Guinea Pig Connection

No Matter What You Rescue, The Emotions Are The Same

A while back, "60 Minutes" did a story titled "Poachers Leaving Elephant Orphans," a simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking profile of an elephant orphanage in Kenya. You can read the transcript of the story, but it's a poor substitute for the touching images in the video.

When I first watched the story in December 2008, there was an exchange between Bob Simon (the reporter) and Dame Daphne Sheldrick (the orphanage's owner) that made me think of The Critter Connection's owner, Cindy Kuester.

"How do you manage going through this all the time?" Simon asked.

"Well, you don't have much option, do you? There's another one to look after, and then another one coming, and, you know, you just have to turn the page," Daphne replied.

"And you get attached after one..." Simon commented.

"But I'm not very good at it," she admitted.

"And you're not going to get any better, are you?" Simon asked.

"No, not after 50 years," Daphne replied.

As I've watched Cindy over the last months, dealing with heartbreaking abandonment cases and the heart-shattering losses of some of our oldest sanctuary pigs, I think repeatedly of Sheldrick's words. Cindy's and Sheldrick's charges are thousands of pounds apart in size, but have all suffered disrespect, neglect, and cruelty. It never stops boggling my mind that there are so many humans who don't understand that animals are our co-habitants on this planet, and deserve the same respect and regard that we demand for ourselves.

Thousands of pounds apart, elephants and guinea pigs have something else in common.

Ultimately, Daphne finds elephants more sympathetic than people.

Asked what the most extraordinary thing is she has learned about elephants, she told Simon, "Their tremendous capacity for caring is, I think, perhaps the most amazing thing about them, even at a very, very young age. Their sort of forgiveness, unselfishness. So you know, I often say as I think I've said before, they have all the best attributes of us humans and not very many of the bad."

May 6 through 12 marks not only National Pet Week, but also Be Kind to Animals Week. Please help spread the message of kindness, compassion, responsibility, and stewardship. Drop some supplies off at a rescue or shelter, donate money to an animal organization, and talk on your own blog, MySpace page, or FaceBook profile about the animal causes closest to your heart.

Maybe...just maybe...we can start making some changes on this planet we call home.

We'll Be In Hartford This Saturday

In recognition of Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, there will be a Blessing of the Animals on Saturday, October 4 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Hartford, CT.

 

Co-sponsored by the church and the Ferret Association of Connecticut, the day will include representatives from animal organizations offering information about adoptions (including us!), a Silent Auction of pet and people goods, and a low-cost vaccination clinic. Reverend Richard Silbereis will provide a Blessing for your pet (or pet photo). Each pet will receive a small Blessing memento.

 

Admission for the public is free, although a gift of pet food is requested.

 

The Church of the Good Shepherd is located at 155 Wyllys Street in Hartford, just south of the Convention Center. Blessing will begin at 1 pm.

 

If you can't make it this Saturday, please check our Web site, as we're participating in four events around the state during the month of October.

Pet Expectations Presentation in Shelton

On Saturday, August 9, 2008, from 1-3:30 p.m., Written Words Bookstore in Shelton, CT, is teaming up with Our Companions and The Critter Connection to talk about picking the right pet, where to find reliable information, and the wide array of resources available to you for Q&A about specific species and breeds.

The event kicks off with story time for the kids, featuring "The Perfect Pet," a book the whole family can relate to! Our Companions will then present on dog and cat adoption and ownership, followed by the The Critter Connection on adopting and owning small/exotic pets of the furry persuasion.

The human educators will be accompanied by kid-friendly furry ambassadors. In addition to Q&A opportunities with the presenters, there will be handouts, fact sheets, rescue lists, and book lists available for you to peruse and take home.

Sometimes They Don't Know They Can Talk To Us

Monty and Mia came to the rescue with breeder's tags on their ears. Generally good-natured, they had some hallmark characteristics of guinea pigs that hadn't received a lot of attention and socialization. Still, they warmed up to Cindy and the other humans who held them.

While Mia proved quickly to be Miss Social Butterfly, chatting it up with her neighbors, actively watching all that went on around her, and engaging with the humans, Monty was comparably quieter, stand-offish. Kept to himself, and Mia, most of the time. Responded well to affection when he was picked up, but didn't work the room for it either. Given the environment he'd come out of, it was plausible that he'd be reserved. Given the extroversion of his mate, it was plausible that he'd be introverted -- that's often how the dynamics shake out in pairs.

Still, Cindy occasionally wondered if something might be wrong with Monty. Guinea pigs are very good at hiding symptoms of illness; sometimes the only (ambiguous) clue that something might be brewing is that a pig becomes quiet, reclusive. But not having a true baseline for his temperament, we couldn't be sure.

Cindy got Monty neutered, and things rolled along well -- until what appeared to be an abscess developed at the neutering incision site. One course of antibiotic proved to be ineffective, so a second course with a different antibiotic was started and surgery was expected early in the week. Through it all, Monty seemed to have some fight in him; he did his best with (syringe) feedings, but Cindy wasn't certain how much strength he had or if his will to live was strong enough to make up for a lack of physical strength.

