Up for adoption, Tuxedo and Louis

Tuxedo

Louis

Tuxedo and Louis are an adorable pair of friendly boys that came into the rescue in the fall of 2008. Tuxedo is a black and white American with a cute red patch over one eye. Louis is a golden agouti abbyssinian. Both boys are adults, probably about 2 to 3 years old.

They are good friends and must be adopted together. Tux and Louis are looking for a special home with lots of love and a watchful eye. They had a tough start. They were abandoned in a run down motel and taken in by a local shelter. The shelter they were pulled from had mistakenly doused them with a flea powder that the boys consumed as they groomed themselves. Both fell ill and had to be nursed back to health. Soon afterwards, the boys were treated for a respiratory infection. With antibiotics, Louis shook his illness quickly, but it took Tuxedo much longer to recover. Both are doing well now, but a few health problems remain for Tuxedo, which is why these boys are listed as special needs. Despite several vet visits to try and diagnose the cause, Tuxedo from time to time has a slightly runny nose. However, he seems unfazed by this and continues to eat well, is active and playful, and recently he has even gained weight. Tux also has an impaction problem which was most likely caused by his condition before coming into the rescue. It is recommended that his impaction is cleaned out at least once per week (possibly more often) and that he is provided plenty of space and extra floor time for exercise to help tone his muscles. With extra care, it is possible that the impaction problems may improve. Louis is a healthy, plump little guy, but he does have a fatty lump on one hip that was checked by our vet and is considered benign.

Despite their struggles along the way, Tux and Louis are a wonderful pair of pigs! They are both friendly and easy to handle, although Tux can still be a little hard to catch. They are used to people and enjoy being in an active part of the house where all the action is. Louis is always looking for attention. He loves to be pet and comes over to beg for food and to say hello any chance he gets. These boys get along well together and love to play. They're very mischievous and love to flip over their pigloos and roll their pellet dish.

Would you like to open your home and heart to these special boys? Tux and Louis are being fostered in Mount Horeb, WI.

Please click here for their page on Petfinder!

The Good, the Bad, and the Fuzzy - Milwaukee Pet Expo report

Cassie in her cuddle cup

Our colorful booth!

Our poster about Mia

Talking about the pigs!

Charlene welcomes all your piggie quesitons.

Hello! We are back from the Milwaukee pet expo. We were blessed to have the opportunity to attend this year. Normally, our rescue does not have the means to cover the booth fee (Let’s face it, we’re just too small and bring in too few donations). Thank you so much to the folks who sponsored our booth, as we are very grateful.

It was a wonderful experienced to see so many people coming to learn about the animals in all the rescues. If you dropped by our booth, your kids got a free tattoo and a piece of candy. You may have seen our star attractions… our two rescue pigs, Cassie and Carley who got to show off their cuteness. We also want to thank so many people for stopping to read about little Mia and for donating toward her care. We were able to raise $64 for her, so thank you, thank you, thank you!

When we are at these types of events, we are just amazed at the number of people that have owned guinea pigs when younger. We love to hear the stories about all of them. Of course, we also get a few, “I had a guinea pig when I was young…” followed by, “but it died…” followed by, “but we buried it in the backyard.” THOSE stories we are not so thrilled to hear about (the died and buried part).

I think the most common statement made by people seeing our booth was, “I never knew there was a guinea pig rescue in Wisconsin!” Yes. We’ve been around since 2001. It’s true that we usually keep a low profile because we just don’t have the means to take in ALL the guinea pigs that need re-homed in the state (we would be overwhelmed in no time!). I think the funniest statement heard was an inquiry on how much we get from the government to run the rescue. Oh boy, we wish! Like all rescues, we get by on the generous donations from good folks like you. Sometimes, we have to dig into our own pockets to make up the differences when things get tight (they seem to get tight a lot, unfortunately).

I think the next most common remark from folks was a question about how long guinea pigs live. If you took our quiz and checked your answers, you now know that guinea pigs can live from 7-8 years. People think that their lifespan is much shorter because back only 10 years ago or so, people thought it was okay to keep guinea pigs in aquariums and pet store cages and to feed them only pellets. There was also the prevailing thought that guinea pigs were not deserving of being taken to a vet when sick (“I only paid $4 for it!”). Naturally, that kind of care often led to an early demise for the animal. Isn’t it wonderful that we now know so much more about how to keep our guinea pigs healthy (hay, fresh veggies, plenty of running room, etc) and we can have them to love for their full lifespan?

Unfortunately, if you came to our booth in the afternoon, you were not able to see our Cassie and Carley anymore. All that really loud barking from all those wonderful dogs (where they not just great?!) was just sort of freaking the pigs out. It is a rather stressful environment for a very sensitive animal like a guinea pig. Now that Cassie and Carley are back in their foster home, they are eating hay like there’s no tomorrow and are enjoying the peace and quiet.

If you came to our booth and you are interested in adopting any of the pigs you saw in our book, do check out our rescue website and ask us for an application. Even if you didn’t see any pigs that caught your eye, go ahead and fill out an application anyway. We are always getting in new pigs that need homes, so your special darlings may be just a few weeks away from coming in.

We hope we can be back at the expo next year to see all of you again!

From Charlene here in the Janesville Pig Pen

February's Pig of the Month - Tuxedo!

This is Tuxedo! He came into our rescue a few months ago and somehow picked up an extremely bothersome URI (Upper Respiratory Infection), his buddy Louis had a bit of it too but after the first round of antibiotics his URI was gone. Tux on the other hand couldn't get rid of it for the longest time!

So we racked up some vet bills during this epic battle. Any donations to the rescue to help cover them will be much appreciated! Our goal is $200.00. This will help cover his antibiotics, office visits, and an x-ray.

Donate to help a pig! (and the rescue)

Big thanks from Tux and the WGPR!
Tuxedo and his buddy Louis will be up for adoption soon, check our pet-finder link at the right for all the current pigs that are ready for a new home.