[Gpdd] (Misc) Re: Why a Piggy?

Stacy Harvey ckrtsqrl2000 at yahoo.com
Sun Jan 28 11:03:55 EST 2007


We never really had pets in the house when I was growing up--my dad always said he thought animals should be outside. However, when I was 13, my mom came home with a  little tri- color Abby mix--who, we later found out, was pregnant. I thought she sounded like the tribbles in that Star Trek episode, so we named her Tribble. Of course, being 13, I thought I was just too cool to be interested in something like a guinea pig so I kind of kept my distance but I secretly thought she was rather fun to watch. Time passed and life got busy, and I'm sad to say I don't remember what happened to Tribble. I think she lived quite a while (5+years).
   
  Several years later, I moved out on my own and I wanted a pet. The place where I was living didn't allow cats or dogs, but they did allow caged pets. At first I thought I might get a rabbit, so I went looking at the pet store (I know, I know, but this was before I knew about the "dark side" of the major pet store chains). I started looking at the rabbits, and then I saw the guinea pig cages...and there was the cutest baby GP'er. He was a brown agouti Rex, and he had the funkiest hair and the softest brown eyes. I picked him up and he just snuggled into the crook of my arm. I was in LOVE! I had to have him. So I got him, and a cage, and all the other accoutrements and off we went.
   
  I named him Cosmo. He got a lot of attention from me and he became very tame. He was also very mellow; he'd let me clean his ears and clip his nails with no fuss. He'd even let me roll him over on his back and he'd stay that way! He would lay on the couch with me and we'd nap...I'd put a towel down by my feet and he'd wander over to go potty, then come right back and sleep by my neck. He was such a sweetie!
   
  I didn't know at the time, but I was doing everything wrong--wrong bedding, wrong food, too small cage. And I thought hay was a treat; I didn't know he was supposed to have it free choice. It wasn't until I came to the digest a few years ago that I found out what I was supposed to be doing. Even though I was doing everything wrong, that little boy lived to be 
  7.5 years old. Unfortunately, I wasn't with him when he passed away. I had joined the Navy and my mom was keeping him for me. I wanted to bring him with me when I got out of Boot Camp, but I ended up getting stationed in Hawaii and the quarantine period for any animals coming in was 180 days--I couldn't let my baby stay pent up in a strange place for that long, so I asked my mom to please take good care of him. Shortly after I got to Hawaii (oddly enough, on September 11, 1998), mom said she had fed him in the morning, and when she went to check on him later in the day, he was gone. I cried like I had lost my best friend, which in a way I had. I was living in the barracks, so I couldn't have pets, but I would still go to the pet store and look at the piggies. How I wanted one!
   
  After I got married, I convinced my husband that we should get a guinea pig (because the apartment we lived in required like a $500 pet deposit for cats/dogs). He kept saying "Why do you want one? They don't DO anything!". I told him he didn't have to mess with it if he didn't want to, it would be my pet. So we got Gizmo (you can read about him on the Rainbow Bridge pages; I helped him cross in November of 2004.) After he got over his skittishness at being in a new place his personality came out and a new Slave was created! My husband was smitten. He was amazed that such a small critter could have such a big personality. And he was fascinated with all the little noises Gizmo would make. I would explain to him what all the little noises meant and my husband would start rattling plastic bags and stuff to get him to WHEEK. So then we got Max, and Serendipity (I still need to put their tributes on the Bridge page, but haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet) and Oscar
 & Felix...and the Squee Squad came into being.
   
  I sometimes ask myself why I choose pets that have such a short life span; but then I think that whether they lived 5 years or 15 years, losing a precious furbaby is still painful. But I wouldn't trade the joy that they bring to me for anything in the world. My little fuzzbutts have brought me through some dark and difficult times. I would even venture to say that they have saved my life. And all they ask for in return is a little attention, clean bedding, and some fresh veggies--a mere pittance compared to their real value. No therapist in the world can work the magic that these little ones can.
   
  I believe I will always have piggies, until I get to the point where I am physically unable to care for them. They're worth it. Even when they come running to see if I have anything else to give them after they've already feasted on their organic baby greens... :>)
   
  -Stacy and the Squee Squad
  Remembering always, Cosmo, Gita, Felix, Gizmo, Max and Princess Pig Serendipity...and the one who started it all, Tribble

 
---------------------------------
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