A loving little one

October 9, 2009 -

I cleaned Butterscotch’s home yesterday (a lovely split-level with a loft upstairs) and got to thinking about how surprised I am at how neat guinea pigs are. Honestly when I was looking for a small pet for my daughter, I never considered guinea pigs. I was more considering the mouse or gerbil route. But, being as I am a PetSmart employee, I’ve had lots of opportunities to question the living daylights of my colleagues on what makes a better pet. Surprisingly, I immediately heard from just about everyone that rats and guinea pigs make the best pets for young children.

In particular, I knew that some of the small pets are nocturnal (trust me, my brother and I could tell you stories of my hamster running his squeaky wheel for hours in the middle of the night). I really wanted something gentle that would be awake during the day so my daughter would stay engaged.  Everyone said guinea pig.

What are these creatures, I wondered. I’ve never been near one. So I went and checked them out, thinking I’d look, ask more questions and continue to mull it over. Not so. Nope, I fell in love. I brought my daughter with me, and really if anything I expected to have to explain to her why we weren’t taking home a pet that day. But here I was, planning to take this little guy home. And not just any one of them, but one very specific one.

Butterscotch, we named him. It suits his coloring. And I’ve stayed in love. He is perhaps the sweetest pet I’ve owned – certainly the sweetest small pet. He cheers at us with these cute little squeaks when we come into the room and cuddles. He’ll snuggle down in your arms and is content to be petted and cooed at. He purrs at us when we pet him. My daughter loves him, and regularly wants to hold him and pay attention to him. Mission accomplished.