Dusty and Whizz's Birthday

Dusty and Whizz, our two beautiful grey-and-white abyssinian peruvian crosses, were born three years ago while we were on holiday. We returned from camping, unpacked the car then headed off to pick up our pets. My Nan was looking after Mop and Muffin and one of my friends was looking after Chester, my hamster.

We went to pick up Chester then carried on to Nan's house. We got out of the car and headed up the drive, thinking all was normal. Nan met us on the doorstep and took us into the garage, where our guinea-pigs were kept. That's when she told us.

Peering into the cage, instead of seeing two guinea-pigs, we could see four. Dusty and Whizz were beautiful, they still are, and they looked just like cotton puffs. My Aunt named Dusty but I named Whizz after several names that we thought didn't suit him. To be honest I named him after a kid TV show but that's neither here nor there!

So, yesterday, as celebration for their birthday (27.8.12) I invited two of my friends' guinea-pigs over to run free on our grass. Obviously Dusty and Whizz being 'proper' boys we had to keep them in their run but Mop, Muffin and Billy were allowed to run all over the lawn with the rest of their family. Is was so cute!

We had:

• Mop - Abyssinian peruvian silver-agouti dutch sow. I guess she's not really a proper dutch as she probably has more white but she has a silver patch over each eye and her behind is also silver.
• Muffin - Black guinea-pig with a ginger belly, ginger rings around her eyes and a ginger patch on her behind. I've heard there is a proper name for that colour but I'm sorry to say I don't know of it.
• Billy - Mainly beige-agouti boar with a white stripe down his nose and a large amount of white on his left side. He also has a ginger patch on his back, around his shoulder blades.
• Dennis - Billy's older brother (from Chestnut and Whizz's first litter). He is a beige-agouti dutch and he looks very much like Billy, they have the same face shape and everything!
• Truffles - Billy's aunt (Chestnut's sister). Her and Chestnut look very similar, they are both beige dutches. Though Truffles has slightly less white on her face than Chestnut does.
• Chestnut - Billy's mum. She is also a beige dutch, and has more white on her nose that Truffles does. That is pretty much the only way to tell them apart.
• Fluffy - Billy's sister (from the second litter). Now Fluffy is an abyssinian, she inherited that from her father. She is also beige-agouti and white.
• Nutmeg - Tricolour sow. She is not related to any of the family. Her face is dark beige-agouti and her behind is ginger, her middle white.
• Toffee - Tricolour sow. We believe she is Nutmeg's sister as my friend purchased her at the same time as we bought Nutmeg. Later on, when they met, we saw simularities in their looks and we like to think that they are siblings.
• Dusty - Abyssinian peruvian grey/silver-agouti boar. His face is silver-agouti, his middle white but his behind is grey.
• Whizz - Abyssinian peruvian silver-agouti boar. He has the least grey of his family with only a grey right side of his face and a small grey patch on his behind.
  
  I don't have any pictures on my phone but my mother does, perhaps I will borrow her phone and upload the pictures one day. It was a beautiful day!
  
  
  

Billy No Mates No More!

Well, while I was away on my riding holiday (reason I haven't posted in a while) my mum introduced Billy to my female guinea-pigs. His wound is healed now and we believed it was time. After watching him stress himself out for so long it must have been amazing to see when he was finally given friends again!

So yesterday they all went out on the grass together and we let them run around the garden with my friend's two guinea-pigs Toffee and Nutmeg. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of that but it was very cute.

                                    

Here's Billy, settled down with Mop and Muffin. For the first couple of days he just spent the day with them but he was taken out at night. Now he is sleeping in with them as well. Here's them this morning.

