Guinea Pig Connection

An Alternative To Sticky Roller Sheets

After zipping through yet another lint roller, I decided it was time to look for an alternative. 

My dog- and cat-owning friends have turned me onto the Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair from Pledge. Originally made for cleaning pet hair off furniture and other home decor, my friends tell me they use this sweeper to get pet hair off of clothes as well. Pledge claims that one of their sweepers does the same work as 145 of those sticky sheets from a lint roller.

Certainly worth a try...it definitely puts less stuff in the landfills.

If you decide to try it, too, let us know about your experience with it.

Who Says We Can't All Get Along?

When you live with a couple of guinea pigs (or more), you inevitably learn a lot of things about communal living, sharing, sticking together in good times and bad, and so much more. The photos on the Web of happy guinea pigs cuddled together are so commonplace that they risk being perceived as cliche if people miss the fact that each photo is like a nudge from The Universe to remember what's truly important: love and peace.

So, to drive the point home that things like harmony, tolerance, and acceptance are possible if we can get past labels and appearances and learn to see the spirit that lies within, we guinea pig folks have to look to other species with legendary "animosities." Author and artist Cecelia Soprano recently sent me a video link of a pet cat and pet rats that begs the question, "Well, if they can get along, what's everyone else's problem?"

I love cats. I have a hard time warming up to pet rats (but wish them no harm). Even if the cat is really just tolerating the rats, these furry teachers should be able to persuade at least a few humans to re-evaluate their perspective on their own "sworn enemies."

Pets On Oprah

This past Friday, Oprah devoted her entire show to all things "pets". The show started off with a profile of Puppies Behind Bars, which demonstrated a point I blogged about last week, then proceeded with some unique don't-try-this-at-home wildlife adoption stories.

At the end of the show, she brought some two dozen pet owners and their pets out on stage to help show her huge viewing audience all the kinds of animals that can be adopted: cats, dogs, disabled/special needs animals, guinea pigs, rabbits, hedgehogs, birds, turtles, snakes, and more. Kudos to the show's producer and camera crew for making sure that each animal on stage got camera time. I liked what one owner said about how their pet "filled a space in my heart I didn't know I had."

I liked what Oprah said even more, stressing that we should only adopt pets when we're confident that we have the time, space, budget, and commitment to do so. Gesturing to the people and pets on the stage behind her, she encouraged the adoption option "if you're ready and committed...and it takes commitment, does it not?"

Bravo, Oprah. And thank you.

She's featuring pets in her June issue, which is on newsstands now -- and is pretty hard to miss with the pack of puppies that join her (including her newest pup, Sadie). Oprah's Web site also features a great article titled, Pick the Right Pet for You. Be sure to share the link with anyone you know who is considering bringing home any type of pet!

Another Way To Look Out For Small Animals

As the calendar prepares to turn from Adopt A Rabbit Month (February) to Adopt A Rescued Guinea Pig Month (March), and as our friends at Forever Feisty Chinchilla Rescue work to make March 4-10 "Chinchilla Appreciation Week," it bears mentioning that there are other ways we can look out for these three species (and all the others as well).

One big thing that everyone can do is to let their wallet and their shopping patterns do the talking. By this, I mean buying products that are not tested on animals, boycotting products that are, and...if you're so inclined...writing e-mails or letters to manufacturers who still conduct testing on animals and helping pressure them into stopping these testing practices.

Both Caring Consumer and Leaping Bunny offer lists and pocket-sized guides that help you find manufacturers who don't test on animals. (Caring Consumer also provides a list of companies that still do.) Products include cosmetics, health and beauty aids, and household products.   

All companies should take the same attitude as the Urban Decay cosmetics company, which pointedly says on its product packaging and on its Web site:

We DON'T do animal testing. How could anyone?

Touring Exhibit Looks At Pets In America

Okay, so this isn't about guinea pigs...but it is about pets.

There's a nifty virtual exhibit called Pets in America that looks at the role of pets in American households -- and in American society in general -- through photos, memorabilia, early veterinary equipment, vintage pet supply packaging, early accessories, toys, and cages, and much more. One of the photos in the collection is this sweet picture, circa 1900, of an older woman and her pet rabbit.

It was in the 1800s that Americans increasingly brought pets into their homes as companions -- actually, as full-fledged family members. Not only was pet ownership associated with social status and leisure time, says the exhibit, but it was also associated with a happy family life. For those of us involved with small animals, we learn:

By the 1860s, rabbits, white mice, rats, and guinea pigs were considered perfect "children's pets." They were gentle, easy to care for and short-lived. Squirrels were also popular. Captured from the wild, they were sold in pet stores until around 1910. New rodent species have been introduced as pets periodically. In the 1950s, for example, the hamster became the new pet craze.

The virtual exhibit features photo albums, video clips, and audio clips, and a number of activities for kids. Much of the text should be accessible to students in the fifth or sixth grade, but parents can likely find ways to spend some enjoyable time looking at all the photos with younger children.

The exhibit opened at the McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina in 2005, and is scheduled to tour through 2008. The National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts, will be hosting the exhibit from April 1 through October 14 of this year.