The baby guinea pigs, Willis and Foster Help

As the 11 baby guinea pigs that came from 3 different Moms turned 3 weeks old, it was time to separate them according to gender. These are all piggies that resulted from the 50 plus abandoned guinea pigs, and yes, more babies will be arriving. There are 2 heavily pregnant females and others that may not be showing yet. All females ( except the 3 whose babies just weaned from them) will be on pregnancy watch for at least another month before they are adoptable. Okay, back to what I was saying, it turns out we have 6 boys and 5 girls. During the course of the week, 2 boys were adopted and 2 girls, they found homes quickly :) The rest I have named and taken pictures of; Girls- Nova, Pudding and Jello Boys- Chip, Mascot, Turbo and Tubby
Willis the rabbit has been with us since October of 2007. He was found outside and caught by a nice person. More than likely, someone didn't want him anymore and let him go. Willis was brought here so that he could find a permanent home. He has been waiting patiently for so long... and now his time has arrived. His new Mom Annette has fallen for him and will be bringing him home tomorrow. Hooray for Willis!
We have a new foster Mom that has volunteered for Life Long Tails. She is now called foster Mom Lisa. She has a full room she has dedicated to fostering the rescued pets. Today she transported River the rabbit, Sebastian the guinea pig, 6 female rats, and 4 female rabbits; Sierra, Chelsea, Pandora and Enchanted to her home. She will care for them, give them loads of socialization and spoilage while they await the day they are adopted. We are mighty grateful to Lisa. We love each of our foster families, they are doing such a wonderful thing for these precious little ones.
We do have two new arrivals, they are 2 female rats that are now with Lisa. I named them Rosetta and Lilac. They were no longer wanted by their former owner. What really irked me was that they were brought to us inside a bird cage.. and it was obvious that they were living in this cage. The bottom of the cage was so soiled and stained it couldn't have been from short term use. This bird cage was TINY, it was too small for a finch bird let alone two rats. There were still the bird perches and swing attached on the inside, that they couldn't use even if they tried. They didn't have anywhere to turn, lie down or a bed, levels, no toys.. only that perch, swing, an empty food bowl and water bottle. I was so sad and mad at the same time. I got those babies out of there, and tossed the cage. Then I introduced them to the 4 female rats we have here already. They loved Rosetta and Lilac right away. And now they have Lisa to fatten them up and show them a much better life. Those poor girls, I am so happy their life will only get better from here.
Here is a picture of Lilac the rat and Raisin the baby guinea pig

Phineas

I have great news about Phineas the guinea pig. A quick run down- he was from the 50 guinea pigs that were abandoned. His back legs were splayed out to the side and he could barely even walk. Dr.T saw him last week and told me it is more than likely a vitamin C deficiency and the worst case of Scurvy he had ever seen. Now fast forward to today, Phineas's back legs are not splayed at all anymore, they are underneath his body the way they should be. And he can walk and run fast now! There is no evidence of his prior difficulties except for a slight hop to his back legs while he walks, I have a feeling this will also improve and go away. He appeared to be a bit depressed when he lacked mobility before, now he is a happy go lucky piggy that can go anywhere and everywhere he wants to go :) I am so excited and happy for Phineas. All he needed was good quality foods, vitamin C rich veggies like kale, parsley and red peppers and daily vitamin C tablets. Not to mention a foster Mom (me) and foster Dad (Ray) to dote on him and love him. He'll be adoptable soon, and I can't say I won't be sad to see him leave our lives. But I will also be happy over his outcome and success, he will truly overcome his past and have a new, fresh, happy life.

Nicholas, May and Updates

Another busy week, but not anything compared to last week with the huge Guinea pig abandonment. I am thankful to everyone who has donated food and supplies this week, even to an anonymous donor of bird and hamster items. Thank you to Andrea for the large treats and food donation. We do have a lot of hungry mouths here :)
I took Monty and Phineas the guinea pigs ( both from the abandonment case) and Nicholas the dwarf hamster to see Dr.T last week. Monty and Phineas both have problems with their back legs. Phineas's legs splay out to the side, and Dr.T found no abnormalities with his spine, hips or legs. He is sure it is a deficiency related issue, probably mainly a vitamin C deficiency. I have been supplementing him with extra vitamin C each day and now he can tuck his legs underneath him and really get going. Before he was stuck in a the splayed position at all times and could only scoot himself short distances, so there is a significant improvement already. Monty's back legs are rigid, and Dr.T found that his knees are locked, they do not bend or flex at all. Either he broke both back legs at some point and they both healed improperly, or it is a birth defect. He is able to lift himself up on his straight back legs and move, he runs quick and I have trouble catching him he has great mobility. I will be placing Monty and Phineas up for adoption as special needs in the future. I took Nicholas in because his belly became round and hard. Seems he has a tumor attached to his stomach, and it is inoperable. It is sad news, he does have a good quality of life right now. He has a lot of energy and a good appetite still. When he starts to decline we will let him go ( euthanize at vets) to ease any suffering.
Today May the guinea pig's foster Mom called me to inform me that May took a very sudden turn in health. Her breathing became shallow and she barely moved. I regret to say that I was at work at the time of her call, but Andrea tried all she could to get her in to see the vet. They were booked solid , maybe because it was a Friday?? I don't know, they couldn't even squeeze in May's urgent need. I am so thankful that Andrea tried so much to have her seen, and she made May comfortable by snuggling her in a blanket and offering food and water when she wanted it. May gave up the struggle though and let go, seemed she went quick and relatively peacefully. She was over 5 years old, and she was loved by many and touched the hearts of everyone who cared for her. Rest in Peace Momma May. This is her photo, she will always be remembered.

