OCTOBER'S GUINEA PIG--Donald Trump!

So far we've raised $450! We met our goal!

Meet Donald Trump

from FL rescue

Crazy Cavies

This guinea pig is named Donald Trump and he was abandoned at a shelter that does not house anything but dogs and cats. One of the workers took him and his buddy in and found us and contacted us to take him and find him a new home. He came in with bumblefoot, double ear infections, and both eyes were infected and had corneal abrasions. He was treated with meds for everything and has 90% recovered. He is now blind in the one eye from the corneal abrasion but the other eye healed nicely. He still has moderate bumblefoot on his left front paw but is healing. With all the exams, treatments, and meds we have spent about $500 and that will continue to go up as we keep treating his bumblefoot. He is very sweet and is being housed with his friend and another male piggy.


This Donald Trump isn't a billionaire, and neither are his caretakers! Can you help us reach our goal of $400 for Donald?

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*To avoid Paypal fees you can also log in to your paypal account, select "Send Money," and type "crazycavies@hotmail.com " in to the "to field." Then select "personal" at the top tab. The default status should be "gift." Leave this as-is. Then enter your gift amount. Crazy Cavies thanks you for going to this extra trouble!

OCTOBER'S GUINEA PIG OF THE MONTH--Hope!

UPDATE: So far we have raised $382! Thank you to those who have donated! WE MADE OUR GOAL!

Meet Hope

from AZ Rescue

ARIZONA PIGGIE POO RESCUE!

Above: before picture, Banner: Present Day. Hope is pictured with her pup, Gateway.

Hope is one of the mother guinea pigs that came in as part of a group of 4 Moms and 13 babies from the hoarder case featured last month. APPR was generous enough to take in many of these pigs from the overwhelmed CA rescues.

Hope is malnourished, weak, and trying so hard to nurse her pups. She is a beautiful & gentle little Mommy that needs a lot of love & attention.

The cost of care for one of the hoarder's guinea pigs for a month of care, including hay, pellets, fresh fruit & vegetables and housing is about $50, unless we have to go to the Vet - which would be an unknown expense. It is a high possibility that Hope will need veterinary care at some time in the future to assure her survival. Medicines are another expense for mites and lice, which many of the pigs have. In addition, we have transportation needs and since our Rescue does not have a "Company Van", we rely on volunteers to spend time & money on gas and other things like carriers

and various comfort items.

For example, these are the retail prices of some items each pig uses:

Bedding - Softwood: $12

Lg Hidey Hut : $10

Fleece : $5

Snuggle Cup: $19

Food dish : $5

C & C cage : $50

Hay : $10

Oxbow Pellets: $12

Fresh Veggies & Fruit: $20

I'm estimating that to house Hope for the healing time needed it will be about $100 in fixed cost and another $42 per month for upkeep, plus any medical/veterinary expenses and volunteer expenses.

As a result, SAGP hopes to raise $352--enough for getting Hope settled initially, and then for six

months of her care.

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*To avoid Paypal fees you can also log in to your paypal account, select "Send Money," and type "info@piggypoo.org" in to the "to field." Then select "personal" at the top tab. The default status should be "gift." Leave this as-is. Then enter your gift amount. Piggie Poo thanks you for going to this extra trouble!

UPDATE FOR THE LETHALS!

So far we have raised $474 out of $336! We've met our goal :D

Still, with four piggies to fundraise for, every extra bit counts!

UPDATE: Four cozy cavy cuddle cups have been donated by a wonderful woman. Thank you!

9888.83

OCTOBER'S GUINEA PIG OF THE MONTH--The Lethals!

Meet The Lethals from

North Jersey Guinea Pig and Hamster Rescue!

Here is their story: A healthy pair of guinea pigs was brought to the rescue in May of 2010 with their five babies from three litters. All of the babies were white, had strange looking eyes, pronounced overbites and behaved oddly. I had heard the term "lethal white" and seen some photos on the internet but had never seen examples of this genetic defect in person.

The next day, we got them to the vet and confirmed they all had this condition. Most are blind or have very limited vision. All have abnormal teeth, either deformed or growing improperly. Some have teeth missing completely on the lower jaw.

There were two males: Biscuit, who is now 13 months old and Ivory, who is 8 months old.

There were three females: Maria, and Rosa who are both 8 months old and little China, who passed away shortly after she arrived here at the age of 5 weeks. No matter how much we fed her, she just couldn't seem to metabolize the food. What she lacked in physical strength, she more than made up for with her outgoing personality and big voice.

We can't put these guys up for adoption. They require an investment of time and money to care for them and provide veterinary care to keep the teeth trimmed so they

can eat. They all go to the vet about two/three times a month at a cost of $28 per piggie for the tooth exam and trim. As time goes on, we expect that lab tests and supplemental syringe feedings will be necessary.

As they age, we expect metabolic problems to occur. The normal life span will probably be significantly shortened although we will do everything possible to keep them comfortable and happy as long as they live.

The remaining four are doing fine at the moment, although we are watching Rosa very closely. She is small for her age and while the others are continuing to gain weight, she is just maintaining her weight. We are concerned that she is starting to develop internal problems although she is acting fine otherwise.

Our goal is to fundraise $336--for three vet visits at $28 each for each of the four pigs. Good luck Lethals!

UPDATE FOR BANDIT AND SILVERADO

So far we've raised $330 out of $275
for this adorable pair!

We reached our goal! Thank you so much everyone who donated and passed on their story!

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*To avoid Pay Pal fees send checks to:

Wee Companions
975 Iris Ave
Imperial Beach, CA 91932

Material donations are always welcome too!

