Cats by the puzzled guinea pig

I'm going to write a poem about cats:

Cats

Cats are mean
Have sharp teeth
Growl at me
What'd I do?

They say they want to eat
Me
Say I look tasty
I say I'm too furry

I know they just want to scare me
But it's funny
When you bite on their tail
They jump high in the
Air
And twirl around

End of Dangers

   "Cinnamon!" Rainy bit on Cinnamon's ear.
   Cinnamon glared at Rainy. "Look, this is my territory. You either get out, or I make you get out."
   "Cinnamon. You were my best friend. I missed you so much." Rainy's voice cracked.
   Cinnamon gazed into Rainy's eyes. "Rainy? Is it really you?" Cinnamon asked.
   "YES, Cinnamon! Yes, it is me." Rainy cried, overjoyed.
   "I'm sorry..." Cinnamon looked at Rainy.
    Rainy let out a little purr. "Yes, I'm glad I'm here with you," Rainy, said,licking Cinnamon's ear.
 

And that's how we got reunited. After that, we've done so much together. We occasionally bicker, but for the most part, we're pretty happy, spoiled, pigs. 

Our owner is going on a vacation later on this month, so we get to go to her friend's house... Her friend also has two guinea pigs, Abby and Nutmeg, and they're really sweet. I can't wait to meet them! Owner says she is going skiing, and that sounds really, really, really, really, fun. I want to try skiing sometime. But my owner says that it is way too cold for us, and we'd freeze, I disagree. We also want to try snowboarding, but I guess you can't have everything in life. 

Dangers Chapter 4 by the Puzzled Guinea pig

   Cinnamon was picked up. She squirmed, uncomfortable. They were squeezing on her stomach too much!
   Wait.
   Cinnamon raised her head. She thought she smelled another guinea pig. Could it be? Cinnamon was still sniffing around when she was placed in a box. She let out a little squeak. "Who is it?"
   The other guinea let out a snuffle. Wait! Cinnamon knew that snuffle! But could it really be? "Rainy?" she asked, disbelieving.
   Rainy shot forward. "Cinnamon?" she asked, wide eyed.
   "Is it truly you?" Cinnamon asked.
   "Yes! YES, Cinnamon, it truly is me!"
   "How's Splash and Rosette?" Cinnamon asked.
   Cinnamon watched as Rainy's eyes filled with sadness and disappointment. "Splash got bought. She's a single pig. Rosette is part cuy, so no one wants her. She got sent back to be a euthanized."
   Cinnamon nuzzled Rainy. "I'm glad to have you here."
   Rainy purred. "When I was taken away, I smelled the people that had taken you away. I thought maybe you had passed on... and they were coming back to take more lives."
   Cinnamon drew her tongue over Rainy's ear. "I used to get rat food. But now we get Oxbow. It's good."
   Rainy opened her eyes wider. "What's your cage like?"
   "Small. Pet store cage. Really, Rainy, what do you expect."
  The two guinea pigs were picked up and walked over to the cage. The pigs were placed in.
  "Cinnamon, he--" Rainy saw the look in Cinnamon's eyes. Savage.
  "Get out of my cage!" Cinnamon snarled.
   "It's me!" Rainy wheeked in Cinnamon's face.
   "OUT!" Cinnamon screeched.
   "I have no where to go!" Rainy cried.
   Cinnamon walked over to Rainy. "I will tear you to bits if you don't get out of my cage this very second."

Taking a break from Dangers

Hey, everyone! Cinnamon here.

I'm taking a break from helping Rainy write Dangers, to vent about our current situation.

 I'm soooo frustrated. My owner can't find a place to board us when she goes on Christmas vacation! There is a place that seems like boarding heaven. Veggies daily, Oxbow/KMS hayloft pellets, timothy hay, a C&C cage, that seems amazing, just like the price. But it is too far away, over an hour's drive. So I'll have to settle for no veggies daily, for just under 4x the price.

