Guinea Pig Girls

Madelyn and Georgie now have their very own pets...guinea pigs. Mark and Janet have never had guinea pigs before so this is a new experience for all of us.

Unfortunately we lost one of them on the second night (it died) and we are pretty sure it was sick when we got it from the pet store. Janet had the joyful task of picking up a dead guinea pig (cold and stiff) and putting it in an empty cardboard box. Poppy took it back to the pet shop the next morning and they begrudgingly replaced it for us.

The new guinea pig fitted in very well and seemed to be growing quite large, particularly around the stomach. It wasn't long before we began to suspect that she was pregnant and sure enough, two baby guinea pigs arrived on 5 July. The babies were very cute and Janet grew quite attached to them.

Unfortunately keeping four guinea pigs in one cage was a little cruel so we sadly gave one away to one of Georgie's schoolfriends. We kept the other baby for ourselves.

One night, when the girls were playing with the three guinea pigs Georgie called out to Janet "Mum, Madelyn has done something to the guinea pig !!" Janet raced downstairs to be told that Maddie had thrown the baby guinea pig up in the air and it had landed "splat" on the hard floor. Sadly, the baby guinea pig did not survive. Janet was devastated and had to call for help. Poppy and Grandma came to the rescue and took the dead baby guinea pig away. The girls were talking about the baby guinea pig going to heaven but I don't think they really understood.

Janet is still coming to terms with the loss of her baby guinea pig and has built a little memorial for her in the garden. There is a lesson in this for all of us though:

GUINEA PIGS DO NOT FLY !!!

RIP