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It is official ......we are full. We will be unable to take surrenders until we get some of our little piggies adopted to make room. With the A/c out it has been a tough week and a mean summer but our A/c fellow promises to be here by next Wednesday. Now we just have to hang in there. Thank you to all those who offered to take a few home for the duration. We are ready to move in with the piggies in the basement (if there was room.) because it is cool down there... I would have no clams. Things have been running a bit behind. Program problems have prevented up dated photos but we are working on that. Thank you to everyone who has donated. We appreciate it. And to everyone who volunteers.

Packed in like chocolates in a box, 30 babies and young adult guinea pigs found their way to our door. A former client was attending a viewing of a dear old neighbor that had passed away when they noticed the guinea pigs packed in a bucket like so many rocks in a box. Upon closer examination there where 30 babies and young guinea pigs. He asked the family what their intent was for these guinea pigs now that their mother had passed. They reported they where going to turn them over to animal control. With a love of guinea pigs he offered to take them, even if I could not help him, he was going to do what he could- he did not want to risk them being put down because of their number. He called me and asked if I could take a few guinea pigs.....a few....well about 30. I said yes. Even though we are now more then at capacity we took all these little lovelies. We will have pictures soon. We where most concerned that they be settled and relax. God always makes room for one more. Some may not share this sentiment but that is how "I" feel. I am not going to apologize for that. I would not have done this for as long as I have to not help when I can. I am going to make a difference for these babies. I have for twelve years why should to day be any different?

Ok, it should be noted that if you are sick you should not be answering the phone.. but I was and I was contacted by a very sweet lady who had a guinea pig she could not longer keep. Ok. I asked what kind. She said a Lions head guinea pig. Ok, I figure she just has the wrong breed because there is lions head rabbits but not guinea pigs. So we set a time and date for drop off and again I was only about half listening to what was going on as I nursed my cold in bed. Well I received her phone call, she wanted a time to come down to the shelter and she stated she would be bringing the guinea pig and the lions head rabbit. RABBIT! Oh my god, dam medicine. I should have known better. You see I have Parkinson's, Diabetes's II, recovered from cancer so on and so forth so when I get sick I need to be placed in a box and taped shut until I get better. I tried to call her back but it was to late she was on her way. No body was going to believe I didn't give the ok on this. (I have a soft heart, I would take just about any poor creature if there is room.) Well not any more thanks to my daughter but now I was faced by two carriers. A lovely white guinea pig emerged from one. A doll. Then the Lions Headed rabbit came out of here large carrier followed by a second. Ok, I hadn't taken that much medication. The size of two guinea pigs put together, these little dwarf rabbit where adorable and thankfully so or I would have had a tuff time explaining this one to my family and volunteers. They have charmed everyone. Whew.

I love their little faces and their demanding yet none demanding ways. Guinea pigs are my delight. At some point in my life I would love to go and take long walks with an old sway back horse since horses are my second favorite creature. I don't want to ride them. Just walk with them, I thinking walking other wise is energy wasted for other things -but my Dr. disagrees. I am often asked if I never had pets as a kid and I just have to laugh. Yes, my mother was patient and tolerant and a rescuer herself. I remember her dragging in some hapless creatures she and my father found at the steak house while out on date night, or my father dragging home a dog here or a cat there because he was a DA. As well as the occasional foster kid. My grandmother was the same and so on and so forth. My mothers present dog needs a special bath each night for a skin condition which they do like prays. The dog waits with towel in mouth willingly proceeds to the tub. I was with her at the shelter as Snickers found her new forever home. She is a Rhodesian Ridgeback with just a hint of something else. She is not young but she is a character. I love her I think as much as my mom does.

