Between 1985-1999 we rescued/adopted/took in over 30 dogs...some (strays that we took in) eventually went on to forever homes (we took them to the vet, got to know their personalities and found them forever homes with people we knew or the friends and family of people we knew) but before a sudden move to OH from TX in 9/99 we had 6 permanent dogs living with us (they were placed with family and friends and we still get updates on them all). The only pet we had that moved with us was a Missisippi Map turtle who has been with us since 8/95 and for 14 mos. LT was our only pet.
Since 11/00 (we bought our 1st home in 6/00), however we have adopted or rescued......
3 dogs (Buckeye....an 8yo Black Lab w/us since 11/00, Sassie...a 19 mo. old Black Lab with us since 11/01 & Daisy (a 9mo. old Beagle/? mix w/us since June)
50 guinea pigs (38 currently living with us....1 died from cancer, 1 after a stroke and 1 from unknown causes and the others from old age) between 4/01-6/02 (1 of my girls, Momma Copper, was POTD last month),
& 6 African Pygmy hedgehogs. Our 1st 2 girls (Tiggy & Winkle) came to us in June from a friend who moved from a large house to an apt. and had to place most of her pets in new homes, our next 3 (2 boys named D'Artagnan & Porthos/1 girl named Glori-Rose) came to us in Aug. from a hedgehog rescue (1 was owner surrendered to the rescue, the girl was given to the rescue by a breeder since she was born minus her right front foot & could not be bred and the other was actually bought by the rescuer because of a feeling she had.....that he was meant to go to someone else) & our last girl (Gwenyver Fiona..or Gweny-Fi, said Gwenna-Fee... for short) came to us from the same friend we got the 1st two girls from (she visited us...until then our friendship was an online friendship and saw how well the girls were being cared for and the 1 girl she had lept was obviously missing her "sisters" so she felt she would be better off here & she arrived in Sept.).
On 11/10 2 more hedgies, Zevida Avigail (Zev'Avi or Zev for short)and Vanya Jelena (or Van'Je...said almost Vonnie with an h sound) will be coming here to live. Zevida was owner surrendered from a family in IN (we live in OH) who had gotten her in 11/01 for their son who wanted a HAMSTER (still trying to figure out how you can confuse hamster with hedgehog) and he burst in to tears when he saw her. She is 2-4 years old and has never been held without gloves (they came with her), 9 days ago she got her 1st bath in AT LEAST a year, her nails have not been trimmed in AT LEAST a year (well...they were trimmed yesterday.....), she was being fed table scraps (which included bacon, pork chops, fried chicken and french fries and who knows what else) & she has never had a wheel. She has...mites, is overweight, has ear fungus that was so bad it had to be trimmed with scissors before medication could be started & her feet are so damaged she may never walk correctly for the rest of her life (because of her nails). She was picked up by a wonderful woman (Lori) on Friday.....she is who runs the rescue we adopted our 3 hedgies from in August (you may have seen my little guy D'Artagnan last month...he was POTD on 10/9). When Lori emailed me to let me know she had to go to IN on Thurs. she asked me if I would adopt a little girl she had there at her rescue. Of course I said yes...we have to go to her house to pick up Zevida so bringing home 2 is not an issue. Vanya is under a year old and was bought from a breeder (the same one Glori and Porthos came from) for a little girl. The family decided she wasn't quite what they wanted and gave her back to the breeder (who btw is well respected in the hedgehog community..she's one of the good ones) who in turn gave her to Lori, to find a loving home for her.
In December Little Bit (who we THINK is a girl...and if LB IS a girl her name will be Rivka Azahra or Riv'a which is said like the 1st part of river and uh at the end) will be coming to live with us. A friend bought a female hedgie from a pet store and 2 weeks later SURPRISE....baby LB arrived (she heard the 1st chirps on 10/15 but we aren't sure of LB's exact bday). She asked me on Wed. if we would take LB in when she is 6 weeks old and of course I said yes. They live close to us so I have been able to visit LB and have even held her a few times already (mom trusts me).
It's a house full but...we wouldn't have it any other way! The dogs rule the house but mainly stay in the living room and ALL of the other animals live IN our living room (which is thankfully HUGE!).
~Raiza~
35, married for 17 years & mom to 4 sons (16, 14, 12 & 10) &
"Mom" to:
The African Pygmy Hedgehogs: D'Artagnan (3), Zevida (2), Tiggy (almost 1), Winkle (1--born 11/01), Vanya (1), Gweny-Fi (7 mos.), Glori-Rose & Porthos (6 mo. old twins) & Rivka (born mid-Oct./02)
The Dogs: Buckeye (8yo Black Lab), Sassie (19 mo. Black Lab), Daisy-May (9 mo. old Beagle/?) & Gizmo (3 mo. old Yorkie)
& The Guinea Pigs: All rescued or adopted between 4/01-6/02, none bred here...we have 27 females & 9 males
"Grandma" to 2 Missisippi Map turtles who have a catfish maid
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