ellie_jo3213
Teenage Guinea Pig
Schoffers sadly died last night.
She'd been having on going teeth problems for the past 2 1/2 years. She'd stopped eating hay and veg after the past two dentals and was not her happy self any more. She would only eat soaked mash nuggets in the end and was not able to put on any weight for the past few months despite syringe feeding and tempting with all her favorite foods.
As a family we made the heart breaking decision that when she stopped eating we would put her to sleep as it was not fair on her to keep her going and suffering.
She stopped eating on Wednesday night, and I drove back home from Bristol on Thursday with the mindset that we would say goodbye and put her to sleep on Friday.
But an hour before I arrived home, she had died in my mothers arms, and I never got to say goodbye.
I am sort of glad that she went on her own, at home with the family, but I also feel she should have been helped along sooner so she wouldn't have had to suffer, but I dont know if she even did suffer or felt any pain at all when she died. Its very difficult to know if I should have done something sooner.
The most upsetting thing is that although Schoffers was not the tamest or friendliest of things, she hated being picked up or anything. But when my mum found her uncoordinated and disorientated in the cage she went to pick her up, and for the first time ever she jumped into my mums arms and snuggled, then a few minutes later she died.
I recently found this video of her that I took when she was about 1 years old, and I realised how much she had changed.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZVpnX4g_mQ"]pig - YouTube[/ame]
She always used to run about like a loon and run into things like in the video! Makes me laugh everytime I watch it! But these days she would have a nibble of the veg we gave her and then spend the rest of the night sitting on one of her various beds by the radiator! She had gone to look and act very old over the past few months.
Thank you to everyone who gave support and advise over the past few years, it really meant a lot.
Elinor.
Thought I'd share some pictures of her in her last few months:
She loved spending time sat by the radiator ...
...or sneaking on to one of my blankets, this one was one of her faves. It was so soft and furry she used to slide about on it!
She quite liked this one I made for her.
From a young age she was always so mischievous and nosey, she'd always tip over and sneak into the hay bag when I cleaned her cage. I'd shoo she away but as soon as I turned my back she was in the bag again pulling out the hay (not eating it!). Over the past few months, the only way we could get her interested in some hay was to put it in a bag, so she'd sneak in and eat a bit! She wouldn't look at it if it was loose in the cage or on the floor! Silly old pig.
She'd been having on going teeth problems for the past 2 1/2 years. She'd stopped eating hay and veg after the past two dentals and was not her happy self any more. She would only eat soaked mash nuggets in the end and was not able to put on any weight for the past few months despite syringe feeding and tempting with all her favorite foods.
As a family we made the heart breaking decision that when she stopped eating we would put her to sleep as it was not fair on her to keep her going and suffering.
She stopped eating on Wednesday night, and I drove back home from Bristol on Thursday with the mindset that we would say goodbye and put her to sleep on Friday.
But an hour before I arrived home, she had died in my mothers arms, and I never got to say goodbye.
I am sort of glad that she went on her own, at home with the family, but I also feel she should have been helped along sooner so she wouldn't have had to suffer, but I dont know if she even did suffer or felt any pain at all when she died. Its very difficult to know if I should have done something sooner.
The most upsetting thing is that although Schoffers was not the tamest or friendliest of things, she hated being picked up or anything. But when my mum found her uncoordinated and disorientated in the cage she went to pick her up, and for the first time ever she jumped into my mums arms and snuggled, then a few minutes later she died.
I recently found this video of her that I took when she was about 1 years old, and I realised how much she had changed.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZVpnX4g_mQ"]pig - YouTube[/ame]
She always used to run about like a loon and run into things like in the video! Makes me laugh everytime I watch it! But these days she would have a nibble of the veg we gave her and then spend the rest of the night sitting on one of her various beds by the radiator! She had gone to look and act very old over the past few months.
Thank you to everyone who gave support and advise over the past few years, it really meant a lot.
Elinor.
Thought I'd share some pictures of her in her last few months:
She loved spending time sat by the radiator ...
...or sneaking on to one of my blankets, this one was one of her faves. It was so soft and furry she used to slide about on it!
She quite liked this one I made for her.
From a young age she was always so mischievous and nosey, she'd always tip over and sneak into the hay bag when I cleaned her cage. I'd shoo she away but as soon as I turned my back she was in the bag again pulling out the hay (not eating it!). Over the past few months, the only way we could get her interested in some hay was to put it in a bag, so she'd sneak in and eat a bit! She wouldn't look at it if it was loose in the cage or on the floor! Silly old pig.
It's not easy deciding to let them go, but when they make the choice for you, you know that it would have been the right thing anyway.
schoffers seemed like a great piggy
