katiepops
Adult Guinea Pig
We are so sad as we lost our piglet Stripes yesterday.
This is his story...
Stripes came to us in April 2009. I went into Pets at Home for hay and saw Stripes starring at me in the adoption centre. At 2 ½ years old his owner had given him up because he'd been fighting with his house mate. A staff member saw me chatting to him and asked if I wanted to hold him. I said to Mike, my other half, you do realise if I hold him he's probably going to come home with us. He just smiled and said as long as you're prepared for the extra mucking out!
Stripes was the most gentle and cuddly piglet, all the girls in the shop had had cuddles with him and couldn't believe he was a bully. We decided to give him a second chance and he moved in next door to our boys Spike and Gizmo.
After a few weeks we decided to introduce him to the boys. It didn't go well! Gizmo and Stripes just didn't hit it off, lots of rumble strutting and they took a flying leap at each other so were separated. Spike just carried on eating through it all! So Stripes remained the next door neighbour and they chatted over the garden fence.
We sadly lost Gizmo in January this year leaving the two single boys as neighbours. When Spike started showing signs of depression we decided to try introductions again. After one false start and a bath together the second meeting was much more successful. They lived together happily with Spike learning to tolerate Stripes's possessiveness over food. Stripes still never showed any signs of aggression, he was all talk!
Stripes was in fact such a loving guinea pig, he loved nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep on me, the closer the better, he was known as my fluffy bow tie, he liked to tuck himself under my chin.
I never forget the first time we heard him wheek for food, he was so loud! Sadly he didn't often wheek for food, choosing to let Spike do all the hard work while he chattered his teeth in impatience.
He had a bladder stone removed last November. We discover the Ratewatchers diet but sadly too late and after a couple of UTIs in as many months we suspected a second stone had formed.
We took him for his X-ray at 8.30am yesterday to find there was another stone, he was operated on straight away but didn't make it through the surgery.
Whilst we are devastated to loose our wonderful, special piglet we know he isn't in pain anymore and hope he is running free (and maybe can learn to popcorn) at the rainbow bridge.
Be good gorgeous Stripes and play nicely with Gizmo.
We are all missing you and we love you very much.
Kate and Mike x
Doing what he loved the most, playing in a huge pile of hay...
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Curling up in a cozy...
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and stuffing his face!
[/IMG]
and finally with his house mate Spike (this is the closest they ever got!)
[/IMG]
This is his story...
Stripes came to us in April 2009. I went into Pets at Home for hay and saw Stripes starring at me in the adoption centre. At 2 ½ years old his owner had given him up because he'd been fighting with his house mate. A staff member saw me chatting to him and asked if I wanted to hold him. I said to Mike, my other half, you do realise if I hold him he's probably going to come home with us. He just smiled and said as long as you're prepared for the extra mucking out!
Stripes was the most gentle and cuddly piglet, all the girls in the shop had had cuddles with him and couldn't believe he was a bully. We decided to give him a second chance and he moved in next door to our boys Spike and Gizmo.
After a few weeks we decided to introduce him to the boys. It didn't go well! Gizmo and Stripes just didn't hit it off, lots of rumble strutting and they took a flying leap at each other so were separated. Spike just carried on eating through it all! So Stripes remained the next door neighbour and they chatted over the garden fence.
We sadly lost Gizmo in January this year leaving the two single boys as neighbours. When Spike started showing signs of depression we decided to try introductions again. After one false start and a bath together the second meeting was much more successful. They lived together happily with Spike learning to tolerate Stripes's possessiveness over food. Stripes still never showed any signs of aggression, he was all talk!
Stripes was in fact such a loving guinea pig, he loved nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep on me, the closer the better, he was known as my fluffy bow tie, he liked to tuck himself under my chin.
I never forget the first time we heard him wheek for food, he was so loud! Sadly he didn't often wheek for food, choosing to let Spike do all the hard work while he chattered his teeth in impatience.
He had a bladder stone removed last November. We discover the Ratewatchers diet but sadly too late and after a couple of UTIs in as many months we suspected a second stone had formed.
We took him for his X-ray at 8.30am yesterday to find there was another stone, he was operated on straight away but didn't make it through the surgery.
Whilst we are devastated to loose our wonderful, special piglet we know he isn't in pain anymore and hope he is running free (and maybe can learn to popcorn) at the rainbow bridge.
Be good gorgeous Stripes and play nicely with Gizmo.
We are all missing you and we love you very much.
Kate and Mike x
Doing what he loved the most, playing in a huge pile of hay...
Curling up in a cozy...
and stuffing his face!
and finally with his house mate Spike (this is the closest they ever got!)
You wrote such a moving tribute to your beautiful boy.
