The Wrong Future Owner

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Cinnamon

Junior Guinea Pig
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Okay so you know about my baby guinea pigs? right?
Well my BFF wants some, and also wants a puppy.

She has a cat, but DOES NOT look after it at all, hardly feeds it maybe 3 days a week. thinking oh yeah its got food from our neighbors, Its might not of and could be STARVING? And then since its starving goes and kills beloved wildlife.

So what happens if we did give her some baby guinea pigs? a year would pass, and they would go rot away,
eg.

"How are your guinea pigs?"
"Yeh, they hardly need feeding. they just feed themselves."

I have fish, a dog and a cat (and don't forget my piggies)
my animals all get the same love and attention everyday.
Animals are for companionship, not to be neglected.

Sorry to have a grump.
it just makes me so angry, xx
 
Its hard when your torn between friendship and piggies as i know. Have you tried making an excuse say something like oh I'm short of money and need to sell them or that you have promised them to someone else? its not ideal but maybe worth a shot?
 
Well i know what you mean, my best friends daughters and their mate (my daughter was with them unfortunately) stole some guineas from a breeders garden (even tho my friends daughter had bought some and they were ready a week later) one of the pigs miscarried because of their actions i was so angry at my daughter as was my friend with hers but my daughter has had hamsters for 2 years syrians in seperate cages and she looks after them really well they are both very tame but i wont let her have a guinea pig because they showed to thought for the animal just for themselves and the animal has to come first if your to be responsible.
I'm sad because my daughter knows this and is good with animals but i cannot trust her to have another pet especially guineas, two weeks later my best friend is asking me to get 2 pigs off the breeder for her daughter:(

i said no I'm not asking her, i wont even let my previously responsible daughter have them and her daughter is far from responsible even being 2 years older

just say they are all gone/your keeping them/they may have expensive health issues
 
i think I'd just be honest with her. Tell her you don't think she looks after her cat properly and explain why. Explain that animals aren't toys and guinea pigs require alot of attention. And my god if she's wanting to get a puppy please please talk her out of it! X
 
I know she's your friend but you have to say "no". and you should be honest with her, too. If you're BFF's then you should be able to be honest with her. I tell all my friends exactly what I'm thinking and they know when I think they're doing wrong.

One of my friends told me that he hadn't fed his gerbil in 2 days and my gosh...did I ever lay into him. He got one heck of a roasting and I told him that if he didn't take better care of Harry...I'd be taking him for myself!
And I have to say, my friend apologized and seems to be caring well for little Harry, he even has a Hamster called Sonic now and well...After hearing what I had to say and also seeing how much I love my piggies, he seems to be spoiling his little ones alot.
I took him to my local pet shop and helped him pick out stuff for Harry and Sonic and I have to say that he's quite hooked now! He had no idea about half the things that existed.
You need to help your friend, too. She needs a bit of education on how to look after animals properly. It's not mean or rude, some people really just don't know. It's lack of knowledge but you can help with that.

You should always be able to tell your friends the truth, I know it's hard but if you hide how you really feel...You're lying and keeping secrets...Friends shouldn't have many secrets, only the happy ones that you use for surprises.
 
I have the same problem that my aunt wants babies from me when they are born for my youngest cousin who is 5 and autistic. I know he'd get bored after about 5 minutes and wouldn't look after them and my aunt is allergic to wood shavings, hay etc so she wouldn't look after them either and they wouldn't get handled. They have cats, dog, fish and hamsters and they're not starved or anything but they aren't looked after fully.

I keep putting her off for now but when it comes to the crunch I won't let her have any as I know they won't be cared for properly and I'll probably end up with them back after a few weeks. I'd rather they go to a forever home when the time comes
 
It is hard to tell friend's what you think of them sometime's,especially if they have a different lifestyle or outlook on life. my friend moved in down my street last year and i really wished she hadnt, seeing the way she is 24/7 is annoying she don't want to work for nothing but expects everything, and i think they think i get given everything i get, i do shop alot but I'm not in any debt and my bills are paid on time they dont realise they live like they do because of what kind of people they are
 
She doesnt sound very responsible, so dont let her have any of them. To save your freindship just say that they have already been promised to people, if she asks who just say someone on this forum.
 
Just say no. You can mask it or fudge it any way you like, but in the end it's still no. They're your babies. xx
 
Hello. This reply is really to pippa971;

I've provided soft homes which make it easier to pick up guinea pigs to autistic children before - through their mothers - and I know from the mothers that something that makes it easy for the child to pick up and cuddle the animal makes it possible for the autistic child to form a bond with that animal.

Autistic children have genuine communication problems but they can communicate on a very simple level with a guinea pig, so they can actually get a great deal from such a relationship and it can help them to communicate on a better level with people. (We are very difficult to communicate with) If you make sure that you have a genuine 'easy pick up' system in place, a settled and familiar 'lap time' session trained guinea pig, then your cousin can really gain a lot. But you do need to sort this out before the piggies go to their new and probably less knowledgable owners. If necessary and you live too far from them, hang on to the babies until they are properly handled, know exactly how picking up and cuddling happens, are comfortable with the whole situation etc. Then you will need to train your aunt into how to do the picking up and cuddling exactly as you have done - this will make sure that your cousin can make friends with the piggies easily. An acoustic child will not be able to set this situation up for themselves or maintain it, this is entirely down to you and your aunt.