OCTOBER'S GUINEA PIGS OF THE MONTH-Bandit and Silverado!

Meet Bandit and Silverado
from CA rescue
Wee Companions!

Our goal is to fundraise $275 dollars:
X-rays-$100 Food (Baby foods, Critical Care & Pedialyte) $50, Teeth/Medications-$100, Fleece-$25

Read on to see why these guys are worth it!

Bandit and Silverado came to Wee Companions through a series of fortunate events. It all started with an ad that had a picture of two sad looking guineas in a terrible living situation. A wonderful woman from LA took one look at the picture and declared that she had to rescue these boys. "Bandit looks just like one of my own guineas, so I just couldn't get them off my mind." So, she quickly began to ask if there were any rescues that would be willing to help her in this. Wee Companions of San Diego gladly stepped up to the challenge and agreed to help with whatever these boys might need.

She, wisely, took a fellow guinea friend with her, and off they went to save the boys. "There was nothing in their cage to stand on except wire and nothing to eat but an old carrot and cheapy cat food! Plus, they were outside in the heat and smog! We wouldn't have left them there for anything!" But they were free! And yet that is only the beginning.

Once Bandit and Silverado were out of the cage, they went with their rescuers to spend the night before coming down to Wee Companions. The ladies had a long vigil that night, watching over the boys, "Silverado just kept falling asleep, as if he was crashing! So, we actually called him Crash to start with! We were so concerned that he wouldn't make the night." But he did! And he and Bandit took the long road down in San Diego, where they met up with Wee Companions and a volunteer named Julie.

"I didn't know what to expect. Those boys were such a mess even after everything the ladies had done for them." After close observation, one could see that their digestion tracts were severely hampered. Bandit had fleas, mites, and fungus, broken toes, and trouble eating. Silverado had mites, fungus, and was very weak and thin. But they loved each other and Bandit kept crawling over to sit over Silverado's little body to help keep him warm.

Thus began the long road of true recovery for these special boys. But, the story doesn't end there either. The boys began to heal and gain strength. Bandit's hair began to grow out and Silverado seemed to have more strength, but other things seemed to be amiss. "I came into the sick room one morning to pass out veggies. As I rounded the corner, I happened to drop the vegetable bag and make a huge ruckus! Bandit ran for his life, but Silverado just sat there, as if nothing had happened. When I walked up clapping my hands he still didn't move. Even when I reached my hand out toward him, he didn't respond. Only after I touched him, did he move, and boy did he jump!" observed Julie.

Sadly, not only was Silverado deaf, he was also blind. After closer inspection and conferring with a variety of guinea experts, it was realized that Silverado had more medical issues, and is considered a very rare Lethal white guinea. A rep. from OOCH describes a Lethal white as, "Having no pigment in their skin. They are missing a specific gene, so that makes them much weaker and smaller than other guinea pig. Also, Lethal whites are often blind, deaf, and have continued dental and health issues the rest of their lives."

Julie smiles as she remembers, "Poor Silverado. With all of the needed blood work and X-rays we didn't know how we were/are going to cover all of his expenses. Now, they have special housing for Bandit's sore feet and so that Silverado doesn't get lost. But, it's okay because they are so worth it!"

Now, Bandit the long haired peruvian and Silverado his Lethal white side kick really did ride into the west and hopefully, it will be a long, glorious ride into a beautiful Californina sunset.

Read more about Bandit and Silverado here.

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*To avoid Pay Pal fees send checks to:

Wee Companions
975 Iris Ave
Imperial Beach, CA 91932

Material donations are always welcome too!

OCTOBER'S GUINEA PIGS OF THE MONTH- Cinnamon and Salazar!

Meet Cinnamon and Salizar

from the CA rescue

Wee Companions!

Cinnamon and Salizar are a senior pair of sweethearts-at six years old, they have been through adoptions, returns, lost mates, and now they're going to spend the rest of their life at the rescue, living the good life. They met and fell in love in the rescue in their senior years.

SAGP hopes to raise $200 to fund two months of their care! See details at bottom.

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When Salizar (on the left) was just a young boy in the rescue he lost his eye in an attempt to assert dominance. He still found a loving adopter, and was able to be paired with other males successfully. He had to be returned to the rescue when his owner moved to New Zealand.

Cinnamon and her mate were returned to the rescue when her owner was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her owner was devastated to return them. The rescue wrote, "Collecting them from their Mom and watching their farewells was incredibly hard. Sadly she passed away several weeks later and Cinnamon's beau also passed following surgery to remove a stone from his bladder." Around the same time Salizar's bonded mate, who was in poor health, passed away, and both pigs were lonely and depressed. The two were introduced and have now been bonded for years.



Cinnamon and Salizar have slowed over the years. Salizar suffers from arthritis and asthma, and needs his eye socket cleaned daily. He also suffers from impaction issues. Cinnamon is presently fighting an infection. The two pigs are still close friends who love each other deeply. "They snuggle together and still love to dine in style together..Salazar and Cinnamon are an 'old' couple, they do not run about their cage but rather paddle about it." Thank you to Wee Companions for caring for homeless animals in their old age!

Bedding, $20 per month.

Pellets $20 per month

Hay $10 per month

Critical Care $20 per month

Veggies $30 per month

Total $100.00

Fundraising Goal $200 for 2 months

Where a dollar can make a difference!
Send a dollar their way-
or why not buy them a month of hay?

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*To avoid Pay Pal fees send checks to:

Wee Companions
975 Iris Ave
Imperial Beach, CA 91932

Make checks payable to "Wee Companions" and please specify SAGP or Cinnamon and Salizar in the Memo line.