                                    

A Short Story - Out In The Garden

"Try this," Dusty squeaked, nudging a clover towards Whizz. The younger grey and white male pulled himself to his paws and padded over until he was side by side with Dusty.
"What's so special about it?" Whizz's tone was bored, his blue eyes dull.
Dusty's eyes flickered with worry and he gently brushed his nose agaisnt Whizz's white cheek. "Nothing, I just..." Whizz shot him a sharp glance but Dusty continued. "Hate to see you mope around like this all the time!" His squeak took on a louder element as Whizz turned his back on his brother.
"Do you know what would really make me happy?" Whizz asked, not turning to look at Dusty as he stared out between the mesh of their run. "Would be if we could go out there, beyond the run." Dusty tipped his grey-flecked head on one side and walked forwards until he was at Whizz's side. He wrinkled his nose and flicked his ears.
"Why would you want that?" Dusty gently nudged his brother's shoulder but Whizz let out an annoyed grunt and turned away again before hopping off to the other side of the run and ducking under the blue hut. Dusty sighed, his eyes darkening with sadness before he huddled down in the corner of the run.

A few hours later Whizz still hadn't emerged from the hut, but Dusty could hear him grumbling to himself. The older male got to his paws and pushed his blunt nose agaisnt one of the bars of the run then, slowly he started to chew. He chewed at the corner of the bar until it fell away. "Whizz! Whizz! Come quickly!"
Whizz growled and poked his head from the hut. "What!?" He snarled.
"Please Whizz," Dusty begged, his eyes lighting up as Whizz wandered from the hut. Whizz looked from Dusty to the empty space then back to Dusty.
"Oh brother! Your amazing!" Whizz couldn't contain the excitement as he pushed his way from the run. "Come on!"
Dusty smiled, full of joy because he had made his brother happy then raced after Whizz.

Billy, unseen by his father and uncle, lurked beneath the willow tree. His brown eyes blazed as he fought to stop his teeth from chattering as he wandered back and forth, waiting for when the two males would stray far enough. All it took was a loud crash from the neighbours garden to send the two grey and white boars fleeing towards the willow. An evil smile played on Billy's lips as he exploded from the bushes, straight towards his father. Whizz squealed as he saw Billy racing towards him and, with another loud squeak, he raced back towards the run.
Dusty followed Whizz and pushed in after him before taking up a position at the entrance. "Back off Billy!" He growled, chattering his teeth as they swayed their haunches from side to side. Billy snorted then padded away towards the sows' run.

Mop was watching her grandson with distaste. "That is your father!" She reminded him sharply as he approached. Billy dropped his gaze under Mop's angry glare. Muffin pressed agaisnt her friends side. "Its because of your fight you are all alone!" She squeaked, pushing her nose up agaisnt the metal grid. Billy sighed and turned away. She was right. He hated being alone, would he ever have cagemates again?

Haircuts and Baths

Three of my guinea-pigs are PeruvianXAbyssinian crosses, now fortunately this fur type doesn't need a lot of maintinence. But, unfortunately, it does keep growing and growing. Abyssinians are lucky enough to have beautiful non-growing hair full of rosettes and Peruvians hair is long and grows evenly down their sides. Now, because my guinea-pigs are a cross their hair has rosettes and keeps growing, therefore, it grows in all directions! This means that every now and again they need a trim, otherwise their hair gets matted and that can't be comfortable, surely!

Now Dusty, the oldest of my boars, is a very placid character. He is quite happy to sit still and munch on his carrot without a due care in the world while I trim his hair. However, I still managed to make a right hash of it but, he doesn't seem to mind! He is certainly a lot happier when his hair his shorter! Whizz, Dusty's brother, is the complete opposite. He is a right mischeif maker and he wouldn't sit still for a minute. I don't know if he wants to cause trouble I think its mainly just down to his wimpiness, he jumped every time I brought the scissors near his hair. Even though we must have trimmed him at least 50 odd times in his life!

                                       

Here's another picture of my two boys, together, looking a lot less hairy!

Now my other PeruvianXAbyssinian cross is Dusty and Whizz's mother, Mop. She's also quite easy to do but she is a mixture of both her boys, she'll be still for a while then all of a sudden she will start to shake her head and move around, annoying but I love her!

