[Gpdd] MISC: A loss, a new pig and a question.

[robyn ferguson]

Hello everybody,

Please welcome a new pig, tentatively named Lola, to the digest.

Lola comes to us as a new companion to Lexie, who lost her (adoptive) sister 
Lucy last Friday morning. Lucy had battled a variety of health problems 
before succumbing to either adhesions following surgery or spread of an 
ovarian tumour (finding out for sure would have involved more surgery and 
would not have made any difference to the possibility of a cure). I was so 
afraid that I would have to have Lucy put down, but she went quickly on her 
own at home (in my arms) aged 4. She was a very special pig. I don't think I 
need to describe what she meant to me, as from reading this digest I think 
you all know what it is like to have a little guinea pig shaped space in 
your heart.

With Lucy being so sick for so long, I had thought long and hard about what 
I would do when she went. If I only had one pig I would probably have waited 
longer to get a new one, but I had Lexie to think about, so I got on the web 
and looked up the RSPCA and shelters in my area - no pigs! I hope this means 
that we do not have many abandoned pigs in Western Australia!

I looked in the paper for pigs around Lexie's age but they were all in 
groups of 2 and 3, and I didn't want to break up a bonded pair. Brainwave - 
Call the vet! By a stroke of luck my wonderful vet knew of a pig looking for 
a home, so I made a phone call and at 7.30 last night her previous owner 
dropped her off at my house along with 2 hutches and everything she needs 
(it's always good to have spares). David, who dropped her off, had been 
looking after her after his son lost interest and had grown quite attached, 
but didn't have the time to give her as much attention as he would have 
liked, but still she is a big healthy figure of a pig (Rubenesque, like 
Lexie!). He did a really good job!

Lola is about 3 years old, female, healthy, shorthaired, black with a ginger 
brindle and just a little white. She is still very shy, so it's good that 
she can stay in her own familiar hutch until she gets used to her new home 
and can move into the big hutch with Lexie.

Speaking of Lexie, my mostly white abbyssinian has taken to lying in the 
grottiest spot in the hutch and is getting some staining near her backside. 
Can anyone suggest a gentle way to deal with this? A regular bath with baby 
shampoo has left her gorgeously soft and silky, but the staining remains.

Sorry about the LONG POST.

Robyn, Lexie and NEW PIG Lola.