23/08/2024
See how Lady uses her Gizmo and Co bed? Very ✨mindful✨. Very ✨demure✨. And see how Pebbles is choosing to lie beside her bed instead of in it? Not very mindful. Not demure.
Alittlebitiffy Animal Sanctuary
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Alittlebitiffy Animal Sanctuary is a non-profit, ACNC registered guinea pig rescue dedicated to bringing big hope to little animals.
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Alittlebitiffy Animal Sanctuary is a non-profit, non-funded, ACNC registered rescue and sanctuary dedicated to giving the smaller, sometimes forgotten pets a second chance. As a rescue, we rehabilitate and rehome animals that are surrendered to our care. As a sanctuary, we provide a forever home to permanently injured or terminally ill animals. Currently a small rescue, we're passionate about rais
ing awareness and educating communities about the sometimes neglected or overlooked "pocket pets" that are often cheap to purchase at pet stores nationwide.
18/08/2024
Meet Milky (right) and Brownie (left). These sweet little ladies came to us from a well meaning owner, who realised she was in over her head when she ended up with a male and female piggy who had babies. This wonderful person reached out to us for support and although we're at overcapacity for males, we were able to take on her only two females to stop the breeding cycle. Milky is Brownie's mum and has done a wonderful job raising her. Both Milky and Brownie are currently pregnant, so for the most part we're leaving them alone to settle, de-stress and nest. Milky has discovered a newfound love for tunnels and Brownie is a donut bed kinda gal. Watch this space for updates of what we're hoping is a safe and uncomplicated birth for them both 🤞🐹
17/08/2024
When you walk into the Pig Pod without carrots and get this bombastic side eye 👀
17/06/2024
Charlie learned the hard way that "take your piggy to work day" means something entirely different when your mum is a vet tech 😂
Our little Hairy Maclary has had some skin issues that he's been treated for, and luckily for him this is hopefully the last vet visit he and his emotional support hay ball need to go through. Until he gets desexed, that is 😜
16/06/2024
Stormie wishes everyone a good night. Everyone except those of you who don't believe in second dinner, she hopes you sleep terribly.
08/06/2024
On this brisk, windy morning, we sadly said goodbye to Violet. Violet came to us along with several other piggies in 2021, from a "free range" backyard breeding environment that had gotten out of hand. She was skin and bones, had mites and arthritis, and had microphthalmos of one of her eyes. We assumed she was born in that environment and had birthed many pups herself. We estimated that she was at least 5 years old when she came into our care. Unlike the other piggies that came to us with her, who took their time learning what veggies and soft, fleecy beds were, Violet took one look at her first ever snuggle sac and decided that this was the life for her. She spent her days being a bed connoisseur, choosing to nap in a different location every time, and would often be found sharing her beds and food bowls with piggies less brave than her.
Violet became well known as one of our teaching piggies. She taught veterinary and veterinary technology students at the University of Queensland how to hold, examine and care for guinea pigs. She outlived all her old friends, losing Newton (top left), then Lamington (top right), then Bert (bottom left), until she was the last of our teaching piggies. It was at this point we felt she earned a well-deserved retirement from teaching, and she spent her remaining months surrounded by tasty food and all the beds she desired. She gave so much of her love to humans and other piggies alike, and she leaves behind deaf and blind Brie who doesn't understand where her best friend has gone.
Rest in peace, Violet. I'm glad you slipped away peacefully in your favourite snuggle sac, surrounded by your piggy friends. You deserve the world ❤️💔
25/05/2024
Dottie's always got her eyes on the prize. The prize being half eaten pellets the other piggies drop everywhere 😌 shout out to Dottie for cleaning up after her herd.
05/05/2024
Meet Pretzel! Born yesterday at roughly 7pm, she's a great example of why all sows surrendered into our care are considered pregnant until proven otherwise.
She joins our Charcuterie Board Herd alongside Brie, mumma Camembert, Salt, Pepper and Olive. Not to be confused with our Hearty Winter Soup Herd consisting of Chickpea, Lentil, Butternut and Pumpkin. Or our Beverages starting with M Herd of Merlot, Mojito, Martini and Mimosa.
On that note, if you have any good name ideas please let us know. We clearly need the help 😅
07/04/2024
We placed Brie and Camembert with two of our most amiable piggies who, as it turns out, are so good-natured and unbothered by new piggies that they don't even care to stop eating for an introduction!
Please enjoy the most boring and uneventful guinea pig meet-and-greet ever.
