Happy 2nd Birthday Nacho!

Well it’s been a busy year, and so much has happened. Unfortunately Mummy was ill yesterday so whee are celebrating it a day late, but as they say “Better late than never”

Happy 2nd Birthday Nacho

Whee hope you will join us in squeaking a very Wheeky Wheek day to him!

Noah, Buddy & Basil

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(Sort of) Wordless Wednesday – Secret Birthday Surprise!

Shhhhh keep this under your hats furfriends, but tomorrow, Nacho turns 2! (Here he is in an adorable pigture when he was a baby!!)

Whee are going to surprise him and would love if you could come join us!

And remember, don’t squeak a word to Nacho!

Noah, Buddy & Basil

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3 Things You Need to Consider to Have A Happy Holiday

Well the whee have noticed the sun is occasionally shining again and you know what that means . . .  holiday time! But have you put any thought into what you are going to do with your pets while you are enjoying yourself? This was something Mummy considered very carefully with her parents and family before she actually took on her first piggies. There are 3 main things to take into consideration:

1. Who? – Who will look after your piggies? How well do they know guinea pigs? Guinea pigs are very good at hiding illnesses, would your chosen carer be able to spot the signs of what isn’t normal behaviour for each guinea pigs?
2. What? What plans are in place should your guinea pig(s) fall ill whilst with your chosen carer? What guidance will you give the carer?
3. Where? Where will the piggies stay? What arrangements will be made to move them as smoothly as possible if they are being moved?

To answer each of these things you need to work out the following

 

Who? What?

This person needs to have good knowledge of your pet and preferably some experience in caring for piggies. You need to make sure they are someone who fully understands the needs of your piggy and are able to get them to a cavy savvy vet if needs be. Make sure you provide any details of past medical history and the vet you wish them to be taken to. You must make sure they know what to do in an emergency situation and leave instructions for what to do re: paying for treatment and who has the final say if your piggy needs urgent care/operations.

Whee recommend you provide the following on each pet

Name: for obvious reasons

Age: to help with any treatment need

Previous medical history: to help discover the cause of any illness

Allergies: to help the vet decide a safe treatment

Favourite treat: sounds silly but it’s useful to know to get a sick piggy to eat when unwell

Where? How?

Things like daily routine are vital for guinea pigs. They are very much creatures of habit. So what is your guineas’ daily routine? What are they used to eating (fresh food, dried food, hay etc) and how often? It can help to write a schedule for the piggy sitter. For example:

Morning – Fresh water and pellet food, plus top up hay

Mid-Morning – Fresh vegetables (3 types)

Mid-Afternoon – Top up hay

Evening – Large amount of hay before bed!

If your guinea pig isn’t used to going out on the grass, does your pet sitter know this? Piggies who aren’t used to grass can get bloat from eating too much which can be fatal without veterinary treatment.

To make things as smooth as possible, whee recommend supplying food, bedding and everything your guinea pig may need. This is to minimise the amount of disruption to your pet.

Transport is also going to be something to plan. Whee came up with a guide for part of our series on moving house safely:

Remember change can be very stressful for pets, especially for prey animals like guinea pigs. It is recommended that you should not travel with your piggies for more than two hours at a time. This is so that you can make sure whee stop to eat and drink at whee will very likely be too afraid to do that while in a moving vehicle.

Allowing us to sit on a seat in your car is extremely dangerous. Naturally whee will want to explore which can be distracting to the driver. If you were to hit the brakes or be in an accident then nothing would be there to protect us.

Just like children, whee animals should be restrained in the back seat where whee are safe from the air bag in the front.

You should also not travel with us in cages unless there is absolutely no other option. You may think you are being kind giving us all that space to roam around but in reality you would be risking us getting a serious injury with efurry turn. If your piggy has no other option but to travel in a cage remove all heavy objects from it and put in cozy blankets and towels to protect us and break our falls.

The best option for us is a well-ventilated pet carrier. There are plenty of great carriers sold a lots of different pet stores on online. If you cannot find a large enough pet carrier whee would recommend a small cat cage/carrier as a great alternative. Make sure whee get used to the carrier before the trip by having us eat treats like vegetables in there to associate it with good things.

When travelling, make sure the carrier is fully secured and nothing can fall on us.

 

If you keep all of this in mind then there is no reason why whee shouldn’t enjoy our own little holiday! Whee love staying with our Mummy’s friends. The little hoomans are always kind and there are ladypigs in the area!

There is always the possibility of pets travelling on holiday with you but that is something to be carefully considered and planned, especially with small pets like us piggies!

Do you have any other top tips for pet planning for holidays? Do you have a holiday planned this year?

Happy Holiday planning all and have a great day!

Buddy

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Science Saturday – Whee Can Keep a Secret or Why Little Hoomans Need a Pet!

Whee saw a very interesting BBC article which said Children ‘more likely to confide in pets than siblings’

Whee know this to be a fact because whee pets can keep a secret. Whee aren’t about to squeak out and spill the beans on your deepest and darkest.

Matt Cassels at Cambridge University says far too little attention has been paid to the significant role of pets in young people’s emotions.

“They may feel that their pets are not judging them,” said Mr Cassels.

