In two weeks, I will have been the boys’ mom for five year. I adopted them when they were just 1 year old… I will never forget meeting them for the first time…
I arrived at an address at about 5 pm in the evening. Their rescue aunt invited me into her house. She had several cages set up as she was in the process of getting ready for a big adoption event. She brought me over to the cage where Fred and Lamont were staying. Fred stuck his head out immediately and sniffed at me. Lamont bolted and hid in the nearest hut.
She explained that Lamont was extremely shy and might need some extra care when it came to holding him. I didn’t care. All I knew was that I was in love with them both when I first looked at their picture on the rescue website. Seeing them in person only confirmed my feelings.
Their rescue aunt had me sit down on her couch and sign some adoption papers. Once done, she asked if I wanted to hold both of them.
“Both?” I asked. And added, “At the same time?” I remember realizing that I was going to have to figure out how to handle two guinea pigs at one.
I was handed Fred first. I scratched the little rosette in his hair at the top. “You wanted to be a crested guinea pig but only got half of the proper genes,” I told him and kissed the top of his head. He chortled softly.
Lamont came out of the cage with a bit of a whine. “This is Lamont,” his rescue aunt told me, “he’s the skittish one.”
She placed Lamont on my right chest. He climbed immediately climbed up to my neck and buried his head there. Lamont began to softly whine. With my right hand, I softly petted him. “It’s okay, dude,” I told him. Fred must have sensed Lamont wasn’t too happy and he climbed up the left side and put his head in the crick of my neck. I kissed the part of his head I could reach.
I began to cry.
“Hey, guys,” I told them, “I’m going to be your new mom. I promise I will take care of you today and every day. I always make sure you have what you need and you two will be the most spoiled guinea pigs in the world… I promise.”
I think the ride home with the boys was one of the longest in my life. I had their cage set up, food in the fridge, and lots of new things for them to try. I sat and stared at them for hours that night and slept next to their cage. If one of them moved or made a noise, I was up to see if they needed anything… I was a bit of a nervous new mom.
It is almost five years since that first meeting. Today is August 1st, their assigned Birthdays. (No one knew the exact dates so; I gave them one!) If I had to go back and make the same decision, knowing what I know now, I’d do it all again…a hundred times. – KA
P.S. – People always ask me about Fred and Lamont’s breed type. “Oh, what kind of guinea pig is that?” they will ask of both of them. My response is always the same, “The best kind: Rescued!” If you’d like to wish Fred and Lamont a Happy Birthday, please honor the rescue organization that saved them and brought them into my life: http://mgpr.org/newsite/Donate/Donate.htm . Thank you.
