People Make Me So Mad!

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BertisKing

BertisKing

Teenage Guinea Pig
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I have had enough of people! I understand that not all of us can be animal mad, but I'm not partial to children and I'd never do them any harm.

Sorry, that was a bit ranty- let me explain.

A girl I was at school with works at Pets at Home and mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago that they'd just had a pair of guineas handed in to their adoption centre. These guinea pigs were at the time, 9 weeks old. And why had they been given up? Because one of these small, hardly handled, nervous little critters had bitten the darling child they had been bought for when they picked him up. First pet, young child, fast animal, you can imagine that it probably went more like "grabbed".
Apparently the mother scooped up the pigs, high tailed it back to P@H and demanded her money back, whereupon she was told that she had been informed on purchase that they will be skittish at first and needed time to settle in and that as there was nothing wrong health-wise, she wasn't able to have a refund.
Now I don't know whether this is true or not, but apparently she threatened to take "the little rats" away and drown them. So they ended up at the adoption centre.

Needless to say, now 12 week old Chester and Charlie came home with me on Saturday. And yes, Charlie has bitten me. Twice. But I think that he's one of these pigs with an oral fixation, and just needs plenty of quiet time. He happily tucked himself into my top last night and went to sleep (full on eyes closed, so relaxed he pee'd sleep) Chester is very nervous pig and likes to hide his face when you hold him, but with a bit of time and effort he'll pick up a little, though like my Benji he may always be a shy piggy.

So yes, people who don't research an animal before taking them home and can't be bothered to put in the time and effort when their child decides that they don't want the responsibility any more drive me crazy!

Pigtures to follow!
 
This gets right on my tits as well, I especially love the 'well researched owners' who evidently just picked up a leaflet at a pet shop... the advice P@H give annoys me as well, I corrected one manager several times!
 
H&&Frank said:
This gets right on my tits as well, I especially love the 'well researched owners' who evidently just picked up a leaflet at a pet shop... the advice P@H give annoys me as well, I corrected one manager several times!
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I have to admit, I prefer animals to children. I would never wish harm on any child, I just chose to ignore them! (As my, up until then distant, sister in law, made the mistake of bring in her 2 year old newly adopted child around, to she her 'auntie'. I made the right noises and have not visited them as invited, 2 years ago)
I was not allowed animals unless I knew what I was doing with them, if they bit me, that was my problem, what did I do wrong? I got tuff love from my parents. I got bitten by rabbits, guinea pigs, cats and dogs ( in those days, a dog bite was not a death sentence for the dog ) trod on and kicked by horses? My parents attitude, that s the price you pay. I turned out to be an animal love, with skill to handle animals and empathy to care for them.
 
JackJack1 said:
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I am often in Pets at Home picking up all sorts for mine and I always go over to see the guinea pigs. Whilst looking at the guinea pigs, I often see quite a lot of very young children with their parents, trying to choose one or the other guinea pig and wonder what sort of home it is going to have once the fad has worn off and the parents are left with the responsibility. I sometimes wish I could take them all home with me so that I know they will have a good home and be cared for. Animals are so dependent on us providing for their needs and so many people take on a pet such as a guinea pig without much thought about it except it is cute and cuddly. Pets at Home staff are not always so knowledgeable about their needs. I listened to one giving advice which was quite poor.

I have never been bitten by a guinea pig and they are not known to bite if they are handled well right from tiny babies. However, they are nervous and skittish if not handled properly from the start and that is when the problems arise. I guess this poor guinea pig was grabbed at some stage by the small child when it tried to get away and startled and this caused it to respond. Another case against small children not taking on a pet until they understand their needs and old enough to take responsibility with parent supervision. Give them a toy instead.
 
Forgot to comment on children... I'm not fond of them and these days children seem to just resemble demons, probably something to do with the parenting, but Ew.

My goddaughter for example was opening the hutch doors unsupervised.... My OH sorted it out, not the mother. Children should not have pets they are evil. Ha :/ seriously though it's not appropriate for a 3 year old to have piggies.
 
H&&Frank said:
This gets right on my tits as well, I especially love the 'well researched owners' who evidently just picked up a leaflet at a pet shop... the advice P@H give annoys me as well, I corrected one manager several times!
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I'm so well known in my local P@H they don't even bother with the spiel now, not after the number of hamsters and piggies I've adopted from there over the years!
 
