Eriathwen
Adult Guinea Pig
Yesterday we unexpectedly lost our handsome little satin Finley.
In 2019 I lost Leonard, one of my special osteodystrophy warriors, I was absolutely devastated.. I realised while I had been giving my all caring for him, I hadn't stocked up on veggies for the others so as I sat down from collecting his ashes I went online to try to order some before everything closed for Christmas. The first page I opened was a selling site, and immediately a little cream satin caught my eye, living in a box.
Having just lost Leonard, I knew the possible fate of this little piggy, so I quickly enquired about him. It turned out he needed to be kept alone due to aggressively injuring his brother after he had been used for breeding, I often wonder how Finleys little kids are doing and where they are
hopefully not also suffering from osteodystrophy somewhere..
Anyway, needing to be alone plus the possibility of having osteodystrophy in a home not equipped to deal with it saw us travelling through the snow Christmas eve to collect the little man and hopefully give him a better life than he was being set up for.
He was absolutely beautiful, confident and friendly, daft and LOUD!
He had been kept in a plastic tote with no sign of any water since falling out with his brother, he got home to his C and C cage and drank, ran around and spoke to the other piggies! I wasnt too sure what to do with him, but he was at least safe.
Finley grew into a big, handsome adult, after moving house he was neutered and bonded with Tilly and Hazel, who he absolutely adored! They tolerated his antics and taught him good behaviour
Upon losing Hazel he also bonded with Lily who matched his cheeky personality.
In February of this year I was gutted to see he had began to show signs of OD, bunny hopping a little and beginning to stiffen in the hind legs. He began his painkillers and lived his life again happily and normally as far as we could tell!
Every morning and every evening he would sit and take his meds from me, receiving a little scritch on the nose for being such a good boy!
Unfortunately Wednesday night I went in to find him fluffed up and bloated, immediately starting first aid with motility meds, vibrations and massaging. As morning came he began burping up awful smelling gas and was rushed into our vet as soon as they opened, I had been so unwell in the night trying to care for him I hadn't been able to get him seen out of hours.
He was hospitalised and xrayed, given high doses of pain medication but they didn't even begin to touch how much pain he was in. Options were to pts or try removing the gas under sedation, he was at risk of developing GDV (twisted stomach).. I opted to try removing the gas, to alleviate his pain that way and hopefully buy him time to begin passing it properly himself as he was now pooping very well.
20ml of gas was removed from his stomach.. but sadly as he was waking up in recovery he very suddenly declined and passed away
Finley.. I'm so sorry I couldn't find a way to help, I'm sorry we couldn't make it better. I have agonised over whether I made the right call considering you were one of my palliatives, but you were such a strong 'pale warrior' like the name I'd given you, you deserved the opportunity to fight.
I hope you heard the lady at the crematorium saying how beautiful you were.. thankyou for sending the rainbow as we left, to let us know you had arrived safely. I hope you found Hazel and the others up there
❤ sleep well little man.
In 2019 I lost Leonard, one of my special osteodystrophy warriors, I was absolutely devastated.. I realised while I had been giving my all caring for him, I hadn't stocked up on veggies for the others so as I sat down from collecting his ashes I went online to try to order some before everything closed for Christmas. The first page I opened was a selling site, and immediately a little cream satin caught my eye, living in a box.
Having just lost Leonard, I knew the possible fate of this little piggy, so I quickly enquired about him. It turned out he needed to be kept alone due to aggressively injuring his brother after he had been used for breeding, I often wonder how Finleys little kids are doing and where they are
hopefully not also suffering from osteodystrophy somewhere..Anyway, needing to be alone plus the possibility of having osteodystrophy in a home not equipped to deal with it saw us travelling through the snow Christmas eve to collect the little man and hopefully give him a better life than he was being set up for.
He was absolutely beautiful, confident and friendly, daft and LOUD!
He had been kept in a plastic tote with no sign of any water since falling out with his brother, he got home to his C and C cage and drank, ran around and spoke to the other piggies! I wasnt too sure what to do with him, but he was at least safe.
Finley grew into a big, handsome adult, after moving house he was neutered and bonded with Tilly and Hazel, who he absolutely adored! They tolerated his antics and taught him good behaviour
Upon losing Hazel he also bonded with Lily who matched his cheeky personality.
In February of this year I was gutted to see he had began to show signs of OD, bunny hopping a little and beginning to stiffen in the hind legs. He began his painkillers and lived his life again happily and normally as far as we could tell!
Every morning and every evening he would sit and take his meds from me, receiving a little scritch on the nose for being such a good boy!
Unfortunately Wednesday night I went in to find him fluffed up and bloated, immediately starting first aid with motility meds, vibrations and massaging. As morning came he began burping up awful smelling gas and was rushed into our vet as soon as they opened, I had been so unwell in the night trying to care for him I hadn't been able to get him seen out of hours.
He was hospitalised and xrayed, given high doses of pain medication but they didn't even begin to touch how much pain he was in. Options were to pts or try removing the gas under sedation, he was at risk of developing GDV (twisted stomach).. I opted to try removing the gas, to alleviate his pain that way and hopefully buy him time to begin passing it properly himself as he was now pooping very well.
20ml of gas was removed from his stomach.. but sadly as he was waking up in recovery he very suddenly declined and passed away
Finley.. I'm so sorry I couldn't find a way to help, I'm sorry we couldn't make it better. I have agonised over whether I made the right call considering you were one of my palliatives, but you were such a strong 'pale warrior' like the name I'd given you, you deserved the opportunity to fight.
I hope you heard the lady at the crematorium saying how beautiful you were.. thankyou for sending the rainbow as we left, to let us know you had arrived safely. I hope you found Hazel and the others up there
❤ sleep well little man.
You have given him a lovely life and I'm sure he was happy being with you. 
