Eriathwen
Senior Guinea Pig
Over 5 years ago I was browing online and found a little local rescue, with piggies up for adoption. I scrolled down reading about their lovely piggies and came across "Lily" who was adorable, a different to all my other piggies with her rosettes, to this day still the only abby mix I've ever had in over 40 pigs. Her little bio spoke of a painfully scared little 18 month old girl, who needed a very special home due to the fear of a stress induced heart attack given her visceral reaction to being handled..
The pandemic eased enough to allow a hands off exchange for me to adopt her. Turns out she was very thin and had a few issues but easily missed given the inability to really handle her.
She was with us mere minutes before she decided that she was home, and she was happy. Before we set off I removed her from the cardboard box I'd collected her in and put her into a secure carrier. Upon feeling the soft bath mat and tasting the soft green hay, she melted and relaxed. She ate and slept the entire way home..
She was obsessed, fixated even, on food and eat at 5xs the speed of a normal pig, she ate until she collapsed and fell asleep, wide eyed in distrust. It took months of good food for her to slow down, eventually she went from a 700g skinny little thing to a 1300g chunk. She was such a timid little thing to begin with that her bonding into my misfit herd was perfect, apart from Bailey attacking her..this prompted an astonishing act from Ebony who, in spite of only just meeting Poppet jumped to her defence against her best friend, receiving a nasty bite to the ear. But Poppet was allowed to stay, and became firm friends with Thistle and Ebony. Later becoming big sister to Coco and Biscuit, and wife to Paddington.
Later she also helped welcome old friend Clover into the group who she knew from the rescue almost a year prior. Along with Dylan, Bella, Ivy, Popcorn and Kiwi who she loved dearly.
She has been a big healthy girl up until 2023 when she needed spaying due to cysts, she didn't take to the aneasthetic well but immediately perked up seeing her friends and recovered well initially until a reaction to the sutures caused a large abscess that would come back to bite her a year later when her surgical site reopened showing another abscess.
My beautiful girl sat stoicly while I cleaned and flushed her open side wound and packed it with manuka honey multiple times a day and healed beautifully, faster than anyone anticipated.
All was well, she celebrated her 7th birthday at the start of the month and life went on, until a couple of weeks ago when I went to check on them due to fireworks and found her looking a little bit quiet. Upon inspection she had congested sounding breathing so a vet appointment was booked. I also found several lumps in her neck which I hoped were more abscesses.
Sadly we got the news that Poppet had cancer, she was spoiled right up until she passed this morning with lots of her favourite foods right until the end. She slowed with her eating, but her love of food was always the biggest part of her personality. The only piggy I've ever had actually gain weight after a surgery to remove organs
My cheeky, quiet, funny, soft..very loud little girl has gone to join her many, many friends and has left such a massive hole behind. She will be so unbelievably missed by all who knew her
The pandemic eased enough to allow a hands off exchange for me to adopt her. Turns out she was very thin and had a few issues but easily missed given the inability to really handle her.
She was with us mere minutes before she decided that she was home, and she was happy. Before we set off I removed her from the cardboard box I'd collected her in and put her into a secure carrier. Upon feeling the soft bath mat and tasting the soft green hay, she melted and relaxed. She ate and slept the entire way home..
She was obsessed, fixated even, on food and eat at 5xs the speed of a normal pig, she ate until she collapsed and fell asleep, wide eyed in distrust. It took months of good food for her to slow down, eventually she went from a 700g skinny little thing to a 1300g chunk. She was such a timid little thing to begin with that her bonding into my misfit herd was perfect, apart from Bailey attacking her..this prompted an astonishing act from Ebony who, in spite of only just meeting Poppet jumped to her defence against her best friend, receiving a nasty bite to the ear. But Poppet was allowed to stay, and became firm friends with Thistle and Ebony. Later becoming big sister to Coco and Biscuit, and wife to Paddington.
Later she also helped welcome old friend Clover into the group who she knew from the rescue almost a year prior. Along with Dylan, Bella, Ivy, Popcorn and Kiwi who she loved dearly.
She has been a big healthy girl up until 2023 when she needed spaying due to cysts, she didn't take to the aneasthetic well but immediately perked up seeing her friends and recovered well initially until a reaction to the sutures caused a large abscess that would come back to bite her a year later when her surgical site reopened showing another abscess.
My beautiful girl sat stoicly while I cleaned and flushed her open side wound and packed it with manuka honey multiple times a day and healed beautifully, faster than anyone anticipated.
All was well, she celebrated her 7th birthday at the start of the month and life went on, until a couple of weeks ago when I went to check on them due to fireworks and found her looking a little bit quiet. Upon inspection she had congested sounding breathing so a vet appointment was booked. I also found several lumps in her neck which I hoped were more abscesses.
Sadly we got the news that Poppet had cancer, she was spoiled right up until she passed this morning with lots of her favourite foods right until the end. She slowed with her eating, but her love of food was always the biggest part of her personality. The only piggy I've ever had actually gain weight after a surgery to remove organs
My cheeky, quiet, funny, soft..very loud little girl has gone to join her many, many friends and has left such a massive hole behind. She will be so unbelievably missed by all who knew her
Poppet was beautiful 
it’s clear how much she was loved.
