Yes, Matthew, I actually know that place…it’s near my house, so it was the third place I went to to ask about my guinea pig. I knew “guinea pig” in Chinese, but wasn’t sure about “neuter” so I asked a friend to write the whole thing down for me.
I went inside and stood at the counter for a while, with everybody inside going about their business, completely ignoring me. Eventually one of the vets came over, and I said “Hi, I have a guinea pig…” in Chinese and was about to hand him my little paper when he started going “No, no, no, no, no…”. I think I might have mispronounced “guinea pig” and said something rude, but I think I’ll try the Taida hospital first before I go back to them to try again.
But I didn’t even get to the neutering part…for all he knew I wanted to have him check my baby for parasites or something.
Thanks for the link…I would love to have one of those little running guinea pigs (the second one) as an avatar, but I don’t know if I could do that.
I wish I didn’t have to neuter him, too, and am worried about how safe it is, but I just can’t take care of a heap of babies.
Well, after all that trouble I’ve decided that I really don’t like my guinea pigs. When I couldn’t find rats I asked a couple of friends who have kept cavies what they were like and they all said that they’re great.
But they’re not great, for me at least. I’m a cat person so it’s not like I want something to give me its undying love, attention and loyalty. But these things are a complete waste of time. Not only do they completely ignore me, which I could handle (except when they scream for food), but they are absolutely terrified of me. They run away whenever I come near so that I actually don’t even want to go near the cage now. I’ve bought them toys, treat them with fruit, sit with them in my lap when I watch tv, but it’s no good.
I’m considering having them put down, because I can’t live like this. I can’t stand to see this absolute fear these things have of me. I’ve lived like this for 8 months now, and they’re so cute that I just want to hug and cuddle them but enough’s enough. Am I making the right decision? What if I feel all guilty and sad later? Any advice appreciated.
I don’t really like dumping pets on people…don’t you regret taking that grown rabbit? But I guess that’s going to be the only option now.
I put the female in a box earlier to take her down to the vet, and she looked up and went “wheet wheet wheet!”, so bugger that.
Seems like I kinda got attached to them too, but I really can’t stand something that’s so scared of me. I’ve kept snakes and chameleons that completely ignored me, but they never showed any fear. I’ve also had turtles, mice, ducks and a chick that followed me around wherever I went, but these guinea pigs are just irritating. I get so angry at them that I don’t even want to go into my own living room!
So do dogs really like to eat their droppings? :shock:
Many animals eat poop on a regular basis. These include rabbits, rodents, gorillas, many insects such as dung beetles and flies, and yes, dogs. (Keep that in mind the next time a dog wants to lick you!) Herbivores such as rabbits and rodents eat their own poop because their diet of plants is hard to digest efficiently, and they have to make two passes at it to get everything out of the meal. This is equivalent to a cow chewing its cud, only cows are able to re-eat their food without having to poop it out first. Another reason why animals eat poop is that poop contains vitamins produced by their intestinal bacteria. The animal is unable to absorb the vitamins through the intestinal wall, but can get at them by eating the poop. Another reason that animals such as dogs and flies eat poop is that poop contains a certain amount of protein. Dogs are particularly fond of cat poop because cat poop is high in protein. I had a friend with a dog and a cat, and he never had to clean the kitty litter. The dog took care of it.[/quote]
Source: The Scoop on Poop
That article doesn’t mention guinea pig poop in particular, but I can tell you from experience that it is a real favourite with dogs.
This is so weird. How is there anybody looking for rats as companions or pets? Pardon me, but rats are the most disgusting, horrible animals in the world! I wouldn’t even think of giving it to my worst enemy. :?
Come on, how many rats do you really know?
If you took some time to get to know one, you’ll realise they’re the smartest, cutest, cuddliest things on earth.
If you are still looking for rats, you can find them at night-markets of Shi-Lin and Tuo-Haw. I don’t know about having rats as pets…hmm… personally, I like hamster better, I just can’t stand the long tail of rats… :shock:
Taiwan and overseas guinea pig web site links - Click!
