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It’s Cold Enough For Snow!

By Mildred on 02/05/2010

Although May 1st was beautifully warm and sunny, today it is decidedly chilly here in our part of the UK. Fairy is safely snuggled up in her favourite Cuddle Cup enjoying a relaxing afternoon nap in the warm kitchen.

I have just returned from a brisk walk down the lane for ‘grass collecting’ purposes – it is far too cold for Guinea Pigs to be grazing on the lawn! In fact it feels cold enough for snow!

Fairy’s experience of the snow a few months ago was from the handy strategic positioning of a bowl full of fresh, clean white snow on the kitchen table!

Look! We’ve been busy building a snowman!

Mr Bear, there seems to be something missing . . .

. . . Muuum! Can we have a hat for the snowman, please?

There! We all look very smart now!

Haha! Take THAT, Mr Bear!

Ow!! You got me!

C’mon! Will it go any faster?!

All this playing has tired me out . . . . . zzzzz

Posted in Fairy Posts! Tagged cavy, Fairy Magic, guinea, guinea pigs, lethal white 6 Comments

Fairy Supports Guinea Pig Rescue Charities.

By Mildred on 01/05/2010

Fairy really appreciates how lucky she is to have a happy, loving home here with her sisters, Marigold and Mariella. She enjoys top quality Guinea Pig food, has a beautiful bedroom, gym, playroom and garden. She has a personal specialist healthcare advisor and dentist. She has regular baths, cuddles, ear rubs and chin tickles. Her every need is catered for.

Not all guinea pigs are this lucky. Many find themselves unwanted, forgotten, abandoned, uncared for and unloved. They may become ill, but their need for healthcare is ignored. Their owner may forget to feed them regularly, to fill their water bottle, or clean them out, or allow them to exercise. Even more seriously, some piggy’s suffer physical cruelty.

Thank goodness then, for people like Wendi, Karen, Julie, Lisa and many 100’s of others who rescue, care for and re-home these less fortunate piggies. They all deserve a very big pat on the back! They selflessly attend to health issues, feed a well balanced diet, and patiently nurture them to be happy, confident Guinea Pigs ready for life in a brand new, carefully selected ‘Forever Home’ where they will be loved and cared for in the manner they deserve.

Fairy supports several Rescue Charities and Organisations in her own small way. She often makes donations from her pocket money, and lets everyone know what an invaluable service these charities and organisations perform.

Thistle Cavies Rescue is one such charity. Here is Fairy checking out their online shop!

This is a jolly good website! Look at those super Guinea Pig Badges! We already have a calendar from Thistle Cavies Rescue. It’s super!

Let’s see, how much can I afford to donate this week!

It may be a small amount, but I know that every penny will help!

I just need to check this cheque!

There! Please support your favourite Guinea Pig charity in any way you can. Aww, thank you!

For various reasons Fairy does not approve of Pet Shops or breeders selling Guinea Pigs whose only intention is to profit from selling as many animals as possible with little regard for their welfare.

If you are thinking about getting a Guinea Pig please consider adopting rather than buying from a pet shop. There are 1000’s of beautiful Guinea Pigs looking for their special ‘Forever Home’ in rescue centres all around the country.

Useful UK links:

Guinea Pig Rehome with a comprehensive list of rescue centres

North East Guinea Pig Rescue

Reading Guinea Pig Rescue

Guinea Pig Welfare with a list of rescue operations

Thistle Cavies Rescue

Useful USA links:

Guinea Lynx List of Rescues

Forum Article about adopting

Texas Rustlers Guinea Pig Rescue

Atlanta Metro Guinea Pig Rescue

Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue

If you know of a good rescue organisation I can add it to the list.

Please email the details to hello@ fairymagic.me

Posted in Fairy Posts! Tagged Fairy Magic, guinea pigs, lethal white 8 Comments

Fairy On Manoeuvres!

By Mildred on 30/04/2010

Fairy is very good at posing for the camera. She is a consummate professional – keeping still, applying just the right expression to suit the scene, she could not be more cooperative. She seems to know exactly what is expected of her and provides it willingly! Seeing her posing for the camera and taking into account she is blind and deaf, you may wonder how Fairy copes ‘on manoeuvres’! Well she has a remarkable ability to memorise where objects and obstacles are. She methodically explores an area until she is happy, and if the mood takes her, builds up her pace until she is zooming around at high speed, expertly leaning round the corners, accelerating on the straights and pulling the odd wheelie!

