It Must Be Love…

Jasia was torn between rehoming Cakey after he was left on his own or continuing to keep guineas as pets. As much as she loved guineas it wasn’t her intention to have a never ending cycle of them. Jasia also knew it would be unkind to keep Cakey on his own. Cakey’s condition became worse and company was the only answer…

Mabel (AKA Mrs. Cakey and Mrs. Gobby) and Cakey (Agouti)

One Is Not Enough

I recently had to have my cheeky girl pig put down due to advanced breast cancer. This meant that my beloved boar, Cakey was left alone again. I was well aware of the potential for him to grieve and miss his companion of three years so kept a close eye on him. When I showed him the body he licked it all over and then got down to the important business of eating supper. The next day he was pop corning around the kitchen floor and acting as if nothing had happened. I assumed he was dealing with her death well.

Over the next few days I gave him lots of attention while I worked out what to do. I had bought the pigs for my step-daughter nearly six years ago and hadn’t really planned on being in a never-ending cycle of pig ownership. After all, if I got a new sow then when one of them died I would have to get another companion for the remaining pig. I started to look at guinea pig retirement homes but it broke my heart to think of him living in a stranger’s house.

Things came to a head when Cakey stopped eating hay and pellets. This had a knock-on effect on his guts and his poos started coming out in strange, twisted shapes. I took him to the vet and on the surface of things there was nothing wrong. I started to give him probiotics and fibre in an attempt to get him back into shape. Nothing worked and so I emailed my guinea friends Chrissie at Gorgeous Guineas and Karen Le Cras.

When his previous hutch mate had died I’d taken him to spend some time on the “Costa del Tilehurst” (aka Gorgeous Guineas Boarding). I thought that even the sound and smell of other pigs might perk him up. It had worked wonders then and so this time too Chrissie agreed to take him for a week to see if his health improved.

During his time amongst other pigs Cakey started to eat normally. He was also introduced to a new lady pig to see if a match was suitable. They hit it off straight away and Mabel now lives with Cakey on the understanding that when he dies she can be returned for re-homing.

For me and Cakey this is the best solution: he gets to have a friend whom he adores and who has given him back his lust for life (literally!) and I get to have happy pigs with the knowledge that one day I will be pig-free (sad as I will no doubt be).

No matter how happy your pig appears to be on his / her own you can be assured that companionship will improve their life tenfold. Cakey has reminded me that one is never enough.

Love is... sharing, life and grass...

Thanks for sharing your story Jasia! Seeing these 2 together was quite simply heartwarming. Cakey letting Mabel believe she was in charge but not quite letting her get away with too much. When I took Mabel out to hold her Cakey immediately started looking for her, pacing up anddown and going in and out of the Fiddlestix, not resting until she was returned. I do believe that in Mabel Cakey has found his soul mate, there are good friends and there are love matches, this is a love match. Karen