[Gpdd] Misc: Cats & Pigs & Alyssa's Injury

Guineapigfilms at aol.com Guineapigfilms at aol.com
Tue Feb 13 15:56:34 EST 2007


I wanted first of all to address the cats and pigs issue. Up until a couple  
of months ago, we had a very sweet, timid Manx cat, Precious. He was very  
submissive and, although not declawed (he loved to spend time outside), he never  
clawed our dogs or anything else, not even our rambunctious Westie puppy who  
delighted in trying to get the cat "to play." (The cat DID respond on 
occasions  and they played many games together. The cat was afraid of our "alpha" 
Yorkie  and would run away when he appeared.) When Alyssa was about nine years 
old, she  actually taught this cat (who originally was a stray and had kidney  
disease) to "sit," "come," "stay," and "shake hands." (Alyssa soon learned that 
 you need to wear heavy gloves if you want to shake hands with a clawed  
cat!!!!)
 
Alyssa has had many small pets, including rats, gerbils, hamsters, and  mice, 
and she'd supervise introductions to Precious. Precious was either afraid  of 
the small rodents or would touch noses with them. He never seemed to see them 
 as prey, although he DID catch birds outdoors! He also tried to catch wild  
rabbits outdoors.
 
We never left Precious alone with the guinea pigs, but he really showed no  
interest at all in them. He'd sometimes glance disinterestedly in their cages 
on  his way past them, but never stopped to peer in. Alyssa sometimes thought 
that  the cat KNEW the piggies were OURS, not HIS. Maybe he even thought they 
were our  food! He never bothered them, and I think he was a little afraid of 
him. He died  of cancer recently, and our Westie misses him terribly. They 
would sleep in the  sun on the backyard deck, curled up together.
 
I also wanted to let GPDDers who are fans of CARROT WARS know that my  
daughter Alyssa is having a horrible time at the moment. On January 24, she was  
driving to her work at the local Humane Society and her car was hit by a driver  
who reached down to retrieve a cell phone and ran a red light. Alyssa's car 
was  totalled and her back, neck, chest, and shoulder were badly injured. Her  
rear-view mirror flew off upon impact and hit her on the head, knocking her hat 
 off. She has no memory of the accident, and may have suffered a concussion.  
Twice in the past two weeks she has had to go to the hospital emergency room 
in  the middle of the night, feeling as if she were dying. Her shoulder may be 
 dislocated, as it pops in and out. She is still trying to go to her classes, 
but  is really struggling, as she is in too much pain to even carry her  
books. Her doctor won't allow her to work at the moment, and she is worried  about 
bills. (She moved out to a little apartment on campus this year. She  
couldn't live in the dorm, because she wanted to keep her ferret, gerbils, rat,  
fish, and guinea pigs with her. She also "fosters" cats and other sick or dying  
animals from the Humane Society, so that she can give them fluids all night and 
 sit up with them so they won't die alone.) As you can imagine, my 
stress-level  is sky-high.
 
Alyssa loves animals more than anyone I've ever known. In fact, she has  wild 
mice (field mice?) running around her apartment and eating her food, but  she 
hesitates to even capture them in a "no kill" trap. She was thrilled when  
she was "allowed" to pet five of the "new baby" mice. Because she is afraid that 
 they will freeze if she lets them go outdoors, she has gotten cages for them 
to  live in until the weather gets warmer, when she'll let them go.
 
I'm sorry for this rambling post. I know that Alyssa has many friends (and  
fans of her guinea pig movies) on this site, and I felt that they might want to 
 know her situation.
 
Thanks so much.
 
Nancy (Alyssa's mom)
_http://hometown.aol.com/guineapigfilms_ 
(http://hometown.aol.com/guineapigfilms) 


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