Last night my beloved China slipped away peacefully. 8... 
Quite timid (and a little eccentric) for most of his 5 and a half years and never the healthiest but in more recent times China really came into his own and coped with the loss of life-long companion Harvey 7 weeks ago much, much better than I had anticipated - indeed, these past few weeks China seemed more alert and vibrant than he had been for along time.
So, all had seemed well - on Wednesday evening I thought China seemed a little less vigorous than he had been recently but still seemed perfectly okay when out for his daily excercise in the living room and I didn't see anything to worry about. On Thursday night though he seemed very sleepy and, although he took food, it wasn't with his usual enthusiasm (although he'd had spells like this before and perked up again). When I woke up on Friday morning he was just lying there sleepy, then seemed to struggle to stand, with a back leg flailing, and not interested even in dandelion leaves. The vet said he appeared anaemic, as his lips were very pale and one kidney seemed a bit enlarged but didn't appear to be in any pain. I had to see how he responded to the antiobiotic but the vet said it may take until Monday to see significant improvement - if any would be forthcoming, we just had to wait and hope).
China lay across our knees quietly for about 3 hours last night and seemed tired but comfortable. I was just thinking of trying to give him some critical care and then pop him in his bed for the night when he started gently twitching as if he had the hiccups, a couple of quiet little squeeks and I heard the noise that sounded like breath coming out his nose (a sound that I'd never heard before). Laying on his side, China's left eye seemed wide open and staring and I think he just gently slipped away around that point, but was so gentle and peaceful I wasn't aware of the exact moment.
I had written here in my Harvey RB thread that I so hoped to make the absolute most of loving and comforting China through his remaining days as a lone pig and hopefully it would be some time before I'd have to go through the pain of loss again. As fate would have it, not that long as it turned out, just 7 weeks and a day but I'm grateful that I had these past happy weeks with China, that he was well until maybe 24 hours before his peaceful passing and that he didn't suffer.
This morning I took China to:
http://www.pet-crematorium.co.uk/site/
for almost, but not quite a final good-bye as I will have the ashes to collect next week. I still have Harvey's wee box in a safe place and on a day when the sun is shining I plan to go to a nice spot and scatter them together.
Losing Harvey was truly devastating but at least I still had China - now they've both gone and the house seems so empty. I will clean and remove the cage this afternoon as, although it will be hard to see the empty space where it stood, it's worse to look at the empty cage, still with hay and food that will never be eaten.
I'm not sure what to do next, such is the pain of these losses I really question whether I can go through this over again while conversely I also feel I want to experience the joy of owning guinea pigs again. I don't know, I'm thinking perhaps to wait until next spring and see how I feel then.
Quite timid (and a little eccentric) for most of his 5 and a half years and never the healthiest but in more recent times China really came into his own and coped with the loss of life-long companion Harvey 7 weeks ago much, much better than I had anticipated - indeed, these past few weeks China seemed more alert and vibrant than he had been for along time.
So, all had seemed well - on Wednesday evening I thought China seemed a little less vigorous than he had been recently but still seemed perfectly okay when out for his daily excercise in the living room and I didn't see anything to worry about. On Thursday night though he seemed very sleepy and, although he took food, it wasn't with his usual enthusiasm (although he'd had spells like this before and perked up again). When I woke up on Friday morning he was just lying there sleepy, then seemed to struggle to stand, with a back leg flailing, and not interested even in dandelion leaves. The vet said he appeared anaemic, as his lips were very pale and one kidney seemed a bit enlarged but didn't appear to be in any pain. I had to see how he responded to the antiobiotic but the vet said it may take until Monday to see significant improvement - if any would be forthcoming, we just had to wait and hope).
China lay across our knees quietly for about 3 hours last night and seemed tired but comfortable. I was just thinking of trying to give him some critical care and then pop him in his bed for the night when he started gently twitching as if he had the hiccups, a couple of quiet little squeeks and I heard the noise that sounded like breath coming out his nose (a sound that I'd never heard before). Laying on his side, China's left eye seemed wide open and staring and I think he just gently slipped away around that point, but was so gentle and peaceful I wasn't aware of the exact moment.
I had written here in my Harvey RB thread that I so hoped to make the absolute most of loving and comforting China through his remaining days as a lone pig and hopefully it would be some time before I'd have to go through the pain of loss again. As fate would have it, not that long as it turned out, just 7 weeks and a day but I'm grateful that I had these past happy weeks with China, that he was well until maybe 24 hours before his peaceful passing and that he didn't suffer.
This morning I took China to:
http://www.pet-crematorium.co.uk/site/
for almost, but not quite a final good-bye as I will have the ashes to collect next week. I still have Harvey's wee box in a safe place and on a day when the sun is shining I plan to go to a nice spot and scatter them together.
Losing Harvey was truly devastating but at least I still had China - now they've both gone and the house seems so empty. I will clean and remove the cage this afternoon as, although it will be hard to see the empty space where it stood, it's worse to look at the empty cage, still with hay and food that will never be eaten.
I'm not sure what to do next, such is the pain of these losses I really question whether I can go through this over again while conversely I also feel I want to experience the joy of owning guinea pigs again. I don't know, I'm thinking perhaps to wait until next spring and see how I feel then.
