Animals 9 - 12 (Page 3)

Charlotte's owners dropped her off at a ten-acre breeding ground for animals. It was owned by a very ill elderly man. He was clearly not able to care for the animals and Cathy took as many of the pigs and goats as she could. She rescued Charlotte when she was pregnant, knowing that she would be loved and cared for and so would her piglets. All her piglets had Charlotte's gentle, sweet personality and we are so glad we were able to give her and her family a new life. Charlotte and her now grown piglet, Muffy, are very happy to be at Belly Draggers.

This past winter, Charlotte started going downhill. She rarely came out of her shed and seemed to stop enjoying food. We thought she had arthritis and tried treating that, but nothing seemed to help. She stopped eating and coming out of her shed altogether and we made an appointment for the vet to come put her to sleep, but she died on her own Friday night, February 2, 2008. Cathy misses her very much, but we know she had a comfortable and happy life for her last ten years.

Chopper has an amazing story. When he first came, he refused to get out of his bed for more than a minute or two to go potty and eat. He learned how to drag his bowl back in bed with him so that he didn’t even have to get up to eat. He went down-hill from there and wouldn't even get up to go potty. To address the situation, we started him on Syn-flex and an ibuprofen every day. That, and the fact that he has lost some weight, has made a huge difference. He comes all the way out of his pen now and seems to be really happy, so we figure he must have been in a lot of pain before.

It had been a few hard months for Chopper. He decided he would not eat pig food any more and we made him eggs and cheese. He liked that for awhile, then quit eating anything except grapes. He quit coming out of his shed to go potty and then we knew it was time to say good bye. He lived much longer than we thought he would and had a happy life. His owner visited him a lot and he really loved those visits.

Before coming to Belly Draggers, Eddie lived in a back yard with no shelter except the house eaves. Since he has been with us, he absolutely loves his bed with all the blankets and straw. He just recently began venturing out a way from his pen and now he "helps" Ercell in the barn whenever Ercell is in there working. Eddie is one big sweet pig!

Floyd is truly a gentleman. When he first arrived at Belly Draggers, he had eyes for no one but little Zoe. He very quietly camped outside Zoe's shed and didn't do anything else for a long time. Gradually, over the next few weeks, he managed to work his way into her shed and finally she let him sleep with her. Floyd is a great pig and wonderful with pigs, people and children. He's a great favorite with the visitors.