A New Pet

Well, this family has not had much luck with pets so far. We had a cat, Murray, that we got as a kitten 4+ years ago, but he only managed to live a couple years. The vets could not figure out what was wrong with him, but he was not in good shape, so we had to have him put to sleep. The kids still ask about him and wish we had him. We also had a beta fish, Red Fins, (yes, not the most original name) that did not last long either and fish are want to do. Well for quite awhile, Hannah has been saying she wants a guinea pig. Over Christmas break, she got the chance to pet sit her class guinea pig, Shadow, which went well. The cage was just in her room on her window seat (although I just learned that guinea pigs are highly susceptible to heat stroke, so we'll have to make sure the blinds stay down when it's sunny) and as Dale said, we were relatively unaffected by his presence. We decided that for her birthday she could get one. Well we finally went last weekend and got Fudgey. Now, you might think by the name, that he is dark brown, but we were rather limited in our options and Hannah was rather set on the name, so here is Fudgey--he's peanut butter fudge.

And here are the kids looking for him under the

entertainment center when he got away from Hannah

Unfortunately, he hasn't quite gotten used to us. I think he'd rather be back in his cage at Petco with his other guinea pig friends. He's rather skittish and seems very nervous. It doesn't help that Owen has learned to open Hannah's bedroom door, where he is not allowed, and gets in there and "plays" with Fudgey. I go in there and find him and he has had the door open and done who knows what and there is cage bedding everywhere and Fudgey does not look happy. Hopefully he gets used to us soon and can be a family pet for years to come.