When things get a little bit iffy: Gatton's own guinea pig rescuers
The pair have published a comprehensive guinea pig care guide, amassed almost 30,000 followers on social media and care for severely injured or unwell piggies.
Gatton
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IFFY Glendinning's days start a little differently to most.
First up is some light cleaning, then it's time for food, and then she does her medical checks.
But this routine isn't for her benefit, it's for the 18 rescued guinea pigs Iffy and her husband Graham have living in their spare room.
While living in northern Queensland, the Gatton-based couple were volunteering with animal shelters and found there was a very specific vacuum of care when it came to 'pocket pets'.
"Then somebody brought home a guinea pig one day, and that's how it started,” said Graham.
The rodent in question had attracted Iffy's attention in a pet shop, where the veterinary student could see he was clearly suffering, and later inspired her to found Alittlebitiffy Animal Rescue dedicated exclusively to guinea pigs.
"It all started with walking into that store and seeing Teddy,” she said.
"Even to our layperson's eyes, because then we didn't know much, you could tell he was in a lot of pain.
"It turned out he had dental disease and had to have several teeth removed, and had we not got him then, he probably would have died in a couple of days.”
Graham said Teddy, as the creature was affectionately named, affirmed their passion for the small animals and crystallised the direction the couple wanted to take.
"We realised that it was a really easily avoidable issue had that guinea pig been fed the right diet,” said Iffy.
"We never knew that guinea pigs needed hay 24-7, the pet store had never told us that, so they probably didn't know either.
"We wondered what else is there that people don't know?
"It just broke my heart that there were probably so many other guinea pigs in pet stores in pain or just feeling unwell and nobody knows how to tell or notice the signs.”
Fast-forward three years, and the pair have published a comprehensive guinea pig care guide, amassed almost 30,000 followers on social media and continue to care for severely injured or unwell guinea pigs.
Often their days and nights are punctuated with medical emergencies in between cleaning, feeding, social media management and trying to keep up with all the other demands of being in their mid-20s.
Though their timetable is presently undisturbed by sick guinea pigs, Graham said things can get pretty hairy when a needy animal comes into their care.
"We're lucky at the moment because we don't have too many piggies needing medical attention, so we can just do the rounds in the morning and get them all out for veggies and grass time in the afternoon,” said Graham.
"But for a while we had one guinea pig, Flash, who had infections in all of his feet because his cage was never cleaned properly,” Iffy said.
"We would have to take his bandages off (his feet), give him a medicated foot soak, re-bandage and give him some antibiotics.”
"That included soaks at 2am, 5am, 8am... I did those (because) Iffy has uni during the day,” added Graham.
Through Iffy's veterinary studies at the UQ Gatton campus, the two have organised for their little charges to help other vet students learn more about guinea pig health and said it's surprising how much there is to learn.
"They do feel love and they do feel sadness,” said Iffy.
"For example, did you know guinea pigs actually bond for life?
"When their bond mate dies, a very common occurrence is what we call broken heart syndrome.
"It does have a long medical word but essentially, they literally get so upset that it's usually guaranteed that if one bond mate dies, the other will then follow.”
Graham said it's this emotional attachment which answers the question they're always getting - 'why guinea pigs'?
"You would be amazed at what you do get back with a little bit of patience,” he said.
"The way I've started to see it (is) that they can spend their life in one room and never leave, but when you come into that room, you're their entire world.”
You can find Alittlebitiffy Animal Rescue on Facebook or Instagram.
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