The Pigloo Forums

[Pig-A-Saur]

aw, how sweet. i'll ask my mom if we can make a donation.

[GuineaPinny]

Thank you so much! Every amount helps.

[GuineaPinny]

So here is our halfway update! Peaches has so far raised $100! That's over 1/3rd of the way to our goal.

We still have $169 to raise, so if you have been thinking of sending a donation, please do so! Any $1 holiday gifts sent Peachie's way will be much appreciated by MGPR, who pays her bills and has had a tough year.

Peachie is especially grateful for anyone funding her critical care, so anyone who sends a donation will receive a customized Peachie picture through email

Happy Holidays to everyone! Our piggies celebrate Noahmas. This year it falls on Dec. 20th. Noahmas honors the great flood, when Noah saved two of each animal. On Dec. 20th Noah comes to visit each household in the form of that animal-so our guineas see a little bearded guinea Noah who wishes them Holiday cheer and brings them presents!

[Pig-A-Saur]

aw, how cute. peaches is adorable, and has quite the back-story!

[GuineaPinny]

Oh wow-I just got the update from the Director of MGPR Total has been reached and surpassed! We've raised $329! That's $60 over the anticipated goal!

Thank you so much everyone! Thank yous and receipts are still going out from the director, but expect after the 24th to receive your personalized Peaches photograph if you donated :)

I'm adding up January's rescue in case anyone still wanted to donate in the holiday spirit-I'm super busy so it's just the bare bones, but look for Texas Rustlers appearing in the next hour or two on the site!

[GuineaPinny]

Ring in the new year (okay, month) with Sponsor a Guinea Pig! Please welcome our January pigs, the very adorable Jackie and Chester. Jackie is on the right in the above photo and Chester is on the left. Here is them when they are not out partying in Times Square:



Jackie and Chester are pigs with the rescue Texas Rustlers. They are a pair of special needs sweethearts. Jackie actually met Chester while recovering from the loss of her long-time mate Claude, and he has cheered her up to no end.

The two of them both have extensive (and expensive) dental needs, and Jackie is going blind. This effects their diet as well as their medication, and Jackie has required eye drops for her condition. Chester has a painful infection in his mouth which requires treatment, in additional to his other dental needs.

Despite their medical conditions, Chester is just a cuddler with people, and is just a sweetheart with Jackie. The two of them have really warmed to each other. If they were people they would have met in an orthodontist's office!

Our fundraising goal is $261.28. Their needs are actually so expensive that we hope to raise enough money for meds for the pair for the month, and pay for the dental procedure for one of the piggies. Any donations received over our goal will go toward a second dental procedure.

The meds are: Metacam $14.72, Eye drops $10.50, and Critical Care, $25.oo. The dental procedure's costs are as follows: Torb injection $28.06, Anaesthesia $88.00, Dental Trim $75.00, and Bur $20.00.

Please visit their entry for more information on these cuties! And remember, Sponsor a Guinea Pig is Where a Dollar Makes a Difference!

[GuineaPinny]

And at our almost halfway point we've raised $75 for the care of these piggies :D We've paid for one dental trim!

We have $186.28 left in our goal for these two dear piggies, in order to cover the rest of the dental procedure and their medicines.

Please consider adding 0.28 to your donation :) It could really add up and make a difference for this sweet piggy couple!

http://sponsoraguineapig.blogspot.com/

[GuineaPinny]

quick post-if anyone wants to be on the once a month listserve, your emails are never sent to anyone else, behind the scene news about Sponsor a Guinea Pig, etc., please post here or email me at sponsoraguineapig @ gmail.com

[GuineaPinny]

One week left for Jackie and Chester! So far we have raised $151.56-leaving just $109.72 left of our $268.28 goal.

We've paid for the eye drops, dental bur, ONE DENTAL TRIM!, and the torb injection! We still hope to raise enough for the metacam ($14.72), the critical care ($25.00), and the anesthesia ($88.00). Any donations that go over our total will contribute toward a second dental trim.

Thank you so much for anything you can do to help us reach our goal, whether it be forwarding on the site, or donating even a dollar-you're making a difference in the lives of these pigs! Thank you!