That’s right. Whee don’t judge. Whee don’t lie. Whee don’t tell anyone. Whee just listen.

And that is why pets can play such an impawtent role in your little hoomans development.

There was a therapeutic side to this relationship, he suggested, with the pets playing the role of the listener and being more “empathetic” for children than writing problems into a diary.

The study, he said, showed that it was “valid to talk about child pet relationships in the same way we talk about sibling relationships”

That’s another impawtent thing to note. Whee become part of the family to these children. Whee are guessing this study probably focused on dogs and cats but guinea pigs make excellent children’s pets.

So if your little hooman is hassling for a pet. Or if you are a little hoomans begging your pawrents to let you have a pet. Ask them to read that article. Let them see the scientific proof of how life changing and vital a pet can be!

Have a lovely wheekend!

Nacho, Noah, Buddy & Basil

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Fleece Fun Friday!

Whee lovely getting new things and these new cosy cage hammocks are high up on the list of our recent favourite creature comforts.

Mummy purchased these at the London Pet Show from the lovely people at Cosy Beds and Burrows. Initially Mummy was very sceptical that these would support the weight of Buddy a larger or more curvaceous guinea pig. But after being shown a few in action she was cautiously optimistic and bought two.

They came in a variety of colours and sizes so there was plenty of choice

These are perfect for all sorts of small furries and we took to them like ducks to water! Now we sleep on them, under them, take food up there to eat away from our greedy cagemates!

If you’re looking for something a bit fun and a bit different whee would definitely say consider these. Mummy has already planned to get more covers and maybe more to go outside in our runs!

Whee hope you are having a fun Friday, what are you up to this wheekend? 🙂

Nacho, Noah, Buddy & Basil
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Wordless Wednesday – Piggy Lips and Pouts

What do you mean there’s no kale left?!

Happy Wordless Wednesday efurryone!

Buddy & Basil

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CleoPet Pet Sofa Loafer

Pet hair. It gets everywhere! Mummy is always complaining about how much whee moult, despite the brushes and baths water torture whee endure it’s endless!

One of the worst places for it is the sofa. Seeing as whee like to sit and watch telly with the hoomans whee always seem to leave behind a fuzzy pile of fur!

One of the excellent products bought at the London Pet Show is perfect for stopping this pesky issue. The Pet Sofa Loafer from CleoPet.

Whee got it for the show price of £15 but the usual price is £19.99 and whee haven’t seen anything else like this! (If you have, let us know!)

Yes, these are designed for cats but check out the size, they are just roomy enough for a pair of piggies to relax together in front on the evening news!

The easy velcro tabs secure it and it doesn’t slide around or off the sofa. It doesn’t bunch up like a blanket. The fleece cover is comfy and easy clean and the waterproof underlay protects your sofa from any little accidents!

Mummy gives this product an 8 out of 10. It would be nice if it came in different sizes and colours. And although it folds flat and tucks away easily it would be nice if it had a case. Mummy found a plastic box to keep ours in instead.

But all in all, it’s a brilliant product and whee definitely recommend it for all sorts of pets!

Have a great day

Nacho, Noah, Buddy & Basil
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London Pet Show 2015

Our little hooman and Mummy had an amazing time at the London Pet Show. Meeting people and learning about all sorts of animals and how to be a responsible owner!

Mummy took lots of pigtures, including:

Our Doggy Gallery

Our Cat Gallery

Our Other Pets Gallery

 

As you can see, there was so much to see and do and learn, not to mention buy!

Mummy came back with lots of treats and toys and things for us. Whee will try to show you them all over the next few days!

Hope you all had a great wheekend!

Nacho, Noah, Buddy & Basil
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Where Did You Go?

So whee have been gone for a long while now and our hooman cannot apologise enough. From health to personal reasons she has not found much to motivate her to post. But now there is something she thinks will change that.

Our dear friends Rachel and Speedy from Speedy the Cheeky House Bunny won some tickets for the London Pet Show which is this weekend and they have very kindly given them to our Mummy!

Mummy and the little hooman who is going are very excited!

So whee decided to make this post to tell you that we are back and update you on each of us:

Buddy – is his typical diva like self and has become quite naughty with throwing his food bowl around and tipping it out but more on that in another post!

Basil – has been very sweet and loving and calmed down somewhat in recent months. Whee couldn’t say he has grown out of his naughtiness totally but thankfully it has reduced! He still loves watching tv with the little hoomans and has been known to squeak his head off crossly if someone gets in the way!

Nacho – is shy as he has always been. He has grown a little but stayed a very tiny baby size! Because he is so little he has taken to putting his feet in the bottom of the food bowl and sinking his chin into it when he eats. We’re not sure why but he does seem quite cosy!

Noah – well what to say about this hair munching, button breaking, carpet tearing, mess making, grumpy little man!?! He’s well and clearly fully recovered from his little accident with his teeth because he is now back to mischief making with them once more!

Anyway, whee will end this post here but whee hope you all have been well and if whee have missed any impawtent news please let us know

Whee will hopefully be reporting on the fun of the pet show tomorrow or Monday

Squeak soon

Nacho, Noah, Buddy & Basil
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