My beautiful old lady Iris, longest resident of the modern piggy room, trotted off on her own terms to the Rainbow Bridge while we were away on holiday. She was in good health and cheerful in temperament to the last.
She joined our family in January 2020 at a time when I was initially looking for an extra sow to join Ralph & Holly. Ralph rudely detested her at first sight and gave her marching orders, but when I suddenly lost Felix, Evie needed a companion and the two became good friends.
Iris & Evie were joined by my failed foster Boris who needed a wife and couldn’t go dating due to lockdown restrictions and they lived happily as a trio until little Hazel joined them after losing her companions.
Iris was a rather insecure 2nd in command to Evie, which earned her the nickname “Intimidating Iris”. After Evie’s death she became herd leader in a very calm, quiet manner and was never really involved in much strife. She was good natured, friendly, and could usually be found sunning herself in whatever she deemed to be the best bed of the day.
As one by one she lost her companions and, as I knew I wanted to break the cycle of piggy parenting, she was joined by a beautiful young pair of babies, from Merrypigs. Sadly this arrangement lasted only until teenage hormones kicked in and one little mischief maker (Guinevere) had to be returned to the rescue. Since then, Iris has lived in peace and harmony with her companion Venetia (Mouse).
Prior to Iris’ passing, no piggy of mine in the last 30 years has made their own way to the Rainbow Bridge. I’ve always had to make that decision for them. It’s bittersweet that Iris chose her own time to join her friends while I was away on holiday. But I’m hugely reassured that she was happy, eating hay & veggies and pottering around her cage the night before. She was in good health apart from some arthritis in her spine and loved her twice daily arthrocam. I knew she couldn’t live forever, but the timing still took me by surprise.
I’m so grateful to Merrypigs for allowing Iris to have this wonderful companionship and for Mouse to now have an opportunity to find a new companion of her own.
Iris’s departure has brought to an end my 30 year period of being a Piggy parent. I think she knew how very precious she was to us. She certainly enjoyed many chin rubs while I told her each day how beautiful she was. I am really going to miss her funny little ways :
The constant hooting after she’d been in the hay (took several vet trips in the early days to realise this was just her normal behaviour due to narrowed airways)
The coughing and choking during every salad time (teeth checked multiple times) She was just a rather over enthusiastic food scoffer.
The way she tested at least 4 different pellets, spitting them out back into the bowl before eating the “chosen one” and leaving a real mess.
The bar biting to tell me to hurry up with dinner
The rattlesnake teeth chattering to tell me to get on with cleaning out her hay trays and let her get back in there again
The gentle chin lifting when I gave her a chin rub
Her love of “death nap” poses that had me shared so many times
The comical way she relaxed in my arms so dramatically by going floppy with a big outtake of breath that had me so alarmed for the first year or so.
There’s so much I’m going to miss about her.
I’m not going anywhere btw. After a short break to redecorate and reclaim my dining room I will be providing short term foster care and helping with rehoming for pairs or singles as I have done in the past. There just won’t be any more herds of my own.
Here she is meeting Evie (she was 4 months at the time)
And cheekily pinching Evie’s bed…
Sharing a house with Boris
Her usual beautiful pose in the hay
Hurry Up!
Christmas
Carrot Cottage Destroyer…
Loving her Forage mat from the last Potteries Christmas fair and dragging it into her castle
One of her final photos - enjoying lawn time on the Spring grass.
She joined our family in January 2020 at a time when I was initially looking for an extra sow to join Ralph & Holly. Ralph rudely detested her at first sight and gave her marching orders, but when I suddenly lost Felix, Evie needed a companion and the two became good friends.
Iris & Evie were joined by my failed foster Boris who needed a wife and couldn’t go dating due to lockdown restrictions and they lived happily as a trio until little Hazel joined them after losing her companions.
Iris was a rather insecure 2nd in command to Evie, which earned her the nickname “Intimidating Iris”. After Evie’s death she became herd leader in a very calm, quiet manner and was never really involved in much strife. She was good natured, friendly, and could usually be found sunning herself in whatever she deemed to be the best bed of the day.
As one by one she lost her companions and, as I knew I wanted to break the cycle of piggy parenting, she was joined by a beautiful young pair of babies, from Merrypigs. Sadly this arrangement lasted only until teenage hormones kicked in and one little mischief maker (Guinevere) had to be returned to the rescue. Since then, Iris has lived in peace and harmony with her companion Venetia (Mouse).
Prior to Iris’ passing, no piggy of mine in the last 30 years has made their own way to the Rainbow Bridge. I’ve always had to make that decision for them. It’s bittersweet that Iris chose her own time to join her friends while I was away on holiday. But I’m hugely reassured that she was happy, eating hay & veggies and pottering around her cage the night before. She was in good health apart from some arthritis in her spine and loved her twice daily arthrocam. I knew she couldn’t live forever, but the timing still took me by surprise.
I’m so grateful to Merrypigs for allowing Iris to have this wonderful companionship and for Mouse to now have an opportunity to find a new companion of her own.
Iris’s departure has brought to an end my 30 year period of being a Piggy parent. I think she knew how very precious she was to us. She certainly enjoyed many chin rubs while I told her each day how beautiful she was. I am really going to miss her funny little ways :
The constant hooting after she’d been in the hay (took several vet trips in the early days to realise this was just her normal behaviour due to narrowed airways)
The coughing and choking during every salad time (teeth checked multiple times) She was just a rather over enthusiastic food scoffer.
The way she tested at least 4 different pellets, spitting them out back into the bowl before eating the “chosen one” and leaving a real mess.
The bar biting to tell me to hurry up with dinner
The rattlesnake teeth chattering to tell me to get on with cleaning out her hay trays and let her get back in there again
The gentle chin lifting when I gave her a chin rub
Her love of “death nap” poses that had me shared so many times
The comical way she relaxed in my arms so dramatically by going floppy with a big outtake of breath that had me so alarmed for the first year or so.
There’s so much I’m going to miss about her.
I’m not going anywhere btw. After a short break to redecorate and reclaim my dining room I will be providing short term foster care and helping with rehoming for pairs or singles as I have done in the past. There just won’t be any more herds of my own.
Here she is meeting Evie (she was 4 months at the time)
And cheekily pinching Evie’s bed…
Sharing a house with Boris
Her usual beautiful pose in the hay
Hurry Up!
Christmas
Carrot Cottage Destroyer…
Loving her Forage mat from the last Potteries Christmas fair and dragging it into her castle
One of her final photos - enjoying lawn time on the Spring grass.
The love you shared shines through in this amazing heartfelt tribute 
with all of your friends and watch over those you've left behind 
She lived a lovely long life with you 