                                   

So, after giving my three PXA crosses their haircuts it was time for Billy's bath. Billy finished his medication the other day but a lot of it went all over his chin during his time of taking them. So he needed a wash as he was all horrible and sticky, especially from the banana medicine!

                                   

Free At Last!

Well, as you know, when out in the garden Billy is free to run where he wants. Our garden is protected on all sides by walls or fences so he cannot escape and we keep an eye on him. Fortunately we have no local cats and we leave him many hiding  places so he is perfectly safe.

So, the other day, Mum decided she would let Whizz, Dusty and Thistle have a run in the garden. She opened the run door and they hopped out onto the grass. But she had forgotten about one little guy.

Billy exploded from beneath the willow tree and leapt upon Whizz, intent on attacking. Luckily Mum caught him before he could do any damage and put him back in his cage.

Thistle had a great time, but he was very nervous. At any noise he would go charging back into his run.

All in all, I'm sure they had a great time!

Duets and Singles

So, with just our 6 pets we have had many different combinations. Not that I should probably call them that, we'll say pairs.

So, it started off with Mop and Muffin:

Mop gave birth to Dusty and Whizz:

Whizz paired up with Chestnut and, in the second litter they had Billy. Billy couldn't be found a home so he came to us and we tried him in with Whizz and Dusty:

Then we got Thistle who was believed at first to be a girl (Tansy) we put him in with Mop and Muffin:

Then Mop became aggressive and started to bite her cagemates after Muffin's excessive rumble-strutting drove her over the edge:

Then, in the boys cage, things started to go wrong. Believing Dusty was the one causing trouble we took him out and put him with Thistle. Muffin went back in with Mop and, thankfully, all went well. We now had three pairs with Billy and Whizz still apparently happy together:

Then Billy and Whizz fell out. We, in the end, had Billy on his own. Whizz was successfully put back in the cage with Dusty and Thistle. Mop and Muffin continue to be best friends for life!

Billy's Visit To The Vet

Had to take Billy back to the vet yesterday, for a check-up. So much for us believing he was better! The vet revealed he had developed another infection on his other side so even more pus was squeezed out, all over the table and all over my hand! Its a small price to pay for his health, however, so I held on as she cleaned up the wound with Hibiscrub. I did wash my hands well afterwards, may I just make that clear!

Billy has come to hate the vet, he knows where he is going as soon as he is put in the carry case. He looks up at me with huge eyes as though to say: "Why?"

When we brought him home he was still bleeding a bit so we left him to settle down on his towel before giving him his medicines later. The vet told us to clean him with Hibiscrub everyday to make sure he stays clean, so we will!

Fun In The Sun

Woke up this morning and looked outside to see the sun for the first time in a long time! Billy was already sunning himself in his cage as it is right beside the patio door. Unfortunately all morning the grass was covered in dew so we weren't able to put the pigs in their run until lunchtime.

Below is an old picture of Mop and Muffin that I took last summer but I think it says it all. There is nothing the guinea-pig's love more than a good run on the grass, since then our vegetable beds have been taken out so the girls don't have their own little corner anymore. Instead they have a nice run with a hidey compartment.

The boys have an even bigger, newer run! Dad, however, dropped his ladder on it last week so there is a hole in the side but we have taken care to remove sharp edges and to cover it up, I would hate for any of my boys to get themselves caught on a sharp piece of wood!

As always they started off filling their bellies with the rich pickings of the outside world then they settled down to soak in the heat before retiring to the shade and sleeping for the rest of the afternoon. Its always the same game for them, they sleep outside but still come in exhausted and just go SPLAT! (Our term for when they stretch themselves out on their side and fall fast asleep!)

Treat Time

Went to the Pet Shop with my friend today and I couldn't help but get a few treats to spoil my pigs! I got the rabbit and the boys an Alfafa Wreath. For Mop, Muffin and Billy I bought a 'shaped' treat. The gerbils got something as well!

