Funny Daycare Pet Story

[Zonny]

Our DS's daycare has pets in the senior preschool room where my boy spends his days. They have several rats (which horrified me at first but have grown on me - even the furless ones!) and a guinea pig named Wilbur (who is neutered).

So, Wilbur had a guinea pig visitor awhile back (we'll call her Jane, since I don't know her real name). She belonged to one of the daycare kids - I'm not sure if the visitor was just there for awhile, or if she was being given to the daycare. No matter. I haven't paid a lot of attention, but I think that Jane has been there for awhile. Since Wilbur was neutered, Jane and Wilbur were permitted to share the same cage.

Jane is kind of a fat guinea pig, eats CONSTANTLY. The daycare teacher (very experienced with different critters) noted she was fat, but didn't think much of it since Wilbur was neutered. While her belly was lumpy, guinea pigs are apparently prone to tumours which could explain lumps.

Then on Friday Jane was bleeding a bit. Could be sickness, could be pregnancy, they didn't know. The teacher came back in on Saturday to check on her, same situation. But Sunday when she came in - baby guinea pigs! Two didn't live, but they do have one baby pig now. She's very little, quite cute. And was a surprise for the daycare kids! Apparently Wilbur was NOT neutered, or at least it didn't work!

Z

[Natalka]

Oh, my! Well, the kids have to learn about the birds and the bees some time!

[Litesandsirens911]

oh my, lol! too bad about the other two little babies, but at least 1 lived...what a neat experience for the kids

[Sally888]

Maybe the girl piggy was at a boy piggys house before she got taken to the daycare? hehe Ive never heard of one being neutered before!

How cute that she had a baby!

[VeeVee]

aww to bad for the other 2 but at least one made it. That is really cute!

[lekate]

aww that's cute! I've never heard of guinea pigs being neutered. They don't normally do it to animals that don't have another "purpose" in life (cats and dogs do bond more meaningful relationships with humans which create a new found sense of purpose).

[glenglen]

aww cute story!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lekate]

aww that's cute! I've never heard of guinea pigs being neutered. They don't normally do it to animals that don't have another "purpose" in life (cats and dogs do bond more meaningful relationships with humans which create a new found sense of purpose).

I should expand why, it can cause serious behavioural issues to do so.

[GoddessDigi]

Well, I know they can neuter hamsters, and do so, so..hmm.

And very cute.
Hope they enjoy explaining the birds and the bees. Now you can get out of it! lol

[Zonny]

Even small creatures need to be spayed and neutered if they're going to be hanging out with other small creatures of the same species. At DS's daycare they have four or five rats, and they're all fixed.

And I think that in some species, it causes behavioral issues if you DON'T do it.

The kids didn't get a birds and the bees lesson, but are learning about how mommy animals care for their babies. They didn't get to learn about how the wee piggy was conceived, he was simply there when they came in on Monday.

Z

[GoddessDigi]

Lol, so now you still get to have the 'talk'. Aww, poor you. :p

[francine1985]

Hope they enjoy explaining the birds and the bees. Now you can get out of it! lol

i doubt they would give much if any info to the kids at that age. (they would need to have parental consent. schools even make parents sign permission to learn sex ed. at least they do here). I agree it is a good thing for them to learn all the facts (at an apropriate age) but unfortunetely parents still need to have "the talk" to find out what they learned. you may want to teach them something you feel they are missing. or tell them what if any info you feel they should ignore... (just an example: some people dont believe in using any kind of protection at all) so imo its best to talk to them to make sure they learn the info that fits your beliefs/lifestyle and they understand all the info they learned (it can be confusing to kids especially when the hormones start).

imo. I hope this didnt offend anyone espcially GoddessDigi since i am quoting her coment

[Zonny]

Well, my boy is still under four and hasn't asked any questions about that topic, so we're not going there just yet.

However, we did recently have an interesting conversation about the fact that he wasn't at our wedding. We just celebrated our seven year anniversary, and when we explained how we had a party when we got married, he was mad that he hadn't been to the party! I guess when you're four you just don't get that there was EVER a time when there was mommy and daddy with no baby in the picture! LOL

Z

[GoddessDigi]

i doubt they would give much if any info to the kids at that age. (they would need to have parental consent. schools even make parents sign permission to learn sex ed. at least they do here). I agree it is a good thing for them to learn all the facts (at an apropriate age) but unfortunetely parents still need to have "the talk" to find out what they learned. you may want to teach them something you feel they are missing. or tell them what if any info you feel they should ignore... (just an example: some people dont believe in using any kind of protection at all) so imo its best to talk to them to make sure they learn the info that fits your beliefs/lifestyle and they understand all the info they learned (it can be confusing to kids especially when the hormones start).

imo. I hope this didnt offend anyone espcially GoddessDigi since i am quoting her coment

Oh, no problem! I was just kidding, so no offense taken!

[mle]

Hehe cute story, I'm sure the kids are thrilled!

Poor Jane's got her hands full now!
I do hope it's Wilbur's.