PB&U
New Born Pup
Hi everyone,
A few months ago I lost Pinto, and writing a little bit about him here really helped me process his death and celebrate his life. I just recently lost another one of my boys, Ueli, and I wanted to do the same for him.
I purchased Ueli from a pet store when he was just a few months old. I now realize there are a surplus of Guinea pigs who need homes, and you should adopt or find someone rehoming, but at the time I didn’t know any better. I am glad I made this transgression though, otherwise I would have never met Ueli. He caught our eye with his shiny black coat, and his adorable little white racing stripe on his nose.
I chose the name Ueli, in remembrance of the great Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck. Little did I know that Ueli would live up to his name, as out of my 3 pigs he was always the one climbing on top of his pigloos and tunnels! You could tell from the get go that Ueli was a super smart piggy, and he was so handsome and dapper.
A few years into having Ueli, he developed a bladder stone. We had it removed, in hopes that he wouldn’t develop anymore. I’m happy to report for the remaining years of his life, he never got another one! During his recovery time and critical care feedings, we got so much closer, and his personality just started to shine through even more.
Ueli would always stand sentry, sitting in the corner of his cage waiting for love or food (probably mostly food
!). Even though they got their morning treats around 9AM, if I got up at 4AM for water, there he was ready to go! If he had reached his quota of treats for the day, he would get some cheek scratches, which he absolutely loved, and would happily purr away. He loved his treats and pellets, pets and love, and getting in teeth chattering and rumble strutting competitions with another one of my boys, Bambi.
A few evenings ago it was Ueli’s night to have floor time, where he gets to run and gets his dinner veggies. He seemed perfectly fine, however I started to notice that his breathing looked different. It was very subtle, but instead of the normal quick small respirations that I can usually see on their sides, his breathing looked a bit slower, a little more defined and labored. I thought maybe I was overthinking it, but after pointing it out to my GF she could see it too. Since he otherwise seemed fine, I wasn’t too concerned, and decided to re-evaluate and possibly take him to the emergency vet in the morning, as they are a 3 hour drive away. Before I went to bed though, it seemed a little worse, and I decided to rather be safe than sorry, so I called the vet to let them know we were coming. The vets office said they were at full capacity that night, but would call me when they got an opening. I got the call at 3AM, started my drive, and got to the vets a little after 6AM.
The vet immediately put him in an oxygen chamber when we arrived, and after her examination she gave me the bad news. All of his lymph node’s were very enlarged, his heart had a murmur, and some other symptomatic cardiac findings I can’t remember. She highly suspected he had Lymphoma, along with possible heart failure.
Because of the respiratory distress Ueli was already in, along with poor prognosis for the likely Lymphoma and his current heart failure, with the support of the vet I decided to have him put to sleep. I didn’t want to put him through additional treatments and meds that would probably only extend his life a few months best case scenario, especially considering that time probably wouldn’t be a great quality of life. I was also concerned with being 3 hours from the vet, if he did suddenly go downhill again he would have to suffer through the long car ride. Ueli lived a happy life filled with love and treats for over 5 1/2 years.
I will miss Ueli so much. He was such a sweet, inquisitive, handsome, and loving boy. I can only hope that I brought a fraction of the joy to his life, that he did to mine. I love you Ueli bear, you will always be held closely in our hearts
A few months ago I lost Pinto, and writing a little bit about him here really helped me process his death and celebrate his life. I just recently lost another one of my boys, Ueli, and I wanted to do the same for him.
I purchased Ueli from a pet store when he was just a few months old. I now realize there are a surplus of Guinea pigs who need homes, and you should adopt or find someone rehoming, but at the time I didn’t know any better. I am glad I made this transgression though, otherwise I would have never met Ueli. He caught our eye with his shiny black coat, and his adorable little white racing stripe on his nose.
I chose the name Ueli, in remembrance of the great Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck. Little did I know that Ueli would live up to his name, as out of my 3 pigs he was always the one climbing on top of his pigloos and tunnels! You could tell from the get go that Ueli was a super smart piggy, and he was so handsome and dapper.
A few years into having Ueli, he developed a bladder stone. We had it removed, in hopes that he wouldn’t develop anymore. I’m happy to report for the remaining years of his life, he never got another one! During his recovery time and critical care feedings, we got so much closer, and his personality just started to shine through even more.
Ueli would always stand sentry, sitting in the corner of his cage waiting for love or food (probably mostly food
!). Even though they got their morning treats around 9AM, if I got up at 4AM for water, there he was ready to go! If he had reached his quota of treats for the day, he would get some cheek scratches, which he absolutely loved, and would happily purr away. He loved his treats and pellets, pets and love, and getting in teeth chattering and rumble strutting competitions with another one of my boys, Bambi.A few evenings ago it was Ueli’s night to have floor time, where he gets to run and gets his dinner veggies. He seemed perfectly fine, however I started to notice that his breathing looked different. It was very subtle, but instead of the normal quick small respirations that I can usually see on their sides, his breathing looked a bit slower, a little more defined and labored. I thought maybe I was overthinking it, but after pointing it out to my GF she could see it too. Since he otherwise seemed fine, I wasn’t too concerned, and decided to re-evaluate and possibly take him to the emergency vet in the morning, as they are a 3 hour drive away. Before I went to bed though, it seemed a little worse, and I decided to rather be safe than sorry, so I called the vet to let them know we were coming. The vets office said they were at full capacity that night, but would call me when they got an opening. I got the call at 3AM, started my drive, and got to the vets a little after 6AM.
The vet immediately put him in an oxygen chamber when we arrived, and after her examination she gave me the bad news. All of his lymph node’s were very enlarged, his heart had a murmur, and some other symptomatic cardiac findings I can’t remember. She highly suspected he had Lymphoma, along with possible heart failure.
Because of the respiratory distress Ueli was already in, along with poor prognosis for the likely Lymphoma and his current heart failure, with the support of the vet I decided to have him put to sleep. I didn’t want to put him through additional treatments and meds that would probably only extend his life a few months best case scenario, especially considering that time probably wouldn’t be a great quality of life. I was also concerned with being 3 hours from the vet, if he did suddenly go downhill again he would have to suffer through the long car ride. Ueli lived a happy life filled with love and treats for over 5 1/2 years.
I will miss Ueli so much. He was such a sweet, inquisitive, handsome, and loving boy. I can only hope that I brought a fraction of the joy to his life, that he did to mine. I love you Ueli bear, you will always be held closely in our hearts
