They Just Don't Understand!

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Hi All,

Does anyone else have problems with family members not understanding the Guinea Pig lurve? Peter is fine, we had a barny though about the girls being in the hall, but I told him I'm not expecting him to do anything!

Mum will be nice about them on the telephone and give me the odd bit of veg for them but then she'll fly off the handle and say why have five, couldn't you stop at two! She now expects me to get rid of three of them to make her happy! I'm disguisted, I'd have another five if I had the funds for them!

All my Dad said about the girls being in the hall was that it is blocking the exits incase of a fire, well I've now seen to that I've moved them by the stairs and shortened the cage slightly so they are not in our way and we can move freely past them without disturbing. Dad wasn't concerned that leaving them outside in poor weather wasn't good for them. His attitude is well if they die just replace them! :'(

I'm so fed up on justifying why I have them on a daily basis. They are forgettting that I am an adult and make my own choices, I think this is the curse of the only childs there is nobody else to moan at! Surely I'm not alone though, is there anyone else out there who feels that they have to justify there pets to other family? I try my best and I still can't win!

Louise
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OH loves them to bits took abit of persuading at the start to get them but he instantly fell in love with them. My mum loves them too and even bought me a guinea pig book the other day, she always asks to see them when she comes over. She is proud as punch that they are in the calendar as well and has told everyone, think she has realised I'm not going to give her any grandchildren at 31 so she is definitely a piggy granny.

Think some people think I'm a bit bonkers with Trinny and Susannah being spoilt rotten.

They are truly addictive and an absolute joy to have. :smitten: :smitten:
 
My family are fine about my love of piggies they are my responsibility,I clean them out, Pay for their food and take them to the vet if needed, Our family have always had multiple pets, I currently own 5 piggies, 2 dogs and a large tank of fish.
Guinea pigs have a charm that captures your heart once you've had the pleasure of owning one, you will never be without one. :)
 
My mum told me to today to pick some out and rehome them! I asked her if she could have done that to the rabbits she kept a few years back......she couldn"t answer! I have a really bad back and she is convinced its the lifting of their cages and bales of hay!They are my extended family and no I don"t think people understand how much you can love them......or maybe they"re abit jealous!
 
No problems here except They do object from time to time when we have a goat crashing through the house but i guess that is pushing my luck ;D and when the Newfie knocked the tank of crickets over i wasnt very popular ::)
 
My family aren't crazy about thme but they do like them. My mam will come see them and talk to them, my dad pretends not to like them but i've heard him talking to them and he spent alot of time building the hutch for them to stay warm in the shed ;)

They did think 2 was enough but was still aloud to get Hermione whcih everyne fell in love with and i alwasy take y older ssister in the garden to see them whe she comes round ;D

There not to bad i guess as i treat them as my responsibility as they are and buy there food, pay vet fee's but kindly my parents always included there veg in with there normal weekly shopping anyway :D

Myolsest sister is a pain though, she always says there's no point having so many pets, she said she doesn't se the attraction to m rabbits or piggies whcih even made my mam mad as se loes her buns, lol and called my gerbil a rat once, then again i'm not suprised everyone knows she only cares about herself and thinks i should be out getting drunk and wasting my money in one night at a pub instead of having pets ::)
 
Oh I love goats! :smitten: Do you have photos to post in other pets of them, sokel?

I am lucky, even though my mum isn't a huge animal lover she doesn't mind them, and has even taken a shine to Pigpig! Everyone else likes them too, and talks to them when they visit the house.

I feel bad for you Louise, that must be so annoying (and probably a little bit hurtful?) for you. :(
 
CobwebandPigpig said:
Oh I love goats! :smitten: Do you have photos to post in other pets of them, sokel?

I am lucky, even though my mum isn't a huge animal lover she doesn't mind them, and has even taken a shine to Pigpig! Everyone else likes them too, and talks to them when they visit the house.

I feel bad for you Louise, that must be so annoying (and probably a little bit hurtful?) for you. :(
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They are in there somewhere :-\ I havent any on this laptop
 
Yeah I wanna goat! Ha that would annoy the lot of them! ;D

Angel, yeah it is kinda difficult to justifying why I have them, why I won't reduce numbers and why I weigh weekly, Dad said I shouldn't bother about that! >:(

Don't get mee wrong they wouldn't harm them but can't get their head around it all...lol and the lengths that I go to to make them comfortable. Yes it is a hobby, but we also have a duty of care to them, its a responsibility.

