INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Cavy Haven website.

The guinea pig, also known as the cavy (pronounced kay-vee), is becoming an increasingly popular pet in the Western World. It has, in the past, been regarded primarily as a children's pet and indeed it is a superb choice for a child, but ever more adults are becoming smitten too.

Why another guinea pig website?

When we, as a family, got our first two guinea pigs we also bought some books and searched for websites on the subject - eager to soak up all the information we could find on their care and welfare. However, what we discovered was that many books were, in some aspects, rather 'samey' and in others, conflicting and confusing. We also found many inconsistencies in the information on offer on websites.

Going to shows and talking to many very experienced cavy keepers revealed that much of their advice conflicted with that found in the books and on some of the websites. But as time went on and we started to gain our own experience, we learned that hands-on experience was far more valuable than any of the literature.

Thus was conceived the idea of putting together this website which is based on experience rather than an amalgamation of, in some cases, bad advice and information which has evolved through the various books that have been commercially commissioned to be written by professional authors rather than by experienced guinea pig owners.

Everybody in the cavy world has their own story to tell of successes & failures, rights & wrongs, likes & dislikes etc. This in itself is a clear illustration of the fact that there are no hard and fast rules or difinitive answers, but I firmly believe that hands-on experience is the best way to learn!

Thus this website is really a means of passing on the benefit of my experience, coupled with my qualification from the British Association of Rodentologists (BAR), and learning from the Cambridge Cavy Trust (CCT)