished weaning so are looking for homes. Kate says they will never have to live like that again, having litter after litter is not good for our little bodies and there are enough piggies looking for homes already. Have a look at our 'looking for homes' page to see some of the mums and their babies.
FEBRUARY 2012
Hi everyone. I hope your all being kept warm enough in this awful cold weather?! We have a sleeping bag at this time of year, Kate has to many of us to bring us all indoors but she keeps us really snug in our shed with lots of hay and then our sleeping bag for extra warmth. All the rescue piggies have towels and blankets to.
Would you believe that someone left a box with 5 piggies in on a bridge in Oxford! in this weather aswell!! Kate said they were very lucky that a nice lady found them and called the rspca. There were two sows about 5-6 months old and 3 babies from one of them, 2 sows and a boar about 4 weeks old. It's such a shame that someone could be so calious but thankfully they were found and apart from being underweight they are all healthy. Kate is worried that the two older sows may be pregnant again so will have to monitor them, but the babies will be available for new homes soon. They are all pictured below.
November 2011
Hi everyone! well having been very busy durying the summer it's now gone very quiet! We currently have no piggies looking for homes, which is very unusal but its good that there is not a need to be full of un wanted guinea pigs. I want to intoduce you to Cassie, she came in earlier in the year as was found wondering around Watford. Nobody claimed her and it turned out she was pregnant but poor Cassie had no eyes! our vet thought she must have been born like that and it doesn't cause her any problems. She also manganaged to rear her baby with no problems. She can't live in our big shed with us as Kate moves our tubes and houses around and she wouldn't cope. But Kate wont rehome her, she has been paired up with a pig called 'old blue eyes' and they are very happy together. Unfortunatly Kate can't find any photos of them so as soon as she can take some she will put one on.
August 2011
Hello everyone. Were quite busy here at the moment, we currently have 25 piggies looking for homes. Kate is getting married on the 2nd September so her mum is moving in to look after us all while she is away on honeymoon for 2 weeks. We have quite a few with mite problems, which Kate is hoping will be much better by then as they are on treatment. We have not been able to get out on the grass much this summer so far, the weather has been pretty wet. The grass is really growing! Moomin is at the bottom of the photo with Maggie behind her, then the other white pig is Mouse, then there's Wonky with Silvie behind and at the back on the right is Missy.
June 2011
Hello everyone! Well Missy had 6 beautiful babies! 4 sows and 2 boars. All healthy and all gorgeous. She has done an amazing job of rearing them, espically when you consider that us pigs only have two nipples so to feed 6 is a full time job. Missy and all her babies have got good homes waiting for them and for Missy she can have a well earned rest knowing she will never have another baby as long as she lives. Missy's babies are pictured below.
We have been enjoying the sunshine here but the weather has turned again so were now back to being in. Kate has enclosed the garden and as we live in a big shed, she opens the door so we can come out and go back in when we choose it's great! There are lots of houses for us to hide in and she doesn't have to mow the lawn because we do it for her. But Kate only likes to let us out when she's around, our family cat is fine with us and we don't get any other cats in our garden but Kate wouldn't take any chances as we are to precious to her. Speak to all soon. Billy. xx
April 2011
Hi everyone!This is Missy, who as you can see is heavily pregnant! she came in from a lady who bought her from 'pets at home' as a boar! but pets at home got her sex wrong and when the lady took her home to live with her other boar she didn't think for one minute she would end up with babies! Missy had two babies and the lady didn't want to give her and babies back to pets at home so they could make a profit from their own mistake so she asked Kate if she could take in Missy and her babies. Kate asked the lady if she had realised Missy was pregnant and separated her from the boar but unfortunatly she hadn't and they had only been separated when she brought them to Kate. This meant that Missy was probably pregnant again as sow piggies come into season as soon as they give birth! the babies were exactly 3 weeks old so Kate knew that if Missy was pregnant she would be about 3 weeks pregnant but it would have to be a case of wait and see. That was 6 weeks ok and now Missy must be due any day. We are all praying that she delivers her babies sucessfully and that they are all healthy, it's such a shame that poor Missy has had two litters straight after each other. She is getting very spoilt!!
March 2011
Hi everyone. Above is a photo of Moomin in with us, Moomin is on the right next to Muffin, Iris is on the left and Mouse is at the back. Moomin is alway first to the feed bowl!
