I am now *officially* the girl in charge of the cavies at the CNYSPCA in Mattydale, NY. Which means a lot of changes in care, diet, grooming, and cleaning will be made.
Now.
The pigs are being kept in fairly small cages in an ex-storage room in the back of one of the cat rooms. Basically anyone who wants one can have one, for the $35 adoption fee. They're kept on newspaper bedding, changed daily, which isn't great but the fact that it's changed daily is definitely a plus. It's better than keeping them on shavings. They are on a diet of Sweet Meadow pellets [which I provided] and a handful of hay a day. They get veggies whenever I get in there to give them veggies, so a couple of times a week.
Soon.
I am drafting a daily care/feeding schedule and a list of acceptable pellet foods for the shelter director to post to the kennel staff. Right now I personally am okay with them being on paper bedding. They're not going to love it, but I will make sure that it gets changed daily. Veggies will be my responsibility to get to them, which isn't a huge deal for me. I have also been told that I am free to set up a "floor time" space for them whenever the bunnies are out, which will be awesome.
Later.
My long-term goal for the guinea pigs is to move them out of the cat storage room and into the rabbit room. I am working with "the rabbit guy" [Bob] on designing a cage setup for the bunnies and the piggies that is affordable, large, sturdy, easy to clean, preferably mobile [on wheels], and easy on the eyes.
I am also collecting all of my fleece scraps and will be making the pigs some patchwork piggy pads for their swanky new cages.
Right now we have three single pigs- Jamie, Tyler, and George. They appear all to be female. And we have one pair, Lucy and Ethel [female as well]. I will be posting updates about my experiences with the shelter pigs and whatnot.
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ReplyDeleteThat is SO cool! I'm glad you can help make the needed improvements in the cavy department. It seems many shelters do not give the smaller animals as high priority as the other, larger animals. The pigs in your care will greatly appreciate your improvements, I'm sure!
ReplyDeleteJust curious: Does the shelter have an information packet you give to adopters? Just a simple packet explaining all the proper care, including diet and housing and with links and helpful tips. We have that at our rescue, and it is really helpful to not have to explain everything over and over again. :)
I can't wait to hear how your changes affect the shelter! Great idea.
Cassandra - We don't currently have a packet but I am working on one. I'm very excited about improving these pigs' lives and making sure they'll be adopted to a home that will give them proper care!
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