New Family Member!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
New Family Member!
7
Sat, 02-11-2006 - 11:30pm

Welcome to Pigwidgeon Our new Guinea Pig! Pig for short. (Pigwidgen for those who don't know is the name of Ron's owl in Harry Potter. Can we say obsession. You can guess the obsession when we got Anakin our cat!)

Mike's birthday is tomorrow and after a bit of convincing he agreed to getting a new pet (mom is so sneaky). Finally he (after creative manipulation of both husband and son) decided on a guinea pig. And Mike absolutely adores him.

I figured that a pet for one is NOT a video game or a Lego, will teach him responsibility and how to care for something, will be a great sensory calming tool, and all the other wonderful skills mom can teach with a pet. Plus guinea pigs are good choices because they are resilient to handling and impulsive boys, extremely friendly and rarely bite or nip, and are a small furry animal which typically Mike is drawn too for calming purposes.

Here's to Pig! May you live long and prosper!

Renee

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Registered: 10-03-2004
In reply to: rbear4
Sun, 02-12-2006 - 9:15am

Renee,

Good idea! Welcome to Pig (widgeon)!!! Long may he reign!!!

I am still working on getting my husband to test to see if he can withstand the onslot of living with a Labradoodle, which are supposed to be wonderful family dogs and allergic people can sometimes tolerate their type of fur. My dh loves animals, but is very allergic to fur, poor baby, including dogs.

Malcolm REALLY wants a dog. I could consider a guinea pig, though, because dh could have little contact with it. We did have a pet mouse, Eloise, for several years ... but when Eloise died, Malcolm didn't want another mouse.

I also read on your other post about sleeping with the dog, and I think that would be great for Malcolm, although I am not sure we could teach the dog to climb the loft bed ladder, HA! But I think even having dog sleeping on floor of his room would be calming. Malcolm often manages to sleep by himself now, by he doesn't like it at all. He has informed me how much I have deprived him by not providing a sibling to sleep with.

Sara

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Registered: 02-24-2004
In reply to: rbear4
Sun, 02-12-2006 - 12:45pm

You have a cat named Anakin??? How cool is that!! Nathan would love that! Of course, if he wasn't terrified of animals!!!!!!!

Guinea pigs are cute. My sister used to have a couple of them for her son. My boys enjoyed watching them and petting them. Nathan was ok as long as someone was holding it or if it was in it's cage.

Well, maybe Mike will develop a new obsession!!! Hope Pigwidgeon (I mean, Pig), brings lots of fun for the kids!!

michelle

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Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: rbear4
Mon, 02-13-2006 - 11:51am

welcome to your newest family member! sounds like a wonderful idea! Glad Mike is thrilled w/ him!

Betsy

Avatar for nutmegspice
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Registered: 03-27-2003
In reply to: rbear4
Mon, 02-13-2006 - 12:11pm

Hooray!!! Mike and Sam have some obsessions in common; Harry Potter and Star Wars.

Sam is petrified of dogs but often says he'd love a little baby dog. I'm not sure a toy poodle or papillon would survive him though! A guinea pig is a great idea! I'm sure our cat would love it.....;) well......something to think about for the future!

Long live Pig!

Chrystee

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Registered: 10-09-2003
In reply to: rbear4
Mon, 02-13-2006 - 2:11pm

Happy Belated Birthday, Mike!

~ Chelsea
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Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: rbear4
Mon, 02-13-2006 - 11:11pm

NOt only is he named anakin, he is actually mostly black with a little white. So I figure he is mostly on the dark side with just a bit of the good side in him, ROFL.

Oh, and he puts the Jedi Moves on local rodents as well! "You will lay down! You will be caught by me" Works every time. Ask him.

Renee

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Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: rbear4
Mon, 02-13-2006 - 11:15pm

Yup, with you on the rat thing. A friend of mine had one for her daughter. THey loved the dang thing. EWE! I am so totally not there yet!

So what is the difference between a guinea pig and a rat? Guinea pig has more fur, cuter and doesn't have that slimy tail thing going on.

Hey, decided to put Cait on a waiting list for a service dog too. The program near here has a waiting list of a few years long. It may seem alot but that is perfect for our need. Cait will be ready to be more independent and start working then. Plus the dog will be in the middle of it's service years when she goes to college. I think that a service dog with ehr for those times will really help her independence.

Renee

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