06/04/2024
Your face when you realise you slept in and missed breakfast. And morning tea. And brunch. And lunch.
Don't worry, Milo, afternoon tea is coming! 🥕
04/04/2024
Thank you to everyone who reached out with love, support and concern for Brie and her quality of life. We as a sanctuary run by veterinary professionals are firm believers in euthanising a week too early rather than a day too late. If a guinea pig is suffering in our care then we have failed them tremendously. We use pain score systems and quality of life scales multiple times daily to ensure we're quantifying our piggies' quality of life and, at this stage, Brie is doing surprisingly well. She's eating with gusto, exploring new fruits and vegetables (she likes strawberries, lettuce, corn and broccolini but has mixed opinions on grapes), playing with her beds and toys, resting comfortably and popcorning.
We have no doubt her good days won't stay this good for long, and anticipate letting her go with the peace and dignity she deserves in the coming weeks. But for now, we plan on fitting a lifetime's worth of love and care into every day she's with us while reassessing her quality of life a day at a time ❤️
03/04/2024
Meet Brie (and yes, her new friend's name is Camembert). Brie is a little lethal white piggy who's undergone a lot of veterinary interventions in the 48hrs she's been in our care. Lethal white guinea pigs are genetically compromised and unfortunately live short, unhealthy lives. They occur as the result of a recessive gene carried in roan and dalmation coat coloured guinea pigs. The breeding of two of these coat types together gives a 25% chance of producing a lethal white pup.
Lethal whites lack pigmentation, meaning they're always white with pink eyes. They're typically much smaller than their siblings and suffer from a range of issues including:
• Small or absent eyes
• Loss of vision
• Loss of hearing
• Malformed teeth, typically including missing incisors
• Stunted growth
• Neurological impairments
• Gastrointestinal disorders
• Physical deformities
• Poor immunity
Their life expectancy is anywhere from a couple of months to a couple years, and towards the end of their progression they suffer from chronic pain and have poor quality of life.
Brie is missing 3 out of 4 incisors, she has a tooth root abscess on her mandible (chin) that has been surgically drained and marsupialised (left open to heal), a part of her mandible is deformed/missing, all her teeth have become loose in her skull, her skull itself has changes in bone density, and - at some stage in her life - Brie's femur (long bone in her thigh) fractured and healed without veterinary attention.
To have hidden her pain for so long must have been such a massive effort, something that she no longer has to keep doing now that she's on an appropriate pain relief plan. But given how much is wrong with her, we fear her time with us will be counted in weeks rather than months. Until her time comes, we'll spoil her rotten with every tasty treat imaginable, plenty of comfy beds to rest in, whatever toys her heart desires and a lifetime's worth of love. Watch this space to follow her journey 🐹
01/04/2024
We all know that guinea pig poo is highly nutritious and an important part of our piggies' diet. But did you know it also has health benefits for you? Introducing our latest fundraising product, Guinea Pig Coffee Beans! With the B complex vitamins and potassium that our piggies get to enjoy daily, it's guinea be a good day when you start it with a cup of Guinea Pig Coffee.
And if the poorly generated AI image and today's date wasn't already enough of a giveaway, April Fools from our piggies and their humans (who sadly still have to clean endless piggy poops and drink regular coffee) 🐹☕
09/02/2024
A huge and heartfelt thank you to the Stewart family for their generous gifts via The Guinea Pig Secret Santa Project. Little Ollie, our latest surrender, got to take his new favourite bed to hospital with him. And while he unfortunately wasn't able to come home, we're finding solace in the fact that he was warm and comfortable in his final moments. This bed will now be named Ollie's Bed, and we have no doubt he's watching all our other piggies experience the plushness of it from over the rainbow bridge. Thank you for making that comfort a possibility ❤️
20/01/2024
It's 12.23pm and Meeny has finally risen from her slumber. Her sisters, Eeny and Miny, may have beaten her to the food bowl but they don't rock the bed hair like she does!
02/01/2024
We tried to take an aesthetic video of our piggies enjoying their Mosuki Bunny Shop Banana Bites, but our piggies have no concept of being camera ready 😅 so please enjoy a bunch of outraged wheeks and stolen treats instead. A testament to how much they love their Mosuki snacks, really.