Tomorrow they will be fine again, they blow hot and cold, its just I could scream sometimes! :D

Louise
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Louise have you told them yet that you are considering starting a rescue ;D
 
ROFL No Graham, I dare not, haha!I think my mum would blow up! :D
 
luckily my parentals are happy enough with the pets, my mum is a big animal fan herself and at one stage we had 4 dogs, a cat, a hamster, a horse and 5 pigs ;D, my dad also has dogs and he was the one who took me to pick my first pig then brought it a friend home a few months later ;D. i live away from home now but they still love all their animals, sometimes they grumbled about the pigs but it was never anything major, they were even excited about the baby pigs! so i guess i was lucky
 
My mum and OH love them as much as me :) infact Bumble is jay's piggie and Ralfie is my mums :) funny how they aren't theirs when theres a cage to be cleaned! But my dads family think I'm strange! My dad loves all animals and shares my need to rescue anything sick or needy eg the baby bird that fell out of a nest in my roof, spent ages up a ladder wearing rubber gloves trying to get it back in the nest then ended up taking it to the pdsa at midnight because the rspca wern't responding, it survived and is now a gorgeous blackbird! But my nan and grandad and auntie see the pigs as rats (rats in their opinion being vermin and carrying disease rather than being cute and fluffy with personalities) and don't understand! But it think they just accept that i love them so they let me! I do get the odd fiver off them to get the pigs something and if i run out of veg i can always count on my nans fridge ;D so i think i'm sort of lucky because i dont live with the ones who dont like them and I'm sure deep down they do! x
 
the OH is as sweet on them as i am but due to hayfever i have to clean them out ( they are outside)not sure about that 98) but he will clean the hamster and the fishi have some friends that understand the whole guinea thing but family i just get that nodding smile 98) 98) 98) even from my 7 year old niece!
But they are 140 miles away in Doncaster ;D
 
Haha Doncaster I know it well, spent many a time in service stations there on the way to Kings Lynn to see the inlaws.

Louise
:)
 
I fully understand what ure saying my mums just the same she moans like hell that I have them in the connie would'nt mind but its my own house she doesnt even live here, Must say though I love her to bits so i just let it go over my head ive currentley got 10 piggies
 
I have the perfect solution to the problems of people moaning about my piggies-I live on my own! O0 However, my frien whose a regular visitor loves my two and would have two of his own if he had the time.

My sis when she visits complains that she sometime finds the odd poo around and I think she will have something to say about the space my nero three takes up in the hall. My other sis will be delighted with them. My mum used to be their carer when I went on holiday now she refuses since she moved because they might poo on the carpet.

Sokel I am not sure that even I could cope with a goat dashing through my house, then again it would have to figure a way of getting up the stairs!
 
My family are the same too from my husband to my mam, dad and sister the only other person to love the piggies like I do is my five year old daughter and i hope it stays that way :smitten:
 
My OH loves them as much as I do and always asks "how are the boys?" when he phones during the day! I say which boys? and he says the piggies but hows Jack and Ryan as well ;D
My two eldest always slate me for having them, but I have caught them giving them a carrot here and there ;) My mum just says why do I want to make so much more work for myself and my sis thinks I am a bit nuts but says they are cute :)
 
My family think they are great and my mum even has 2 and my dad was chatting to me last week about cages and he said "if we decide to get more not that we will but what cages will we need" I used to say that and now I have 11 ;D

Saying that when hubby and I have a argument he always brings the piggies into it, he will say stuff like you spend more time with them pigs or you need to prioritise the children over those guinea pigs ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) drives me mad. Most of the time he is great with them building them stuff and taking me out and about to get supplies. But he has said NO MORE and I am not gonna push him on that one lol!
 
I have exactly the same problem! I live on my own but my mum constantly moans about me having piggies and how they keep me poor etc etc, so much so that I don't even invite her to my place now as I have 5 and she thinks I got 3!
She has one cat that she witters on about her cute antics, then when I say something about the piggies she glazes over!

I too am an only child and at 44 my mum still tries to control me! Especially now my Dad has gone, I suppose she's lonely but I wish she was interested in the piggies and I could be honest with her!
 