[GuineaPinny]

Some more adorable pictures of this pair from their foster mom:







These adorable piggies enjoy such a happy life in sanctuary. A cozy, modeled for you both as evening wear and day, and delectable snacks such as shredded carrots for those with such sensitive toofers.

Jackie and Chester are a lovely special needs pair for whom we're fundraising their medicine and just one dental trim (even though they both need one monthly), as their dental trims are so expensive-we were hoping that any overage would go toward a dental trim for the second lucky pig.

But this month fundraising is going a little slowly, and so we are hoping just to make our goal. We have $70.72 left to raise-if we can raise $10.11 for each day to the end of January than we will have raised enough for meds and a dental procedure for Jackie and Chester.

Please help out by forwarding, donating, or otherwise spreading the word, you'll have Jackie and Chester's happy smile to thank you!

Remember, Sponsor a Guinea Pig is Where Your Dollar Makes a Difference!

[GuineaPinny]

Hi folks-if you've ever thought about donating to Sponsor a Guinea Pig but wanted to wait for the right month, this would be a good one. We're $40.72 down from our goal, and normally by this time in the month we would have surpassed it. Any amount you can donate would be greatly appreciated by the piggies, their foster mom, the rescue and me. Or, please consider forwarding the site to a friend: http://sponsoraguineapig.blogspot.com/

I'll update at the end of the month, hopefully with good news :)

[Pig-A-Saur]

my mom let me donate 25 dollars! =]

[GuineaPinny]

Pig-A-Saur thank your mother! And thank you! Because of her and two other contributers we reached our goal! Thank you so much!

Texas Rustlers is always accepting donations, but please know that Jackie and Chester have their meds funded for one month, and one of their dental procedures is paid for! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

[GuineaPinny]

Sponsor a Guinea Pig is beginning a new month-and we're celebrating Valentine's Day! So get ready to fall in love with February's pig, All Creatures Rescue and Sanctuary's Maddie!



Maddie is a lethal pig, and so is blind, deaf, and has severe dental issues, including absent incisors, overgrowing teeth, and a malformed jaw. She requires monthly dental trims to keep her teeth in check.

We're hoping to raise enough for two months of trims ($50 for the trims and $20 for anesthesia x 2 =$140), as well as pay for a three month supply of metacam ($30), a three month supply of critical care ($20), and four weeks of her veggies at $10 a week ($40), totaling a goal of $230!

Lethal pigs are a result of accidental, ignorant, or dangerous breeding practices, and sadly many breeders continue these practices knowing the medical disabilities they may inflict on the pups.

Maddie was surrendered to a Virginia shelter with no explanation by her owner. At the shelter Maddie was terrified, and ran around her cage crashing into the walls and her pigloo, screaming. She was rescued by rescue volunteer, and Maddie became calmer immediately once out of the shelter. Maddie has received the best of care since being rescued-in the most literal sense of the word. Please consider helping Maddie's ongoing care with a donation of just a dollar-or more! And read more about Maddie's story, including a photo of her with her boyfriend, at Maddie's entry here.

[GuineaPinny]

A Maddie Update-so far we've fundraised $37 for this spunky gal! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far. We've paid for Maddie's metacam and almost a week of veggies!

To read more about our fundraising goal please click here.

[GuineaPinny]

Thanks to some wonderful donations, Maddie is now over 3/4ths of the way to her goal. We've experienced such an outpouring of generosity over the past 2 days since I posted, that this has actually been the most successful two days of fundraising in Sponsor a Guinea Pig history. We have just $52 left to raise for Maddie! Thank you again!

[GuineaPinny]

It's been a wonderful month for Sponsor a Guinea Pig! Maddie raised $345! Thank you so much to everyone who contributed and made this month such a roaring success. Our goal was $230, and we far exceeded it, even in just two weeks. This program really reinforces the power of the individual, and the individual dollar!



Sponsor a Guinea Pig-Where a Dollar Makes a Difference!

[GuineaPinny]

March is not only Adopt a Guinea Pig Month, but it's also Josh and Yetti's month! To visit Josh and Yetti we're hopping across the pond to Scottish rescue Thistle Cavies. Josh and Yetti are two adorable guinea pigs who are the absolute best of friends, and share an even deeper bond of being heart pigs. This means they both struggle with heart disorders and have to take appropriate medications.

