For my fourth birthday my parents bought me my first two guinea-pigs. My mother, in total, has kept them for thirty years but her last pair died out shortly after I was born. I have kept them for the last ten years of my life and I have fallen in love with guinea-pigs unconditionally.
The pair I recieved as a present were two sows, one black-and-white abyssinian and one tortoiseshell and white short hair. I named then Narla (the torti) and Kiara (the abyssinian). It wasn't very long before we discovered that Kiara was an escapologist. She could escape from anything and apparently the grass in next doors yard was much tastier than the grass in ours! Kiara would dig under the run and go scampering off, under the fence, into our neighbour's garden. She could even leap straight out of her indoor cage, despite the fact the door was above them! Narla, however, was totally the opposite: A perfect first pet. She was lovely, if you put your arm into the cage she would climb up so she could have a hold and she would never bite! Even when my younger brother tried to pick her out of the cage by a handful of her hair she didn't complain and continued to love humans all the more. I had Narla for three years when she developed a tumor in her throat and was put to sleep at the vets. I can remember holding her for the last time and how it broke my heart to know she was gone.
Shortly after Narla's death we got another pair of guinea-pig's, as companionship for Kiara who was still growing strong. These two sows we named Rainbow (peruvian ginger and white) and Candy (brown agouti.) Though we didn't know it at the time Candy was pregnant, but before she gave birth Rainbow passed away. Rainbow never really got over moving from the cage at the pet shop, she wouldn't eat anything so slowly she wasted away, despite our efforts to encourage her to eat. My sister grieved at her guinea-pig's loss but as was never really close to Rainbow. A few days after Rainbow's buriel we went back to the pet shop where my sister chose Floss.
Floss was goregous, a short-haired female: mainly white with a ginger face. Her and Candy quickly bonded and Kiara took them under her wing. One cold December night, the 9th I believe, Candy gave birth while we were having her tea. After a mad dash to purchase another cage for Kiara and Floss (we were inexpirienced in guinea-pig births and we feared that they might have hurt the babes), Candy was left alone with her new family. Two girls (Annie and Dot) and one boy (Basil.) Sadly Dot, the runt, died young as she was no match for her much stronger brother and sister. Basil being our only boar we had him castrated so he could live in with the sows.
Basil was the next to pass away, he contracted the same kidney infection that took out his mother and sister later on. We didn't replace him.
After Floss's death my sister got another guinea-pig, this time from a different pet shop. This little cutie we named Nutmeg but all wasn't well in the cage. Candy and Annie didn't take kindly to the new comer and we had to split them up permanantly but not before they gave Nutmeg a harsh bite that, til this day, still remains as a silver scar on her nose.
My friend's guinea-pig Toffee came to stay with us while her owner's went away. Toffee's friend Poppy has passed away the day before and we hated to see the youngster on her own so we popped her in the cage with Nutmeg and Kiara. They all got on well but Toffee carried the mites that were Kiara's downfall. The eight year old abyssinian was weak being both blind and nearly toothless the mites were the final straw and we had her put down shortly after she started loosing the hair on her belly.
Toffee and Nutmeg got on very well and, when my friends returned we loathed to split them up so Nutmeg went to live with Toffee. They live close by and I still see them often. It is a joy to see them together as they were bought from the same petshop around the same time and speculation is that they are sisters.
Mum then went out to find a guinea-pig for her and my sister. Candy and Annie both being mine and, after a huge search in the local petshop's she returned with two young sows. Mop and Muffin. Once again we found ourselves with a pregnant guinea-pig and, while we were on holiday, Mop gave birth to two young boars Dusty and Whizz. (Both with their mother's grey and white peruvianXabyssinian coat.)
When they reached a month we split them from Mop and Muffin and they lived together happily on their own. When Whizz was about a year old he mated with a friend's guinea pig Chestnut. She gave birth to three babies (Dennis, Jynx and Lily). About half-a-year later he mated with her again and this time she had four babies (William, Fluffy, Pippa and Kate) as they were born roughly around the time of the Royal Wedding.
William couldn't be found a home and so, we took him on. He was introduced successfully to his dad and uncle and lived with them happily for nearly two years. When everything went wrong. Billy turned aggressive, he gave Whizz a nasty bite that later turned infected so we took him out of the cage.
Billy was then castrated in the hope that he would one day be able to go in with Mop and Muffin as he hated life on his own. Unfortunately he became infected. Both Whizz and Billy are now on a course of antibiotics every day.
Billy is on three medicines and Whizz on two.
My current guinea-pigs are: Whizz, Billy, Dusty, Mop and Muffin. (Dusty and Whizz live in with our rabbit Thistle and they are very happy despite the fact Whizz is still quite sore. Billy is still hating life on his own and we are trying to get him better quickly so he can go in with Mop and Muffin.)
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