I Love Lucy

LucyLou

Post   » Tue Jan 06, 2015 12:52 pm


I'm celebrating a year with my first guinea pig and thought you guys might enjoy her story.

Believe it or not I haven't always loved Lucy. I almost gave her away three times thinking I didn't have the ability or patience to help her. Now, a year later, I can't imagine life without her.

Free snake food. I had been perusing craigslist, and as an animal lover I had to click. The add simply said one year old female guinea pig, free for snake food. I was a Bunny person, I'd never owned a guinea pig, but I had plenty of hay and an extra cage so I decided I could give her a temporary home until I pawned her off on one of my pre-vet or vet tech classmates.

When my boyfriend and I arrived to pick up the little orange pig I was horrified at what I saw. Lucy was being kept in a cage the size of a shoebox, so tiny she couldn't turn around. She had no bedding, water, or food. She was emaciated, her spine prominent and her now chubby sides deflated and hollow. There was a wound on her back and the look in her eyes was one of extreme terror.

The owner explained that he had bought her to feed to his 8ft long snake. She'd been in the tank for a few days but the snake wouldn't eat her. From the wound on her back I concluded that she had probably fought the serpent off. I gently placed the terrified pig in a fleece lined carrier. She shot to the back of it and burrowed under the blanket. I cried the whole way home...

More to come, with pictures of course!

Maddy_harper

Post   » Tue Jan 06, 2015 1:08 pm


Aww what a sad begining with a happy middle :)

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JaneDoe

Post   » Tue Jan 06, 2015 2:27 pm


Yes, pictures, please!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jan 06, 2015 4:02 pm


Wow, I am so glad she found you!

LucyLou

Post   » Tue Jan 06, 2015 6:20 pm


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Looking a little thin and shy a few days after coming home.


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Being Nosey!

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Hanging out with Henrietta; Lucy enjoys giving her haircuts hence the interesting 'do.

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meganmarie

Post   » Tue Jan 06, 2015 6:43 pm


I love this so far! more please! : )

Maddy_harper

Post   » Wed Jan 07, 2015 1:07 am


More storry please!

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JaneDoe

Post   » Wed Jan 07, 2015 1:30 am


What a pretty girl!

LucyLou

Post   » Wed Jan 07, 2015 10:44 am


Once I got Lucy into the cage she ran for a hidey. For the next day or two I hardly saw her. She'd come out to eat or drink, but only if things were perfectly quiet and I wasn't in the room. Then the drinking started....

I'd never seen anything like it. Lucy would stand at the water bottle and drink it dry, all the while flooding her cage with urine. After going through two bottles in a row like this I began to fear her kidneys had been injured during her period of starvation, or she had developed diabetes. Looking for answers I stumbled across guinealynx! Along with the vet, this site was instrumental in Lucy's recovery.

The vet gave Lucy a clean bill of health besides her low weight, and my shy piggy was no longer hiding in my presence. For the first time since the vet visit I tried to touch her. I fed her a piece of pepper and slowly reached to rub behind her ear. Big mistake! Lucy was fast and strong now. She grabbed my hand hard and didn't let go until I ripped it away. She left a deep bloody mark on my hand.

Tears sprang my eyes. I selfishly thought, I saved you. How could you bite me when I'm the only reason you're still alive? I quickly closed the cage door, Lucy ran to the corner of her cage and locked eyes with me, she clicked her teeth together angrily. She had survived because she was a fighter, and Lucy wasn't afraid to fight me.

LucyLou

Post   » Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:01 am


Months later, the no longer ferocious Lucy crawled into my boyfriend's arms while he was napping...
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And decided a nap sounded nice too.
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Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:47 am


What a wonderful pic! She looks so comfortable. She is one lucky pig.

C Cole-Chakotay

Post   » Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:00 pm


Lucy is very pretty. I'm glad she's taming down.

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