On the last Saturday morning of May, as Cindy was preparing to go to a memorial service for a family member, she picked up Monty to check on him -- only to discover that the abscess had ruptured. She held the poor little guy over the sink as blood and other...stuff...drained out of the abscess. A call to the vet, an appointment scheduled.

When she took him in, the vet rushed Monty to emergency surgery. Knowing she wouldn't be able to bring him home after surgery that night, Cindy drove home. As she and I washed water bottles, we silently hoped that Monty would be okay.

The vet called from the operating room. The problem at the neutering site was not an abscess, but an infection that had spread from the real problem -- an abscess in his stomach, which had eaten clear through the abdominal lining and wall. The problem clearly had started before he ever came to the rescue. There was only one decision that could be made. Monty was never brought out of anesthesia, and passed peacefully into the next world.

There are a lot of wishes that things would have turned out differently...but wishes won't bring Monty back. So instead, we're turning our wishes in a different direction.

When Monty and Mia arrived at the rescue, Mia was pregnant. At the time, we were disappointed by the human carelessness that led to her getting pregnant while she was still so small. In the wake of Monty's loss, though, we find ourselves wishing that Mia gives birth to a boy...a mini Monty.

Sometimes, We're Sure They Talk To Us

Cindy's been taking care of surrendered guinea pig, an older male she's named Stash. He's a cuddly, good-natured, pretty boy who hadn't been feeling his best since he arrived.

She took him to the vet, where they discovered that his front molars had overgrown, trapping his tongue and, thus, making it difficult to eat (but not drink). During the visit, the vet was able to sedate Stash and trim his molars back down to proper size. Cindy then took him home, cleaned his cage, and restocked his food.

That was when one of those mission-affirming moments that animal rescuers live for happened. She wrote me later:

"He started eating immediately, like he had never eaten before. At one point, I walked past his cage and abruptly stopped. Stash stopped chewing, turned around, and looked at me...and gave me the most penetrating stare I've ever had from an animal.

After several moments of this I blurted out "you are welcome" without even thinking. After I said that, he started eating again. I swear he was talking to me." 

I'm convinced he was.

How 'bout you?

The Rescue Is Full & Needs Your Help!

It's with some mixed feelings that we announce that the rescue is presently full and unable to take in any more guinea pigs until further notice. On the one hand, we're happy to have been able to help so many pigs in need. On the other hand, we worry about the pigs that we can't help until adoptions help restore some space at our facility.

We're asking owners who need to surrender their guinea pigs to check out some of the guinea-pig-friendly Web sites where they can post their own photos and adoption notices. A list of these sites can be found on our Guinea Pigs 101 lens on Squidoo, just look under the heading "The Adoption Option". When we once again have room, we will post an update here, on our main Web site, and on our Petfinder page. In the meantime, we appreciate your understanding.

We will honor contractual promises with Critter Connection adopters in the event that they need to return the guinea pigs they adopted from our care.

The critters need more than your understanding, though. Summertime is a tough time of year: slow adoption rate, slow donation rate, slow recruiting time for new volunteers. This year is no different, and the slow economy in Connecticut has made for leaner times than usual. Additionally, several neglect cases that we took in this spring and summer required extensive medical care (surgeries, antiobiotics, follow-up visits, special diets), and recent emergency surgeries for two boys in our sanctuary program depleted our...well...our emergency reserves.

How can you help?

• Send a donation to The Critter Connection Inc., P.O. Box 371, Durham, CT 06422.
• Drop a donation through the PayPal button on our Web site.
• Start your online purchases through IGive, where a percentage of every purchase will be donated to the rescue at no additional cost to you. With nearly 700 stores in the IGive network, any shopping from DVDs to office supplies to business card printing to school clothes to holiday shopping can help support the rescue. If you don't already have an IGive membership, click here to sign up for your free account.
• Promote guinea pig adoption to family members, friends, and colleagues who are considering bringing a guinea pig or two into their homes.
• Leverage any company matching that may be offered at your job for charitable donations that you make into the community.

No donation is too small to make a big difference. The critters thank you, in advance, for your support and generosity!

Looking For A Few Good Foster Homes

Over the past 3 years, the rescue has worked on several large cruelty cases and hoarder situations -- including the pigs from the Catskill Game Farm and the Pennsylvania seizure. The pigs who came out of these situations had serious health issues upon their arrival. Happily, many were treated and rehabilitated to a full recovery and adopted out to good homes.

Some pigs, though, had tougher conditions to treat. Their quality of life is now very good, but they have chronic health issues that will require careful ongoing attention for the rest of their lives. These health issues, though entirely manageable, make the pigs difficult to adopt out to permanent homes. It's unfortunate, because these pigs are all sociable, affectionate, and adorable -- in spite of the living hell they've been through. As Cindy often says, "they're really great pigs". They're all living, breathing testimonies of what love and great care can do for animals.

Because we are a no-kill rescue, we keep these guinea pigs with us and give them the best food and medical care available. In absence of finding other homes for them, they will remain with us for the rest of their lives.