Sad news about Yogi, the big boar below who had a burst abcess on his back. Kate was checking on us all one evening and Yogi wasn't very well, Kate rushed him to the vets but he died on the way! it was very sad and Kate was very upset, were not really sure what happened and if it was to do with the abcess. He was a really lovely boar it's such a shame.
I hope everyone's enjoying the sunshine! were out most days and it's so lovely after a long winter. Running around on the grass and eating, I love it.
Febuary 2011
Hi everyone! Moomin is doing really well, she has now joined our family and although she still isn't quite right she is settling in very well. Kate says the vet has said she may never be 100 per cent but she's a lot better than she she was.
We have a few piggies in at the moment all looking for new homes, our newest is Yogi, who was found as a stray with a big burst abcess on his back. Kate is having to clean and flush it out every day, it's looking much better. He's a very sweet chap and Kate has really fallen for him.
29th November 2010
Meet Moomin!
Moomin was dumped in a box overnight in this freezing weather along with 8 other pigs!! A man found the soggy box on his doorstep on Friday morning and called the RSPCA. Kate picked up the 6 sows and 3 boars and took them straight to the vets. Moomin has a head tilt and was circling, she is on antibiotics for a possible ear infection though the vet was concerned it could be brain damage. Kate has her in her living room where she can be closely monitered and she seems to have improved over the weekend. She is eating well and considering she must only be around 8wks old she's definatly a fighter! Her little personality is shinning through! Wer'e all hoping she makes a full recovery. Out of the other 6 sows that were in the box, there was a heavily pregnant ginger and white who has given birth to two babies over the weekend, a semi bald white sow who is suffering from mites and they are all on pregnancy watch!! Both babies are healthy though Kate has not sexed them yet. So with all of the above plus Spike and Spot (on looking for homes) and Pixie (on looking for homes) we really do have a lot of piggies looking homes!!!
17th October 2010
Hi everyone!! We've been very quiet for the last few months and now it's gone a bit crazy! We been involved in helping find homes for 252 guinea pigs! The owner let things get very out of hand! We have about about 40 here and we're taking some to branches of the rspca around the area. We have babies, and all the pigs are under a year old. We have pairs of boars and a three and lots of groups of sows! All the pigs are in good health and are all very different.
1st August 2010
Hello everyone. This is Ronnie and Reggie, aren't they gorgeous?! They have been with us for just over 3 months now which is quite a long time to be looking for a new home. Kate has been working really hard to tame them down and they're now really friendly. We all hope they find a good new home soon!
We have been fairly queit at the moment although Kate has just told me off for saying that! it's good there aren't to many rescue piggies looking for homes and it means we have plenty of space to help any piggies that may come our way. Kate is taking in 5 pigs in the week that have come from someone who bought a pair from a well known pet shop who sold them a pair of boars but one was a sow! you can guess the rest!! Speak to you all soon.
24th May 2010
Hello everyone, I'm so sorry iv'e just noticed that my last entry on here didn't publish!
I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine, although I must say it's a little too hot! Were all out on the lawn durying the day and even though were in the shade we just lay around relaxing. And munching of course! Please make sure we dont get too hot and that we have plenty of water.
Were not too busy at the moment, we have had a few poorly pigs in lately. A pig called Felix came in with an abscess in his jaw, the vet operated on him but it had eaten away his jaw bone as it had been left untreated by his last owner. The vet tried really hard to make him better but in the end the damage was just too much and Kate had to make the hard discision to have him put to sleep. My abscess has completly healed now and we have seen a few pigs with absess's lately, if you notice any unsual lumps or bumps on your piggies please get them checked by a vet we may not like going but we know it's in our best interest.
Kate took in 5 pigs last week, they were living wild in a lady's garden, they were proving really hard to catch and had some hair loss so the lady called Kate to help. Kate eventually caught them and it turns out they have mites, they are all boars and not used to being handled. They are all really handsome and will go up for adoption soon, Kate is trying to get them used to being picked up and handled. Kate also took in the largest pig she had ever seen recently, a pig called Fred who weighed 1.5 kg!! he was huge! he has now found a lovely new home with his brother Bert. Fred is pictured above on the scales which he almost couldn't fit on.
11th March 2010
Hi everyone! I know I said I would be doing regular updates so i'm really sorry Iv'e been slow in updating the blog!
