Spot the Guinea Pig

Spot was Silvi’s guinea pig. He died yesterday of stomach cancer, but lived a good life. Until I met Spot I had no idea that guinea pigs had such a range of behaviors, nor that they could seem excited and happy. I remember his squeaks of excitement when he heard the sounds of a package of lettuce being opened. Who knew that guinea pigs could be so demonstrative! I also remember Spot running around the living room, hopping every once in a while. It surprised me that he could be so agile since he looked a little fat and guinea pigs have such small feet.

Silvi loved Spot. He was her first pet and I’m sure she will not forget him. I know I won’t and I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with him as she did. I hope Silvi will get to shower other pets with love and attention in the future to make their lives as good as Spot’s was.

Neuters Resumed

For the first time in 4 weeks, I got another cat fixed. The last cat I fixed was Tiger (more on him later) and after that I unsuccessfully tried to catch Baby Boy and Hairy. With Baby Boy it simply didn’t work. With Hairy it was worse because I got a very deep scratch on my hand that took about 2 weeks to heal. That made me realize that I needed a way to catch these cats that wouldn’t put me in the way of their claws. So I acquired a Havahart trap, which is a humane cage trap. They are not very expensive and work very well. I set it for the first time this Wednesday. I put some tuna inside for bait and the cats were definitely interested. The one I refer to simply as Orange Cat was the first one to walk in. At first I thought he wouldn’t step on the plate that triggers the door to close and then I saw Baby Girl start to put her head in there too and so I shooed her away so the door wouldn’t close on her! She retreated and Orange Cat stepped on the plate. Needless to say he was extremely unhappy.

I called the vet and told them I’d trapped my first cat. They had told me last week to just trap a cat and call them to let them know I was on my way. They understand the importance of spaying and neutering strays and ferals and told me they would find time to do the surgery, and if they didn’t have time the following day they would keep him an extra day. I’m glad they are so willing to accommodate me and others who bring them these cats to fix. I put the trap in the car and immediately the interior of the car smelled like tuna. Orange Cat meowed and meowed and tried to get out, but of course there was no way. When I got to the vet, Dr. Chris was there and took him to the room where they keep them overnight. He told me that while he had several surgeries lined up for the next day, he didn’t have appointments so he thought it wouldn’t be a problem to fit him in.

Thursday morning I got a message from Dr. Chris saying they’d neutered Orange Cat and that his leukemia test was looking like it was going to be negative. When I found that message on my phone I called them and confirmed that indeed it had come out negative. What a relief! While things had worked out so well with Tiger at the shelter in Missouri, I wondered if Orange Cat would do well in a shelter setting since I don’t know his personality so well.

That afternoon after work I went to the vet and picked up Orange Cat. He was just as vocal as the night before. They had put him back in the trap after surgery, so I’m sure he was unhappy about being in a trap and about having lost his manhood. They also made a small notch in his ear, which indicates that a cat has been fixed. When they suggested that to me Wednesday night I thought we probably should have done that with Mama Cat and Splotchy Junior, too. I guess we’ll just continue to do that with the rest. They suggested it as a way to keep track of who’s been fixed and who hasn’t. I told them that I know the cats very well, but Dr. Chris said it helps if the group starts to grow. I wonder how many cats I might end up with??

As soon as I pulled up in front of our place, I opened the back door of the car and proceeded to open the trap. I didn’t get the door opened all the way and it closed again, scaring Orange Cat. The second time around I got it right, and he bolted. I thought I might never see him again. He didn’t come for dinner that night, nor for breakfast or dinner yesterday. This morning, however, Orange Cat came by for some food. It seems that despite the traumatic experience of being trapped, spending the night in a strange place, and then going through surgery, he doesn’t fear me all that much. Good!

I’ve been seeing Orange Cat around for a long time, but it’s only in the last few weeks that he has been coming closer and closer to me. I’ve even managed to sneak in a bit of petting when he’s looking in a different direction but he’s still a bit shy around me. He gets along very well with Mama Cat, which surprises me. I would have thought that since she’s been spayed he wouldn’t have any interest in her. However, I’ve seen them rubbing against each other. His face looks a little funny and it took me a long time to find out why. His facial structure is slightly asymmetrical and I only realized that the first time I got a close-up look at him. In addition, one of his lower canines sticks out a bit so that when he closes his mouth, the canine can still be seen. I think it makes him very cute!

Juan

Today is my nephew Juan’s birthday. He is the youngest of my nephews and has turned 7 today. He was born while I was away in college, so I didn’t get to see him as a newborn the way I did with Silvi and Pedro. I did, however, get to see him in the womb since I went with Maus to one of her ultrasounds while she was pregnant. It was exciting to see my little nephew on that screen—a sneak peek before everyone else got to meet him.

I remember awaiting the news of Juan’s birth and hoping he might stay inside Maus a couple more days so he and I could share a birthday. But I guess he was ready to come out so he missed my birthday by 2 days. Close enough. I finally got to meet Juan the following month when I came home for Christmas. I’ve included here a picture of that first Christmas, as well as a picture from last Christmas. It has been nearly a year since that more recent photo, so even that one isn’t a good indicator of how big he is now.

I’m looking forward to the next time I see Juan. It has been over 4 years, and because he was so little when I last saw him, I’m hardly going to recognize him when we meet again, even though I’ve been seeing his photos through the years. I am excited about getting to know him better.