Two articles DOWN! And a guinea pig.

Two to go.

Yes, the two hard, HARD, stupid articles.

The ones about caterers.  Did I mention I can't stand caterer articles?

 

Elisheva's guinea pig is dying, lying on its side in its cage.  She asked me to come look at it, but I sent Ted, who said it's just lying there, that it probably won't be around much longer.  I guess I just automatically consider him the family expert on all things Dead and Dying.  I couldn't look.

 

I googled the lifespan of guinea pigs - it's 4 to 8 years, so this is definitely within the range, but just barely.  She got it when it was a baby, almost four years ago.  But considering we did NOTHING to maintain it beyond cleaning out the cage, I'd say it's done well.  You're supposed to trim their nails.  You're supposed to check their teeth (they're rodents, like beavers, so their teeth never stop growing and can cause problems in captivity).  It has lived longer than wild cavies, anyway.  In my opinion, it has had a pretty good life, even at the hands of a sometimes forgetful-to-clean-the-cage little girl.  The other one died over a year ago; I forget exactly how long it's been.

 

I poked my head in after bedtime and asked Elisheva if she was okay, meaning (but not saying) okay, sleeping in a room with a nearly-dead rodent.  Who might be gone before the sun came up.  She reluctantly popped her head up out of the warm blankies and said she was fine.

 

Ted says she's mostly happy.  She will definitely be relieved when it's gone, though she will undoubtedly, once again, begin begging me for a dog.

Murphy's Law:  I have been putting off buying wood shavings for the cage for WEEKS.  Today, I went and bought a big new bag of food and wood shavings (aspen, not pine; guinea pigs have allergies and sensitive lungs).  Of course.

And, of course, she's already torn open the big huge bag of food.

Somebody on Freecycle will be grateful, I'm sure.

 

Off to the Royal Winter Fair in the morning!