New Year's Guinea Pig Toy Giveaway!

Hello humans! We are excited to post our very first guinea pig giveaway! One luck human will win this treat, generously provided by Cuddly Cavies Creations.

This tropical paradise scented hand soap is beautifully designed to resemble- what else- a guinea pig! And an abyssinian guinea pig at that. Look at those detailed rosettes of fur!

Contest Rules:

To enter, just reply to this post and let us know that you want to be included in the random drawing. You must be a resident of the United States and you must be a follower of this blog. To become a follower, just click the "Join This Site" button on the right-hand side of the blog, under "Followers". One lucky winner will be mailed this soap, pictured above.

The winner will be announced January 1st, 2012 in a post on Cavy Savvy. Good luck!

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Hanukkah!

Introducing Broccoli

Hi humans! I'm the new male guinea pig everyone's been talking about. I'm currently recovering from getting neutered, which has been pretty awful. The humans have to feed me meds and Critical care daily, and I hate it. They're weening me off of it slowly though, so hopefully I won't have to put up with it for too much longer.

I love to talk. When I'm in my cage, I delight in talking to anyone that will listen. I enjoy being held by humans, and I like licking and nibbling on fingers. I was the first pig to explore the whole apartment (well, almost the whole apartment- the bedroom and bathroom scare me!), and I love getting into hard to fit spaces, like under the couch and behind furniture.

The original humans who owned me abandoned me in a park, but luckily I was found by a wonderful human named Ann, who took me in and pampered me. Now I live with another set of humans, and I'm neighbors with Buffy and Lola, who live in the next cage over.

The highlight of my day is being let out for floor time so I can rumblestrut in front of their cage. I puff my coat up so I look a little bigger, and then sway my butt side to side and burr. The ladies totally dig it.

It'll be a few more weeks before we can officially be introduced, but I have a feeling I'll fit right in.

Neutering Guinea Pigs

Hi humans. As you may know, the new male guinea pig, Broccoli, underwent surgery recently. The humans decided to neuter him so that he will one day be able to live in the same cage as us. As it stands now, Broccoli is all alone his his own cage. When the humans let him out, he wanders over to our cage and tries to chat with us through the bars. The humans saw how badly he wanted to join us, so they decided to have him neutered.

A few notes about neutering: always be sure of your vet's credentials. The fact is, it's risky to neuter and spay guinea pigs, so it's best to see a vet that specializes in small or exotic animals exclusively. Unlike vets that also treat cats and dogs, small animal specialists have likely performed hundreds of spays/neuters on small animals, and you want your vet to have a lot of experience.

The reason why neutering a guinea pig is risky is because guinea pigs tend to fare worse than other types of pets when it comes to anesthesia. While the risk that a guinea pig will die under anesthesia is low, it's still a risk, and you'll want to be sure that you're doing the best you can to help your pig survive it.

Make sure your guinea pig is a good candidate for neutering. Your vet can help you discern whether your boar is a good candidate or not. Broccoli is young and healthy, and so he was a perfect candidate for the surgery. He first saw his vet to determine if he would be a good candidate, and then saw the vet a second time for the surgery. Then, they kept him overnight for observation and then the humans took him home. The total cost of the process was the vet visit ($77) plus the neutering ($320) plus the Oxbow Critical Care ($14). The vet threw in the cost for the Meloxicam pain killer for free (would have been $20). You should be aware humans- it's a big commitment.

Male guinea pigs don't need to be neutered unless you want them to be able to live in the same cage with a female guinea pig. Even if you think you wouldn't mind having baby guinea pigs, I would strongly advice you not to get your females pregnant- in the United States, there are already too many unwanted guinea pigs who need homes, so it's better to adopt one than breed more. The second reason to avoid pregnancy is because if your female guinea pig hasn't been pregnant and given birth by age 8 months, she may die. Something having to do with the pelvic bones fusing in nulliparous guinea pigs. Anyway, it's a bad idea all around to get your sows pregnant.