My owner really wants to go on vacation, but I feel really bad. We're preventing her from traveling. Our normal pet sitter is going on vacation as well, so we don't have a pet sitter. My owner has been asking around to see if anyone does guinea pig boarding, but the prices are crazy expensive. And our owner is NOT willing to pay a thousand dollars to board us at a place that might not even give us veggies!

What you should look for when looking for a place to board your pigs:

Your pigs should not be housed in a cage with other pigs
veggies daily
Good quality pellets
Water changed daily

Dangers Chapter 3 by the puzzled guinea pig

   Cinnamon opened her eyes. She was still in the box. Voices were outside the box. She heard the clanking of metal and wire outside the box. She heard footsteps pounding closer, closer, closer, to the box. Cinnamon stood, rigid with fear. The box was kicked over. Cinnamon fell over, belly up. She  fought to stand up. Suddenly, the box was tipped back upright. 
   Voices were outside. Cinnamon froze with fear as the top of the box was opened. She was given a bowl of food. "Yuck!" Cinnamon gagged at the smell, looking in the bowl.
   That was rat food. And Cinnamon was a guinea pig. Did these people know nothing? Inside the bowl was a mix of artificial colored bits, seeds, and pellets. Guinea pigs were supposed to have plain pellets. Timothy hay based plain pellets.  
   Cinnamon was taken out of the box and placed in a small 3.5 square foot cage. It was twice the size of the fish tank. Better, but Cinnamon knew that she needed more space. In Petco, she'd heard about the legendary C&C cages. These cages were huge! They apparently gave pigs a lot of space to popcorn and run laps in. 
   Be grateful for what you have.  Cinnamon's mother's scent overwhelmed Cinnamon's nostrils. Cinnamon remembered her mother had died in the guinea pig mill. She'd had little to no food. She eventually died giving birth to Cinnamon's stillborn littermate. 
   "I'm sorry." Cinnamon said. The cage was lifted in the air and placed inside a room. She was left alone. She hurried into a hidey. "I wish that I had a friend here." She thought out loud. 
    Cinnamon muttered under her breath. She was thirsty.  At least there was a decent water bottle. She chewed on the tip. Clean, fresh, water flowed into her mouth. She silently gave thanks for the fact that there was water there. 
   Red things were tossed in her cage. She came out of her hut, and sniffed the red things. Cinnamon had never seen these things.  
   "Those are peppers, Cinnamon." Cinnamon's father's scent flooded Cinnamon's nose. 
   "You... passed?" Cinnamon asked her father. 
   "Went to a home that gave me veggies, but not vet care." Cinnamon's father said.
   Cinnamon purred, amused. 
   "But bell peppers are good. Try some." Cinnamon's father encouraged Cinnamon.
   "I've never had them before." 
   "I know. Try them. If you don't like them, then you don't have to eat them again." 
    Cinnamon heard her mother's voice. "Just take a small bite." 
   Cinnamon took a small bite. Juicy. Cinnamon swiped her tongue over her teeth. Pretty good. Cinnamon took another bite, the pepper making a crisp crunch ans she bit into it.  
   "I wish one of my friends, especially Rainy, was here to enjoy this with me." Cinnamon complained.
   "Humans can be pretty new to guinea pigs, though. Especially when they didn't do any research beforehand." Cinnamon's mother's voice was filled with scorn and disgust. "I never wanted my children to end up in a place like this. Rat food, small cage. I wanted my pups to have a better life than me." 
   "This place is okay!" Cinnamon defended her owners. 
   Cinnamon's father nudged Cinnamon's mother. "I overheard the people talking. They said they're going to get you a friend, Cinnamon."
      

Dangers Chapter 2 by the Puzzled Guinea pig

   Rosette thrashed in the hands of the worker. She tried to bite the worker's hands and squealed and squealed and squealed and squealed. The worker held Rosette against her chest. Rosette continued to thrash and thrash. The worker murmured something to Rosette and threw the people standing outside the cage a look. 

   Rosette shook her pelt out as she was placed back in the fish tank. She swore under her breath. "They messed my pelt up." she complained. 

