The New Guys

Not these guys – these two are now the old guys, sort of, even though they’re not even a year old.

When Cookie was recently going to the vet for teeth and eye issues, the veterinarian let me know that if he keeps having problems, the kindest thing to do might be to euthanize him, as he wouldn’t really be able to gain weight and his quality of life would deteriorate.

So we had his teeth filed down and I have become extremely controlling and bossy about his diet and meds, because I want him to have the best possible chance to have a good little life.

But – the possibility exists that down the line he might get worse.

Julia asked me about it one day, asked if Cookie was going to die. We were driving home from somewhere. We stopped at a red light and I looked at her and said yes, it was possible. But hopefully not.

She thought about it for a moment, and then said if that were to happen she’d be worried about Cloudy. He’d be so lonely.

Guinea pigs are herd animals; they prefer company to solitude. And Cloudy LOVES Cookie. Cookie is his world. Cloudy would be lonely.

So somehow the family ended up discussing it in bits and pieces and we kind of agreed that maybe we should get another guinea pig NOW, just in case. Then, provided Cloudy and New Guinea Pig got along, Cloudy would not be lonely.

Actually, even if they weren’t in the same cage, but had their cages side by side, they’d be happier than Cloudy would be alone.

I started looking for rescue guinea pigs. I thought that would be a kind thing to do, you know? And on the local SPCA website I found a pair of rescue Guinea pigs – males – that were looking for a home. I talked about it with Bill, and emailed an inquiry about them…but when I called a few days later to check on the status of my email, I was told they’d been adopted.

Okay. Well, I was glad they had a home. But there weren’t any other rescues – not online anyway – that I could find nearby.

This past Saturday we went to the same pet store Cookie and Cloudy came from to see what they might have. There were two – a brown and white short hair and a mostly brown crested short hair. Julia wanted the brown and white one, but I knew it was only because – like Veruca Salt, she wanted a Guinea Pig NOW!

We told her no, lets wait and keep looking and we went to look at adoptable cats to distract Julia from her grand disappointment.

On the way out I asked when the next guinea pigs were coming in.

The guy told me they had a new batch in right then, but they were isolated for a few more days to make sure they weren’t sick or anything before they would go out on the sales floor.

That was promising. He told me to call back Tuesday.

So I did.

And so yesterday – which was Tuesday – Julia and I went to “take a look” at the new Guinea Pigs.

There were only three new ones. All were mostly white with some bits and pieces of other colors. Two were Abyssinians, one was another short-haired crested guy.

Julia and I sat down on the floor and watched them all in their cages.

I took pictures.

I knew, before I knew, before anything was really said, that we would bring two home.

And we did.

Here they are – The New Guys:

THEY’RE SO SMALL AND SOFT AND CUTE!!!!!

Anyway. We went back and forth on names, and finally, let me introduce them to you:

First up, Oliver (I named him)

See the little dimple in his fur on his head? It’s like he’s wearing a little crown, or something. He’s a crested guinea pig, not sure if he’s all-crested or a mix of that and basic short hair. Don’t care. He’s sweet. I like the gray patches. End of story.

And why Oliver? I don’t know. He just looked like an Oliver.

And this is Marshmallow (Julia named him)

Julia explained that he is called Marshmallow because he’s all soft and fluffy, plus he’s all the marshmallow colors – white, and golden brown around one eye, dark brown around the other – depending on how burnt you like your campfire fare.

So that’s the story of the new guys. They are very small and sweet and are in “quarantine” in a different cage in a different room for a few weeks, just to make sure they are healthy and don’t have anything contagious going on.

~~~

This should do us for Guinea pigs for now. Plus the two cats.

But I’m still very interested in some day adopting a rescue guinea pig or two eventually.

First, though, I need to convince Bill to let me convert the music room into a guinea pig town…..