Broccoli underwent his surgery this past surgery, and it went fine. He's recovering well. The humans have to check the scar on his abdomen daily to make sure it's healing right. 

He has to take pain medication by mouth once daily and the humans have had to supplement his diet with Oxbow Critical Care for a few days until he's eating more. He absolutely hates the Critical Care, but at least the humans reward him with timothy treat rings when it's done.

It'll be two more months until he can join us in our cage. We can't wait to finally meet him!

Product Review: Kaytee Fiesta Healthy Toppings Papaya Treats for Small Animals

Today, we're going to review Kaytee brand Fiesta Healthy Toppings Papaya Treats for Small Animals. Here's what they look like:

Is that candy?

It's a little deceptive for them to put "healthy" in the name of these treats. Here's the problem with them: they include artificial colors and dried fruit pieces, and nothing else. Both ingredients are not recommended parts of a good guinea pig diet. They are tasty, however:

I've got a sugar high now!

Toss those things through the bars into our cage!

So they're sugary and tasty, but there's nothing else good you can say about these things. Let's put this in terms you humans can understand: Have you ever eaten a whole bunch of junk food, enjoyed it at the time, but then felt guilty afterwards and hit the gym extra-hard to make up for it? Well, let's just say we feel like we're going to need plenty of timothy hay and floor time to make up for eating this stuff, even if we did like it at the time. We'll give it 1.5/5 stars.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Tarragon?

This question stumped the diet specialist at Guineapigcages.com, but we found some people at Guinea Lynx who fed their piggies tarragon, so the humans decided to let us try a little bit. We also found a couple people who said their piggies didn't like tarragon, so we did not have high expectations.

Yum!

Even Broccoli likes it!

Sometimes you just have to ignore the reviews and try something for yourself. (Except for our reviews. Always listen to our reviews!) Tarragon is fragrant and delicious, and it gets 5/5 stars!

Broccoli's Surgery Postponed

Just a note- Broccoli's neutering surgery was postponed last minute, in case anyone was wondering how it went. The vet called the humans an hour before it was scheduled and said that since the staff would be away for Thanksgiving, it might be better to wait, just in case he needed some post-op attention.

He seems relieved and is currently munching on some sprigs of dill.

What Can't Guinea Pigs Eat?

Here on Cavy Savvy, we talk a lot about the different types of foods that guinea pigs can eat. When we checked the blog analytics and saw what people are searching for, however, we realized that we need to do a post on what guinea pigs can't eat. Here are some actual things that people searched for:

* "guinea pig and peace lily" - A really bad combination! We mentioned this in our floor time post.
* "guinea pigs - chives", "guinea pig ate onion" - As we mentioned in our cantaloupe post, you shouldn't feed us chives, onions, or potatoes. (Side note: the green top portion of chives may be okay to feed us, but after our experience, we'd still rather just avoid them altogether.)
* "guinea pig eats shoe lace" - Yes, we will if you let us! But you shouldn't let us. That also goes for whoever searched for "can guinea pigs eat paper bags" (although paper bags can be fun to play in).
* "do guinea pigs eat pumpkin seeds" - As we mentioned in our pumpkin post, you shouldn't feed us the seeds.
* "can guinea pig eat asian food" - "Asian food" covers a lot of ground, so there's no simple answer to this one. You can rule out anything that's not Asian produce for starts. Asian pears are okay to feed us, but a lot of other Asian fruits and vegetables are "question foods." If in doubt, don't feed it to us.
* "can guinea pigs have waffles" - No, we can't! Please, no processed human foods for your guinea pigs.

For more information, check out the lists of foods to avoid here and here.

Vitamin C Options for Guinea Pigs

As you know, we're a big fan of liquid vitamin C. We'll drink it right out of the syringe, and will not want to let go the syringe afterwards because it tastes so good!