A huge thank you to Mosuki Bunny Shop for always supporting us and other rescues Australia wide ❤️
02/01/2024
A belated Merry Pigmas and Happy New Year from our piggies and their humans to all of you! We, like many other SE QLDers, were hit with the white Christmas nobody asked for (i.e. severe hail and thunderstorms). While our home and cars were unfortunately significantly damaged, we're grateful that all living beings within the Sanctuary are okay.
Stormie, who was previously living in a storm drain until some kind members of the public caught and brought her to safety, enjoyed her first ever experience of The Guinea Pig Secret Santa Project! Our piggies were spoiled by the generosity of Grinny Pigs Homemade Accessories, Oxbow Animal Health, Mosuki Bunny Shop, the kind and talented Alicia who has been a deeply appreciated long-time supporter of ours, and an unnamed Secret Santa (hopefully you see this post and know that we appreciate you!). This project and the volunteers who sign up for it have always warmed our hearts and brought our piggies so much joy. In particular, while we currently don't have working vehicles, it's such a relief to see our shelves stocked with pellets - especially the Oxbow Senior Guinea Pig Pellets that our older piggies love.
Words are never enough to express our gratitude, but please know we love and appreciate every single one of you. Whether you've liked a post, donated towards our vet bills, adopted from us, surrendered responsibly to us, or simply reached out to say hello - you have helped us help the piggies in our care 🐹
Here's to a wheeking good 2024! 🥳
06/12/2023
The good news is that we have an answer, Meeko's CT shows evidence of primary bronchopneumonia. The bad news is, we don't know what caused it. But some news is better than no news, and now we can tailor her treatment and supportive care to tackle what we know. She's certainly not out of the woods yet, but we've at least taken a step towards the right direction.
Today's emotional support hospital bed is once again from Grinny Pigs Homemade Accessories, generously gifted through The Guinea Pig Secret Santa Project ❤️
05/12/2023
Another day, another vet visit. Old lady Meeko has become acutely unwell, and her age and clinical signs have us suspicious of cancer. A touch of sedation for a cozy snooze and one quick CT later, we're now anxiously awaiting the 24 hour turnaround time for CT interpretation and results.
A huge thank you to Grinny Pigs Homemade Accessories for the super plush, soft fleece bed Meeko has in hospital, gifted to us via The Guinea Pig Secret Santa Project. If these truly are Meeko's last days with us, she deserves to live them in comfort ❤️
11/11/2023
Meet Stormie! Her name is short for Storm Drain, which is where some incredibly wonderful people found and caught her. Stormie is a itty bitty 400g baby with hopefully a lot of growing to do, and now that she's no longer living (and eating) in a storm drain we anticipate she'll grow into the big, strong piggy she's destined to be.
A gold standard health check for our piggies includes taking full body radiographs. This is particularly important for piggies that come to us from abandonment cases, to rule out things like fractures from trauma, ingested foreign bodies from eating whatever they could find, and pregnancy. Luckily, Stormie has a clean bill of health and is ready to make some piggy friends here at the Sanctuary. Watch this space for updates as she grows 🐹⛈️
27/10/2023
The Sanctuary is in our 1989 Era 💙
What's your favourite vault song? Yeti likes Say Don't Go, but he's thinking about carrots when listening to it 🥕
01/10/2023
Sundays are for snacking and snoozing. Featuring the cutest hay bag from Bree & Co 🌾
23/07/2023
A size comparison between Rocket and Bun. Same bed, same pillow, just two very different sized piggies. Don't worry, while Bun can't comfortably lie down in here like Rocket can, she has her own Bun-sized beds to sleep in 😂
07/07/2023
Elliot was castrated today! While he and Suds have always gotten along fine, Suds had never been his best friend. And more than a few times now, we've caught him staring wistfully at the lady pigs across the hall. Hopefully in a few short weeks he'll get to have the meet-cute he's been dreaming of, leaving Suds and Teddy to be best buds 😊
06/07/2023
Eight year old Teddy has joined us at the Sanctuary. For those of you that have followed us for long enough to remember our old Teddy who passed away in 2018, this Teddy's cuddly personality certainly also fits the bill. Teddy is a little bit arthritic (and fair enough, he's eight!), but he's more than happy to take his medications as long as a carrot follows. We look forward to helping him settle in and live the happy, peaceful life all senior piggies deserve 🐹
02/07/2023
It's with an extremely heavy heart that we announce the passing of Lamington. Lamington came to us in 2021 from a "free range" scenario where she was back-to-back bred. Within minutes of coming into our care, along with many other piggies from the same home, she gave birth to four pups weighing between 50g to 100g. She herself was only 706g before birth. Lamington was skin and bones; giving what little energy she had left towards making sure her pups were healthy and strong. So we took it upon herself to ensure she'd want for nothing, and that food was readily available for her whenever she was hungry. To say she was always hungry is an understatement! Eating became her love language, and we loved seeing her experience a wide range of fruits and veggies for the first time in her life. Her pups quickly became independent and Lamington quickly gained condition. She went from giving birth in a carrier in a pile of hay because the soft, fleece bed confused her, to only sleeping in the fluffiest of beds and eating her favourite Vetafarm pellets out of a carrot-shaped bowl.
