A New Home for Pumpkin & Buttercup

I am an animal lover and so is my husband.  Between the two of us we have owned our share of cats, dogs and small furry creatures throughout our lives.  As a matter of fact, when we first got married our joined household consisted of 3 cats (1 mine, 2 his).  Sadly, our three cats were in their later stages of life and passed away one a year due to kidney failure and diabetes.  By that time we had just welcomed our second daughter into the world and just were not up to adopting another kitty.....so we have been a pet-free home for about 3 years now.

We've had many discussions about eventually getting a dog, but just have not been up to the challenge and responsibility.  Then, add in all the skin problems of my youngest daughter and we have avoided the issue for over a year.



This year we felt was the year to jump in (hence the last round of allergy testing).  We both feel that you can learn so much from caring for a pet...and the rewards are limitless.  Of course, the test results came back that cats and dogs were out of the question.  We were left with birds, reptiles, or rodents....none of which were on my list...  I think a pet is something that can be held, cuddled and played with.  Birds - not so much.  Reptiles...no....just NO.  So we were left with rodents. 

After much research we decided to go with guinea pigs.  They are larger and don't look like rodents (too much, anyway).  So I learned a ton about guinea pigs (a.k.a. "cavies") and found that they were probably the right fit for us.  In some ways they are probably better for us than a cat or dog.  They are contained in a cage which means no fur all over our furniture, carpets and clothing.  (Pet dander is also something I need to be very careful about given my business.  The fact that these guys are kept away from my fabrics and notions is super important!)  These guys are small enough for my children to hold, yet large enough to be cuddled.

So welcome Pumpkin and Buttercup.  These boys came to us from a local rescue and are about 1 year old.

Buttercup

Pumpkin

And here is something I did not know, guinea pigs love to be cuddled!  If you place them in one of these little cuddle cups and place them on your lap, they will sit there without trying to escape.  They love to be pet, and even purr when you do so.  Who knew?  This was a very nice suprise.

They are still pretty new to us, and we are learning more about them every day...but they have already give us lots of laughs.  They talk to us and my oldest daughter has taken on many of the chores associated with caring for them (with supervision of course).  Had you asked me a few years ago if I would ever consider adopting a Cavy, I would have said "No way!", but here I am and I'm enjoying them just as much as my girls.


And now for the sewing plug.....see those cute little pet beds?  I'll have a super easy tutorial posted soon on how to make one in under 30 minutes.  Best part - you can totally customize the size to fit your pet!