A Binary Star Enters Our Orbit

Two stars, bound together by gravity, orbiting a shared center. Welcome Starla and Stella, named for the night sky.

We were beginning to believe that the sum of owning guinea pigs was dealing with murderpig outbursts accompanied by large vet bills. Then Starla and Stella joined us. We were on edge, waiting for the fighting to start between the two of them, for dissatisfaction to be made known, or for yet another reason to be running off to the vet. Instead, we saw two pigs who seem to like each other.

The girls were surrendered to the rescue, apparently never having been to the vet. Both had ovarian cysts, which showed up in Stella as fur loss, and so they were spayed. This is what brought them onto our radar as possible candidates to bond with our intact boar Tangent. That didn’t work out, but it wasn’t for lack of the girls trying.

Starla is a Zen Warrior with more than three years of training under her belt. As Top Pig, she prefers to stay stoic and act when necessary. She is a big girl with an equally big wheek, which she uses liberally when food is due. At her first visit with our vet, she let the tech know exactly how she felt about getting her exam, and then followed up with an all-is-now-well lick.

Stella is the introverted one, with butt hair that goes on for days. One look at us, with her chin raised just-so and her mouth slightly open, and we’re jumping to do her bidding. She spends a lot of her day in slightly hidden places where she can still see everything. Lap time is a work in progress, and her current strategy is to decline all treats and dive for cover underneath Starla.

When they enjoy side-by-side naps and gentle nose touches, or give each other space, we finally see what it means to have bonded pigs. Two stars, bound together by gravity, orbiting a shared center.