As well, Josh has had a difficult time even before he was diagnosed with his heart troubles. He required extensive surgery for a jawbone abscess, as an infection had eaten away part of his jawbone-part of his jaw had to be removed. Though recovery seemed unsure for a while, under Thistle Cavies' wonderful care, now Josh is thriving! His surgery site still needs to be maintained daily, but Josh is a sweetheart and cuddlebug.



His best friend Yetti is a candidate for Sponsor a Guinea Pig because of his heart issues alone, but Josh and Yetti simply can't be separated regardless. I picked Thistle Cavies because I wanted to help ease the burden on this small, home-based rescue, and when the director wrote back with the story of these two best friends I just became so happy they'd become SAGP piggies.

This is our fundraising goal:

We'd like to fundraise enough to pay for the expensive dental growth removal (£45.oo or $63. 71), six weeks worth of medication: Fortekor (£22.50 or $31.85), Frusemide (£2.20 or $3.11), Rimadyl (£18.30 or $25.91) and Critical Care (£29.29 or $41.47), as well as two additional packages of Critical Care for the boys 2x(£29.29 or $41.47).

This is for a total of £175.87 or ~$248.99, using an exchange rate of £1:$1.41574 as of 2/28/2009.

[GuineaPinny]

Here's an update on how we're doing in our first week and a half: pretty darn great! We have just £39.98 or $55.11 to go, after only a week and a half! That's amazing! Thanks so much to everyone who has made this possible.

I'm so in shock at how well this little fundraiser is doing, especially in this economy. When I was coming up with the idea I had all these slogans-"small donations making a big difference"-I knew it was true but I guess I was mainly trying to be catchy. But wow, it's really, really, true! We've paid for dental care, critical care, operations, life saving medicines!

So far we've raised $2,314.17 in under eight months, with donations as small as a dollar. The community of people fundraising is just beyond awesome. Let me even be adult for a moment: awe-inspiring!

Thank you to all of you for being part of making a difference in the life of small animals across the country, and now the world!

http://sponsoraguineapig.blogspot.com/

[GuineaPinny]

I have some really sad news. Yetti has passed away from heart issues. Josh is coping pretty well, and has actually made a new friend, but no one will ever replace Yetti.

Here's a photo of him at six months old:
He was such an adorable piggy.

We are still fundraising for the medical expenses of Josh, and are actually incredibly close to our goal. Just $2.11 away, or £1.54 to go. Any donations made in the memory of Yetti (or in the memory of any of our rainbow pigs), of any amount, would be greatly appreciated.

Donation information

Josh and Yetti's Story

http://sponsoraguineapig.blogspot.com

[GuineaPinny]

I'm pleased to announce that Sponsor a Guinea Pig, partnering with Thistle Cavies, has officially made its March goal, and then some! We've fundraised £225.11 or $310.35. What a beautiful way to honor Yetti.

Thank you to everyone who participated this month, in any way. Whether it be an encouraging word, a donation, or by mourning the loss of Yetti, Thistle Cavies and I really appreciate it. As does Josh, the dear boy who is going to benefit from your generosity!

[Chad]

I'm so sorry about Yetti! I hope Josh is OK - it's tough on the surviving pig when a buddy is lost.

[GuineaPinny]

Josh is doing a lot better. I have some cute photos of him with his new buddy:







___



Flower photo by Ryan Knuth, website here.

Introducing Misha! Look-it how cute:



Misha is an absolutely sweetheart piggy with a tragic past. Small Angels rescued her from an animal shelter, where she had been turned in by someone who had bought her at a yard sale! Imagine poor Misha on a table in her cage next to puzzles without all their pieces and action figures missing their accessories :(

After Misha arrived in the rescue she proved to be really sick. Misha had a severe urinary tract infection, cysts, and liver damage. Fortunately, the UTI cleared up with antibiotics, but those antibiotics caused her to stop eating and lose weight. Misha relied on the hand feeding of Small Angels fosters in order to recover.

In addition, her ovarian cysts are being observed and may need to be removed in the future. This will be a large strain on the rescue (and Misha). The procedure is being delayed because of Misha's poor health.