   Cinnamon walked out to Rosette and nuzzled her. "I'm glad you're okay." 

   Rosette chattered her teeth. "They're not done yet. Get back in the hidey!" Rosette warned. 

   A hand reached in. Cinnamon darted in the hidey and cowered in the corner. The hideaway was picked up and Cinnamon was lifted in the air. 

   "Cinnamon!" Rainy cried. 

   Cinnamon froze, rigid with fear, as she was placed into arms. 

   "SQUEAK! MOVE AROUND! BITE!" Splash cried.

   Cinnamon tried to move, but found out that her muscles wouldn't work. Her mind was spinning and she felt like she was going to fall. 

  She couldn't wheek, not to even say "good bye" when she was placed in a box. She seriously hoped that she would be in a good home, not the common home when some pig gets bought because they saw G-Force and decided that they wanted a guinea pig. A week later, the pig gets returned because the kid gets bored of the pig. Cinnamon had already had two of those homes. and in one of those homes, she had been placed in a hamster cage.

   Cinnamon's world was spinning. The box was dark, and she was lonely. She was placed in the shopping cart and the cart bounced along. The sound of her old cage mates' squeaks still echoed in Cinnamon's ears. "Cinnamon,do something!" "Cinnamon, don't leave!"
   Her mother's scent wrapped around Cinnamon. "Just close your eyes, you'll be all right." 

   "But you're dead!" Cinnamon muttered, half to herself. 

  "I'm always looking out for you and your siblings." Cinnamon's mother murmured.

  "Come back!" Cinnamon wailed. 

  Cinnamon's mother touched Cinnamon's ear with her nose. "You know I would if I had the chance. I must go now." 

   Cinnamon's mind still reeling, Cinnamon fell asleep, but didn't shut her eyes.  

Dangers by the Puzzled Guinea Pig

Hi! This is Rainy. I'm going to tell you the story of me and Cinnamon.

CHAPTER 1

   "Hi, Rainy." Cinnamon squeaked.
   "Hello, Cinnamon." Rainy replied, flicking an ear.
   Splash, a black, white, an light brown sow came out of the hutch. "Hello, everyone. Good morning. How was your day yesterday?' Splash asked the guineas.
   "It was fine. But are you kidding me?! We're stuck in this tiny, cramped cage and you can watch my every move even if you're on the other side of the 10 gallon tank!"
   Splash let out an amused purr. "That's what happens when we're at Petco. No veggies, tiny FISH tank with no ventilation..."
   Cinnamon pressed her face against the cage bottom. "It still has Missy's scent." Missy was the previous guinea in the fish tank. Since the Petco employees didn't disinfect the fish tank when new guineas were put in, fights broke out because Missy had her scent all over the tank.
   "I know." Rainy said, shuddering. "That was one of the worst times of my life." Missy has picked on all of the guinea pigs.
   "Well, now we have Rosy to deal with." Splash said.
   Cinnamon let out a small, annoyed purr. "Rosy's had a hard time. She's also my half sister, so give her a break. Plus she keeps all of us in line."
   Rainy gave Cinnamon a rough lick on her ear. "What happened to her?"
   Rosy lumbered out of the hidey. "I hear you guys talking about me. What's going on?" Rosy snapped.
   Cinnamon and Rosy looked down at their paws. Splash was more bold. "What happened to you?"
   Rosy flicked her ear. "What do you mean?" she asked.
   "Why are you so mean all the time?" Splash repeated.
   Rainy leapt over to Splash and gave her a small nip on the ear. "Don't ask her that!" Rainy hissed.
   "No, it's fine." Rosy replied.
   Cinnamon lay down.
   "I started out in a mill. My mother and father were cuy, so I was larger than most pups. my mother dubbed me Rosette, because of the rosette on my forehead.My name is pronounced like Rosetta but the thing on my forehead is pronounced like ro sett. The mean people thought that I would make a good mother, so they tried to breed me multiple times. I wouldn't stand for it, so they shipped me off here. I tried to get bought multiple times, because of how I look, you know, bigger,, since I'm cuy, I'm more skittish than most guinea pigs, since cuy are bred for meat and no body would buy me.
   "So I got shipped over here, and I lived through Missy. That's how I got this nick on my ear. Missy wouldn't stand for my name. She said we are individuals and we should have our own names. She wanted to change my name to Sissy, because that's what I was. Her sister.
   "But I refused. I loved my mother, and there was no way I was going to change the name she gave me. But Missy was the dominant one. She said I HAD to change my name or she would kill me. So that's how I ended up Rosy. Thankfully she had no idea Rosy is short for Rosette or Rossetta.
   "Then, Missy got sent away. Then you guys came." Rosy's eyes glistened with pain. "I'll be sad when you guys get sent away. You guys are the closest thing to family I ever had. My mother died of pregnancy toxemia, my sister was Missy... You guys are like the family I never had."
   "I had no idea you felt that way..." Rainy murmured.
   "I'm sorry I asked you about your history." Splash said.
   "No, it's fine, Splash. It felt nice to tell somebody." Rosy said. "And I want my old name back. Can you guys call me Rosette?"
   Rainy, Cinnamon, and Splash licked Rosette's ear. "Yes. Yes. We'll do anything for family." Rainy whispered.
   Suddenly huge, heavy footsteps came down the hallway. "Everyone hide!" Rosette ordered. Kids pressed their faces up against the glass. They pointed to a guinea pig.
   The guineas heard the key in the lock turn and the fish tank began to move. A hand reached in a tried to pick up Rosette.
   "Rosette!" Cinnamon screeched.
   "I'll be fine!" Rosette squealed back. "Save yourself!" Rosette suddenly sat still and allowed the worker to pick her up.
   "ROSETTE!" Splash cried, as Rosette was being lifted up in the air.
   "I love you guys!" Rosette cried.