Why did I start a guinea pig shelter? Because they where 80% facing euthanasia in area shelters. You went to a shelter for a dog or cat, that is well known...but a guinea pig, hamster, bird or a bucket full of ducks? No way. And yes, a bucket full of baby ducks. I even experienced a run in with a very large pig that had gotten out of one of the dog runs at a local shelter. Biggest pig I'd ever seen and I would have taken the fellow home if I wasn't located in the city. I guess that is why my husband has never been to keen on moving me to the farm. It would be the ark. He's kind of had his fill of that with his own childhood, his mothers passion is horses. He's just thank full he's not putting up truck loads of hay anymore or shoeing them. Yes he was once a fairer. (Hopefully I spelled that right or your now imagining my husband sitting about with wings.) Anyway as I understand it he just got tired of waiting for them to come and work on the horses feet so he learned the trade himself. He doesn't do it any more but you just experienced your first useless piece of useless information on this page. Sorry I should have warned you perhaps. But he is understanding and when I asked him if I could do this as an at home mom he was understanding and said yes. As he says that when he agreed he did not know I was going to become the dalai lama of guinea pig people. Well there you are. Any job worth doing is worth doing right. The shelter is not about me though, it's about the wonderful folks who have come and helped to make it possible each with their own unique talents and insights. It goes to them. I'd rather clean cages.

I did do my home work. And every time some one asks me how much I make doing this I hand them over to my husband. "Not a dime, not a dime in fact he'll say I'd rather prefer they stay out of my pocket but that is impossible. Paw or hand I am always handing money over to them." Sadly the poor fellow has not had a vacation in 12 years and often finds himself shopping at the thrift store family in tow. But he has fantastic Karma and that is as hot as that accent.

So I was already volunteering and got my 501c3 right off the bat first time to the IRS. No calls, no returns just boom. And I had, had nightmares about it. I was told only a lawyer would be able to do it. Ha. I grew up with one that helped. By the way Ms. Adamson of Applewood Small Animal Rescue ...you go girl. She did the same thing. She's smart as a whip and helping the even smaller fellows. I admire her for her tenacity. It is hard to find acceptance in this line of dedication especially when everyone assumes that these smaller animals are disposable. 100 years ago dogs and cats where viewed the same way. I've got 87 years to go.

Ok, off subject verbal tantrum ahead. Read at your own risk. You have now been warned. If people really knew what the real life span of some animals are they would die. But it is a crank them out like a product we face...does anyone really know? I asked my husband how long cows live because his family are huge ranchers in Texas. (Yea, it was the accent that attracted me.) He said three years. Yea, to market. It's 56 years if you really want to know and NO ANIMALS DO NOT GROW TO THE SIZE OF THEIR ENVIRONMENT! Ok, they are genetic predisposed to grow as long as they have to, get as big as they are programmed to and live as long as their environment permits but are able to live longer if they are housed correctly. I have had guinea pigs live to be 14. I have had goldfish get big as plates and live to be 10 and they were one inch feeder fish for a dime. Creatures just die at a certain point because they have out grown their environment. If I could correct one wrong its this philosophy. I don't know where it came from or why people believe this crap. Thank you I will get off my box now.

Cavy Care Inc. got it's start. 32 animals and a ton of paperwork not to mention money. But here I have to stop. I have to dash, I have a banana going brown and a rabbit who will be quite upset if he loses out. He likes his banana but then I think most rabbits love banana's. I want to know though, where in the wild do rabbits find banana's? To much Alice in Wonderland...just saw the new version. It's ok.

06/27/10 Well it has been a bit of a rough week this week and it is just getting started. We are bulging at the seams with surrenders because of the economy and surrenders for reason of allergy or loss of interest.

My favorites are the number of six year olds applying for guinea pigs. And the number of seven year olds surrendering guinea pigs they got last year because they are no longer interested. Imagine that. Some people wonder why we don't adopt to six year olds. Well there it is. Mom and dad are not going to care for guinea pigs for the next 8 years of their life because the kids are off to do their own thing. I had a parent with an 18 month old who was going to let the child care for a guinea pig. If that happens then dam I missed the boat with my own kids. But having been a nanny for a number of years and having two kids of my own...well I knew it was not going to happen. A pacifier, a rattle, a big wheel, but a guinea pig no way. And if that makes me deserve having as many as we do per the P.K's family with just turning six in tow, then I welcome the extra cleaning. And if their piggy needs a home in a year or two I will be here. And if they need information now we are here. No grudges because in the end it's the guinea pigs that pay and if that happens to them then it makes us no better.

It's HOT, don't travel with guinea pigs in an unheated car. We had two arrive at the shelter DOA yesterday and there was no need for it. So A/C or use cool towels, or request an early morning drop off because you have no A/C. But stay put if you can't keep them cool. One minute they where playing in the back seat and the next they were dead per the owner.