Some piggies aren't as wild about having syringes in their mouths, however. Annie liked the taste of the vitamin C liquid, but hated it when humans tried to shove it in her face. Broccoli is the same way. However, Broccoli is a fan of vitamin C in tablet form:

And, of course, you should feed us fresh fruits and vegetables daily. It is possible to get all the vitamin C we need from food, as some have pointed out. However, since vitamin C liquid and tablets can be a real treat and vitamin C deficiency is not something you want to risk, we recommend fresh produce and daily vitamin C supplements. Trust us, your piggy will thank you!

Guinea Pig Neutering

Now that Broccoli is living in the same room as us, the humans are thinking of having him live in the same cage as us. Guinea pigs get lonely on their own and need companionship. However, since Broccoli is a boy, putting him in the same cage with us would be a bad idea because of the risk of pregnancy. If a female guinea pig has not given birth (and neither of us have), it is very dangerous to our health to get pregnant after we're 8 months old. Here are some things you should know about neutering your male guinea pig:

* Surgery, including neutering, is serious business for guinea pigs. We don't handle anesthesia as well as many larger pets do. Having a male and female live together is the only valid non-medical reason for neutering.
* There are some things you can do to minimize the risks of neutering. First, make sure that your vet has lots of experience operating on guinea pigs; don't be afraid to ask questions. Second, get your male guinea pig neutered while he's young--4 months old is a good age. (If you neuter a guinea pig when he's much younger, however, he could experience bone loss.)
* After neutering, take proper post-op care of your piggy. This includes monitoring weight, behavior, and visually inspecting the incision site for pus or lumps.
* There are some health benefits from neutering, such as reduced chance of impaction, but you shouldn't neuter your piggy for this reason alone.

Broccoli's surgery is scheduled for Monday. Let's hope he has a speedy recovery and is able to join us in our cage. I'm looking forward to stealing his food.

Broccoli thinks the humans can't find him there. Let him pretend he's escaped the neutering.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Marjoram?

There's not a lot of information out there on whether guinea pigs can eat marjoram. We did find that it's closely related to parsley, which we can eat, and we did find at least one person mentioned feeding their piggies marjoram on the forum of a reputable guinea pig site. Another site (which seems reputable, although we aren't as familiar with it) had a forum post which said: "As far as I can tell, GPs can eat (in fact, adore) all herbs except chives (part of the onion family and onions are a no-no). So parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are all great, as are mint, coriander, lavender, oregano, marjoram, basil. . . " Maybe checking three sites seems like overkill, but it never hurts to be cautious when it comes to the health of your piggy!

Since we don't have specific nutritional information on marjoram, it's probably best to just feed it as an occasional treat.

This is a treat! Buffy, I wouldn't get too attached to yours if you know what I mean.

Yum!

No fair! The humans fed some marjoram to Broccoli through the cage. How am I supposed to steal his food if he's protected by bars?

Marjoram is a nice, tasty treat, although it's not as good as carrots or butternut squash. We give it 4/5 stars.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Radicchio?

This will be our first food review with Broccoli, the new piggy. To be honest, I'd take his opinion with a grain of salt. We both agree that apples are delicious, but Broccoli didn't like carrots! How can you not like carrots and still call yourself a guinea pig? I suspect that Broccoli may actually be two hamsters in a guinea pig costume. If the humans ever put us in the same cage, I'm going to check his back for a zipper.

Today we're reviewing radicchio, which can be fed to us almost daily.

Yum!

Lola started giving me that food-crazed look, so I took my radicchio and hid under a chair.

And what did Broccoli think of radicchio?

Looks like he likes it, too.

Radicchio is a little bitter, but not too bitter, kind of like endives. And just like endives, we love it! 5/5 stars! Broccoli liked it too, so maybe his opinion is worth listening to after all. (I still think not liking carrots is just weird, though!)

Agents Of the Month AND A New Pig!

Hello Cavy Savvy readers! For our 100th post, we're proud to announce two exciting pieces of news. First, we won Undercover Guinea Pigs Halloween costume contest and as a reward, we are featured as November's Agents Of The Month! Thanks to everyone who voted! We were neck and neck with Flower, who we have to admit, made a very adorable witch this Halloween.