Don't you wanna hear more about me?

Hi! Cinnamon here. I just wanted to update you guys on my life. Well, my owner is trying to teach us tricks. I find it very amusing. She gives my a piece of lettuce and tries to make me "beg". I just sit there and look at her with puppy dog eyes. She laughs and gives me the piece of lettuce. I think that I just got myself free veggies. 

Guinea pigs...well, we're very vocal creatures. And our owner gives us veggies in a plastic bag. So whenever we hear a plastic bag, we squeak because we think that we're getting veggies. So, our owner got tired of us squealing at everything. So every time she gave us veggies she would make a kissy sound. Now, we only squeak when we hear the kissy sound. 

Our owner just made us a new toy. She got a toilet paper roll and cut slits into it and stuffed it with hay. We enjoy playing with out new toy, nosing it around, and most of all, chewing on it. Rainy and I often fight over it, yanking it back and forth and squeaking.

Fishes over GUINEA PIGS?

Hi, Cinnamon here! I am so mad and so disgusted at my owner. She decided to go to Hawaii, and leave me here. She went snorkeling in Oahu, all these fun kinds of things! She chose to see FISH over me and Rainy. I'm sure she missed us but she was pretty happy to leave us at her grandparent's house while she went to see FISH. Whats the point of seeing fish? There is no point! They don't do anything but stare and swim away!

And her grandparents, they changed the cage. I'm pretty thankful that they changed the cage, yeah, but they might as well not have changed it at all! they put almost NO bedding in the layer was so thin!

But they did give us veggies twice a day and they even went out to buy us lettuce when we ran out. What do you think of the trip? Comment your response! 

Fleece

Hello I'm a puzzled guinea pig named Dusty. I was wondering about fleece bedding. Can you tell me all about it? 

Sure! Cinnamon here to tell you all about fleece!

Fleece can be used as guinea pig bedding instead of disposable bedding. It is eco friendly reusable and easier on your wallet. 

Fleece is Eco friendly because you can reuse it. Instead of throwing away pounds of bedding each week, you can reuse fleece and throw away nothing! Sure it uses water and electricity but that water will be reused and the electricity will not be thrown away and is powered by the sun which is great for the environment!