Here’s a short film of Fairy in action.

Some countries do not allow the video with the accompanying music. You can view it without, but it isn’t quite the same.

Posted in Fairy Films!, Fairy Posts! Tagged Fairy Magic, guinea pigs, lethal white 4 Comments

Christmas Comes But Twice A Year!

By Mildred on 29/04/2010

Christmas was a very special time for Fairy. Not only was it her first Christmas ever, it was also a time of giving of gifts and receiving surprise presents in return! The highlight of her day was Christmas Dinner. Mr Bear joined Fairy for a not quite traditional meal.

Oh yummy! Look at my Christmas Salad, Mr Bear! It looks lovely. Those cakes are probably quite tasty too, are you going to try one?

This leafy stuff is my favourite! Nom, nom, nom . . .

Nom! Oh! Where DID it all go? Can we get seconds do you know?

Please Note: Although she ate quite a lot, Fairy did not eat ALL the salad on her plate. Guinea Pigs should be fed a balanced diet including fresh food, hay and pellets.

Bears should not be fed knitted cakes.

Posted in Fairy Posts! Tagged cavies, Christmas dinner, Fairy Magic, guinea pigs, lethal white 4 Comments

Push Ups!

By Mildred on 28/04/2010

Although, like most guinea pigs, Fairy’s favourite pastime is eating she is also very aware of the importance of exercise. And what could be better than combining the two!

Fairy’s little hay tin contains some chopped ‘special blend’ hay. Each ‘Push Up’ results in a small treat! The perfect combination!

What a great game!

Posted in Fairy Posts! Tagged cavies, Fairy Magic, guinea pigs, lethal white 3 Comments

Minty’s Marvellous Wedding Dress!

By Mildred on 27/04/2010

Fairy took Minty to choose her wedding dress the other day. Plans are well under way for ‘The Wedding Of The Year’. The invitations will be in the post any day – look out for yours!

Here’s Fairy to take us through the proceedings.

Morning, Mr Bear. It is so kind of you to offer to make Minty’s wedding dress. We spotted some of your marvellous creations when we went up to London. You are so talented! We want nothing but the best for Minty.

Come along now, Minty, behave yourself!

Yes, this is a gorgeous fabric, this cotton matches perfectly.

This is a beautiful shade too . . . pale pink, just like my ears!

. . . what do you think, Minty?

Haha! You look so funny in THAT!

Well now, that is divine too . . .

. . . and this pale blue is so pretty! Is it pure silk do you know?

Oh! Oh! Oh! I am going to . . . SNEEZE! Atichoo! S’cuse me!

Yeees . . . . it is quite lovely as well.

Hum . . . those ribbons would tone in perfectly too.

What do you reckon, Mr Bear?

The shade suits your fur colouring so well.

Hang on! I’ll ask Mum – Muuuuum! do you like it?

And, more importantly, what do YOU think?

Let’s try it on then!

Oh my whiskers! Just look at you! Mr Bear, you are a clever tailor!

You look simply amazing, Minty!

I think I’ll just have a nap while you do all the measurements and things, Mr Bear.

Minty, you are going to be the most beautiful bride I have ever seen!

Monty is a very lucky little mouse!

Posted in Mouse Tales! Tagged cavies, guinea pigs, lethal white, mouse stories, mouse story, pigs 3 Comments

Baby Fairy!

By Mildred on 23/04/2010

Fairy was born on June 11th 2009. Brillo, her mum, was among five guinea pigs we rescued from an intolerable situation. She gave birth to 3 babies, Fairy, Flash and Jiff, a little boy piggy. It didn’t take long to realise Fairy was blind and a few days after that it was apparent she had no sense of hearing either. She had problems eating too, and no wonder! Her top incisors were non existent and her lower ones projected forward. All her food had to be sliced up into bite sized nibbles and we hand fed her many times throughout the day, every day for probably the first 6 months of her life. For the first week or so it was difficult to encourage her to eat anything at all but gradually she realised how tasty fresh salad and vegetables were, and also how scrumptious fresh picked grass was. Then she discovered hay! Not only could you eat it but you could play in it too!

