Why not a Guinea Pig?

Are you wanting a pet, but don’t have the space for a dog or cat? Then maybe you should consider a Guinea pig. Guinea pigs get along in groups of two or more, and are kept in cages lined with wood shavings. Grass is the guinea pigs normal diet. It is also important to include fresh fruit and vegetables in their diet; otherwise they may suffer from a vitamin C deficiency. Pellets, obtained from your vet, are also acceptable. Guinea pigs are prone to obesity so do make sure that their diet is well balanced. They tend to be a little messy and startle very easily, and are know to either hide away, or freeze in place when they perceive danger. However, and I must admit I think this would be reason enough to get some, when guinea pigs get excited they perform little hops in the air.

Choosing the right pet for you: rabbits

Rabbits can make great pets, but just make sure you give them plenty of room in which to live. You’ll need to try create a partition in your garden, because if you let your rabbit loose the chances are he’ll eat every leafy plant you have! Keeping a rabbit cramped up in a hutch the whole day, however, is a bit cruel. Include lots of leafy, green produce for him to munch on like lettuce and spinach as well as a good supply of carrots and cabbage. If it suits you, you can add a tortoise to the partition. It creates a nice effect to your garden, giving a sense of openness and liveliness. If you have a dog, you need to ensure that he either gets on really well with your rabbit or that the rabbit is well protected.

Unusual Pets: the potbellied pig

On the subject of unusual pets, a popular choice is the potbellied pig. Potbellied pigs are very easily trained, are alert, and high affectionate. They’re considered smarter than some of the smartest dogs. They house-train very quickly are in general clean and odour-free. They don’t bark, they don’t chew and they shed very little. And although their eyesight is not very good, they have a very keen sense of smell. Potbellied pigs can live anywhere from twelve to thirty years. They are, however, not maintenance-free. Their high intelligence level often means that they can work out what’s in the refrigerator, and how to open certain draws, so a certain amount of training is essential. Unfortunately, thousands of these pigs ended up shelters because, although they were trendy at one time, the fad passed and people said they preferred the pig when it was still young and not as an adult.

Raining Cats and Dogs!

When it pours like crazy, we often say that it’s “raining cats and dogs”. But where does this phrase actually originate? There are a number of theories about its origin, but the most likely explanation goes as follows. In seventeenth century England, the heavy rain would often carry in its wash the dead bodies of animals that were lying on the streets. Obviously, these animals didn’t literally come down with the rain, but the sight of them draining down the streets with heavy torrents of water created the association that when it rains especially hard, it’s as though it’s raining cats and dogs. In “A Description of a City Tower”, Jonathan Swift, describing the torrential downpours and poor sanitation of London town, said that “Now in contiguous Drops the Flood comes down,/Threat-ning with Deluge this devoted Town.” […] “Drown’d Puppies, stinking Sprats, all drench’d in Mud,/Dead Cats and Turnip-Tops comes tumbling down the Flood.”

I Name Thee…

How do we chose our pets names? Is it by their individual personalities? Or do we choose a random adorable sounding word or expression that will add to our affections? Is a common method of choice the old fall back of universally cute names such as fluffy, spot and butch that just seem to ‘fit’ your pets so well? Is there a creative flair when we decide to name our pets with syllabic similarities? This process can be arduous at times, for there are many accounts where the name of the animal, is his name, such as kitty, or sausage (for sausage dogs, ofcourse). And many people seem to find that historical figures seem to embody their animals personalities. There is also the possibility that we humans suffer from wishful thinking, calling our beloved pets Einstein, Hercules and Merlin will not turn them into a genius, a hero, or a magical wise man respectively. I repeat they will not grow into their names, and no matter how often you imagine to find them display characteristics, it is coincidental, not fated.

Female Cats and Male Dogs.

It is a known fact that Women are automatically associated with cats, and Men are linked to dogs for is the old adage not, dog is man’s best friend, and everyone knows of the old cat lady, sitting in her apartment block, content with her circumstances. Why is it though, that the sexes are categorized with these animals? Is it the obtuseness of dogs that makes us automatically associate them with men? Is it the independence and haughty attitude of cats that remind us of women? Personality though, seems to be a major factor in this referendum, as the animals basic and stereotypical characteristics are what we link with the assumed characteristics of the sexes. Usually these are not positive associations but if you chose to believe it, you can think that men and dogs are considered as loyal and women and cats are independent and strong willed.

Dogs: man's best friends

Dogs are man’s best friend and right throughout history they have been acknowledged by some of the most influential people, writers and comedians who have captured the nature of our relationships with our pets in some very candid words:

"Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit,
you would stay out and your dog would go in."
- Mark Twain


"Man is a dog's idea of what God should be."
- Holbrook Jackson


"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person."
- Andrew A. Rooney


"To his dog, every man is King;
hence the constant popularity of dogs."
- Aldous Huxley


"If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons."
- James Thurber


"Reverence: the spiritual attitude of a man to a god
and a dog to a man."
- Ambrose Bierce


"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend:
and inside a dog, it's too dark to read."
- Groucho Marx


"A dog is not "almost human," and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such."
- John Holmes


"If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience."
- Woodrow Wilson


"The disposition of noble dogs is to be gentle with people they know and the opposite with those they don't know...How, then, can the dog be anything other than a lover of learning since it defines what's its own and what's alien."
- Plato


"The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make
a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you,
but he will make a fool of himself too."
- Samuel Butler

Local doggy heroes

So many people take for granted the help and assistance that our beloved pets give us, which is why it's time to celebrate all of the local kitty and doggy heroes in your life! Send us your stories of pet bravery and we'll publish them on this site for every one to see! Give your pet the attention they deserve and put them on this digital pedestal. This week's story is about
Elle, an eight year old trained police dog who was only too pleased to help police out a little earlier this year as published on News24:

Johannesburg - A wanted criminal, who was shot and wounded by police on Saturday but managed to run away, was sniffed out by a police dog and later arrested, Eastern Cape police said. Captain Jackson Manatha said eight-year-old Elle followed the 29-year-old man into the Mdekweni forest near Mdanstane, East London and alerted police to his presence.
Manatha said police had been searching for the man for a number of weeks in connection with housebreaking, theft at schools and robbery, however the man had always evaded being arrested.

He was traced to Mdantsane around 03:00 on Saturday, but when police tried to arrest him, he ran towards them with a dagger. "Police fired some warning shots but he continued to attack and was shot," he said. However the man still managed to run away to the nearby forest.
"Elle found him and brought us to him," he said. The man was taken to Cecilia Makiwane hospital and was placed under police guard.