[x0PiggyPerson0x]

I'll share my own story of why I'll never keep Baby outside, unless she's nibbling on grass in her run when the weather's nice and I'm sitting with her.

We used to keep Baby and her sister Piglet outside in their petstore cage, simply because my parents didn't really like them being in the house. There wasn't much room to put them so it seemed like the obvious choice was to have them outside on the sheltered patio. The patio and pool area was screened in, so predators couldn't get in, and the overhang of the patio sheltered them from wind and rain. At night we put a blanket over them just in case.

But all that wasn't enough.

One night after dinner and cleaning out my hamster's cage, my parents broke some tragic news to me. Piglet had passed away. I personally think it must have been the fluctuating temperatures. Foolishly I left them outside even when temperatures soared to over 80 degrees F during the school day, and then let them remain there as the temperature dropped at night. Of course it could have been illness, and if Piglet and Baby were inside I would have noticed something, and been able to stop it by taking her to the vet and getting her treated for whatever ailed her.

But what hurts the most is that I wasn't with her when she passed away. I heard stories of when a family's cavy was on his/her last leg they were able to hold them in their arms until life had left them, but I hadn't even known. She could have been dead sitting next to her sister all day. My only comfort is that she isn't anywhere where someone's stupid mistakes will ever harm her again, and I'm doing my best to make it up to Baby.