I rung mum this morning as I always do and she said 'You're Dad said to put the Guinea Pigs in the garden.' Arghhh I blew a top, I was simmering but now I've over the top and spilled my soup all over the hob! ;D

Apparantly I look after the pigguns more than I do my daughters 98) And my house is a disgrace :o I had to laugh, I try my best yes its not palace standard but its hardly a disgrace, I clean and do what I can with a 2 year old up my jacksy! Honestly, Caitlin follows me around 99.9% of the time, I'm not complaining but that is why I can't do everything there is to do. And last night I was teaching Emily how to write sentences, I read with her, play with her but still I've no time for her. She also said that Emily gets colds because she of the filth we live in! To say I am seriously :tickedoff: is an understatement.

So I banged the phone down on her in my rage, I know I shouldn't have but I'm not having it! I live in this house, she lives in the next street and shouldn't be concerned with what goes on here. i feel this argument runs deeper then just moaning about the guinea pigs. Sorry to go on, but it's good too off load it! :)

Louise
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piglover said:
I have exactly the same problem! I live on my own but my mum constantly moans about me having piggies and how they keep me poor etc etc, so much so that I don't even invite her to my place now as I have 5 and she thinks I got 3!
She has one cat that she witters on about her cute antics, then when I say something about the piggies she glazes over!

I too am an only child and at 44 my mum still tries to control me! Especially now my Dad has gone, I suppose she's lonely but I wish she was interested in the piggies and I could be honest with her!
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;DI havent told my mum I got 2 more either ;D
 
Blumming 'eck that was a bit harsh wasn't it? ::) Its your house you can do what you like. As long as your kids are well fed and clean and looked after does it really matter if you have a bit of hay on the floor?

I get this sort of reaction from my brother. When I first got my guins they were playing in their run which took up a third of my living room when he popped round unexpectantly. He stood there and said "you have gone too far this time this is ridiculous" I told him that the good thing about not living here is that he can leave whenever he likes but if he insists on staying he is to shut up and accept it. And anyway, if I wanted to keep a blumming pony in my house it has nothing whatsoever to do with him or anyone else.

Stick to your guns :)
 
Haha, no one in my family understands, I have been told to give away my pets on more than one occasion. If I had my way my pigs would be living in a huge cage on the floor but I think my parents would flip if I took them out of my "pet corner".

My dad complains that the rabbits fur is killing him although they are living outside the house. I told him not to pass by their cage so often then. :D

My sisters say their friends don't like coming to our house to hang out because of all the smelly "rats" I have. I told them well its not their house, ask them not to come if they don't like the animals. Its not my fault that the very place their friends like to hang out " at my computer" is right next to my pet corner.
 
DebbieR said:
Blumming 'eck that was a bit harsh wasn't it? ::) Its your house you can do what you like. As long as your kids are well fed and clean and looked after does it really matter if you have a bit of hay on the floor?

I get this sort of reaction from my brother. When I first got my guins they were playing in their run which took up a third of my living room when he popped round unexpectantly. He stood there and said "you have gone too far this time this is ridiculous" I told him that the good thing about not living here is that he can leave whenever he likes but if he insists on staying he is to shut up and accept it. And anyway, if I wanted to keep a blumming pony in my house it has nothing whatsoever to do with him or anyone else.

Stick to your guns :)
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You know, no one says anything if you have a fish tank that takes up the whole wall but they complain if its a guinea pig or rabbit run. Strange eh?
 
That's a really good point. And one that I will add to my arsenal of retorts :D
 
I'm quite lucky to have an animal-mad family, so even though it may frustrate my parents at times - they understand my need to care for pets. I am an absolute fanatic when it comes to researching pets and their care, and I love trying out different things with pets until I feel that they have the best possible way of life. As such, I am known as nutty in my family. ;D Because I go beyond 'just liking animals'.

I'm very settled with Honey and my four gerbils now. Lord knows I still need to try degus, chinchillas, hamsters, parrots, garter snakes, geckos, giant african land snails...

*Cough*

But I'm happy with what I've got for at the moment. My parents think I'm a bit nutty, listening to me natter on about my custom gerbil food and whatnot, but are fine with it. My partner loves pets but doesn't have any, so it's a treat for him to visit our little zoo.

I feel quite blessed to have such loved ones, and most of my friends are one-or-two pet people.
 
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