Here's Thistle, Whizz and Dusty:

                                     

They are still going at it now, the rabbit has moved to his litter tray and has pulled the Alfafa Wreath with him so he can eat it in comfort! That funny bunny!

It made me really happy to see Billy taking such an interest in his 'shaped' treat. I decided to get him a heart as he has been through loads and I wanted to give it to him as a symbol of my love, he probably isn't very happy with us at the moment! What with us giving him his medicines every day, he really does hate them!

Here's the first picture of Mop, my oldest female guinea-pig. You can only see her face as my sows are alot shyer than my boars and, whereas my boys are quite interested in the camera my girls seem to think its some sort of extermination device!

                                     

I am hoping to get some better pictures of Mop and Muffin to post at a later date! Once I left they probably raced to the treat they just don't really like being watched, they are fine to handle and don't bite but they startle easily.

                                     

War Wounds and Healing

Well, as I mentioned on my last post two of my guinea-pigs are not very well at the minute but fortunately things are looking better for both of them and I hope it continues to look that way.

I have a picture of Whizz's wound as it is now, I don't have a picture of how it was at the beginning.

It was our belief at first that Dusty, Whizz's brother caused this wound so we split him from his brother and nephew. This then gave us the huge problem of where to put him! In the end we had to reintroduce Muffin and Mop who we had split shortly after introducing the rabbit due to agression from Mop. Fortunately they were soon very happy together and remain so to this day and hopefully they will always be together.

Dusty, now in with Thistle was very happy and for a few days everything seemed well with Whizz and Billy. Then, one weekday morning, we came outside to see Whizz crouched in the corner of his cage; one side covered in what we thought was urine. Later, when Mum was bathing him we realised that it was puss and that, underneath all his hair he had a nasty wound and a large absess. Mum raced him to the vet and when she returned he had his first set of antibiotics.

It was then that we realised that Billy was being agressive towards Whizz, it dawned on us that it might have been Billy all along who was causing the trouble in the boys' hutch. So we split Whizz and Billy, four cages for six animals!

Neither Whizz or Billy took the single life well. Billy would squeak loudly for Dusty or Whizz to reply but they never did but he was still eating. Whizz, however, went into depression. He crouched in the corner of his cage and wouldn't eat or drink, because of this we tried him back in the cage with Dusty and every was fine! They seemed to remember each other, it brought tears to my eyes to see their brotherly love.

Billy was still on his own and he continued to squeak desperately for the others. This lead us to make the very difficult decision of having him castrated. The operation went fine and at first everything seemed fine and his future looked bright. In six weeks he would be in with Mop and Muffin and no longer would he be on his own. Yet to our horror a few days after his operation he developed an infection. We took Whizz and Billy back to the vet straight away.

They were both given another set of medicines which we have to feed them by syringe, they hate them but they're working and we're praying that they will soon both be 100%. But it isn't all bad, Whizz really likes the banana flavoured medicine!




Here are their medicines.

My Guinea-Pigs (Past and Present)

For my fourth birthday my parents bought me my first two guinea-pigs. My mother, in total, has kept them for thirty years but her last pair died out shortly after I was born. I have kept them for the last ten years of my life and I have fallen in love with guinea-pigs unconditionally.

The pair I recieved as a present were two sows, one black-and-white abyssinian and one tortoiseshell and white short hair. I named then Narla (the torti) and Kiara (the abyssinian). It wasn't very long before we discovered that Kiara was an escapologist. She could escape from anything and apparently the grass in next doors yard was much tastier than the grass in ours! Kiara would dig under the run and go scampering off, under the fence, into our neighbour's garden. She could even leap straight out of her indoor cage, despite the fact the door was above them! Narla, however, was totally the opposite: A perfect first pet. She was lovely, if you put your arm into the cage she would climb up so she could have a hold and she would never bite! Even when my younger brother tried to pick her out of the cage by a handful of her hair she didn't complain and continued to love humans all the more. I had Narla for three years when she developed a tumor in her throat and was put to sleep at the vets. I can remember holding her for the last time and how it broke my heart to know she was gone.