I wanted to let you know sooner really but Kate says in 2009 we rehomed 120 guinea pigs, took 200 to rspca centres around the country and had 27 boars neutered! What a year!
We started 2010 quite quiet but it's all gone busy now. We currently have 2 pairs, 5 single boars and 2 single sows. One of Kate's colleague from the rspca picked up 11 pigs today, including some babies! we don't know much about them at the moment as they are spending the night at the vets so they can be checked over but we believe they are all healthy. Kate is picking them up tomorrow.
We also have 2 blind girls to add to our family! they cant be rehomed because they both have very bad cataracts in their eyes. They also can't live in our group as Kate says they would struggle to cope in a large area and need to be in a hutch where they can know their surroundings and feel safe. Kate has called them Dolly and Dotty and they are about 6 years old. They are going to enjoy their senior years here being spoilt. Dolly and Dotty are pictured below.
29th December.
Hi Everyone. My name is Billy, I'm writing to you as I have some very sad news. Robbie passed away recently. He recovered well after his operation and all seemed to be back to normal for a couple of months. But then he started to loose weight. Kate took him back to the vets and they x-rayed him, he had a small bladder stone that had formed in his bladder which the vet was suprised to see back so soon but it wasn't big enough to cause him to be poorly. The vet put Robbie on antibiotics and recomended that Kate suringe feed him to try and help him put on some weight. Kate had him in her living room and was caring for him pretty much round the clock, he was with Cookie who is another member of our piggy family. Cookie had a sore eye and was also on treatment, but while Cookie was improving Robbie was getting worse. Robbie went back to vets several times and they tried everything but sadly Robbie lost his battle. We have all been totally devestated and Kate has been really upset. Robbie was an amazing pig and he will be sadly missed. Rest in peace my friend.
As Robbie is no longer able to write anymore, I will be taking over. I'm honured that Kate has given me the job but sad under the circumstances. I myself have today had surgery on my bottom to remove an abcess so i'm feeling a little grogy but I should be fine. As always it's fairly busy here, with quit a lot of pigs in but we dont mind. Florence, another of Kate's own pigs, has had to have one of her eyes removed so at the moment were more like a hospital than a rescue centre! Anyway i'm going to have a rest now so I'll catch up with you all soon. Happy new year! from me, Kate and all the other pigs.
10th October 09
Hello everyone! I've been really poorly. I ended up having to have a major operation! My bladder infection kept reoccurring so Kate took me back to the vets, they x-rayed my tummy and I had a large stone that had formed in my bladder. I had to have it removed and was on antibiotics and pain killers for a week after. I was very sore for a few weeks and had to take it easy, and then I got an ulcer in my eye! so was back to the vets again! I like Sarah and Michelle the vets but i've seen them a bit too much recently. Kate has been putting eye drops in my eye for two weeks now and i've seen the vets a couple of times since and everyone is really pleased that my eye is healing well. Kate has been really worried about me and i've been getting lots of fuss off the other pigs I live with as well. I'm feeling great now and Kate's very pleased i'm all healthy again and my eye has completely healed.
Kate has two very poorly pigs in. Dougal, who has had an operation on a hymenia and Captain who has had an abscess lanced on his tummy and Kate is having to flush it out three times a day. Both are on antibiotics and the vets were very concerned that Dougal might not make it. Dougal is doing well and both are getting lots of care and attention. Dougal is in the photo having his medicine.
Wonky has settled in well to our little family group, Kate is having to brush him regularly as he has very long hair and it could get easily matted. We currently have babies! Kate took in two heavily pregnant sows, Gloria and Gaynor. Gloria gave birth last Sunday to three beautiful babies and Gaynor gave birth to four gorgeous babies yesterday. It's getting quite chilly at night so Kate is giving us lots of extra hay to snuggle into and were now having our shed top door shut up at night. Amber, a bald sow sleeps in between me and Minnie at night as she tends to feel the cold more than the rest of us.
Take care everyone and speak to you all soon.
12th August 09
Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been intouch for a while! I am back on the antibiotics and Kate says if I dont get over my bladder infection this time I have got to go back to the vets as they want to x-ray my tummy! I don't like the sound of that much! Kate says the vet thinks I might have bladder stones and thats why I'm having problems in that department. I don't mind telling you I'm a little bit frightend but Kate says we need to get me better.
