Help: Need Advice on Moving Guinea Pigs

[stradi]

Hi, I'm currently faced with a difficult dilemma regarding my pigs for which I'm hoping I can get some advice.

I currently have 2 female pigs. Since they are both rescues, the vet guesstimated their age at 1 year and 3 years. I've had these pigs for about a year now, and I have grown very attached to them.

By the end of this year, due to work, I will be moving from NorCal (where I am currently) to Berlin, Germany. I would dearly like to take my piggies with me. I've contacted a pet relocation company, through Lufthansa Cargo, with a quote of roughly $2000.

So here is my dilemma. I would only be in Berlin for a year. At the end of the year, I'll be moving back to NorCal. I want to do right by the pigs, and I am uncertain if the older pig (who would be solidly middle-aged by Oct 2017) would survive two international plane rides. I have no family or friends here that can care for the pigs for this year. I suppose my three options are 1. fly the pigs to Berlin and then back for $4000, or 2. find a foster family or maybe a guinea pig rescue, that would be willing to take in the pigs for a year for $4000, 3. give them up for adoption.

What would you do in my situation? Is there any advice on flying guinea pigs internationally? Is it better to leave them in California? Do you think someone or some rescue group might foster them for a year?

[Lynx]

If it is done well, I don't think the flight itself would be all that bad. I'm sorry you don't have anyone to care for them. What kind of health are they in?

The good thing about having them cared for here is that you would have some funds in reserve for medical expenses (I expect the care would cost less than $4000 so some would be left). What rescues are near you? Perhaps they could recommend someone who is in between guinea pigs?

[bpatters]

I'd vote for finding a foster family or a rescue who could take them. You could surely offer them quite a bit less than $4000 and they'd still be well paid.

[stradi]

Thank you for the replies ! The pigs are in perfect health, but I've been reading the horror stories online about airlines, where pets have died from overheating or cold or air pressure/compressed lungs, etc. And it's a 18 hour - maybe longer - trip, and I'm not sure if they will be well-cared for.

I'm in the Bay Area, so I can ask around at the rescues, or at least the rescues where I got my two pigs. If the rescues can take them in just for a year, or I guess ideally, someone who would be happy to have guinea pigs but maybe cannot commit to 5-7 years so this 1 year would hit the sweet spot. (These are starting to become time-share pigs hahaha). Or they can be pigs "on-loan" to accompany another elderly pig, for owners that don't want to live in a perpetual cycle of guinea pig ownership but wanted their remaining pig to have a friend in her old age? Do people look for these often?

[stradi]

I had put up some ads with the local shelters to see if there were an possibilities of fostering, while I started preparing their travel plans to Europe. Happily, a super suitable family was able to take them in for this year, so no travel necessary!