Lamington was also one of our guinea pigs involved in teaching at the University of Queensland. She adored the attention and, more importantly, the extra snacks all our teaching piggies would get. If you were in 1st, 2nd or 3rd year of your veterinary science or veterinary technology degree between 2021 and 2023, chances are you met Lamington and her friends. She, Newton and Violet happily helped spread our love of guinea pigs and our ambition to see veterinary students becoming confident and competent in treating exotic pets. We'd like to thank every student that held, cuddled and hand-fed her over the years.
Violet is now the last remaining piggy of our teaching herd. She and Lamington came to us from the same prior home, and they were inseparable from day one. Our grief pales in comparison to what Violet must be going through, and we're so grateful she's made some new friends here to help her during this difficult time.
Rest in peace, Lamington. You'll be desperately missed by humans and piggies alike. We hope you've found yourself in an endless field of capsicums and leafy greens, and that Newton is overjoyed to see you again.
10/06/2023
Violet is getting to that age where any night could be her last. While she remains happy and comfortable in her senior years, we're letting her decide to live her life on her own terms. Her two biggest loves are corner teepees and beds with tall sides (what can we say, she's a cocoon gal), so today we combined the two together for her. We reckon this will be her new favourite napping spot 🐹💤
29/05/2023
Penelope update, but not the one we were all hoping for.
For a quick recap, Penelope had a CT in February for issues with the right side of her face. Her right eye was "dead"; lacking in vision and reflexes. Her right nare was producing endless purulent discharge. The right side of her face had limited to no sensation. The CT itself was unfortunately unremarkable with no evidence of dental disease, a foreign body, some sort of nasal obstruction, or any other potential cause for her problems. After culturing her nasal discharge she was started on antibiotics and antifungals that she should've been sensitive to; but following weeks of treatment, pain relief and nebulising, she showed no signs of improvement. Her nasal discharge got worse, and while she wasn't in any pain we all know the discomfort of not being able to breathe with both nostrils.
On May 12th, we decided to move forward with enucleation of her problematic right eye. We suspected that the eye may have been the root of her problem, linking through to her nare where the infection could drain out. Unfortunately, once the eye was removed we could see no evidence of infection in her socket and her nasal discharge continued.
The nasal discharge eventually backed into her eye socket, causing her surgical site to break down. We chose to remove her sutures and allow the socket to breathe as it healed over. We did radiographs to triple check that there was no underlying dental disease missed by the CT. We kept her socket clean, flushed it twice daily and packed it with antibiotic cream. Through all this, Penelope remained happy and comfortable. She ate like a champion and enjoyed her cuddles.
Over the weekend, we noticed that whatever pathway had occured between her socket and her nare had also opened through into her mouth. A second opinion of her CT and radiographs indicated the possibility of something more sinister going on in her little face. After months of treatment with no end in sight, and Penelope's condition getting worse and beginning to affect her quality of life, today we decided to let her go with the peace and dignity she deserves.
Penelope enjoyed some corn on the cob, capsicum and kale. She was on some strong pain relief throughout the day. And when the time came, she went peacefully. Her little body will undergo a post-mortem so that we can hopefully finally understand the fight she was going through. And our pig pod is once again a little too quiet as us humans and her piggy friends mourn her loss.
Penelope is a testament to the fact that sometimes our smallest of animals show the biggest strength. Her legacy will continue with every piggy we help in her honour, and we hope wherever she ends up over that rainbow bridge is safe and kind. Rest in peace, sweetheart. We'll miss you endlessly.
12/05/2023
Remember Penelope, who had the comfiest CT in the world in February? Yesterday, she underwent an eye enucleation to finally have her potentially infected right eye removed. We'd been battling this infection for a while now, which was producing discharge both from that right eye and her right nare (you can see the hairless patch around her snoot where the discharge was hanging around). She didn't respond to a range of antibiotics and antifungals, so we finally made the call to get that eye out of there!