We have lots of piggies in at the moment and Kate is quiet busy with them all. Colin, a neutered boar who was found wondering around Stevenage, had to have 4 stiches in his face and there's "one eyed willie" who has had an eye removed, there's Jack who has been off his food and had an upset tummy since being neutered so Kate has been syringe feeding him. Jack was dumped in St. Albans. Then there's Wonky!
Poor Wonky came from a house with about 140 pigs! Kate had to drive round the country taking pigs to different RSPCA animal centres as we don't have the space for that many here! There where quiet a few sick ones that Kate took in to the vets and some heavily pregnant ones that Kates mum took in as it was a bit unfair to transport them over long distances. And Kate's mum had a large comfy shed that I sometimes stay when Kate is away on holiday. Wonky has his head right over to one side his previous owner said he has always been like that but she had never taken him to the vet. The vet Kate took him to thought it was an ear infection that had been left untreated and done some irreparable damage to his inner ear. Wonky has had some antibiotics and some ear drops and is much better now but has since develpoed an abcess on his face! The vet thought it might be his teeth so he has had a dental as well. Poor little Wonky, he has really been through it! but at least he's on the mend. Kate says he's probably going to have to live with us as with all his problems it would be un fair to rehome him. He's always going to have a slight head tilt.
19th June 09
Hi everyone, having been quite quiet around here recently the last week has been busy! Firstly i've been poorly! Kate had to take me to the vets, which I was not impressed with!! I have a bladder infection and i'm on antibiotics. I feel a lot better than I did but Kate says I have to finish the course, and they taste awful!
I don't know whether you've seen the pictures of Tiffany and Lottie? wow! they're gorgeous! I really like Tiff, I keep trying to talk to her but I don't think she's interested in me. Kate says I shouldn't get to attached to her as she's looking for a permanent loving home. Kate had to give the girls a bath as they were really dirty and matted. I was a bit worried in case she decided to bath me, I don't like baths at all!!
Kate is also looking after two tortoises. They were found with two others being attacked by a dog! One died and the vet had to put one to sleep as it was so badly injured. The two are doing well, Kate has to change their bandages and give them injections of pain relief but luckily they are now feeding themselves so she doesn't have to tube feed them any more. The vet is fairly confident they will make a full recovery and their shells should re grow. Poor little devils.
18th May 09
Hi everyone! Kate's been away for two weeks on holiday so I need to say a big thank you to auntie Caren and Nicola for looking after us all, although Kate did tell me she left me in charge of all us pigs!
Storm and Connie both had their babies on the same day and both had four each. All totally gorgeous! they all have good new homes waiting for them when they're weaned. It's gone very quiet here at the minute, Kate hasn't got any pigs looking for homes! but we all know that wont last long!! Below are the proud mums with their broods, Storm (silver agouti) came in a couple of months ago. She had a young boar with her (Ollie) but because Kate knew she had come from a multi pig household and was probably with Ollie's dad when she gave birth, Kate knew she was probably already pregnant again.
Storm and Connie have both had at least two litters each and both came in with babies with them and turned out to be already pregnant again. Kate says this puts a huge strain on their bodies and they are lucky that all their pregnancies have gone smoothly and the births were ok. We are all glad that Connie and Storm will never have to have any more babies and can have peaceful lives in good new homes when their babies are weaned.
14th April 09
We had some very sad news last week, Mable passed away. Kate had taken her to the vets as she didn't seem herself and was off her food, the vet put her on a course of antobioitics. After a few days Mable still didn't seem much improved and Kate was giving her liquid food three times a day. Last Monday she really went down hill and Kate rushed her to the vets where she died shortly after arriving. We are all very upset, Mable was a very important member of our family and we will really miss her. We don't really know what was wrong with her but us guinea pigs are very good at hiding the fact wer'e ill so sometimes when we start to show signs it can already be to late. Kate says that's why it's so important to get your pig to a vet quickly if you suspect there may be a problem.
On a more positive note Lacey had her babies on the 1st of April. She had two boars and a sow and theyr'e all healthy and growing well. Kate would like to stress that she would never breed guinea pigs! all the babies that we have are from sows that have come in already pregnant. Poor Connie had two babies with her when she came in with Star and Lacey but as they were all living together with Toby and Beanie, Connie was already pregnant again because Mable once told me that sows come into season within 24 hours of giving birth! poor Connie.