Second, we appear to have a new cage mate. Well, he's sort of a new cage mate, as he's in a separate cage next to our own. His name is Broccoli (Broc for short), and he's in a different cage because he's an unneutered male. Not only that, Broc has an amazing, heartbreaking story that you won't believe. Brace yourselves, humans.


Broccoli was found living outside, fending for himself in a nearby yard. The human who found him said he appeared to have been living outdoors for several weeks at least, and was keeping warm in the chilly Autumn weather by nesting under someone's porch. The human who found him knocked on the doors of homes nearby to see if anyone owned him, but nobody claimed him or knew how he ended up there. The best they can figure is that someone cruelly abandoned him because they no longer wanted him.

This is perhaps the worst thing a human can do. Humans, listen up: If you can no longer care for your pig, never, ever, ever leave them outside to fend for themselves. We cannot survive outdoors, where there is cold weather and predators after us. It's a miracle that Broccoli survived for as long as he did. He was extremely lucky that his guardian angel human found him when he did.

She took him in by luring him to her with a piece of Broccoli (hence his name), and then took him to a vet to get checked out. Aside from a dirty ear, some malnourishment, and teeth that have grown too long from not having access to timothy hay, he's doing okay. The vet thinks that giving him some chew toys and timothy hay will help get his teeth down to a healthy size. He had his ear cleaned out and he seems to be recovering well.

Our humans heard about Broccoli's story and adopted him from the human that found him. She would have kept him, except that she has dogs and Broccoli finds them scary. Now that our humans have him, he's being lavished with an insane amount of attention. The day after they adopted him, they went out and bought him all new chew toys and treats and cage accessories. We are so jealous, but we're glad that he's safe now.

If the vet decides that he can be neutered, and if we accept him into our cage, he will become our new cagemate. For now, he's a very interesting roommate to have. For one thing, he's a BOY. We've never actually seen a male pig before, and we are absolutely fascinated by him. He smells differently, he looks differently, and he even wheeks differently. He seems equally interested in us. He perches on the split level of his cage and looks at us all day. How's that for an exciting 100th post?

SPECIAL NOTE:

If you are as moved by Broc's story as much as we are, and would like to know how you can help save guinea pigs in similar situations, we suggest donating to your local animal shelter. If you live in an area that has a guinea pig rescue, even better. One such rescue in our area is the Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue, and you can donate to them here: http://www.mgpr.org/MGPR/Donate.htm

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Butternut Squash?

Now that Halloween is over, we're looking forward to a slew of Thanksgiving food-related posts. First up on the menu is butternut squash. We can eat butternut squash, a type of winter squash, 2-4 times per week. We should only be fed the orange flesh; don't feed us the stalk, stem, or seeds.

It looks like a carrot, but tastes even better!

Yum yum yum!

We give it 5/5 stars! In case you were wondering, we prefer to eat this raw, as we do with most fresh foods.

Games To Play With Your Guinea Pig

We love inventing games to play with our humans (such as our favorite, "Capture The Receipt"), but this post is dedicated to games humans can play with us. Perhaps you've read that you can put objects in your pig's cage to enrich their environment, such as empty tissue paper boxes. But there are more interactive games you can play with us, too.

One such game is "Sniff Out The Treats", and it is our absolute new favorite game. Here's how it goes: you, the humans, place a favorite treat in strategic places around the room. Then, let us out of our cage and watch as we forage to sniff out the good stuff! Just be sure that there aren't any hazards in the room, such as cords, wires, or papers. We might nibble at those, too, if they're available.

Why do we love this game so much? We guinea pigs love to forage. It's an intense instinct that we have. There's no sport in finding food in our cages, but when you hide it around the room and let is find it, it's great fun and good exercise.

Today was the first day that the humans played this game with us. We are let out of our cage for about an hour each day to get exercise, and we always use this time to explore and forage for anything on the floor that the humans might have missed. You can't imagine our joy when we manage to find a stray piece of hay under a chair or desk.

So when we were let out to roam today, we we so pleased to discover that the humans had hid four piles of CareFresh Complete guinea pig food around the room!