Those poor guinea pigs. I wish I could destroy the thought that guinea pigs are children's pets. No prey animal will make a suitable child pet. I'm really glad that you rescued these poor babies.
 
JackJack1 said:
I am often in Pets at Home picking up all sorts for mine and I always go over to see the guinea pigs. Whilst looking at the guinea pigs, I often see quite a lot of very young children with their parents, trying to choose one or the other guinea pig and wonder what sort of home it is going to have once the fad has worn off and the parents are left with the responsibility. I sometimes wish I could take them all home with me so that I know they will have a good home and be cared for. Animals are so dependent on us providing for their needs and so many people take on a pet such as a guinea pig without much thought about it except it is cute and cuddly. Pets at Home staff are not always so knowledgeable about their needs. I listened to one giving advice which was quite poor.

I have never been bitten by a guinea pig and they are not known to bite if they are handled well right from tiny babies. However, they are nervous and skittish if not handled properly from the start and that is when the problems arise. I guess this poor guinea pig was grabbed at some stage by the small child when it tried to get away and startled and this caused it to respond. Another case against small children not taking on a pet until they understand their needs and old enough to take responsibility with parent supervision. Give them a toy instead.
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No, piggies do not bite, I learnt not to grab them by being bitten. I learnt to respect and care for them the hard way.
Now I have a 3 year old cat, who, ever since I had him from 8 weeks old, has bitten me when I stroked him. He has been checked out by the vet, and there is no pain or problem. He just has too much attitude! He does like a scratch on the top of his head!
 
Grr that makes me mad too. I wish people would actually research before deciding to get a pet, and whoever decided guinea pigs are perfect pets for little kids should be smacked upside their head! I wish pet stores were just Pet SUPPLY stores. Too bad that pig didn't bite that woman, she sounds like a real treat. Well done for rescuing them. I have a pig that bites (Fatty, the one in my avatar). He always has, no matter how we handle him. I just learned to keep my fingers out of biting reach!
 
I hate when Parents buy their kids Guinea pigs or hamsters or any small prey animal, because I'm sorry unless the parent or parents are willing to look after them 100% then don't bother getting them sheesh :doh:
My aunt was recently looking for a new pet for your child but refused Guinea pigs cause one, one time bit Hailey and now she's like guinea pigs are evil.
I'm sorry but animals are not mean or evil in fact they don't even have the capacity to be evil because their animals and not ppl, the only reason they are mean ever is because either they had stupid owners or abusive owners and then they turned mean but agreed ppl are sometimes the worst.
 
piglet_and_rogers_mama said:
Grr that makes me mad too. I wish people would actually research before deciding to get a pet, and whoever decided guinea pigs are perfect pets for little kids should be smacked upside their head! I wish pet stores were just Pet SUPPLY stores. Too bad that pig didn't bite that woman, she sounds like a real treat. Well done for rescuing them. I have a pig that bites (Fatty, the one in my avatar). He always has, no matter how we handle him. I just learned to keep my fingers out of biting reach!
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Humphrey is a nibbler, but it tends to be when he's over excited, or if he's had enough of being held. Its just a case of spending the time learning their little quirks.

Saying that, my mother runs a playgroup and at the beginning of summer they had pet week, where different pets were brought in on different days so that the little 2 and 3 year olds could see some different animals, and neither the children or the pigs misbehaved at all (apart from Humph, who saw his chance and legged it)
A lot of it comes down to the parent's attitude, and if this child lost its confidence in touching Charlie and the mother didn't want to deal then at least she went to get a refund rather than getting rid straight away!
 
Toby and barney have each bitten me once. Barney did it because I needed to learn that he hates being cuddled (that one was vicious but I learnt the lesson - he only gets cuddled when he has carrot and then is allowed to escape straight away). Toby did if because I smelt of lettuce (my own stupid fault).

So they do bite but it is usually the stoopid hoomans fault!
 
My Cookie will nip anyone but it's never anything too serious but have I ever considered getting rid of him because of it? No way! People need to learn that anything with a mouth can bite, as my college teacher would say if anyone asked if any of the animals at the animal centre would bite them!
 
Edward bites not always but he's a biter . The vet said (just after he had bit her ) that he was the first guinea she had ever been bitten by :D The trouble is with some parents they don't teach their kids respect for animals and just let them grab them like toys. Demand her money back for what ? A frightened animal acting like a frightened animal ?
 
