I Think Beans Is Coming To The End Of Her Time

[VickiA]

Wise words there from @Wiebke.

I, like many others on here, know exactly what you are feeling. The realisation dawns in all of us at some point that our furries' time with us is limited. I remember it well with Mrs Fudge - the gradual development of bony shoulders in one who had looked like an over stuffed cushion all her life; the gradual hearing loss and reliance on movement to wake her up when she was dozing; the slowing down and dozing all the time.

We had a great last few months. I told her every day how much I loved her, and did all I could to make her comfortable and happy. She became less feisty towards the end and mellowed with us. When the time came I had no regrets at all about the life I had given her and she had enjoyed the best of care.

The same applies to your Beans. Make each day count. Show her the love you have always shown her and do not worry about the inevitable day you will have to say goodbye. Time with our piggies is short and precious. Just treasure your time together xx

 

[Beans&Toast]

Wise words there from @Wiebke.

I, like many others on here, know exactly what you are feeling. The realisation dawns in all of us at some point that our furries' time with us is limited. I remember it well with Mrs Fudge - the gradual development of bony shoulders in one who had looked like an over stuffed cushion all her life; the gradual hearing loss and reliance on movement to wake her up when she was dozing; the slowing down and dozing all the time.

We had a great last few months. I told her every day how much I loved her, and did all I could to make her comfortable and happy. She became less feisty towards the end and mellowed with us. When the time came I had no regrets at all about the life I had given her and she had enjoyed the best of care.

The same applies to your Beans. Make each day count. Show her the love you have always shown her and do not worry about the inevitable day you will have to say goodbye. Time with our piggies is short and precious. Just treasure your time together xx

Thank you. I knew you would all understand. I've had a lot of "but it's just a guinea pig" from people. She's not just a guinea pig, she's not just a pet she's a part of my family and she's the most loving, grumpy, beautiful soul I've came across and I'm going to spend every possible minute with her and make sure she knows how loved she is.

 

[Gem789]

Thanks everyone. I really am greatful for your help and advice.

This may sound ridiculous or over the top but my pigs really are like my best friends.
I have such severe anxiety that I don't really go out (apart from work) and find socialising stressful and difficult so I spent most of my free time with them and I wouldn't change it for the world. I've developed such a close bond with them both. Apart from being worried about Beans, I'm so worried for Toast. Although Toast is the boss (she's not really, Beans just let's her think she is) she follows Beans around like a shadow, she needs her a bit more than Beans needs her so I'm quite anxious for when Beans' time does come.. I know Toast will take it badly.

I also have anxiety and am on antidepressants which are also supposed to help with anxiety but they make little difference and I find it hard to go out and socialise so I know how you feel there.I get so attached to my piggies too and hate thinking of them getting older and not being here one day but as others have said cherish each day and give them a great life till their time comes like you are doing now xx

 

[TAN]

I am so sorry - I am going through this with Truffles at the moment - she and her dearly departed sister noodles were our first ever pigs - I posted on here a few months ago that I thought that Truffles would go soon - but she is still here - only today her coat seems in poor condition and her weight is stable at 840gs - which is no where near her prime of life weight which was over 1100gms - she too eats and sleeps and moves very little - perhaps ask your vet if you can give a little metacam daily just to ease any aches and pains - as she may have arthritis - as many pigs seem to develop it in their spine and knees (Bumble had it in his knees because it showed up on a CT scan ) Reg had it quite badly in his spine (we only found this out when he was x rayed for bladder stones ) and Truffles has it in her hip - (one of the reasons she was loosing weight - because she wasn't moving around so much to get to food ) - if Truffles lasts until 14th December she will be 7 - she is my daughters pig and my daughter comes home from university on 8th December - I m hoping my daughter gets to give her a final cuddle.

Your piggy is very lucky to have such a wonderful piggy mum xx

 

[Beans&Toast]

I am so sorry - I am going through this with Truffles at the moment - she and her dearly departed sister noodles were our first ever pigs - I posted on here a few months ago that I thought that Truffles would go soon - but she is still here - only today her coat seems in poor condition and her weight is stable at 840gs - which is no where near her prime of life weight which was over 1100gms - she too eats and sleeps and moves very little - perhaps ask your vet if you can give a little metacam daily just to ease any aches and pains - as she may have arthritis - as many pigs seem to develop it in their spine and knees (Bumble had it in his knees because it showed up on a CT scan ) Reg had it quite badly in his spine (we only found this out when he was x rayed for bladder stones ) and Truffles has it in her hip - (one of the reasons she was loosing weight - because she wasn't moving around so much to get to food ) - if Truffles lasts until 14th December she will be 7 - she is my daughters pig and my daughter comes home from university on 8th December - I m hoping my daughter gets to give her a final cuddle.

Your piggy is very lucky to have such a wonderful piggy mum xx

I'm sorry about your Truffles. It's so horrible being so helpless isn't it.
Beans was always around 1160g, never really changed from the apart from the past couple months it's been a gradual decline down to what she is now at 1020g.

I hope she makes it to her 7th Birthday, what a great age

 

[Poppy'sMum]

I'm going through the same thing with Ziggy my 5 1/2 year old & the last of my original trio I took her to the vet's on Friday & seems she is a heart pig, the only symptoms were recent changes in her breathing, no other symptoms at all She is now on heart meds but it could be just days before I lose her forever. Treasure each precious day & if you feel something is wrong but can't pinpoint it get her checked for heart etc x

 

[Beans&Toast]

I'm going through the same thing with Ziggy my 5 1/2 year old & the last of my original trio I took her to the vet's on Friday & seems she is a heart pig, the only symptoms were recent changes in her breathing, no other symptoms at all She is now on heart meds but it could be just days before I lose her forever. Treasure each precious day & if you feel something is wrong but can't pinpoint it get her checked for heart etc x

I'm so sorry that's horrible news. However long she's got left I hope she's as comfortable as possible, she'll know she's loved.