It didn't take us long to find them all and eat them.

Vote for Us!

Our friends at Undercover Guinea Pigs are having a poll for the best Halloween guinea pig pictures. Please check it out and vote for us before midnight, November 7.

Vote early, vote often, and vote for the guinea pig in the lady bug outfit! 

Review of Simple Rewards Papaya Medley

Back in May, we reviewed Oxbow's Simple Rewards Timothy Treats, and gave them 5 out 5 stars. Will the Papaya Medley treats be as good as the Timothy Treats?

These look different. The other ones were brown rings. These have three types of things in the bag.

The three things are: freeze-dried papaya, meadow grass pellets, and timothy hay. And guess what? All three are delicious!

Here we are devouring the treats! (Sorry about the video quality. The humans still haven't got the good camera fixed yet.)

We give Simple Rewards Papaya Medley 5/5 stars as well! But which one is better, you ask? Well, that's a tough choice. You would need to give us a lot of both types in order for us to decide.

Seriously, give us a lot of both treats. We're waiting!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Sugar Snap Peas?

You know the old saying: There's no accounting for taste. Today's review of sugar snap peas proves it. Buffy thought these things weren't bad, but I didn't care for them at all. Sugar snap peas can be fed to us 2-4 times per week, 1-2 pods per piggy (but just because they can doesn't mean they should).

Aren't these things called "sugar" snap peas? Why aren't they sweet-tasting like raspberries then?

I dropped mine because I didn't care for the taste of these peas, but Buffy was munching away at hers. I figured she must have somehow tricked me into eating a bad one while she was eating one of the good ones. I wasn't about to let that slide! So I took her pea pod and gave it a try.

I didn't like Buffy's pea pod, either. Could I have something else, human?

Buffy liked these things a lot more than I did, but even she got bored of them after eating about two-thirds of a pod. We give sugar snap peas 2/5 stars.

Product Review: FM Brown's Herbs n' Hay Edible Tunnel

As we recently mentioned, we came in second place in the PetSmart costume contest, and got a free $5 product as our prize. We decided to go with this Herbs n' Hay Edible Tunnel:

"A great place to sleep," you say? We're more of the pigloo type of piggies.

What's in here?

Lola, you can't drag that thing back into your pigloo! It won't fit!

We've had a tunnel in the past that was a different brand, and this tunnel is pretty much the same to us. It's fun to chew on and fun to walk through, but we've never slept it in or used it to "just get away from it all." Despite this, it's still spices up our cage, and I'm sure it's going to last us a long time. 4.5/5 stars!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Oranges?

We've reviewed a lot of foods since we started this blog back in March, yet there are still some basic fruits that have fallen through the cracks. Can you believe we've reviewed kumquats, but missed oranges up until now? Oranges can be fed to us only 1-2 times per week due to high sugar content. We can also eat the peels, which we can have 2-4 times per week.

Oranges are sweet, juicy and delicious. We give them 5 out 5 stars. (The peels aren't nearly as good as the flesh, and only get 2.5/5 stars.)

I approve!

PetSmart Costume Contest

After our most recent post, I'm sure you can't wait to see our costumes. We won't keep you in suspense any longer:

Here's Lola in her dinosaur costume.

And here I am in my ladybug costume.

It was a little scary to have the humans put the costumes on us because we didn't know why they were strapping things around our legs and bellies. The humans thought it would be a good idea for us to participate in the PetSmart Howl-O-Ween contest, despite how we're still recovering from being blessed. The outside world is terrifying! I know there's some good stuff out there, but you need to give us enough recovery time. I think three months minimum between adventures would be good. We went in our carriers and new costumes to PetSmart, and pulled our costumes off during the car ride. The humans then had to put them on us again! It was quite a day. Our costume competition was more of those hairy beasts we saw during the blessing:

The humans did a bad job with this picture. It doesn't show how stiff the competition really was. There were dogs wearing prisoner outfits and all kinds of other crazy stuff.

The competition was judged by who got the most applause for their costume. We came in second place, and got a free toy (which we plan to review soon). So I guess we should thank the humans for dragging us to thing after all.

