‘Problem animals’

TheLottiediarys

TheLottiediarys

Teenage Guinea Pig
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How many pets do you think get labelled as ‘Problem’ animals just because people don’t understand them?

This idea came to me, because my very traumatised and human fearing hamster, bit me for the first time today.

She didn’t mean it maliciously, she didn’t even break the skin, all she was doing is letting me know she wanted to be put down in her cage faster then I was, it was an impatient bite, a ‘I’m a little bit stressed and feeling unsure of the situation’ Bite.

Since she came to me as a very last minute and spontaneous rescue, I’ve been thinking a lot today about what would have happened to her if she had been sold to an inexperienced owner, or a child.

She has taken a whole year to learn to trust me, she came to me bleeding, deeply fearful of humans to the point where she would just shake and shake if I even entered the room, never coming out, too scared to do anything.
She didn’t know what a wheel was or most toys which led to a very scary time for her when I slowly introduced them.

I wonder if a child or inexperienced owner had just grabbed her to hold, would she have bitten them? Most likely out of fear, and may have been labelled as a biting hamster, and been unloved or rehomed again.

How many other pets get the label of unfriendly or a problem because their owner just doesn’t understand what they need? Doesn’t know what they’re saying when they bite or show other undesirable behaviour?
 
There is probably more than people realise, far too many get them and expect them to act like toys, or not need any taming or settling.. I'm typing this with my 'problem' cat chewing on my arm because he wants food (he has food, he just wants different food :lol!:) but he bites, he smacks with claws out, he shouts if he doesnt get his way, no matter what time of the morning it is. But he's the backbone of this house and hes my best little buddy. I quite often tell him most other people would throw his ASBO backside outside to fend for himself XD but I honestly don't know what id do without him and it's 110% my fault for spoiling him, and we're working on sorting those issues out.

Our old cat was adopted out to us on the instruction that he could never be mixed with other cats as he was a feral tom when they got him. Well, we got 2 kittens the year after and he absolutely adored them, he would bring them gifts and leave them on the patio. Mostly leaves because he was useless and survived off of curry and pizza if his attempts to steal our food were anything to go by! But he tried at least.. :wub:

People spend too much time talking AT animals and not to or with them. It's very easy to figure out what theyre trying to say if people just took the time to listen :)
 
I am studying feline behaviour and what has become very apparent, is the fact that almost with exception, a problem behaviour is caused by something the human is doing wrong. This may be something very subtle, or the placing of resources in the wrong place or not providing the correct enrichment. I was recently feeding a cat, who the owner told me is very destructive and scratches everything. Scratching is normal cat behaviour, but you need to provide scratching posts and pads and then with a bit of training you can redirect the behaviour to where you want it displayed. This particular cat had no scratching facilities of any kind, so no wonder she chose the sofa.
 
Over the years I've taken on many 'problem' animals. Too many people have expectations of how an animal should behave and are disapointed when it doesn't. Every animal large or small has it's own personality, a little understanding and compromise has made a happy pet.
 
I think Blitzen was a "problem animal". Whoever had him first probably realised fairly quickly that he was prone to chewing at clothes, I deliberately wore a hoodie when I handled him at first because he would pull at the clothes in an effort to get me to put him down.

But he never did anything more than that, and after a while he stopped doing it too. But I never thought he was being malicious, and yet someone else did :/
 
Lorcan said:
I think Blitzen was a "problem animal". Whoever had him first probably realised fairly quickly that he was prone to chewing at clothes, I deliberately wore a hoodie when I handled him at first because he would pull at the clothes in an effort to get me to put him down.

But he never did anything more than that, and after a while he stopped doing it too. But I never thought he was being malicious, and yet someone else did :/
Click to expand...

I think about this ‘pulling/biting clothes’ quite a lot because my hamster and Baby my Guinea Pig both do it.
I think that they know it doesn’t hurt us when they chew our clothes and it’s a good way to let us know they’re ready to go back in their cage.
While some people may see a problem behaviour I tend to see a very clever way to communicate with us without causing us pain, which is amazing really ☺️☺️
 
TheLottiediarys said:
I think about this ‘pulling/biting clothes’ quite a lot because my hamster and Baby my Guinea Pig both do it.
I think that they know it doesn’t hurt us when they chew our clothes and it’s a good way to let us know they’re ready to go back in their cage.
While some people may see a problem behaviour I tend to see a very clever way to communicate with us without causing us pain, which is amazing really ☺️☺️
Click to expand...

Comet did it too when he needed to wee and wanted put down, but he was always very gentle about it. Blitzen on the other hand acted like he was trying to pull your clothes apart the minute you picked him up.
 
Pedro made a bee-line for my long hair the moment he was cuddled, often biting off big long chunks ever so quickly :(xx
I learned to tie my hair back xx
 
My youngest guinea pig tries to bite off his nails when i pick him up. Very strange, he might grow out of it
 
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