Rise & Shine Tastebuds!: Introducing Nitro & Tank

Our very first pet was a dog. My Dad had a co-worker giving away free puppies, and one day, unbeknownst to my Mom, my Dad brought one home. It was truly love at first sight. We decided to name the dog after its brown fur, Brownie.

Brownie was a no nonsense dog, and always did her own thing. We craved her love and attention more than she craved ours. In her early years, she was a cranky dog; she chased us on our bicycles, and growled, barked, and bit us. As she got older, she mellowed out and enjoyed walks around the neighborhood, and being outside. She wasn't the perfect dog, but she we loved her unconditionally.

2004.

After Brownie passed away, my sister got another dog from the ASPCA, a pix bull mix named Annie. While I was sick, and living at home with my parents, Annie played an important role in my recovery. She had lots of energy, and constantly wanted to play ball and loved to go on walks. That in turn motivated me to get out and exercise.

Best buds.

After I moved in with Andrew, and things had settled down, we decided that it would be nice to have a pet together. We thought about taking Annie, but both of us were working full-time, and keeping any dog in our tiny one-bedroom home for the entire day was unfair.

Annie clearly happier running around in my parents' backyard.

The biggest challenge was finding something that would require little maintenance and space, and after lots of research, we narrowed it down to hamster, rat, or guinea pig. My only preference was that we get a rescue animal. Every year in the United States, too many pets come into shelters and few people consider adoption, so many millions of animals are euthanized. As luck would have it, there was a guinea pig rescue close to our home, the Cavy House Guinea Pig Rescue.

The Cavy House is run by Sue DuHamel, a retired software engineer. She rescues guinea pigs from local shelters and provides the necessary veterinary care and socializing so that they become adoptable and placed into loving, forever homes. It was started in October 2005, and she has rescued over 1,400 guinea pigs!

After submitting our application, and being approved for adoption, we finally set up an appointment to visit the rescue and meet the piggies. We drove to La Honda (about 1 hour south of San Francisco), with a few piggies in mind. Mainly, I really wanted a long-haired guinea pig breed.

Aren't they beautiful?

After spending time and playing with all the adoptable guinea pigs, we ended up selecting a pair of short-haired males (American and Abyssinian hybrid). It turned out personality was more important than appearance, and "the not afraid of peeing and pooping on you, food loving piggies" were the perfect match for us.

The challenge with having two males is that sometimes they fight because they don't get along or need to establish dominance. Oftentimes, people overlook males for this reason, but it was already too late for us; we had fallen in guinea pig love! 😍 🐹 🐹 The rescue had given them names Bart and Monroe, but Andrew and I wanted to give them machismo names to offset their extreme cuteness. There's nothing more manly than the TV show, American Gladiators, so please welcome Nitro and Tank!