Thanks, humans!

Now never, ever do that again!

Our Halloween Costumes Have Arrived

Hi humans! You bipeds aren't the only ones who like to celebrate Halloween. We guinea pigs enjoy Halloween just as much as you do, and we're glad that there are some humans out there who recognize this fact.

One such human is the owner of Cuddly Cavies Creations, a site where you can buy guinea pig Halloween costumes! Check out the page to see some of the most adorable guinea pig outfits and costumes you have ever laid eyes on.

This year, Buffy is going as a ladybug, since she is pretty and shy, and I, Lola, will be ferocious green dinosaur, since I'm the dominate pig. Check out this blog on Halloween to see us outfitted and rumble-strutting our stuff.

Also, keep checking our blog because we have not one, but TWO upcoming contests where you can win a free gift for you and your guinea pig! That's right! The prizes for both contests were generously donated by the owner of Cuddly Cavies Creations. To qualify, just become a follower of our blog and you're eligible to win.

We urge you to check out Cuddly Cavies Creations, because you will find some really cool guinea pig outfits and costumes, and at very reasonable prices. When we received our costumes, we were blown away by the quality of the materials and attention to detail. We can't say enough about them, and we will be wheeking incessantly until the humans order more cute outfits for us!

Interacting with the Humans: A How To Guide for Guinea Pigs

Buffy and I decided to do a post on our relationship with our non-furry friends, the humans. Although much of this blog is dedicated to guinea pig toys and foods, we can't ignore the fact that sometimes the humans are more than just food providers. Here are our thoughts on human-guinea pig interactions:

Lola:

While I hate being picked up, I usually don't mind if the humans reach into the cage to pet my head. Sometimes, they'll want to pick me up and hold me in their lap for a while and pet me. I don't mind it when they do this, because I can just flatten out in total relaxation and go to sleep. I mean, I don't have to worry about predators if I'm in the hands of a fearsome giant, right?

I also sometimes get needy for human attention. It's so boring being stuck in the cage with Buffy; whenever I try to play with her or initiate a game of tag, she hops on top of a pigloo and glares down at me. But the humans are always up for fun. Sometimes I'll create games to play with the humans. I know they hate it when I touch their shoelaces, so I'll try to sneak up on them and see how long it takes them to shoo me away.

Another game I enjoy is "Capture the Receipt". The humans keep a plastic container of important receipts on the floor. Sometimes, during floor time, I'll jump into the container and fish out a receipt. If they catch me doing it, then I'll run away with the receipt in my mouth until they manage to stop me and retrieve the receipt. What fun!

Buffy:

I just want to be left alone bu humans and guinea pigs alike. I hate it when anyone bothers me. I hate it when Lola kicks me out of my pigloo, I hate it when a human hand approaches the cage, and I especially hate being held. Being held feels like being captured to me. I burr and I burr to let the humans know I hate it, but sometimes they don't care and will insist on petting me. I'm not a cat, humans! Just because I sound like I'm purring doesn't mean I'm happy.

Well, there you have it. How much a guinea pig enjoys interacting with their humans varies from pig to pig.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Pumpkin?

Sometimes, we like to get into the holiday spirit. We know it's not quite Halloween yet, but we've got something else in mind for Halloween. So maybe we'll call this a pre-Halloween post. Or, maybe a fall-themed post.

Today, we're reviewing pumpkin. Pumpkins can be fed to us only 1-2 times per week. Do not feed us the seeds. You can feed us the stringy parts if you want, but it's probably easier to just throw them out.

The humans cut up the pumpkin into cubes for us.

Hey Lola, I think these pumpkin chunks came from a Jack o' lantern.  That means that ghosts will get you if they see you eating this!

It worked! She's hiding in her pigloo, and I can eat in peace.

Pumpkin was really good, but it's not quite as good as some other foods we've tried. We'll give it 4/5 stars.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Cranberries?

