Success

Update: I successfully took care of the pig while Kaela was away, or so I thought.

He doesn't usually eat his normal food, because he loves hay so much more. I didn't see any of the normal food and figured we were out, so I didn't worry about giving him any of that. Apparently we did have some and I just deprived him of it for a few days. He's still alive, no big deal.

I also realized one day that his water was gone. I wondered how long it had been gone, but filled it up and he was ripping the dispenser out of my hands before I could even reattach it. He proceeded to drink water for the next 5 minutes, so I think it might have been a little longer than I initially thought. He's still alive, no big deal.

Rephrase: I somewhat succeeded in taking care of the pig while Kaela was away.

The Parent Test

As I have previously mentioned, I'm not the most gifted animal care taker. Kaela is going out of town from tonight until Saturday. I have to remember to feed both the pig and the cat. Especially the pig, because if Bella runs out of food she will just eat paper or bugs and if Stud runs out of food you'll never hear the end of it.

Let's hope I pass the test.

Birthday Celebrations

When Stud Muffin was adopted he unfortunately didn't come with a birth certificate. So we don't know when his exact birthday is, but we decided to make it during the month of May, because that's when Kaela adopted him (plus May is just a great month). We're going to go with May 15. Conveniently my birthday is on the 12th, so we are planning joint festivities. Although poor Muff won't be able to accompany us to dinner or out on the town, we plan to make his special day really great.

He will be a whopping 1 year old, so it truly is a special day. Since cake isn't really an option for guinea pigs, we're going to get him some sweet treat, since he has recently boycotted Yo-Dips. We'll have to check out the pet store for some options. Also, I would really like to get him something special, maybe a new decoration for his cage or a little outfit (I guarantee we could fine something that was meant for a cat or one of those dogs that's the size of someone's foot). He's a little large for his age/species, so I'm sure we could me something work.

I believe a song/dance should be prepared, so we're going to finish the lyrics to our "Guinea Pig" spin on "Lollipop" (not the Lil' Wayne version, but the good ol' Chordette classic), and maybe we'll add some choreography, although I'm sure he'll be so frightened by all the action that he'll just retreat to his igloo anyway. Maybe we'll even get him in on a little bit of the dance action. We have always wanted to make a video of him dancing, he's really great at it.

Pictures will be posted following this fun day. Get excited.

I Am Loved.

Today I played with Stud Muffin. I took him out of his cage and let him run around, fed him a carrot and best of all, he didn't pee or poop anywhere! It made me feel better about my failure as of late. I think we bonded on a fairly high level and I felt a sense of forgiveness from him. I think it's going to be a good day, maybe even week.

P.S. I'm pretty sure Muff's birthday is coming up soon (at least the birthday we have given him). Surprises are in store.

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!