So i bought a guinea pig at petco yesturday. She is adorable, super small and young and female, all things i wanted in a guinea pig. I know you aren't supposed to buy animals at pet stores, but it's not her fault if she was born and raised in unsanitary conditions, all animals still deserve a good home i say. Petco gives me a 15 day guarantee and says that if anything is to arise to bring her to their preferred vet, suffield veterninary hospital. Or i could bring her back to petco, sell her back, and once shes better or whatever, i can buy her back. Well i bring my tiny little bundle of joy home and have her on my chest and already she seems to like me. She snuggling and attempting to make little guinea pig sounds (she cant even peep yet, its adorable), and then she sneezes. At first its adorable, this tiny little rodent with a tiny sneeze...but then she sneezes again...and again...and i grow concerned. So i pulled my guinea pig books off the shelf and went online and did a little research. I guess, petstore guinea pigs are prone to have URI's (upper respitory infections). Luckily, my sweet little guinea pig named Pikachu, is only sneezing and possibley wheezing, its really hard to tell. She's perky, drinking water, eating and pooping up a storm but i figured since petco would foot the bill, i should call the vet in the morning...

Ok...so i call. After being on hold for about 10 minutes they tell me their exotics doctor won't be in until monday. Now what the fuck? It's a friday, which means this weekend a lot of vets will be closed all weekend. Why did you give the exotics doctor the day off? So i could have called petco and i could have brought my adorable guinea pig back but i did some further reading. By bringing Pikachu back, i have to sell her back making petco the owner of this guinea pig. They can do whatever the hell they want with her. They could say, "Eh, fuck it, our corporation doesnt want to pay to give this animal antibiotics, put it to sleep or stick it back in the cage and hope someone else buys it and lie to the girl who bought it." Many people who sell their guinea pigs back to petco, never get them back. I'm not doing that. I'm already in love. I know URI's in guinea pigs are a really big deal, but right now it seems like a case of the sniffles, so im going to keep my eye on her. I notice she does sneeze more when i take her out of the cage so for all i know she could be allergic to my purfume or the bedding i used is new to her and when she runs around the cage when i try to pick her up, she's kicking up dust.

the thing is, im not really mad at petco so much as suffield vet. i fucking hate that vet. I adopted my guinea pig, Pokey, from petco, and she was one the best pets i have ever had, and she lived to be six years old. When she started getting sick and stopped eating i was debating whether i should put her down, so i called suffield and made the appointment. But unlike with cats and dogs, i was not allowed in the room when they euthanized her. I would just drop her off and never see her again. This made me very uncomfortable. Pokey would have been alone and scared. Then what, they just chuck her in the waste basket, wash their hands and go home? i couldnt even take her home to bury her in my backyard? But i made the appointment and when the time came, pokey ate a cucumber, i think it was a sign that she really didnt want to go like that. So i called and i cancelled. Pokey died in my arms after the disney movie G-force ended. well a week later i get a $15 bill from suffield vet for a guinea pig euthanization. I'm fucking livid, i call them half screaming in anger, half crying. They tell me "Oh the vet signed off on it." This wasn't about the money, it was only fifteen dollars, this was principle. They put me on hold for 15 minutes and come back to say, "Oh, we'll call you back and see what we figure out." I never heard back from them, i never even got a fucking apology. Losing a pet is very difficult, one the worst things i feel a person to go through, and i was handling my pets death pretty well and moving on with my life until i opened up that letter...

anyway, im spending my day with Pikachu, making sure she's nice and comfy and warm. And also washing my quilt because she peed on it a bunch. My cat is super jealous too. I won't allow him in the room because he's a little asshole and i really can't trust him, but i know he knows some other animal is upstairs getting all mommys attention, so i have to spend some time making sure he's not all upset either...man...if it's this hard with pets, cant wait to start having kids...