For those of you interested in the medical side of things, Penelope was premedicated with 0.04mg/kg buprenorphine and 0.5mg/kg midazolam. Due to her presumably poorly functioning upper respiratory tract, rather than a masked induction with isoflurane she was induced with 20mg/kg ketamine and 0.25mg/kg medetomidine IM. Penelope was intubated with a 2mm uncuffed ET tube and had an intraosseous catheter placed in her right tibia for fluid support.
Eye enucleation comes with its own set of risks, including the occurrence of the occulocardiac reflex. This reflex is mediated by the connection between the opthalmic branch of trigeminal nerves and the vagus nerve. When pressure is placed on the globe, this reflex induces bradycardia, arrhythmias and, in extreme cases, cardiac arrest. Penelope required a 20ug/kg dose of atropine perioperatively, which resolved her bradycardia and got her through to a smooth recovery.
Though she's not out of the woods just yet, she's certainly a whole lot more comfortable. Watch this space for more updates on our brave gal 🐹🩺
08/04/2023
Popcorning on the trend
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We placed Brie and Camembert with two of our most amiable piggies who, as it turns out, are so good-natured and unbothered by new piggies that they don't even care to stop eating for an introduction! Please enjoy the most boring and uneventful guinea pig meet-and-greet ever.
Thank you to everyone who reached out with love, support and concern for Brie and her quality of life. We as a sanctuary run by veterinary professionals are firm believers in euthanising a week too early rather than a day too late. If a guinea pig is suffering in our care then we have failed them tremendously. We use pain score systems and quality of life scales multiple times daily to ensure we're quantifying our piggies' quality of life and, at this stage, Brie is doing surprisingly well. She's eating with gusto, exploring new fruits and vegetables (she likes strawberries, lettuce, corn and broccolini but has mixed opinions on grapes), playing with her beds and toys, resting comfortably and popcorning. We have no doubt her good days won't stay this good for long, and anticipate letting her go with the peace and dignity she deserves in the coming weeks. But for now, we plan on fitting a lifetime's worth of love and care into every day she's with us while reassessing her quality of life a day at a time ❤️
It's the outraged wheeks for me 🐹 The edible toy is from Oxbow Animal Health, and it's stuffed with fresh grass and Mosuki Bunny Shop banana bites 🍌❤️
We tried to take an aesthetic video of our piggies enjoying their Mosuki Bunny Shop Banana Bites, but our piggies have no concept of being camera ready 😅 so please enjoy a bunch of outraged wheeks and stolen treats instead. A testament to how much they love their Mosuki snacks, really. A huge thank you to Mosuki Bunny Shop for always supporting us and other rescues Australia wide ❤️
BB stands for Baby Bo, and also for Baked Bean. #guineapigrescue
Ever wonder why some piggies are notorious for getting hay pokes? This is a prime example why 😅
With teef like these, I'm not sure if Latte is a piggy or a shark! 🦈
Newton is heckin upset 💩
Pèpè was just trying to have a drink when all of a sudden a wild Peanut appeared! 🥜
More of Happy's drinking adventures, this time featuring Grandpa Louis 💦
Happy likes to look up at the sky while he drinks. Pèpè sometimes judges him for it 😌
We have a little surprise. Four little surprises, to be exact. These bubs were born yesterday. Their mumma isn't producing milk, so they've come into our care to be handraised. They're very small (and very loud!), and we look forward to helping them grow up to be big, strong potatoes. Turn your volume up for adorable baby chatter 🔊
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Our Story
Alittlebitiffy Animal Sanctuary is a non-profit, non-funded, ACNC registered rescue and sanctuary located in Gatton, QLD, dedicated to giving the smaller, sometimes forgotten pets a second chance. As a rescue, we rehabilitate and rehome animals that are surrendered to our care. As a sanctuary, we provide a forever home to permanently injured or terminally ill animals. Currently a small rescue, we're passionate about raising awareness and educating communities about the sometimes neglected or overlooked "pocket pets" that are often cheap to purchase at pet stores nationwide.
Our objectives:
Please visit our website at www.alittlebitiffyanimalsanctuary.com for more information, to submit an adoption enquiry, to purchase any of our piggy products, to become a sponsor or to make a donation. Please note, visits to the Sanctuary are by appointment only. If you'd like to come meet the guinea pigs in our care, please don't hesitate to get in touch!
