upsetting situation

[PumpkinPunk]

I went to a friend's apartment tonight to watch the superbowl with a bunch of people and one of his roomates had 2 guinea pigs. The first thing that I noticed was that they were housed in a relatively small store-bought cage. Then I saw a salt lick, an almost empty water bottle, a dish of pellets, and nothing else. No hay, no toys, no hidey house, no veggies, nothing. I didn't know any of his roomates but later in the night I met the girl who they belonged to. How do you address this type of situation without being rude or condescending?? I went over and tried to go about it in a positive manner and told her I also had 2 pigs and that I knew about this web site and how great it was and to my surprise, she's even visited it before! I thought that was great that she's been here, but if she's been here why such a small, bare cage for her pigs? I don't want to jump to conclusions and think she's a horrible pig owner. Maybe she ran out of hay a couple days ago and hasn't had a chance to get more? Maybe she feeds veggies in the morning and thought they would make it to the morning with their water bottle too? My friend said they let them out of the cage to run around sometimes. She mentioned that she's had them for a long time and the younger female is the daughter of the older one and she's planning on breeding it because the babies are cute...I didn't know what to say. Sorry this post is so long and I'm venting, but I just felt so bad for her pigs. Does anyone have any advice of what to do/say in that sort of situation without offending the other person?

 

[dagwellismypigy]

Maybe you could invite your friend over, and som how get her to come over too. Show her how you care for your pigs. I don't think there is really anything you can do. But sometimes it is fun to offend people (just kidding)

 

[critterlover]

I know *exactly* what you mean. Unfortunately, there's lots of pigs kept that way. Case in point: one of my pigs managed to escape from the 4th floor of an apartment building into a parking lot because the owner was totally clueless. It's very hard to tell people they're idiots, without actually offending them.

The best thing to do is to show her your cage and feed your pigs veggies right in front of her. Plus, you can say how much they love their hay. The problem is, if she hasn't taken the time to research proper feeding, she might not be the type of person who will run out to buy veggies every 2nd day, even if she knows it's good for them. Really, people should need licenses to own any kind of pet.

Speaking of rants, here's my rant:
Recently I talked to a supposed animal-expert who vigorously explained to me that boars cannot be kept together (despite the fact that I cited several examples to the contrary) and actually wanted me to either 1) get my boy neutered and adopt a girl or 2) get a rabbit friend for my male guinea pig. The bad news is that the shelter where she works is overrun with male guinea pigs because of the misinformation she's giving everyone. I mean, what does it take to do a little bit of research? People are so ignorant. I'm thinking of sending her a card thanking her for sexing my pig (which she did very well) and including a picture of my 2 (male) pigs snuggling together in a cozy, as a subtle way of educating her.

 

[Piglet]

You could print of the care pamphlet of www.guinealynx.com then write some useful websites on the back of it like www.cavyspirit.com

 

[Emily F.]

If you want to spend the money, you could always buy her some supplies, but that would be expensive. I agree with Piglet, write her a list of some information of pigs, how to hold, feed, them. Etc.

 

[citronsoul]

And inform her on the risks of breeding.

 

[GPDaisy]

My friend just adopted 2 girls, one of which turned out to be pregnant and due any day. She adopted them because she liked my boys, thought they were cute, and thought they were "low maintenance". She fussed when I told her they needed a bigger cage than the storebought one. She fussed when I told her they need daily veggies and provided her a list of acceptable ones.

She complained about the house thing so much that I ordered and provided her a set of cubes and a sheet of coroplast. That sat there like a week. I went over there and built it WITH her, and she complained about the amount of space it required.

I called her last night to see if her sow had delivered yet, and she went on this rant about how this was "more than she bargained for" and said she was going to have to get rid of them. So guess who's adopting her girls? I can't trust her to find a decent shelter, and I fell in love with them when I was visiting anyway. Let me tell you, it was HARD to bite my tongue and not light into her about being so incredibly irresponsible.

So I'll get the girls this evening...think it would be acceptable to build a second level to my 2x4 that I have for my boys? No ramps, of course, just stack the cages vertically instead of horizontally?

 

[Setsuna]

Makes me think about how upset i was when my sister said she didnt want to nueter Cali(a stray kitten we rescued)

People are just plain ignorant. v_v Sometimes you have to make an ass of yourself to prove your point.



People can be cruel without knowing it and still not change, because they dont want to admit they are wrong.

My neighbors dont give thier piggies a constant supply of hay. They told me its because the boar always makes it fall out onto the floor. a lame excuse obviously. I wish i could do something for any animal that ignorant ass hats mistreat but for now i guess ill just do what i can.

 

[fawnmarie]

I don't understand what is so difficult and time consuming about feeding GP's properly! Pellets, hay, a couple handfuls of veggies.

I don't find that I need to buy veggies more often for the piggies than I do for the people. The grocery store has bags of washed kale, kolorahbi and collard greens that are not that expensive, easy to feed, high in vitamin c (grab handful - give to pig). I also buy carrots, celery, lettuces & cabbage - but everyone in the house eats that (even the cat gets into the red lettuce). I only need to shop for fresh veggies once a week, which is about as often as I shop anyway.

