Bit of backstory:
Most of you will probably know that YLO has guinea pigs which she loves very very dearly. Some of you may also know that the building YLO lived in previously changed their policy on pets at the end of March, so the piggies had to stay with other people while we tried finding a new place I could live suitable for my health issues and where the pets would be allowed. I found a new place in July which I couldn't move into until last week, much later than planned. The first person my guinea pigs stayed at could at this point no longer find the time to care for them with the summer holidays being so busy. My mom is severly allergic so my parent's place wasn't an option either. After a frantic search I found someone willing to care for them until I was moved in here. I brought them there in July and picked them back up yesterday.
Yesterday's drama:
I spoke to the caretaker weekly. He said my piggies were doing fine. I was not expecting the horrible sight that greeted me yesterday.. When I arrived the guinea pigs had already been put in the transport boxes and their very large cage had been disassembled and put outside with their belongings, when I rang the doorbell I received my piggy's from his relative, he was not even home. Turns out they were not fine at all, in fact they have been ill for almost the entire time they had been staying with him :'(
They got mange which has been left untreated for nearly two months, all in various stages. The worst two, one of them has lost half of her hair and is half bald, the other one has wounds on her back and face :'( My poor babies.. I thought they were doing well, that they were healthy and well cared for. I feel so bad.. Had I known this I would have taken them away from there, or actually not even brought them there in the first place, my parents went with me to pick them up and they were also horrified. My mom feels really bad too, she says if she had known then she would have let them stay at her place, but really who would except someone to do that to poor defenseless animals? :'(
We are currently working with my country's SPCA to take action against the person who did this to them to at least get the 200 to 300 euros from the vet bills refunded and hopefully a further punishment or fine because this is cruelty and neglect and it makes me cry even thinking about it. Fortunately every year in September every person who is chronically ill receives about 300 euros compensation, which I planned to put aside for unexpected things like a broken computer or fridge or, of course, vet bills so I have enough to pay for the bills if needed without having to struggle with rent and such. Regardless of that outcome, my number #1 priority are getting them healthy again. They're my world. I always spoil them rotten and fuss over them constantly, making sure they get the best food and toys and that nothing bad happens and now I find out they've been ill for months :'( I hope they all recover.. Mange is not a deadly thing, but it has been left untreated for a long time and one of my girls has chronical lung issues and she's one of the two that got it really badly so we are not sure if her body is strong enough to recover :'(
Aww im sorry hunny! But it is not your fault!! You were under the impression they were being well looked after. At least they are back with you now!
Aw, that really is terrible! I can't believe someone would actually do that to an animal, and tell you that they were fine! :(
Really really hope they manage to pull through, i know how much they mean to you. I'll be thinking about them, let me know how they do.
I have also made a topic in Trading Booths to look for art and customs colored after my piggies: http://www.secundi.net/forum.php?topic=7291.0
When I find the cord that connects my camera to my PC I'll post links to some pictures of Mikki and Alice, the two who look worst right now :( I really hope they all pull through as well, am mainly worried about Mikki. We are treating the mange first, they might have to get antibiotics for their lungs as well after we get this under control, as their cage was put in front of an open window for weeks :'( At this point I am surprised Mikki, the one with chronical lung problems before she got there, has even managed to make it through that hell :'(
Poor babies!! :( How do they get mange? Is it like a bug that gets into the cage, like a parasite? Or more like an infection?
So sad that a person would lie to you over the phone when obviously he had to have known something was wrong. It's not like it was something small a person might not notice if they weren't used to guinea pigs. Even a person who never had guinea pigs before would know something is wrong if all their fur is falling out! :(
I hope everyone recovers!
-nods- My mom knows nothing about any type of rodent and when I brought them back she could see from the other side of the room that they were ill, so you're right, it's super obvious and impossible to miss. Mikki has like a wide band in the middle of her body where there is no hair, it looks really weird, only her rump and head have hair now. Alice even has little wounds on the top of her head near her eye. And they always approach you when bringing food so it's not like they wouldn't have seen it.
And it's a parasitic mite, it can come from anywhere, sometimes from hay or bedding or whatever. When treated early on it's really easy to get rid of and usually you just see them scratch a little or notice a tiny patch where the skin is flaky (usually the ear) or a tiny bald spot or something, but it's faaar beyond that and much more serious now. Poor babies. They are itching all the time and they can't reach everywhere to scratch so they sometimes try making it go away by using their mouth which usually leads to more wounds and baldness :( They are getting shots on wednesday, then once more 10 to 14 days later, and I also have a lotion that should help with the itching. I use special carton bedding 'cause it's dust free, so at least they don't have extra irritation from bedding or whatever. But still, poor piggies :( Still haven't been able to upload the pics taken with my camera, but I'll see if I can take some with my iPod. Those pics would be crappy quality, but the injuries are so obvious you really don't need a high quality picture to see it :'(
That is so sad, I'm so sorry to hear your poor piggies were so ill-taken care of. :( Here's crossing my fingers for a quick and full recovery!
Thanks Silv! And everyone else who sent well wishes because I only just noticed I did not say thank you to anyone yet!
I took some quick pics with my iPod.. Will put links because I know not everyone will want to see this. Here's Mikki:
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/YourLoveOnly/Pets/Ziek1_zps7e666bf2.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/YourLoveOnly/Pets/Ziek2_zps275f589a.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/YourLoveOnly/Pets/Ziek3_zps5ae55a38.jpg
It's even worse than it looks in the pics because parts of her skin are black (she's tricolor so any part of the hair that is black will also have dark skin underneath instead of pink) and in some places that dark skin looks like hair instead.