Shortly after Narla's death we got another pair of guinea-pig's, as companionship for Kiara who was still growing strong. These two sows we named Rainbow (peruvian ginger and white) and Candy (brown agouti.) Though we didn't know it at the time Candy was pregnant, but before she gave birth Rainbow passed away. Rainbow never really got over moving from the cage at the pet shop, she wouldn't eat anything so slowly she wasted away, despite our efforts to encourage her to eat. My sister grieved at her guinea-pig's loss but as was never really close to Rainbow. A few days after Rainbow's buriel we went back to the pet shop where my sister chose Floss.

Floss was goregous, a short-haired female: mainly white with a ginger face. Her and Candy quickly bonded and Kiara took them under her wing. One cold December night, the 9th I believe, Candy gave birth while we were having her tea. After a mad dash to purchase another cage for Kiara and Floss (we were inexpirienced in guinea-pig births and we feared that they might have hurt the babes), Candy was left alone with her new family. Two girls (Annie and Dot) and one boy (Basil.) Sadly Dot, the runt, died young as she was no match for her much stronger brother and sister. Basil being our only boar we had him castrated so he could live in with the sows.

Basil was the next to pass away, he contracted the same kidney infection that took out his mother and sister later on. We didn't replace him.

After Floss's death my sister got another guinea-pig, this time from a different pet shop. This little cutie we named Nutmeg but all wasn't well in the cage. Candy and Annie didn't take kindly to the new comer and we had to split them up permanantly but not before they gave Nutmeg a harsh bite that, til this day, still remains as a silver scar on her nose.

My friend's guinea-pig Toffee came to stay with us while her owner's went away. Toffee's friend Poppy has passed away the day before and we hated to see the youngster on her own so we popped her in the cage with Nutmeg and Kiara. They all got on well but Toffee carried the mites that were Kiara's downfall. The eight year old abyssinian was weak being both blind and nearly toothless the mites were the final straw and we had her put down shortly after she started loosing the hair on her belly.

Toffee and Nutmeg got on very well and, when my friends returned we loathed to split them up so Nutmeg went to live with Toffee. They live close by and I still see them often. It is a joy to see them together as they were bought from the same petshop around the same time and speculation is that they are sisters.

Mum then went out to find a guinea-pig for her and my sister. Candy and Annie both being mine and, after a huge search in the local petshop's she returned with two young sows. Mop and Muffin. Once again we found ourselves with a pregnant guinea-pig and, while we were on holiday, Mop gave birth to two young boars Dusty and Whizz. (Both with their mother's grey and white peruvianXabyssinian coat.)

When they reached a month we split them from Mop and Muffin and they lived together happily on their own. When Whizz was about a year old he mated with a friend's guinea pig Chestnut. She gave birth to three babies (Dennis, Jynx and Lily). About half-a-year later he mated with her again and this time she had four babies (William, Fluffy, Pippa and Kate) as they were born roughly around the time of the Royal Wedding.

William couldn't be found a home and so, we took him on. He was introduced successfully to his dad and uncle and lived with them happily for nearly two years. When everything went wrong. Billy turned aggressive, he gave Whizz a nasty bite that later turned infected so we took him out of the cage.

Billy was then castrated in the hope that he would one day be able to go in with Mop and Muffin as he hated life on his own. Unfortunately he became infected. Both Whizz and Billy are now on a course of antibiotics every day.

Billy is on three medicines and Whizz on two.

My current guinea-pigs are: Whizz, Billy, Dusty, Mop and Muffin. (Dusty and Whizz live in with our rabbit Thistle and they are very happy despite the fact Whizz is still quite sore. Billy is still hating life on his own and we are trying to get him better quickly so he can go in with Mop and Muffin.)