As we approach the milestone of 600 guinea pigs rescued, we are running out of room in the rescue and are seeing our financial resources being drained as we care for adoptable and sanctuary pigs. Some of the sanctuary pigs would benefit tremendously from living in a private home where they would get a lot of one-on-one attention and affection. We do our best to give each pig "snuggle time" on a daily basis, but with 24 sanctuary pigs and varying numbers of adoptables, it gets difficult.

The ideal situation for some of our special friends is for them to go to homes as permanent foster pigs. This means that the rescue will take care of any medical bills that might (we stress might) arise as a result of their health conditions. The foster homes must be located close to or be willing to travel to our veterinarian in Middletown, CT.

Some of the guinea pigs currently available are Sedona (pictured here), and Moxie and Trax (pictured earlier). Several others will be added in the near future. If you'd be interested in becoming a permanent foster home, please e-mail us at info[at]ctguineapigrescue.org (replace the [at] with the @ symbol when copying the e-mail address into a mail message). Be sure to include "permanent fostering" in your Subject line.

If you'd like to help the pigs, but fostering just wouldn't fit into your household routine, donations of any amount will be very helpful and greatly appreciated. You can make donations through the PayPal button on our Web site or by sending checks to The Critter Connection, Inc. at P.O. Box 371, Durham, CT 06422.

The rescue pigs thank you in advance for your help!

The Rescue Says Good-bye To Swish

The rescue takes in so many guinea pigs that have been abandoned, abused, neglected, and totally disrespected. When one of these guinea pigs arrives at the rescue, they are welcomed with open hearts; I know, though, that some may not make it because of the difficult life that they have had.

Each and every one of these guinea pigs is special in their own way, and strive to get to know each one, to see their uniqueness. Yet there's always ones that stand out from the rest. Swish was one of these pigs who completely wrapped me around his paw, entertained me with his antics, and greeted me with his precious look. He never had much to say but always had the look of “life is good.”

Swish had been dumped off at a local humane society about 8 months ago with a horrible infection in all four feet. He was underweight, his eyes were listless, and his coat was dull. That changed quickly with proper medical treatment, a good diet, and lots of TLC. Watching him thrive was a gift that kept on giving time and time again. I melted when he gave me his “look” and immediately bonded with him.

Then one day recently the “look” disappeared. Swish didn’t feel good and no matter what we and our vets did for him just didn't turn things around. His little body had already been through a major battle, and the fight hadn't left enough strength for another one. It was time for him to leave, to go to a place where there was no pain. And with him went the “look” that I had come to know and, along with it, a piece of my heart.

Rest peacefully, Swish, my dear sweet boy.

(This post was written by Cindy Kuester, the rescue's owner/founder.)

Friday Musings -- Minerva, Our Goddess Of Wisdom

With the many guinea pigs that have come through the rescue it is hard not to bond with them -- especially the “special ones” who arrive afraid, uncertain of what their future will hold.

Then there are those who quickly learn how to wrap humans around their little paws. Minerva is one of those special pigs who has not only learned how to wrap me around her paw, but has inspired me to keep going when things get so crazy in the rescue that I become tired and burnt out.

Watching Minerva live her life as a happy little girl, even though she isn’t able to actually see the world around her, is amazing. She doesn’t let anything bother her -- not illness, not strange noises, not dogs barking, not new humans leaning over her cage -- and rules her herd with a strong will and determination. Humans are her slaves, there to feed her, clean up after her, and to cuddle her. Nothing slows her down as she travels around her habitat, checking to make sure that everything is in place, including her roommates Pogo, Gracie, and Sedona. And, should any of her friends be sleeping in the cuddle cup that she wants, they had better get up and get moving!

No matter how depressing or stressful a day has been, I can always count on Minerva to cheer me up. I’ll scoop her up for a quick snuggle as I walk by her cage and she will coo away at me and tell me that the troubles aren’t that bad.

Who would have thought that this little girl – who arrived here as a small, two-week-old, sightless guinea pig could make such a difference? Arriving scared, and squabbling for her place in a litter of five, she was so frail. Yet now she has grown into a confident, gorgeous guinea pig who is the queen of my life. So much can be learned from this little goddess.

(Today’s posting comes to us from Cindy Kuester, founder of The Critter Connection, Inc.)

Looking For A Few Good Items

With cold days of winter officially upon us, most of us are retreating indoors and, perhaps, coming face to face with the inevitable clutter that accumulates in routine living. And, with the turn of the calendar to a new year, lots of people have taken advantage of sales to update household and office items with newer models.

Before you (or your relatives, friends, or employers) carts off those unwanted but still perfectly functional items (or shoves them into a storage room somewhere), we wanted to put the word out about a couple of items that would help the rescue out greatly.

• A small refrigerator (no freezer section needed), such as the kind that might be used in a dorm room or office. Cindy could use the extra space to store the vegetables and fruits she feeds the rescue pigs every day. If you can also drop it off at her place, that would be a bonus!
• A desktop-sized printer/copier/scanner, to help with printing and copying adoption applications, contracts, and kits as well as other documents.

If you or someone you know has one of these items that you can donate, please post a note here or use the e-mail link in the upper-left corner of the blog's home page to drop me a note. Your donation is tax-deductible.

Thanks, in advance, for helping to get the word out.