Her siblings were thriving but Fairy remained around half the weight of them. Her little head with its large pink ear flaps, seemed very narrow and was often tilted to one side. Then there were the occasional ‘seizures’ or ‘fits’. I wasn’t sure what was wrong, and I took her to the vet. After a cursory glance she suggested we ‘put her out her misery’. She wasn’t in pain and it didn’t seem right to end the life of such a beautiful creature without at least understanding what was wrong with her. It was only by trawling the internet after a friend mentioned the term ‘Lethal’ that I discovered exactly what was the problem was.

Fairy is what is known as a ‘Lethal White’ Guinea Pig. She has a genetic condition due to certain ‘Roan’ genes present in both parents. ‘Lethals’ can often have short, difficult lives and are a lesson to us all that we should never, ever breed from our Guinea Pigs. You can read more about Lethals by searching the Guinea Lynx Forum. This article is very informative too. Casper is a very special Lethal White, her story is also on the Forum.

Careful nurturing, regular trips to a trained Rodentologist for tooth correction, the best food possible, lots of patience and even more important, lots of love, Fairy is now a happy, healthy, wilful, loving and very special guinea pig – she is magic!

Looking back, we didn’t take many photographs of Fairy during the first few weeks of her life. Jiff and Flash, her siblings, were due to go to their new forever home in July, along with their Mum, Brillo. We knew it would be hard saying ‘goodbye’ to this beautiful little family and were reluctant to become too attached to them.

3 days old, Fairy facing the wrong way, with her brother, Jiff.

4 days old – Flash, Jiff and Fairy.

In a different order – Fairy always seemed to be facing the wrong way!

And here she is aged about 4 weeks.

She was very shy!

Getting the hang of nibbling some lettuce at 6 weeks of age!

Going for a romp!

This was a favourite photo from that time.

Posted in Fairy Posts! Tagged Fairy Magic, guinea, lethal white 7 Comments

Hay Fairy!

By Mildred on 21/04/2010

As we all know, Guinea Pigs eat a lot of hay. Indeed, it should be available at all times so they can graze throughout the day. Fairy has a particular way of enjoying her hay. As well as eating it she likes to burrow into it, enjoying the sensation of the hay tickling her back!

Wooo! Look at this pile of hay!

It’s almost as big as me.

Pfhooooof!

Hello!

Hum, very tasty . . . . nom, nom . . .

Can I have some more please!

It’s so tickly!

Lovely!

Posted in Fairy Posts! Tagged Fairy Magic, guinea pigs, lethal white Leave a Comment

Spring is in the fur!

By Mildred on 20/04/2010

Fairy, doing what she does best . . .

. . . eating and posing!

And . . . . washing her nose.

And exploring!

And checking.

And eating some more!

Posted in Fairy Posts!, The Thatched Cottage Tagged Fairy Magic, guinea pigs, lethal white, thatched cottage 1 Comment

Girl’s Night In!

By Mildred on 20/04/2010

This is nice, Minty. Our favourite tunes on the radio and some good books to share! This one has some handy hints about the latest fashions!

What do you mean, ‘You don’t have anywhere to wear your nice things?

Don’t you have a mousefriend?

Hum, let me see, I’ll just have a look in my little red book!

Good job it’s in Braille.

Okay!

I am going to set up a blind date for you with my good friend, Montmorency Mouse.

Don’t worry, I will come along and keep you company!

. . . . now, where can I take them . . . . errum . . .

. . . . . oh, I know! Join me again soon and I’ll show you!

Posted in Mouse Tales! Tagged guinea pigs, lethal white, mouse stories, mouse story Leave a Comment

How it all began.

By Mildred on 20/04/2010

Fairy was born on June 11th 2009.

Her mum, Brillo, was a ‘rescue piggy’, taken from an unpleasant situation, along with her many assorted brothers, sisters and other relations.

Here’s her Dad, Ernie!

Fairy was a very small piggy. As well as being blind and deaf she also had many problems with her teeth.

Her food had to be sliced up very small and a lot of the time she was hand fed to ensure she ate a balanced diet. It was difficult, at times, to entice her to eat anything! With patience though it soon became apparent what foods Fairy liked.

With lots of care and regular trips to the dentist, a trained Rodentologist, Fairy thrived, steadily putting weight on and coping better with her handicaps.

Here she is aged 16 weeks.