Since Sponsor a Guinea Pig has been doing so well, I wanted to really try and pull for this girl and see how it worked. We're going to make a fundraising goal of $291, our most ambitious goal yet. If it doesn't work-well, you shoot for the moon and reach the stars, and that's something! This goal would pay for three months of Misha's monthly needs: a $20 vet visit, $40 in bedding, $15 in hay, $15 in veggies, and $7 for a tube of Destin each month so she doesn't get urine scald.

For donation information and more of Misha's story, please click here.

__

And the last piece of news in this very long post, Sponsor a Guinea Pig has joined facebook! Please friend SAGP: forgot to add, Sponsor a Guinea Pig has joined facebook! Please friend SAGP: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1681718599&ref=profile&nctrct=1 238717652562

[GuineaPinny]

So, since our goal is so ambitious this month I wanted to do an update to let people know where we are and have left to go. So far we've raised $175 for Misha, which is great. That's enough for a vet visit, two months of Misha's bedding, two months of hay, and three months of veggies! We have just $116 left to raise, or enough for two vet visits ($20 per month), one more month of bedding ($40), one more month of hay ($15) and a three month supply of Destin ($7 per month-used to prevent urine scald) to reach our goal. For donation information please click here, and for Misha's story please click here. Thank you so much to everyone who makes this program a success!

And please remember-one of the major goals of the site is just to raise awareness of special needs piggies. We aren't trying to solicit huge amounts (our slogan is "where a dollar makes a difference"), and if you forward on the stories that's helping out enormously. Just knowing that there are rescues out there when it comes time to adopt is something huge.

[GuineaPinny]

Wonderful news! We've reached our goal for Misha with ample time to spare. This month SAGP has raised $305. That's enough for 3 vet visits, 3 months of hay, 3 months of Destin, and four months of veggies! This is fantastic, I'm so happy at the success of the program. And it's all thanks to our wonderful contributors, and those of you who spread the word. Thank you, thank you thank you!

[GuineaPinny]

It's the first of the month, and that means a new piggy for Sponsor a Guinea Pig!

Introducing Opie, of Orange County Cavy Haven. Opie has very severe impaction, and so we are trying to fundraise $246 for his neuter.

While many pigs' conditions will improve with good diet and exercise, in some extreme cases the male has to be neutered, which removes the excess skin. It also prevents a dangerous condition from forming--unrelieved gas in a guinea pig can lead to gastric torsion, a situation that is almost always quick and fatal. Opie is already suffering from a repeated bacterial infection called enteritis, for which he has to take medication.

Opie is an absolute sweetheart pig. He was rescued from a shelter by Wee Companions, and then transferred to Cavy Haven as a potential mate for an 8 year old pig. Opie must have had a bad experience with other guinea pigs, as whenever he is with other pigs he becomes fearful. We are hoping that after the neuter he will be more likely to be able to bond with a female.



Poor Opie has to take a ton of medication right now for his GI conditions, which he largely wouldn't have to take if he had the neuter done. He's also been through two bladder stones!

In Opie's first month with the rescue his bladder stones and GI conditions cost the rescue $800 just in the first month!

This very expensive piggy is just as valuable. We're hoping to both improve his life, and hopefully find him a wife!

Please visit http://sponsoraguineapig.blogspot.com/ and Opie's entry to read more of his story and to consider donating! And please pass his story on!

[GuineaPinny]

We've reached our total! Thank you to everyone who has donated-so far we have raised a grand total of $338! Nearly $100 over our goal!

[GuineaPinny]

Crossposting from a member of OCCH:

"Opie was neutered today! He is doing well. He is eating hay and drinking water. He had some regular formed poops in his cage!

Thanks everyone for the donations, and GuineaPinny for fundraising for him. The donations covered all his pre-op, surgery, and post-op needs. He's recovering in style.

Here's the vet who neutered him. She did a wonderful job...the incision is so tiny and perfectly closed from inside. http://www.coteanimalhospital.com/




Opie in his recovery room"

[Chad]

Congrats to Opie! Now the real fun begins, setting him up with a female when he gets better from the neuter. From our experience, the boys love living with the girls here (we spay all our females here).

[CF#5]

Stewie lives with three females and he's intimidated and terrified of them all. I almost feel sorry for him.