Ah, piggy's coming out our ears and we welcome it. We have the most wonderful ladies and their kids come help us clean and we love them. The kids are just as anxious as our parents to do their part and we thank them with all our hearts. This is not an easy job and I can say it with certainty since I have done it for 12 years, weekend and out. These ladies where so kind that they actually gave my family the day off to celebrate my son's 17 birthday. It was the second only time in 12 years that we haven't had to clean the shelter ourselves. The first time was my grandfathers funeral six years ago. Thank you families you know who you are! HUGS!

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04/24/2010 This week we where blessed with thirty six new babies. Ranging from babies to adults. We were trying to get their pictures loaded here but our system would not take them. Sorry. We will keep trying.

These are our new arrivals. All will have to remain of r at least 5 days for assessment. Some as is the case with the babies, will be remaining with us for five additional weeks they will not be available until they are no longer nursing and have transition from mom. They will be adopted in pairs according to their sex for more information please feel free to contact us.

Any guinea pigs seen as pairs will have to be adopted as pairs. It is not our policy to split up families where ever possible.

Today we received Godzilla a cute little male. He is young, brown, tan and white. He was originally purchased from Petsmart but his owners developd an allergy so he came to stay with us today and here he is!

Today we put together a pond for the shelter from donated materials. 65 gallons complete with goldfish and two koi, the piggy's should enjoy having this. Hopefully it won't make them feel like they have to pee.

This trio arrived from another shelter. They will not be ready to be adopted for a little while. Two are missing their upper teeth but they will come back in. We just want to be sure they come back in right. Unfortunately the shelter camera does not want to work at the moment but they all must be brothers as they almost resemble triplets.

http://www.healingtouchforanimals.com/ We want to thank the students of Healing Touch for Animals for coming and bringing such positive energy to our animals and our organization. As a student was working on an Iguana we where caring for, I could feel the energy she was applying to him as it was having an effect on me. We enjoyed their work and welcome them all back if they wish to volunteer. The first picture is Kato the official dog to greet all adopters to the shelter. Then Trinket a special needs guinea pig is getting worked on with love and care and finally one of our other older sanctuary guinea pigs are being carefully cared for.

Healing Touch for Animals® (HTA) Level 1 is a two and a half day experiential workshop working with dogs and horses to show how we can assist the animal’s healing process. The Komitor Healing Method, Inc. philosophies and techniques are introduced, showing application of energy techniques for animals. During the workshop, an easy understanding of the physiological response of the animals receiving HTA is offered giving the students a clear understanding of how HTA works.

Coordinator: Shelley Wallen, 303-947-8588. Send e-mail to Shelley Wallen.

03/07/2010 New Arrivals

We have received three wonderful all black males from a local shelter. Two are missing their top teeth and will have to remain for awhile until we are assured their teeth come back in properly. Moe, who is about two years old. Curly also 2 years old and finally and of course we could not have this trio with out him Larry who is 11/2 to 2 years old. All are believed to be related. We will have pictures on the soon.

Three boys, (mom) is one of them and three girls. No names, two of the boys had eye infections and colds, one has a very small front foot. They are from a home that did not have room for all these fellows, nor did they bother to take them to a vet for the other problems though they noted they had them when signing them over to us. They are getting the care they needed. We hope to adopt them as a three some so that the family does not get split up. Name suggestions? cavycareinc@yahoo.com

These are two long haired girls. They are from a home that did not have time to care for them. We where able to remove the huge hair balls connected to their bottoms. Their former owners where correct. They did need groom. When your mom says she could have knit another guinea pig from the mat taken off a guinea pig. We could have knitted another herd. And look at them.... they are still hairy. This is Coca and Pebbles. Long haired guinea pigs require grooming there is not getting around it.

Slatted for immediate euthanasia at a local shelter, a volunteer contacted us and asked if we would take them. They had a very treatable skin condition but there was no space for them at that shelter. We have taken care of the condition and will continue to for the 21 days it requires care. Watch for up dates. They live together and are named Lester and Ness.

We have one additional fellow not pictured who's name is Romeo. He is brown and white Abyssinian. He is about 11 months old. He has nothing wrong with him and will be out for adoption as early as this weekend.