My adventures in fostering

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Ibepatience
Supporter in '13

Post   » Wed Dec 04, 2013 2:17 am


These three lil guys are at my house! For anyone keeping tract, that's 18 in my house right now! :-)

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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

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clairey

Post   » Wed Dec 04, 2013 7:40 am


I love the little red one.

18 in your house? *giggles* Didn't you only want one pig when you lost Stewart? Now look at you! I love it. A load of pigs being cared for until the right people turn up as well as your own personal pigs. What a legacy your little white piggy has left.

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Ibepatience
Supporter in '13

Post   » Wed Dec 04, 2013 8:37 am


Oh that little red one is just too sweet. He is younger than the other two and was probably way too young to be taken from his mom at the shelter. The black and whites are very skittish but Buck (that's what my husbands been calling him) is so young he doesn't seem to know any better than to let me snuggle with him.

Right?! It really was because of Stewart too. Stewart was born at our house because our first pig, a Petco purchase, came with two surprise stowaways. We didn't plan on keeping Stewart, just mama and her baby girl, but when I started trying to find a home for him on the other guinea pig forum I discovered pink eyed whites are hard to find homes for and ended up in rescues. I was offended!! My perfect little boy and people wouldn't want him?! Of course I kept him and the rest is history but it really is in his memory that I rescue and foster. I should make a sign for my foster room "Stewart's Place for Rescued Piggies"

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Ibepatience
Supporter in '13

Post   » Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:40 am


On December 8th the little white with black boy was adopted as a friend for someone's single boar. The black with white boy was paired up with a single foster boy and went to another fosters home. I kept the little red boy, we named him Leonard, and he was paired up with Skylar. Skylar is a super sweet, mellow boy and him and Lenny hit it off.

Here's Skylar and Lenny
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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

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Ibepatience
Supporter in '13

Post   » Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:43 am


Ginny's babies turned 1 week old December 9th!! We named the
little girl Peyton and the little boy Eli.

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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

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Ibepatience
Supporter in '13

Post   » Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:04 am


On December 12 I went to the Riverside shelter to check on three pigs that were there. One male had been there a few days and two girls were just brought in.

I met the rescue coordinator and she took me to the back to see the boy. He was being held in the back because he had "some hair loss and an old healing wound". Well he had more then some hair loss and the wound was from severe mites. He was a chipper little guy despite his awful appearance. I got to hold him twice and took a few pictures.

I called my rescue supervisor to give her the info but I already knew we couldn't pull him. We are so over capacity all of the fosters are double and tripled up, plus adding a sick pig would require an experienced foster with quarantine space. She said we had a few pending adoptions coming up that weekend and we should be able to pull him and the girls on Monday. I talked to the rescue coordinator about what treatment he needed and she spoke to her supervisor who said if I would give them a list of what meds he needed they would treat him until we could pull him. I checked back Friday (the next day) and she said she didn't see anything in his chart but that didn't mean he wasn't being treated yet. Sometimes they are slow to update. I told her if they couldn't get the ivermectin to let me know and I'd bring mine in Saturday.

Sunday we had 2 adoptions, 2 pairs of bonded boys went to their forever home so I was given the go ahead to pull the three first thing Monday morning. I shuffled Skyler and Lenny to the other foster who's piggies were adopted. Kenneth and Kramer went to the BEST forever home I could have asked for. Now I had room for the mite boy we named Rolo.

Today I went to the shelter to pull the three. I emailed the rescue coordinator to tell her I was coming in. I was so excited to get Rolo out of there! I had my quarantine cage set up, and my Vetercin and coconut oil ready. I had to pull the girls as a private adoption since the shelter releases them to the public first then rescues the day after. I finished my paperwork then went to see the rescue coordinator to pull the boy. She told me she had some bad news. The boy "took a turn for the worse over the weekend and had to be out down". I was shocked so I just said okay and walked back to the lobby to get the girls. My mind was racing thinking they must not have treated him, he wasn't that bad that the ivermectin wouldn't have saved him. I asked for a supervisor and waited for 20 minutes. Finally a woman came out and said she was so sorry, they mistakenly put him down. She said he was being treated with the ivermectin and was doing okay. They knew I was coming to get him this week, hopefully Monday but apparently the Saturday staff was not told. They "decided to make some room and clear some cages" and they euthanized him. I started crying. She apologized several times and said this would be investigated to the very top to find out how it happened.

Here is Rolo on December 12, 2 days before they euthanized him.

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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

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Ibepatience
Supporter in '13

Post   » Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:24 am


I cried the whole way home. How could this happen? How could we keep it from happening again.

After my tear filled drive home I had to pull myself together, I had to set these new beautiful girls up with a place to stay.

I haven't decided on names yet. They are so calm, so trusting and so cute!! I'm in love with the chocolate one and my daughter is in love with the white fluff ball. They seem very healthy except some scratching so I gave them both an ivermectin treatment.

Within 15 minutes they were settled in and the chocolate one was popcorning.

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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

Happy girls

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Dec 17, 2013 10:47 am


Oh, I am so sorry about Rolo. It is indeed heartbreaking to have a guinea pig put down that could certainly recover from a mite infestation.

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clairey

Post   » Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:58 pm


Rolo's story is heartbreaking. :( A life lost simply because they didn't keep the paperwork updated.

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Lovemypigs
Supporter in '17

Post   » Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:20 pm


Oh Ibe.....that is so sad for both you and for Rolo. I don't understand how this can happen, especially with someone caring, like you making visits and being so involved. It should be a crime!

On the bright side, atleast you saved the two girls. I have a boy(Hershey) who looks exactly like the brown girl.

Thank you for being so loving to all the fur piggies you come across!!!

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GP_mum
Supporter in '13

Post   » Wed Dec 18, 2013 12:27 am


It was very sad to read about the tragedy of Rolo but you are doing a wonderful thing by fostering. The white abby does look like mine - she's also a sweetheart but very timid.

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Ibepatience
Supporter in '13

Post   » Wed Dec 18, 2013 1:05 am


Spartacus stands!! He's getting stronger and stronger and now he can stand up to see the girls!!

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image by ibepatience, on Flickr

Here's a quick video of him in action

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