Hi. My name is Tammy Raabe Rao, and I have a little e-hobby called CavyMadness. Perhaps you've heard of it? :)
I'm 30, married to Nhan, a software engineer, and living in a 'burb of Boston, Massachusetts. I met Nhan online in January 1993, using IRC. We chatted for six months before I moved up to Boston to be a nanny for a year. Then two years in Minneapolis, and now we're back in Boston.
I've had guinea pigs since 1993. My first piggy was Basil, an orange and white Peruvian. I had him for about a year while I was a nanny, and we were very close. He would whine sometimes until I let him sleep on my pillow! When I got a full-time job, we decided to give Basil a mate, Emma. After we thought Emma was pregnant, we neutered Basil --successfully. Emma wasn't pregnant; she was just enjoying all the yummy food!
And so it was Basil and Emma for four years, and Basil died of pulmonary edema. That was very traumatic for me. And Emma, too: she lost the will to live, so we hastily bought Portia --Valentines Day 1998-- from a pet store...poor thing was less than a week old and infested with mites. A week after her we got Scribble, also from a pet store and being harassed by all the other piggies in the pen. All girls got along well, though!
We went to our first New England Pignic in summer of 1998, and that's where we first set eyes on the precious little Ophelia. Those glossy little eyes and bubble-butt were just too cute! Ophelia became almost legendary; she's the silver agouti Teddy featured on the site.
And so it went, until spring 2000, when we went to Petco for cat food and ended up with two MORE piggies, Cordelia and Desdemona. Cordelia carried some horrible disease, which killed Desdemona and eventually Ophelia. All of our piggies lost so much weight and had respiratory distress. Though not confirmed, we suspected bortadella. Thank goodness, Portia and Scribble pulled through, and Cordelia grew strong and healthy.
July 2000: We attended the Guinea Pig Extravaganza in Washington, DC, and ended up with Viola, a little whirlwind of orange and white fur. She's a pistol, believe me! The four girls are happy together, but we're pining for another "Brillo piggy" (our affectionate little term for teddies).
Along the way I have fostered a few piggies. I'm not set up to be a rescue, so I can only handle one or two at a time.
And that's it, in a nutshell. All of my girls are named after Shakespearean women, ending with A. But Scribble looked so unruly that the name --add the fact that we were browsing through the Microsoft Office Assistants-- just stuck. :)
My expertise comes from reading a LOT of books while preparing my site, and knowing a few truly obsessed piggy people. My "day job" is as a graphic designer / graphic department manager for a consulting company in Boston. I also have two cats, Armand and Gabrielle, who view the piggies as mere nuisances scurrying across the floor. :) Armand must have been a border collie in a former life, for he meows when one strays from the herd.
Oh, and I love to write. Could you EVER guess from the length of this post.... :) I am so happy to have everyone here in this online community; no matter how many kudos you guys give me for this board, keep in mind that it would be nothing without the people who post!
Tammy
I'm 30, married to Nhan, a software engineer, and living in a 'burb of Boston, Massachusetts. I met Nhan online in January 1993, using IRC. We chatted for six months before I moved up to Boston to be a nanny for a year. Then two years in Minneapolis, and now we're back in Boston.
I've had guinea pigs since 1993. My first piggy was Basil, an orange and white Peruvian. I had him for about a year while I was a nanny, and we were very close. He would whine sometimes until I let him sleep on my pillow! When I got a full-time job, we decided to give Basil a mate, Emma. After we thought Emma was pregnant, we neutered Basil --successfully. Emma wasn't pregnant; she was just enjoying all the yummy food!
And so it was Basil and Emma for four years, and Basil died of pulmonary edema. That was very traumatic for me. And Emma, too: she lost the will to live, so we hastily bought Portia --Valentines Day 1998-- from a pet store...poor thing was less than a week old and infested with mites. A week after her we got Scribble, also from a pet store and being harassed by all the other piggies in the pen. All girls got along well, though!
We went to our first New England Pignic in summer of 1998, and that's where we first set eyes on the precious little Ophelia. Those glossy little eyes and bubble-butt were just too cute! Ophelia became almost legendary; she's the silver agouti Teddy featured on the site.
And so it went, until spring 2000, when we went to Petco for cat food and ended up with two MORE piggies, Cordelia and Desdemona. Cordelia carried some horrible disease, which killed Desdemona and eventually Ophelia. All of our piggies lost so much weight and had respiratory distress. Though not confirmed, we suspected bortadella. Thank goodness, Portia and Scribble pulled through, and Cordelia grew strong and healthy.
July 2000: We attended the Guinea Pig Extravaganza in Washington, DC, and ended up with Viola, a little whirlwind of orange and white fur. She's a pistol, believe me! The four girls are happy together, but we're pining for another "Brillo piggy" (our affectionate little term for teddies).
Along the way I have fostered a few piggies. I'm not set up to be a rescue, so I can only handle one or two at a time.
And that's it, in a nutshell. All of my girls are named after Shakespearean women, ending with A. But Scribble looked so unruly that the name --add the fact that we were browsing through the Microsoft Office Assistants-- just stuck. :)
My expertise comes from reading a LOT of books while preparing my site, and knowing a few truly obsessed piggy people. My "day job" is as a graphic designer / graphic department manager for a consulting company in Boston. I also have two cats, Armand and Gabrielle, who view the piggies as mere nuisances scurrying across the floor. :) Armand must have been a border collie in a former life, for he meows when one strays from the herd.
Oh, and I love to write. Could you EVER guess from the length of this post.... :) I am so happy to have everyone here in this online community; no matter how many kudos you guys give me for this board, keep in mind that it would be nothing without the people who post!
Tammy
