[Gpdd] ANNOUNCE Lilac brings home a friend.

[Penny Charlesworth]

Little Lilac Piggyfriend has had an abcess, not the usual one under the chin that I could have treated myself but a nasty one deep in her side that needed the expert attention of our Rodentologists at Cavies' Castle. To save me keep travelling to and fro with her, they suggested that she stay in the hospital so that the abscess could be lanced as necessary. She had the company of another patient in the next door cage for a while but she went home with her slave when she was better.

Cavies' Castle also does holiday boarding for piggies and they had a call from one of their clients, booking in a pair of sows. A little boar from a rescue had been adopted as a friend for these two sows but one of them was, apparently, really aggressive towards the little fellow and they told Chris, one of our Rodentologists, that they would have to return him to the rescue. Chris told them not to do that but to bring him along when they brought their sows and she would find him a home. Although she insists that she does not do rescue work, there are many times when piggies are at her house waiting for homes and so many people bring their piggies to see her that often they go home with an extra one or two. Sometimes she keeps them for herself!

Chris put the little boar in a cage next to Lilac for company. Lilac is normally a very shy piggy, hiding behind a member of her group but as soon as she saw this boy, she was shouting at the cage wire for him to come and chat. I called Chris for an update on Lilac and she told me about the little boar and how he and Lilac were sitting next to each other by the cage wires and that Lilac was, uncharacteristically, shouting for food for them both. I had been contemplating keeping Lilac in a separate cage when she came home so that I could more easily monitor any flare up of her abscess so I asked Chris, if she could spare the time, to try and introduce the two piggies. She called me back a couple of days later to tell me that it had been an instant success. They were great friends, sitting nicely together and sharing their food.

I collected them both last Wednesday night after work and here they are, really good friends snuggled up together.

Chris had temporarily named the little boy Casanova. That may be subject to change but it is growing on me. He is a mostly white Abby, allegedly 7 months old. He is a mirror image of Frodo, to those of you familiar with his pigture on the LAPS blog.

He has a dark ring around his right eye and a black and brown patch over the other - the exact opposite to Frodo - and the rest of his coat is white except for his "tail" end and one back leg, which are black. When Chris described him over the phone, the patch made me think of pirate type names but, having met him, they do not suit his character. I had considered Pugwash, from a TV cartoon pirate from my youth, whose ship was called the Black Pig. Anyone in England ancient enough to remember Captain Pugwash? I thought not!

He is a dear little fellow, so tame and easily handled. I can't imagine how he ended up in a rescue. He is a very welcome addition to the Piggyfriends herd and Lilac loves him to bits.

If you are still maintaining the piggy list, could you add another boar to the Piggyfriends herd, Birdie? This is the first time ever that the boars have outnumbered the sows. 14 to 13.

So, please welcome my little man to the GPDD. I'm still cogitating names and will let you know what I decide. The naming of names is never undertaken lightly here.

Penny and the Piggyfriends.