Gus&Charlie
Teenage Guinea Pig
VERY LONG story, BUT- I'll give you all the cliff notes version:
Daughter (age 10) got 1st guinea pig, Cinnamon roll, last summer. We knew once she was settled we'd get her a friend, enter Lovie.
Lovie & Cinny only shared two months together before Cinny died of a vicious URI.
Lovie is alone. Sad being alone, so enter our next girl, Abby. (Baby Abbysinnian, my favorite breed!)
Abby was barely with us a month before she too passed of a nasty URI.
Huge grey cloud hovers over our little corner of Boston.
Kept in constant touch with my friend Tim (manager of PETCO) to alert me the instant another Abbysinnian arrives.
Weeks go by, no Abbysinnian.
Tired of seeing Lovie sad & alone, I went to Tim again & brought home another girl:
Now enter Mocaccino, our American short haired girl.
We STILL HAVE her AND Lovie, and the two were fast friends and, aside from the occasional pissing contest for pole position from Moca, no incidents to speak of.
(Knocks on wood)
Fast forward to Nov 6th, 2014.
Phone rings, it's Tim.
He has good news and bad news:
Yes they have an Abbysinnian, but no it's not a female.
It's a male.
I asked Tim to describe him for me and the minute he said he was all white & grey, I knew IMMEDIATELY that he was my boy and he was Gus.
Gus became my heart walking around outside my body and remains so to this day. I fell so hard for him... As I type this he is SNORING, Eyes closed, on my chest. It was after Gus that I joined the forum for support & friendship from like minded guinea pig lovers. Being a part of something so amazingly understanding & welcoming has been the biggest gift having guinea pigs has brought into my life.
With Gus, I had two URI scares within the first two months and it was the forum that got me through. Once Gus, after hundreds in vet bills, tons of prayers and lots of meds- was finally healthy- I "SWORE" that I'd never get him a friend merely to avoid compromising his now stable health. The thought of losing him was just NOT AN OPTION! Introducing another piggie is ALWAYS a mountain of uncertainty & risk, and I just WASNT willing to risk Gus for anything!
Months go by, jan, feb, mar, April...
Each month I just perchance happen into petco to "visit" the piggies & on May 14th, there were no baby piggies, I asked why and Tim said, because we only have one and I saved him outback just for you, I had a feeling you'd be in. (Which was weird!)
So, obviously I was shocked, but Tim disappeared to the back room & reemerged with one of the most adorable, soft as a bunny's ass, baby boy tri-colored Abbysinnians I'd ever seen aside from Gus! This little fuzzy lover, who obviously was Charlie, was clearly meant to be Gus's baby brother. I said a prayer & took a leap of faith.
Generally, one should keep them apart for at LEAST two to three weeks prior to introducing to be sure of health etc... But keeping these boys apart proved impossible after two straight nights of crying for one another, nose to nose as their habitats were side by side.
I knew in my heart they'd be fine, put them together the third night & they've been inseparable since!
If Gus is out with me,
Charlie's crying for him to return. If I have Charlie, Gus nervously bites on the corner of their habitat until I promptly return his baby brother to him, where he belongs.
It's nuts but these two go together like peanut butter & Jelly. (US version), or like toast & beans (British version)
It's a love story unlike any other and the fact that I get to be a part of it, is pretty freaking amazing!
So there, there's my cliff notes version. (I excelled in English, creative writing & public speaking... Trust me you didn't want my FULL version!)
Hehehe
YEAH FOR GUINEA PIGS AND US SILY HUMANS WHO LOVE THEM SO!
Sincerely,
Amy, Ruby, Gus, Charlie, Moca & Lovie.
(& Michael too, our senior gerbil!)
Ps. I'd LOVE to hear similar family stories from any & all willing to spin a yarn for me...
Daughter (age 10) got 1st guinea pig, Cinnamon roll, last summer. We knew once she was settled we'd get her a friend, enter Lovie.
Lovie & Cinny only shared two months together before Cinny died of a vicious URI.
Lovie is alone. Sad being alone, so enter our next girl, Abby. (Baby Abbysinnian, my favorite breed!)
Abby was barely with us a month before she too passed of a nasty URI.
Huge grey cloud hovers over our little corner of Boston.
Kept in constant touch with my friend Tim (manager of PETCO) to alert me the instant another Abbysinnian arrives.
Weeks go by, no Abbysinnian.
Tired of seeing Lovie sad & alone, I went to Tim again & brought home another girl:
Now enter Mocaccino, our American short haired girl.
We STILL HAVE her AND Lovie, and the two were fast friends and, aside from the occasional pissing contest for pole position from Moca, no incidents to speak of.
(Knocks on wood)
Fast forward to Nov 6th, 2014.
Phone rings, it's Tim.
He has good news and bad news:
Yes they have an Abbysinnian, but no it's not a female.
It's a male.
I asked Tim to describe him for me and the minute he said he was all white & grey, I knew IMMEDIATELY that he was my boy and he was Gus.
Gus became my heart walking around outside my body and remains so to this day. I fell so hard for him... As I type this he is SNORING, Eyes closed, on my chest. It was after Gus that I joined the forum for support & friendship from like minded guinea pig lovers. Being a part of something so amazingly understanding & welcoming has been the biggest gift having guinea pigs has brought into my life.
With Gus, I had two URI scares within the first two months and it was the forum that got me through. Once Gus, after hundreds in vet bills, tons of prayers and lots of meds- was finally healthy- I "SWORE" that I'd never get him a friend merely to avoid compromising his now stable health. The thought of losing him was just NOT AN OPTION! Introducing another piggie is ALWAYS a mountain of uncertainty & risk, and I just WASNT willing to risk Gus for anything!
Months go by, jan, feb, mar, April...
Each month I just perchance happen into petco to "visit" the piggies & on May 14th, there were no baby piggies, I asked why and Tim said, because we only have one and I saved him outback just for you, I had a feeling you'd be in. (Which was weird!)
So, obviously I was shocked, but Tim disappeared to the back room & reemerged with one of the most adorable, soft as a bunny's ass, baby boy tri-colored Abbysinnians I'd ever seen aside from Gus! This little fuzzy lover, who obviously was Charlie, was clearly meant to be Gus's baby brother. I said a prayer & took a leap of faith.
Generally, one should keep them apart for at LEAST two to three weeks prior to introducing to be sure of health etc... But keeping these boys apart proved impossible after two straight nights of crying for one another, nose to nose as their habitats were side by side.
I knew in my heart they'd be fine, put them together the third night & they've been inseparable since!
If Gus is out with me,
Charlie's crying for him to return. If I have Charlie, Gus nervously bites on the corner of their habitat until I promptly return his baby brother to him, where he belongs.
It's nuts but these two go together like peanut butter & Jelly. (US version), or like toast & beans (British version)
It's a love story unlike any other and the fact that I get to be a part of it, is pretty freaking amazing!
So there, there's my cliff notes version. (I excelled in English, creative writing & public speaking... Trust me you didn't want my FULL version!)
Hehehe
YEAH FOR GUINEA PIGS AND US SILY HUMANS WHO LOVE THEM SO!
Sincerely,
Amy, Ruby, Gus, Charlie, Moca & Lovie.
(& Michael too, our senior gerbil!)
Ps. I'd LOVE to hear similar family stories from any & all willing to spin a yarn for me...