This is the problem with pets at home and other places as they label small animals as "children's pets" thankfully when i was little my dad was a huge animal lover and when we got our first rabbit he told me to sit on the floor with him with a carrot and we'd have to be really patient and he was ready he come and see us and it might not happen the first time but we must wait for an animal to come to us.

I've never forgot that and when we rescued are two maine coons i had to do exactly the same process and just be really patient and offer them tid bits. They first day we got them they hid behind our sofa and just stayed there all night, that's was their special place for a while and if they go behind there we leave them alone.
 
I think actual bitey pigs are rare, there's a lot of nibbly pigs - Fudge used to give nibble kisses, she was adorable :) - but it's such a shame that she thought it was the animal's fault! People are 20 times the size of these little things, they don't know it's not a bird swooping down to eat them! They will always come round given love and care, and a 9 year old should never be allowed to just go and pick one up. My friends bring their kids (4 and 2) around sometimes and they are very well instructed that they wait for the animal to be brought to them, or they can pop a little food through the bars for them (they are so spoilt when those boys come round!) but never get them on their own.
It's all about the way the children are brought up to deal with animals.
 
PottyForPiggies said:
actual bitey pigs are rare, there's a lot of nibbly pigs - Fudge used to give nibble kisses, she was adorable :) it's such a shame that she thought it was the animal's fault! People are 20 times the size of these little things, they don't know it's not a bird swooping down to eat them! they will always come round given love and care, and a 9 year old should never be allowed to just go and pick one up. My friends bring their kids (4 and 2) around sometimes and they are very well instructed that they wait for the animal to be brought to them, or they can pop a little food through the bars for them (they are so spoilt when those boys come round!) but never get them on their own.
It's all about the way the children are brought up to deal with animals.
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The kids on the estate always come round when I have the army out at the front but they know to wait for my okay and then will sit down and let the piggies get used to their presence before trying to touch them. I explained that they don't usually bite but if they are frightened then they could nip to get away. Either the kids on my estate are good 'uns or I'm terrifying (probably the latter... nasty little vermin) as we get nothing but a healthy respect from all of those kids who are anything from 3 to 14, both boys and girls.
I suspect the little guys original owner got them home and realised just how much work goes into having guinea pigs. On work days I'm outside at 6am rain or shine making sure the army are fed and watered before I even think about sorting myself out! Granted there are more than two to see to but they still need more attention than a goldfish.
Speaking of which, a parent with a much better idea was in the shop at the same time, and her little boy was having his first ever pet, a goldfish, which he had to prove he was capable of looking after by himself before they'd even consider a hamster, which was his first choice. Baby steps and all that!

Charlie's already turning out to be a little character. He's just been scurrying around on the sofa before scaling me like a tree and draping himself over my arm, little chookin legs akimbo and his "little boys" cradled firmly in my hand. Nice. Thanks Charlie. :blink:
 
My dog was kicked and hit by kids and adults before I took her on. My children were seven, nine and fifteen.. She panicked if cornered and couldn't get away. Her past was explained to my children and they were taught to give her space and let her come to them. My youngest ignored this and tried to cuddle her. The dog got scared and warned her off. She actually tried to nip her too. My child was told again but as it was her fault not the dogs the dog is still with us. I have taken on a hamster that had beenbbought for children that have tormented it until it bit them so was taken back to the shop. The poor thing never stopped biting, she was totally unhandalable She had been tame before she was sold..She lived for three years with us. My daughters hamster took a chunk out of my daughters finger but she is still with us. Of animals are scared they bite.I have a rodent mill rat that will still have a go at you if you are too fast for her.
 
Flutterby said:
Parents shouldn't buy animals for their children unless they are willing to be fully responsible for their care. So annoying, glad the piggies ended up in a good home!
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Very true Ruth, I was just about to say almost the same thing lol.

I knew our boys were my overall responsibility, I did my home work for months before I brought them. I made sure I could afford them , had time for them, room for them etc etc etc. it makes my blood boil to know these lovely animals are treated like toys or throw away items grrrrr. I'm so glad to hear you have these two lovely piggies now and they will get to know what love and care is.
 
i go with the theroy that all children are basicly dogs, there are good ones and there are bad ones, but you dont give them small animals without close supervision. and bad children are the parents fault.
 
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