I buy big bags of hay and we fill their tube several times a day. Yes - it's kind of messy, but I have two sons, so a couple of GPs are nothing.

Why is this so complicated for people? I don't get it.

Fawn

 

[pennick]

People want the pleasure of pets at their own convenience. They care for them when its convenient for them. When it comes to added expenses they have to think twice about that. Alot of times they opt for the cheap way out, thats why alot of animals are in shelters. Have a sick pet, get rid of it, adopt another.

My family and I are not veggie and fruit eaters unfortunately. So it can cost me approx. $15.00 a week to buy these items for my 2 piggies. To some people this may be alot of money and maybe it is. I am sure you can buy for less and not as varried. I can get carried away. I enjoy buying these things for them. It gives me great satisfaction knowing that they enjoy their food, hay, petting, etc.

Too many people have pets for the wrong reasons. Alot of people look at guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, small animals in general as replaceable.

 

[The Dumpling]

A few years ago, I was over visiting a friend in another town, and we were at someone's apartment watching football - and I saw a rabbit running around. It was the skinniest thing I'd ever seen, and it was begging for food from everyone. I asked the guy who had it why it was so skinny, and why he didn't feed it more. He shrugged and said "The more you feed it, the more it goes to the bathroom." The next thing I know, I saw the rabbit jump on the table and start drinking out of someone's cup - and it was a cup of beer! I was so mad - I told him he had no right to keep animals if he didn't know how to take care of them. He laughed it off. That was the most irresponsible thing I'd ever seen!

 

[PumpkinPunk]

Really, people should need licenses to own any kind of pet.

I completely agree. But along that line, people should also need a license to have kids, too. It's a sad world when people won't take care of those who they are responsible for, be it pet or child
The friend who's apartment I went to isn't one of my close friends, more of a good friend of a friend, so I dont' know if/when I'll be back over there. I don't think I would be able to get his roomate over here to see my pigs. She said she does get hay, I just don't know how often. It's hard not to get upset over these situations, especially knowing that guinea pig owners like her are probably in the majority of pig owners. I talked to another kid about a week ago who has guinea pigs at home- we're all here at college- and keeps 2 in a glass tank. I tried to explain the need of a bigger cage, but he shrugged it off. Luckily he did at least give them veggies, and I think hay. I gave him the link to this web site but I don't know if he checked it out. *sigh* my mom once told me my heart was too big as I was at home on the computer talking to a friend and crying my eyes out; my friend was working at a horse rescue farm in New Hampshire and I had been up to visit the previous weekend. They got a call from a woman who needed to get rid of her 2 stallions immediatly because she was leaving the country. She refused to have them gelded even though she wasn't breeding them and they beat each other up a lot. The rescue didn't have facilities to house stallions (obviously they need strong fencing so they don't get to the mares) and were working on finding a foster home for them and a couple days later received a phone call from the woman. She found a guy from Maine to take them who was going to use them as trail horses on his farm....riiiiight. They loaded them up and they were gone. Anyone who believes that a guy is going to take 2 stallions, one of which is a draft cross, and use them as trail horses for the public is an idiot. We're quite certain that they never made it to Maine, and instead the nearest auction where he probably got a lot of money for their meat So I was crying my eyes out and my mom said my heart was too big. I don't think it's my heart that's the problem, I think other peoples' hearts are too small

 

[Amanda]

It's just not that hard to properly care for a pig. I love doing things for my boys. They are a great stress reliever. You concentrate on them instead of what is bothering you. They give you constant love, why would someone want to just leave them in a cage with nothing.

 

[The Dumpling]

I totally agree - I think the quality of your life goes up when you have a pet. And you just want to do things that make them happy, so you stop focusing on yourself. And they make you really happy, they make you laugh...

 

[GPDaisy]

Couldn't agree more. When I first found out the pet store where I bought Desi had mis-sexed him, I was LIVID. Not because he was a male and was sold to me as a female, but because they screwed up and then acted like it was no biggie. They offered to "exchange" him, as if the month or so I'd spent with him was nothing.

I find myself getting more and more excited as the day wears on to be picking up two more sweeties. I'm a little nervous about the babies, as hubby is already ready to strangle me for going from 2 to 4 and I KNOW I'll want to keep the babies. I'm just afraid of adopting them out now...

 

[Teria]

The problem is, guinea pigs are CUTE. They have those cute faces, they are small and soft and scream to every maternal/paternal/caring instinct we have. However, they have no idea that they're cute, and act like, well, oh my God, animals. They do their natural stuff that doesn't fit into the idea of cuteness. And so the scale goes down on the wrong end. Bye piggy. Let's get some gerbils instead, hey, aren't they cute?

This is when I could start screaming.

 

[Poohbear]

same here.I think that if people do not have enough money to care for the animals they get they should not get them at all.