Today, we're going to review cranberries. I know cranberries are Thanksgiving food, so maybe this post is a little early. From our perspective, though, it's never too early to try a new food! Or too late, for that matter. When we saw these little round red things, we were expecting something nice and sweet; everyone knows our theory about red foods. But instead of something sweet, we tasted an explosion of intense flavor when we bit into these things!

Red food! Me first!

Whoah! That's intense! It's almost too intense... but not quite.

Lola just ate some cranberries, and now she's using hay as a palate cleanser.

Typically, when we get a food we like, we just eat it continuously until it's gone. It's very rare for us to stop for a hay break in the middle of trying a new food, but most foods aren't as intense as cranberries are.

Cranberries can be fed to us 2-4 times per week. Just like with humans, they can also help with urinary tract infections. They can also make your little piggy mouth feel like it's gone to some bittersweet dimension. They make you want to scream, yet you're still having fun; it's probably similar to what you humans feel when you ride roller coasters. We'll give cranberries 4/5 stars.

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Chard?

We're honestly a little confused as to what type of chard we tried. The label on the chard itself said "green chard," but the receipt from the grocery store said "Swiss chard." Wikipedia has an entry for Chard, which says that "Swiss chard" is another common name for it. However, they also have a picture of "red chard," which has red stalks. The kind we ate has green stalks, and the entry has no mention of "green chard." We're confused piggies when it comes to chard classification, but we know what we like!

What type of chard is this?

It's yummy chard!

Yum! On a side note, look at my pretty manicure from SEAVS. 

Swiss chard can be fed to us almost daily; if we ate "green chard" and it's a separate type of chard, we can probably eat that almost daily, too. It's probably a good idea to cut up the stalks into small pieces to prevent choking, just like our humans did.

We ate this stuff up really quickly and looked up at the humans with pleading eyes for more. Chard gets 5/5 stars!

Buffy and Lola Get Blessed

We were really hoping to make it to the Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue's Pigstravaganza this last weekend and meet other guinea pigs. Unfortunately, it turned out to be really cold and rainy that day, and as we mentioned before, it is important that your guinea pig does not get too hot or too cold. The humans were able to find an alternative event, for us, however: the Blessing of the Animals at St. George's Church.

As it turned out, the event attracted mostly dogs and a few cats, so we brought some much-needed diversity to the proceedings.

What are those big hairy things? They're scary! Good thing we can stay hidden in our new carriers!

Here I am getting blessed! Does this mean I'll have divine protection from Lola being a bully?

Afterwards, we each got a medal of Saint Francis of Assisi. There was a buffet with human food and dog food, but no guinea pig food. Come on, humans! Next year, just put some hay and carrots on the table and make us feel included. Overall, it was a nice experience, despite the scary dogs and lack of good food. We might just get blessed again next year.

Review of All Living Things Small Animal Carrier, Large

We went to SEAVS, our favorite vet in the world, the other day. The humans have been transporting us in a small aquarium, which kind of works when they're transporting us one at a time, but was rather miserable when they tried to take both of us together. Only one pigloo would fit inside the aquarium, and we'd both fight over it, until the human who wasn't playing with the big wheel took it away from us.

Nowhere to run! Nowhere to hide! This is terrifying!

Since the humans were planning on taking us to the pignic, which is a long drive, we needed something better to transport us. (On a side note, we didn't go to the pignic after all. More on that in another post.) The humans got us this to replace the aquarium:

Hey, that's not a guinea pig on the package!

We were a little worried because the package showed a ferret on it, and we've noticed that when guinea pigs aren't specifically mentioned on a product, it's not a good sign. However, this time was an exception to the rule.

This isn't so bad.

Here's what we liked better about this: First, the stripes on the side were really stylish. Second, we could look out of the screen while still being protected by an opaque ceiling. It felt safer, kind of like a pigloo. Third, it cost a lot less than the other guinea pig-sized pet carriers available at our local pet stores. We also liked how the humans put an old towel down underneath us; it was very comfortable. I only wish there was a convenient way to include food and water in the carriers for us. Still, this was a much better way to travel. 4/5 stars!