Not to mention the cost. While using disposable bedding you can easily spend over a hundred dollars on bedding alone per month. Fleece is easier on your wallet and you only have to pay for it ONCE. 

Fleece is also funner for us to play on. Disposable bedding we have to hop along but fleece we can easily run along! 

-Cinnamon

We want a c&c cage!!!

Hello, I am a puzzled guinea pig. My name is Kat and i was wondering what cage you like better: the Midwestern cage or he cc cage?

Hi I'm Rainy. Cinnamon and I have been wanting a c and c cage for a really long time but thanks to space my owner got us a Midwestern cage instead. 

Then my owner had the brilliant idea to rearrange her room, making space for a 2x5 C&C cage. 


Cleaning

Every week when she cleans the cage we hear her grumbling about the canvas bottom. Apparently it is a pain to clean. The canvas bottom has many foods and that traps gross bedding in between it. She needs to undo all the Velcro straps from the cage and reattach them. Then she needs to spray it with vinegar and water. Then the remaining bedding sticks to the bottom. It is gross and takes her forever to scrape it all off.

However, a C&C cage would be so much better. The bedding slides right off the coroplast and is easy to clean. The coroplast is smooth so nothing gets stuck on it. 


Quality

The Midwestern cage is definitely an improvement from the small pet store cage we were in however my owner has found the cage to be flimsy and easily bent. She has caught us chewing on the Velcro multiple times. 

The C&C cage however is more sturdy. It has grids that are more durable and the coroplast is firm so it will also last long. 


Fun

Whenever my owner has any more of her crazy expansion episodes, all she needs to do is add a couple grids. So easy to add onto! And we can do so much with the cubes! And my owner can change the cage design when ever she wants however she wants!

-rainy

The Top 10 Guinea Pig Breeds

      Hello! Rainy here! If you are looking to adopt a guinea pig, you might want to look at the top ten guinea pig breeds, their looks and personalities. I will give you a quick summary of each breed. Cinnamon or I will go over each of the breeds in detail in different posts. However, none of these pictures are my own.

Peruvian
     The first guinea pig breed we will talk about is the Peruvian guinea pig. 
Peruvian guinea pigs are sweet, fun loving, and alert. They are sweet and energetic but their coat it hard to maintain. 

Skinny
Another well known guinea pig breed is the skinny pig. They look like baby hippos and win the hearts of an innocent passerby by casting it's sweet gaze on them.


Teddy 
Teddy guinea pigs are fuzzy little guineas with curious, fun loving personalities. They enjoy attention and are SUPER CUTE! In fact, I think that I found myself with a crush on one before. 


American Shorthair
Us Americans are the best. You know, not to be conceited or anything. We are perfect. We have a sweet personality and are SUPER friendly. We get along well with just about any guinea pig!

this picture's mine. It's of me. I look ADORBS.

Himalayan

My friends, the Himalayans, require more experience from owners. 

Rex

Rex guinea pigs are social and active. They are sweet and like to be handled. 


Abyssinian
Abyssinians are sweet troublemakers that can learn tricks easily and be super loving! My best friend, Charmander, who is a female Abyssinian, is really nice and funny!

Fighting In Guinea Pigs

     Hello, you've reached Cinnamon. I wanted to talk to you about fighting in guinea pigs. Us guineas tend to fight, so don't take it personally. 
    
     There is a myth that male guinea pigs fight no matter what. That is untrue. Fighting occurs in both genders of guinea pigs. Cinnamon and I fight all the time, and we are female. Males can be a little bit territorial, but so can females. It is not the gender that determines if they will fight or not. Instead, it is the personality. 
     If you really don't believe me and want to get a companion for your male, but you don't want to get another male, get a female and have the male neutered. Yes, you can neuter guinea pigs. Believe me. Males can get neutered and females can get spayed. However, if you were going to fix one, do it on the male. NO, I'm not saying that because I'm female. Females you have to go farther in their body and it is more fatal than neutering, which is more shallow.
      When us guinea pigs fight, we tend to nip and bite. Please do not separate us unless there is blood. Separating us when there is not blood does not let us work out our problems. If we fight a really bad fight for one day, chances are that we won't fight as much from that day on. Separating us when there is no blood increases the chance that we will still fight, but even more when we can get back to each other. 

