This is her story
BACK FROM THE DEAD
Lil' Dude is lucky to see the light of day considering he died last night. Let me explain ...
Last night Dude (on the right) and his cage mate Dodgy were fed fresh grass. I moved onto another cage to feed other pigs but was stopped in my tracks by a strange sound - a high pitched gasping sound. Glancing in the direction of the noise, I noticed Dude with his head tilted back, g...asping and running around with a wobbly gait. These are the moments in a cavy carers life that we never want to happen. I realised he was CHOKING!
I grabbed him & turned him head down and jiggled him in an effort to dislodge the food. He continued to gasp ... I examined inside his mouth and could see the green stains of grass, but nothing solid. I turned him upside down again & gave another more serious jolting movements. He continued to gasp and my desperation increased as I could feel his little body going limp. Again I checked his mouth (with tweezers at the ready) but obviously the food was lodged further down!
And then he gave a final gasp and died.
I can remember yelling "NO!" at the top of my voice, as he lay lifeless in my lap. I opened his mouth and poked my little finger down his throat as far as i could, and pressed down at the same time in order to create a space for air to flow. This is a whole lot easier to do when your patient is dead and offers no resistence.
At the same time, with my other hand, I applied pressure to his rib cage, on and off. And then ... he gasped ... a big gasp ... and then a series of small desperate breathes. My hands were shaking ... I cried and I kissed him
