It has come as a huge shock to me, Hedydd and Heulwen that just three days after losing Maelog, Papi (“Poppy” because of her looks) has followed her husboar to the Rainbow Bridge.
She was found to have a large swelling at the back of her throat that prevented her from swallowing. She’d deteriorated very quickly in a very short time over the course of yesterday afternoon. I am sure that the stress of losing Maelog and the bonding with a new husboar on the day before have contributed to a certain extent to the speed with which the swelling has come up, but it is just one of these freak things that you don’t see coming and cannot prevent.
Papi would have celebrated her 4th birthday in exactly a month’s time.
Even though she was rescue born, the horrible, filthy and inbred circumstances her mum’s group had been rescued from shortly before Papi’s birth have very much left their mark on Papi. She always had a very nervous disposition and she was extremely small as youngster and never grew large. Papi was paired up with her close relative Pili Pala, but it was a wait of over four months until Pili Pala was given the final all clear for the adoption to go ahead after battling a persistent health issue. It was a rather memorable bank holiday when I travelled for several hours by train all the way up to West Yorkshire to pick them up and bring them back with me!
Papi and Pili Pala joined the Tribe once I was sure that they had settled in well and that Papi, who was a very picky eater and really dinky 450g at 6 months old, was stable enough for life in a big group.
Papi has never been one of the more outgoing piggies, but she was happy being a member of a group, first with the large Tribe under Hywel and then going with the other Tribe undersows to Maelog. That stability of companionship was very important for her and gradually helped to relax her over the years.
She was found to have a large swelling at the back of her throat that prevented her from swallowing. She’d deteriorated very quickly in a very short time over the course of yesterday afternoon. I am sure that the stress of losing Maelog and the bonding with a new husboar on the day before have contributed to a certain extent to the speed with which the swelling has come up, but it is just one of these freak things that you don’t see coming and cannot prevent.
Papi would have celebrated her 4th birthday in exactly a month’s time.
Even though she was rescue born, the horrible, filthy and inbred circumstances her mum’s group had been rescued from shortly before Papi’s birth have very much left their mark on Papi. She always had a very nervous disposition and she was extremely small as youngster and never grew large. Papi was paired up with her close relative Pili Pala, but it was a wait of over four months until Pili Pala was given the final all clear for the adoption to go ahead after battling a persistent health issue. It was a rather memorable bank holiday when I travelled for several hours by train all the way up to West Yorkshire to pick them up and bring them back with me!
Papi and Pili Pala joined the Tribe once I was sure that they had settled in well and that Papi, who was a very picky eater and really dinky 450g at 6 months old, was stable enough for life in a big group.
Papi has never been one of the more outgoing piggies, but she was happy being a member of a group, first with the large Tribe under Hywel and then going with the other Tribe undersows to Maelog. That stability of companionship was very important for her and gradually helped to relax her over the years.
