The Crazy Guinea Pig Lady

 

I’ve never been what one would call an animal lover. That is, I didn’t love them, but I certainly didn’t hate them either. I was somewhat of an animal ambivalent. They were nice to pet, but I didn't want them jumping on me, no slobbering please, and definitely no poop patrol. I knew my kids would love to have a pet, but I also knew that a pet took a great commitment, which I just wasn’t willing to give. Then something happened…..something that was a pretty big deal. My younger son was diagnosed with autism. One of the doctors we saw said that a pet would do him a world of good by being there to give unconditional love and attention, so I gave in and said we could get one, but that it had to fall within certain parameters. I wanted a somewhat “non committal” pet. Something smaller than a cat….bigger than a hamster…..cuddlier than a fish. I browsed the local SPCA website and that’s where I saw Baby the guinea pig.



Baby and Flipper the fish

Over the next couple of days the kids and I found a cage for her and bought the proper food and supplies after doing some Googling and also getting advice from a friend who is an animal enthusiast. We excitedly went to the SPCA and asked for Baby. They seemed puzzled that we just wanted her without going in to see her first. I didn’t realize that was a prerequisite, I just knew that we would love to have her in our home. They told us they weren’t sure that she was what we were looking for, and that she wasn’t very social. I said it was ok; we would work with her and socialize her. After we took her home, a funny thing happened. I fell in love with this little creature who squeaked when she heard my voice after I came home from work, and stood up on her hind legs in her cage for me to pet her.

I eventually bought a pet carrier. Not the kind that you carry around by the handle (although we have one of those too), but the kind that you strap onto yourself like a front ways backpack so you can carry your pet around with you. I would walk up to the school with my guinea pig to pick up the kids after classes, even though I got some rather peculiar glances from people. I say glances because it seemed that no one actually wanted to look me straight in the eye. Regardless, I displayed Baby proudly for all to see. My oldest son, who is 13, asked me to please, please, PLEASE not bring the guinea pig to school again. I was EMBARRASSING him. I simply told him that guinea pigs need fresh air too, and there was no way she could walk the 1km round trip on her leash….oh yeah, she has a leash….so she had to be carried. I continued to further tell him that I didn’t think it made a difference if I carried our little pet to the school as he generally pretended not to know me when I was there picking up his younger sister anyway, to which he replied, “Exactly. Because you do shit like carry a guinea pig around with you.” And you know, I couldn’t really argue with that. He said that people would start calling me “That Crazy Guinea Pig Lady”. I told him that would be cool, but if that were the case I should wear a tiara with my new name on it, and also something about being Ty’s mom….perhaps on a shirt….just so everyone would know we were related. He mumbled something I couldn’t quite make out and walked away.

In the beginning my mother, who called Baby “That Rodent”, wouldn’t even come in the house if she was out of her cage having some floor time. But just the other day I caught her going right over to the cage and asking Baby how she was. She is a fully integrated part of our family now, and tomorrow I am driving 200km round trip to rescue another guinea pig from another SPCA branch. This girl has been there for almost two months and is four years old, which is late middle age in guinea pig years, so I’m worried that she might not find a home as easily as some of the younger guinea pigs. I just know the two of them will be best friends!

**UPDATE** I got Cordelia from the animal shelter yesterday, where they were fascinated that I would drive so far for a guinea pig. We were introduced to her and she was calm and sweet, and thinking they would be a perfect match, I took Cordelia home so that she and Baby could be lifelong friends. When I first introduced them I put them in a large open space in the living room, and there was a distinct air of female indifference. Then Cordelia hightailed it directly into Baby’s favourite little cubby in the living room and the indifference faded. There was a lot of bum sniffing which progressed to pushing each other out of the cubby. Eventually poor little Cordelia was attacked, and it appeared that Baby was going directly for the jugular. My mother likened it to two women in one kitchen--it just doesn't work. *Sigh* so much for the lifelong friendship.  They are currently sharing a large cage with a barrier down the middle so they can’t get into a girl fight. I’m still holding out for the bonding to develop…….