Calming Down

I'm thinking more clearly now. And I know I really don't have a reason to be upset or worried over the e-mails I have been getting about us being fake and killing animals. Surely these people know nothing at all about me or the group of people that are associated with Life Long Tails.. Not to mention the local community, members, foster families and people who help us with their whole hearts. We treasure each and every individual animal that arrives to us or in foster homes, they get loads of attention, toys, food, etc. They get the best they can until the day arrives when they go home. It is wrong to speak so negatively about anyone without knowing them. I guess it was the vehement threats to shut us down and take away all the animals that really got to me. All I can thank or ask is, why would anyone want to do that? The pets arrive here for any number of reasons ( owner moving, allergic, unwanted litter of babies) No one is put to sleep ( only seriously ill and suffering pets that our vet recommends euthanasia to stop the suffering) they are all adopted, and even if they happen to not find a home, this is their home. I feel some people had too much time on their hands and felt the need to stir up trouble by e-mailing us such awful stuff. I feel I need to let that go now, and focus the rest of myself and energies on the animals themselves, they are what this is all about and I am not in this to argue and defend myself.
For everyone, here is a picture of Sebastian. One of the males from the abandoned group of guinea pigs. He was treated with Revolution for mites and Lice and he is now in a foster home where he is being socialized and catered too :) He is now adoptable.

Over 50 guinea pigs abandoned

date - 5-3-08 Over 50 guinea pigs were abandoned at a local business near Cheektowaga/Buffalo , NY, in dirty bins where males and females were mixed together. These guinea pigs were allowed to breed to an extreme number then were abandoned :( One female is nursing babies and 7 of the females are pregnant. We have the nursing Mother and the pregnant Moms with us here at Life Long Tails. But we are physically unable to keep and house that many guinea pigs within our home. We are looking for foster homes so they are taken out of the business's building. The business can only keep them there for a certain period of time before they will send them to a nearby shelter where they might be euthanized as a result.
update 5-6-08 - All of the abandoned guinea pigs are now in foster homes and out of the building. None of them were sent to anywhere else. I thank everyone who helped out! Everyone is very wonderful to us and the guinea pigs. One of the foster Moms is looking for other people to foster some of the guinea pigs in her home right now, she took in 25 of them to save them, she is fostering them right now. She would be relieved if anyone else would like to foster any of the 25 she has. Two more females have given birth to 6 babies total, 6 more females are obviously pregnant. We are not sure how many females could be pregnant and aren't showing yet. We could wind up with another 50 guinea pigs from resulting babies from having males and females mixed together in the bins they were left in. ( all guinea pigs are separated by gender now , of course) female guinea pigs will be on pregnancy watch before they are placed up for adoption. All guinea pigs except for nursing Mom's and babies have been treated for guinea pig lice and mites. Males will be up for adoption very soon. Again, I thank everyone for the HUGE effort to save all these guinea pigs , they all deserve a second chance at a better life, and now they will get it!
We will greatly appreciate any donations of timothy hay, alfalfa hay, timothy based and alfalfa based guinea pig pelleted food, aspen shavings, water bottles, food dishes and guinea pig approved toys. Also any fresh fruits and vegetables. We use a lot of red peppers which are high in vitamin C for the guinea pigs.

Update 5-7-08 Today I have received numerous e-mails saying we are a fake rescue. That we just take animals and resell them for profit. And that we are threatening to kill these guinea pigs if we do not find foster homes or adoptable homes for them. I am in tears right now that anyone would think this. It is FAR from the truth. Since that call from the business owner on Wednesday night I have spent the rest of my days and time to get them out of the business building and into homes so the business wouldn't have been forced to take all of them to the SPCA. We did even better than that, we were able to find a place for ALL of the guinea pigs to stay until they are adopted. I thought this was a good thing. I do not understand why I am being threatened. People have e-mailed me about shutting us down for our scams, what scams? I'll try to explain the situation with the guinea pig abandonment further- the guinea pigs only had a certain amount of time where they could stay at the business building. I personally couldn't take in that many guinea pigs , it was impossible. That was the need to find foster homes for them, in order to get them out of the building on time to save them. If they had stayed at the business,( we are not that business! and they want to remain anonymous to the public) the business would have sent them to the Erie County SPCA where some of them MAY have wound up euthanized. We wanted to avoid that. Our posting was to find foster homes and get them out of the business, and from there we will have them vet checked and treated for parasites and then placed up for adoption. We do not make one cent of profit from what we do in fact I can't even fathom how much money we would have right now if we didn't help the animals. Trust me, we do pay a lot out of our pockets just to keep all animals happy, spoiled and healthy before they find their forever home. That is all I have to say and I don't even understand why I would need to defend myself. All of the guinea pigs are safe and are being treated with love and TLC for the fist time in their lives I am sure, I think that is a wonderful thing.