Tweakin' Out

Popcorning. I have mentioned this little acrobatic phenomenon in previous posts, but anytime Kaela or I has witness Stud doing this it was because he was just so happy he could hardly contain himself. We have seen behavior that may or may not contradict this previous notion.

His cage is a pig sty (no pun intended), this much we already know. Yet he was jumping around ecstatically as if it were the greatest day of his life. If I couldn't tell the difference between hay, poop, food and bedding I don't know that I would be acting so joyful. I tried coming up with a few possibilities for his recent elation. They're neither extensive nor legitimate in any way.

1. He's happy to be alive. The sheer joy life brings him is enough to put a little hop in his step no matter what environment he is living in.

2. He likes living in filth. Maybe all this time we've wasted hours and energy cleaning his cage when he really does enjoy a home that I like to call "lived in."

3. Popcorning has multiple versions/meanings. A bad popcorn could very well exist, and in this case my 2 previous reasons would be completely inaccurate.

4. He wasn't popcorning at all. Maybe he was just so god damn pissed that we FAIL as caretakers that he couldn't hold it in and decided to run amuck fervently in the 2' x 2' cage he calls a home.

My best guess: #4. Again, I have accepted my shortcomings as qualified to care for animals.

Yes, we're horrible parents.

I've re-evaluated my parenting skills and come to the conclusion that the reason I have nothing to write about for this blog is because Kaela and I have paid continuously less attention to poor Stud Muffin. We don't clean his cage to the point where it's difficult to distinguish between food pellets, poo, hay and bedding (these 4 things look nothing alike). Not only do we let the pig live in filth, but the cat has began to live this way as well. We haven't emptied her litter box for over a week. I can't believe I'm admitting this to the world.

Also, we don't play with poor McMuff. We take him out for two seconds and give him a little pet, but then put him right back in his cage. It's no wonder he's overweight and squeaks all the time. However, taking him out and letting him run around is such a process. We have to set up a barricade because he tries to squeeze his little body in the most unlikely places. After we set up a larger cage, we have to make sure we're watching him at all times, because as mentioned in previous posts, Bella will take a swing at him. Then after all of this preparation he hardly runs around and pees and poops all over the floor. It's not like our carpet is in mint condition, but it's still pretty unsanitary. My point: way too much prep for very little excitement and he doesn't even act like he likes it.

What else am I supposed to write about? He has the brain the size of a peanut! I'm sorry Stud, I really do love you, but sometimes you're a little boring.

Heat Stroke

There hasn't been a post in a while. Why you ask? The pig has done nothing! He has been hardly entertaining and not even a little annoying. During this low point, I have decided to do a brief outline of some of the experiences he's had over the past couple of weeks.

1. Kaela took the little guy home for spring break and apparently he is not a fan of the sun. He was in his cage in the back seat of her car and getting a little fresh sunlight, which he doesn't see often. He starts panting and tries burrowing underneath his bedding to avoid the heat from the sun. At this point, Kaela feels bad, turns on the AC and covers his cage with a blanket or jacket of some sort. Moral of the story: pig hates nature.

2. The other night we decided to switch up his mode of eating hay, and instead of giving him handfuls, we fed him directly. By "directly" I mean Kaela put the hay in her mouth and let him chew and slowly pull it into his. If this isn't true love I don't know what is. The scene was straight out of Lady & The Tramp (I'll let you decide who is the lady and who is the tramp), but I am truly upset I didn't document it to show you. Needless to say, this didn't last long and Kaela became unsatisfied with the taste of hay. Moral of the story: hay is not for humans.

3. The pig now smells lavender fresh. The pet store was out of his regular bedding, so he now has bedding with a lavender scent and real dried flowers! Exciting, I know. He seems pretty into it and apparently the flowers are edible, which I know he loves. Maybe this will become a recurring purchase, we'll just have to see. Moral of the story: the pig isn't picky.

This is truly everything I can think of. Hopefully I'll be back soon with something a little more exciting to report. We might just have to get him out and make something happen..wait and see!