Beans has been seen quite a lot lately due to her spay and then pulling her stitches out so I'm confident there's nothing like that wrong with her. She has cataracts and she could very well have arthritis, but I don't think I'd be willing to put her through an x-ray to find out. She is otherwise healthy, just aging now. I'm going to take her and talk about what I can do to keep her comfortable, a dose of pain relief once a day maybe. X

 

[Beckybex]

I'm sooo sorry to read this. Sending u big hugs hunny x

 

[Poppy'sMum]

I wouldn't be nervous of the vet suggesting a small daily dose of Metacam for her if she has arthritis, my Petal was on 0.1 ml twice a day for almost 3 years with no problems. She had arthritis in her stifles/hocks. My vet did a conscious x ray on Ziggy on Friday, she has a large shadow in her chest which is either the heart very enlarged or a tumour growing so we are on 6 lots of meds to see if anything helps. She isn't a cuddly pig but it still hurts to see them deteriorate, you have my sympathy x

 

[Beans&Toast]

I'm sooo sorry to read this. Sending you big hugs hunny x

Thank you. We all know it's going to happen but it's so heartbreaking when it does. I'm going to make the most of however long I've got left with her x

 

[Beckybex]

Thank you. We all know it's going to happen but it's so heartbreaking when it does. I'm going to make the most of however long I've got left with her x

We lost our dog a few months ago. It's Hart breaking every pet gets to be such a big part Of The family. Spoil her rotten and make the most of her. x

 

[Freela]

How old were you told that she was? Just curious- sometimes it's impossible to know for sure.

For what it's worth, my old girl, Sundae, is 6.5 years. We could see her begin to thin out and look elderly at around age 5 or so. A year ago last month a friend babysat her while we were on vacation and I was worried about her. I remember my friend asking me how long I expected her to live and my guess at the time was a few more months. But.... here we are 13 months later and she is much the same as ever... still looks elderly, but it still doing her daily routine with very little difference except for increasing cataracts/decreasing vision. So it's very hard to put a timeline on things. Looking and acting elderly doesn't necessarily mean that their number is coming up right away, though it is hard to watch, and I know that I will miss Sundae a lot when she does go. But I will know that she had a good life and exceeding the span I would have guessed for her several times over!

 

[Beans&Toast]

How old were you told that she was? Just curious- sometimes it's impossible to know for sure.

For what it's worth, my old girl, Sundae, is 6.5 years. We could see her begin to thin out and look elderly at around age 5 or so. A year ago last month a friend babysat her while we were on vacation and I was worried about her. I remember my friend asking me how long I expected her to live and my guess at the time was a few more months. But.... here we are 13 months later and she is much the same as ever... still looks elderly, but it still doing her daily routine with very little difference except for increasing cataracts/decreasing vision. So it's very hard to put a timeline on things. Looking and acting elderly doesn't necessarily mean that their number is coming up right away, though it is hard to watch, and I know that I will miss Sundae a lot when she does go. But I will know that she had a good life and exceeding the span I would have guessed for her several times over!

I was told she was around 2 but when I took her to my vets for a check up they thought more 4 or 5 even. Although it's impossible to guess their age, but this was based on her general condition and health. Even I doubted she was only 2.

With Sundae, does she walk into things at all? Since Beans' cataracts is progressing I've notice she startles more easily (understandably) and she often walks into things...

I think she's still got a lot of fight left in her, she still headbuts me if I pet her when she doesn't want to be petted, but she is slowly deteriorating. I don't know what kind of life she had before coming to me, she was an unwanted children's pet, but she's had an amazing life since and I'll be pampering her every day.

 

[Freela]

I was told she was around 2 but when I took her to my vets for a check up they thought more 4 or 5 even. Although it's impossible to guess their age, but this was based on her general condition and health. Even I doubted she was only 2.

With Sundae, does she walk into things at all? Since Beans' cataracts is progressing I've notice she startles more easily (understandably) and she often walks into things...

I think she's still got a lot of fight left in her, she still headbuts me if I pet her when she doesn't want to be petted, but she is slowly deteriorating. I don't know what kind of life she had before coming to me, she was an unwanted children's pet, but she's had an amazing life since and I'll be pampering her every day.

Sundae did bump into things when she was first going blind. She also obviously had a very hard time judging distance and would make clumsy perceptual errors- for instance, we have a cage set-up at ground level- for floor time I will open the door and then can make one little step up and then walk down the door like a ramp. Sundae had a really hard time finding the door and then getting down it... she tended to trip over the step, or try to make a big jump and end up landing awkwardly on the ramp. I think she hurt her feet a couple of times and then was reluctant to even try to get out (Sundae has always been the cautious type. One bad experience would put her off things for months!) However, this awkward stage really only lasted a few months until she adjusted and went back to navigating things really well. I assume she either just adapted and learned to compensate with her other senses, or else her vision actually got worse and having no vision was easier for her than having poor vision/distorted vision with poor depth perception. Most of her issues seemed to come from judging distances until such time as she either adjusted to her new normal or stopped having enough vision to even try to rely on it. At any rate, if you say her now you really would not think she was blind. The only real telltale sign I see now is that she periodically stands up really high on her front feet with her head in the air, which she never did before. I think she is either smelling or listening and that she does this to compensate for lack of vision. She does it a lot more in less familiar surroundings (i.e. outdoors.) So Beans may well adjust vision-wise over time. I agree it's really hard seeing them deteriorate... I feel the same looking at my older pigs. But sometimes, like people, the deterioration is a longer process due to age and not a rapid decline due to illness, so it can be very tricky to estimate longevity based on when a piggy starts to look old.