this is my picture

Hope I was helpful,

-Cinnamon

    

Cages

Hi! This is Rainy, here to talk to you about CAGES

Cages

     Cinnamon and I live in a Midwestern cage. We would prefer a C & C cage, because the Midwestern cage is flimsy and the canvas bottom has urine stains on it. A C & C cage would provide more room and it would be more sturdy.  Sadly, we do not have the space for a C & C cage. 

This is the cage we want!
please note that this is not my picture

     The Midwestern cage has just enough space for two guinea pigs. The minimum amount of space for one guinea pig is 7.5 square feet, and each additional guinea pig adds 1.5 square feet.

Nice talking to you,
Rainy

Bedding

     Hello! This is Cinnamon. I'm here to talk to you about bedding!

Bedding

Bedding is one of our bare necessities. There is many types of bedding in stores. However, cedar and pine bedding is POISONOUS and will hurt us. Even though stores still sell the bedding, know that it is not safe for us. 

please note that this is not my picture

     We will review the two beddings we have used so far. Rainy and I like crumpled paper bedding most because it feels nice on our feet. We also used aspen bedding for a period of time. But the Planet Petco Crumpled Paper Bedding was best with the odor control and we liked it best. Aspen is nice, too, but it hurts my feet and smells bad really quickly. 

Ta ta!
-Cinnamon

Companions

     Hi, this is Rainy here! I wanted to talk to you about why we should have companions!


Companions

     Us guinea pigs are social animals. In the wild we live in herds, together. To raise us alone would not be beneficial to our health. There are three main reasons that I like to talk about. Those are exercise, diet, and fun! 
     As mentioned in many other blogs, a fellow guinea pig makes us run more and gives us more exercise. We often entertain ourselves by playing tag, hide-and-seek, or keep away. 


please note that this is not my picture.              
         
   When a new food is offered to us, one of us may reluctant to try it. The other guinea pig might give it a taste, encouraging the other guinea pig to try it also. That food might be the one that contains vital nutrients for your guinea pig. 

     We are also soooo much more fun together! If one of us is moody, our owner just takes out the other guinea pig and plays with them! 


Hope I helped!
-Rainy

Diet

     Hi! Cinnamon here. I just wanted to tell you some tips on you guinea pig's diet.

Diet

Our lives mostly evolve around our diet. We should have two cups of pellets a day. Popular brands include Oxbow, Kaytee, and Carefresh. Pellets should not have seeds or nuts in them, just pellets. Seeds and other miscellaneous items will get stuck in our teeth, and will most likely cause gum diseases. Many brands have a variety bag- with seeds mixed in. Just make sure that you get the correct type. 

We also need to have access to Timothy Hay 24/7. That helps wear down our teeth and it aids our digestive system so we don't get sick. If we don't get Timothy Hay we will stop eating because our digestive system doesn't work properly without it. We can become very sick and stop eating if we don't get Timothy Hay. Timothy Hay looks like this:

please note that this is not my picture


We also need two cups of veggies a day. Popular veggies that Rainy and I like include lettuce, cilantro, bell peppers, and kale. We eat many others. We can't manufacture our own Vitamin C, so we rely on veggies to give us Vitamin C. If you have any questions on what else we can eat, comment on this post!

please note that this is not my picture

Thanks for your time!
-Cinnamon

Introduction

     Hello, and welcome to The Puzzled Guinea Pig. This is a blog told from the perspective of us-- two female guinea pigs, or sows, Rainy and Cinnamon. We take turns writing posts, so you'll hear from both of us! Don't worry about not knowing who is writing the posts, we'll tell you!

I'm Rainy.

And I'm Cinnamon.

We are experts with our knowledge, and we know more about our species than others! In addition to our regular posts, we also answer commented questions in new posts!