The cat is harder to form a bond with, the dog needs careful management but can be marvellous. The fish are a non starter and the hamsters are difficult for autistic children. But piggies can be fantastic.

Please let your aunt read this and understand what I mean, please ask her to contact me through the forum if she has any questions. Piggies can form a very loving and deep bond with autistic children and can bring on their development very nicely. But it does need to be a managed relationship to begin with or it simply won't work out.

Wishing you all the best, Sarah
 
Hello. This reply is really to pippa971;

I've provided soft homes which make it easier to pick up guinea pigs to autistic children before - through their mothers - and I know from the mothers that something that makes it easy for the child to pick up and cuddle the animal makes it possible for the autistic child to form a bond with that animal.

Autistic children have genuine communication problems but they can communicate on a very simple level with a guinea pig, so they can actually get a great deal from such a relationship and it can help them to communicate on a better level with people. (We are very difficult to communicate with) If you make sure that you have a genuine 'easy pick up' system in place, a settled and familiar 'lap time' session trained guinea pig, then your cousin can really gain a lot. But you do need to sort this out before the piggies go to their new and probably less knowledgable owners. If necessary and you live too far from them, hang on to the babies until they are properly handled, know exactly how picking up and cuddling happens, are comfortable with the whole situation etc. Then you will need to train your aunt into how to do the picking up and cuddling exactly as you have done - this will make sure that your cousin can make friends with the piggies easily. An acoustic child will not be able to set this situation up for themselves or maintain it, this is entirely down to you and your aunt.

The cat is harder to form a bond with, the dog needs careful management but can be marvellous. The fish are a non starter and the hamsters are difficult for autistic children. But piggies can be fantastic.

Please let your aunt read this and understand what I mean, please ask her to contact me through the forum if she has any questions. Piggies can form a very loving and deep bond with autistic children and can bring on their development very nicely. But it does need to be a managed relationship to begin with or it simply won't work out.

Wishing you all the best, Sarah


Aww thats really amazing :)
 
Thanks guys,
Trying to talk my parents into keeping the pigs (all of them) but it might work.
I will lie, I told mum about it and she just was silent.

Also I don't like cruelty to animals, and she said oh i am getting a puppy for myself,
I said are you getting it registered? vaccinated? microchipped?
She said, My mum will do all of that.
My point: Well why can't you make it a family puppy then if your mums gonna pay for it? I know shes young, and doesn't work so she doesn't get money, but getting your mum to do everything about HER puppy is a tad weird.

Alsoooooo
You don't have a fence for a puppy.
Oh we can just use my nans small fencing. A TAD irresponible?
the puppy could dig, they do of course, jump if its a foxie, or a jack russell or any type of small dog.

She needs to read up before getting guinea pigs or a dog, but besides that she should look after her cat first.

At least some people understand, not like my family :(
 
His parents don't actually know how to deal with him at all. I work in a day centre for adults with learning disabilities so I know that the problems they're experiencing now are only going to intensify as he gets older if not managed properly. They just laugh at him when he's having one of his moments and don't actually understand what being autistic means, he can't stand loud noises but again they just laugh at this when he gets upset and covers his ears. It took me half an hour to cut his fingernails the other day because he just wouldn't sit still and kept losing interest. I think I was the only one he would let do it though.

It's not that he's autistic why I wouldn't let them have any of our guinea pigs it's the simple fact that they wouldn't be looked after. He does enjoy coming over to our house and looking at the pigs, he's a bit rough when it comes to handling any animal I've noticed but I do encourage him to sit down and cuddle the pigs gently and he listens. My aunt just doesn't have any interest in looking after the animals. I have seen many stories where autistic children create bonds with animals.
 
dont let her have them-unless you are prepared to go round every day and check they are being fed etc.

Nope, I HAVE DECIDED AGAINST IT!
friendship and cruelty to animals,
Ahh Cruelty to animals wins,
We might be keep all of them, and giving one female to my cousin who has had guinea pigs for about 1-7 years!

And maybe getting the other 2 males desexed! :)
 
Pippa9071 - I'm really sorry the parents don't support him properly. I really feel for you then, you can't let them go to your cousin if they won't be looked after properly and they obviously won't. I am glad he gets to handle your piggies even a little, with you supervising by the sound of it, that's cool. And all praise to you for working with adults with learning disabilities.

As a teacher I saw various levels of autism, though never really severe as I taught in mainstream secondary schools. I do know that the support of the adults around the child is critical to the child's development and their ability to cope later in life. It must be a wrench seeing your cousin sometimes, but I think you're right not to let your aunt have any piggy babies for him. It just wouldn't work out. It's going to be a hard one to tell them though. Can you swiftly get another home sorted out for the babies so that you can bypass the problem?
 
It's very frustrating Sarah, luckily he gets a lot of help from the specialist school that he goes to, but some of the support he gets from them isn't continued in the home. He can be a handful but if he was supported correctly he wouldn't be as bad. I know a lot more about autism now than I ever did but I still learn a lot from the people at work that are supported by our staff. I work in the office so I don't work directly with them but I do interact with them on a daily basis.
I've actually never met a child of 5 who knows so many swear words and this is something that really, really annoys me that instead of pulling him up on it, everyone just laughs at it him. This is something myself and my husband keep telling them to stop as he'll get into trouble at school and in the future.

I will just tell her that I have homes for all the babies if she asks again, we don't live in the same village anymore so it'll be easier for me to tell her this.
 
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