And here is Alice:
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/YourLoveOnly/Pets/Ziek1a_zpsb7dd1193.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/YourLoveOnly/Pets/Ziek2a_zpse41aee4f.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/YourLoveOnly/Pets/Ziek3a_zps234caca4.jpg
She also has some wounds on various places of her body but because her hair is so long and the wounds are tiny I couldn't photograph them with my iPod very well:
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/YourLoveOnly/Pets/Ziek4_zps518ff117.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/YourLoveOnly/Pets/Ziek5_zps355cfec4.jpg
Poor piggies :'(
Well I hope this person gets charged and hopefully now they are back with you your babies will be happy and make a swift recovery!
OMG. There are no words I can find that are awful enough to describe how rotten the person is who did this to your beautiful babies. They deserve a HEFTY fine and some time in a prison cell, and an order that prevents them from ever caring for animals again. They don't even deserve to own goldfish after this.
Back from the vet, fortunately with seven still alive piggies. Mikki lost almost 1/4th of her weight O.o Poor poor girl. They have both mange and lice and Mikki might have a bit of fungus too, but it will take 10 days before the lab test can show that. Right now they have drops and ointment to treat the mange and they need to be bathed, sprayed and given drops for the lice as well. The vet thinks most of them should be able to pull through, we're mostly still concerned about Mikki as her body just might not be strong enough to be able to recover =(
:((( Poor piggies. They are so very lucky to have such a wonderful caring owner who's doing her best to make sure they all pull through though!
(Sad to say, I'm not sure every guinea pig owner understands the kind of care they deserve. I suspect a lot of people think of them as a "get it and forget it" pet - that feeding, watering, shelter and cage cleaning are all that's needed to keep them happy. Including, it seems, the person who was 'caring' for them for two months.)
Sadly that wasn't the case, I could have forgiven him a lot easier if that /had/ been the case. But two weeks before I brought them there I wrote everything down and emailed it to him so he could look it over and make sure he was willing to do all that before agreeing to it. It included what to feed them but also things like being willing to give Mikki antibiotics when her lungs get too bad, brushing Enya and Alice and common diseases and how to recognize them and what to do if it happened. I even gave him a spray for mange, because it's not really a preventable thing but such an easy fix with the spray if you do not let it get as bad as he did. He just didn't wanna do it. That's what hurts me. Because we had the agreement that if he couldn't/wouldn't take care of them anymore he'd let me know and I'd pick them up sooner and bring them to my parents instead (which was the last resort alternative because my mom is pretty allergic to both the pets and the hay that's a mandatory part of their diet). But he agreed to everything and said they were fine.. :(
...Okay, that makes it even worse. He doesn't deserve to own earthworms after this.
I'm so very sorry and angry to hear how he treated your little babies! D:
Please keep us updated with how this ends, and I'm glad the piggies are all still with us, and hopefully fighting off the nasty stuff :C
Much love <3
You may be able to do some criminal action against him, love. If you have the document he signed, there should be something you can do for that. Or atleast get money to pay for the damage.
I'm so sorry this happened to you. This kind of stuff is what's keeping me motivated to finish college as an Animal Cruelty Investigator and Rescue Agent.
Mikki has been put to sleep today. Her body was weakened by everything and she tried hard but she didn't gain back any of the weight. I had a feeling her lungs, which weren't healthy before all of this anyway, had gotten worse and that she wasn't quite herself anymore, so I made an appointment at the vet. I wanted to hear her opinion, but I expected her to recommend putting her to sleep. She examined her and we found out Mikki's heart now also had issues, so it was an obvious decision to make. Still a very very sad one. I miss my girl so much already. :(
Aww YLO I'm so very sorry to hear that. :'( *hugs* Mikki was my favorite (by color) of yours I'd seen,a nd I know she meant alot to you. I hope shes happy and squealing all cute in piggie heaven. <3
She always was such a sweetheart. Easily frightened at times, but also very bold and bright in other situations. I love how she was scared to be picked up, but then would stretch out completely to lay on your lap all relaxed. And I agree, she was beautiful. The first of my piggies I ever picked out from the shelter, which makes it just a bit more sad. Only Noni is still alive from those original 4 piggies. I hope she and Abina will be nice to each other, Mikki was always the one in the middle. If they don't get along I'll get them a boy (neutered clearly) to help keep them in line. Whatever is best for them. I'll miss my beautiful girl lots and lots either way.
I'm so sorry to hear about Mikki. :(
For those curious to see my baby girl, this was her:
(http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/YourLoveOnly/Pets/mshoot5.jpg)
Thanks for the kind words so far. It means a lot. I'll be bumping my thread for piggie mimics soonish to get some more memorials of her.
I'm really sorry to hear about Mikki YLO >< *hugs* I hope things look up for you and your piggies, I know how hard it is to loose a special pet, especially when its a small animal. Its horrible when they suffer. She really was beautiful <3
:'(
Aww im so sorry YLO!
I'm so sorry to hear that YLO! Hope you're okay, and that the rest of your piggies all get better! :(
So so sorry to hear that about Mikki, YLO! *super snugs you* At least she is now in a better place, and will be waiting for you when you get there. And you still have your other piggies who I'm sure miss her too.