PigglePuggle
Senior Guinea Pig
Absolutely heartbroken, the end of an era- our most magnificent matriarch Blodwen has left for the rainbow bridge... making the decision to let her go was the hardest thing, but having watched other tenacious elders battle on beyond all comfort and hope, we wanted to spare her the indignity of a slow and painful decline, and let her drift away peacefully... sleep tight my little sploddle-angel, reunited with all your old friends who went before- Jezzy, Clover, Piggle, Puggle, Luna, Lavender, and Hilda x
Blodwen joined us in November 2018, age somewhere between 7 months and a year- from a horrid situation, where she was dumped in the free ads by an evil breeder, who misled us about her situation, and health! "single female guinea pig rehomed due to change in circumstances" turned out to mean, "inbred reject with ringworm needing emergency dental surgery due to her little face being lopsided"- also mostly blind, and so terrified she had paralytic seizures, she had been taken away from a big herd for not being pretty enough
But Blodwen was always beautiful to us! Here she was in 2019 posing for the forum Valentine's Day photo comp with her old friends Piggle and Puggle. Her lilac markings were much darker in her youth!
Blodwen was such a social piggy, she was quite simply Herd Glue- from the first moment she met her herd mates, and walked up to grumpy distrustful old boss lady Clover and licked her face, we went from 2 ill-matched lady pairs plus a boar, to a happy herd of 6. Here's our 1st herdiversary photo, from the original PigglePuggle crew!
In her younger days well known for her chooken-sploddle-poses, like a celeb snapped by the paparazzi on their way to rehab, Blod was always quite relaxed- here's a photo from one of 3 separate threads suggesting Blod has been on the tequila!
And at xmas 2021, after the loss of our first herd member Jezzy Floof, Blod was central to welcoming in the new herd members Luna and Lavender. Blodwen always loved new friends, the more piggies the better!
But we all know time waits for no pig, and after a bad run of rainbow bridge piggy losses, including most of the original herd members and old matriarch Clover, Blod inherited the top job and became Queen Blodwen when we welcomed the refugees from The Potteries school rescue in February 2023 and made a new herd- here's our "noo friends" photo, where Blod had her first attempt at co-ordinating a herd bonding- 3 plus 3 ladies could have gone quite wrong, but Blod had it all under control!
Blod kept up the good management so well that for a while this group successfully recombined with both elderly boar Theo, and his gorgeous boarly protege young Dantyboo. Poor Dantyboo lost his mummy Hilda, and his favourite lady friend Lavender, but adoptive Granny Blod soon stepped in to teach him some manners around ladies, and the last herd photo we have included new girl Ruth, recently bereaved widow from @Merab's Slave !
What a piggy life well lived, so sad to say goodbye, but her good days were getting fewer, and although she had more than 9 lives, surviving her awful background, acute dental problems, pneumonia, kidney and bladder issues, living with all manner of lumps and bumps in her old age, and running up the most impressive vet bills- the xrays on her arthritic shoulder and twisted limpy foot, taken as a precaution while she was sedated ready for surgery on a troublesome burst cyst, suggested she was bravely hiding some awful pain, and her old bones were just at the point of giving way.
So we let her go, while we could all remember her happy and magnificent, the centre of every herd, friend of every piggy, so wise and kind and funny, aged about 6- after a long life very well lived- having clocked up an impressive lifetime achievement accolade of inspiring an entire university course, making over 2000 forum posts, spending £5400 in vet bills, losing 7 rainbow bridge companions, and leaving 6 more companions behind!
Love you always Blod x
Blodwen joined us in November 2018, age somewhere between 7 months and a year- from a horrid situation, where she was dumped in the free ads by an evil breeder, who misled us about her situation, and health! "single female guinea pig rehomed due to change in circumstances" turned out to mean, "inbred reject with ringworm needing emergency dental surgery due to her little face being lopsided"- also mostly blind, and so terrified she had paralytic seizures, she had been taken away from a big herd for not being pretty enough
But Blodwen was always beautiful to us! Here she was in 2019 posing for the forum Valentine's Day photo comp with her old friends Piggle and Puggle. Her lilac markings were much darker in her youth!
Blodwen was such a social piggy, she was quite simply Herd Glue- from the first moment she met her herd mates, and walked up to grumpy distrustful old boss lady Clover and licked her face, we went from 2 ill-matched lady pairs plus a boar, to a happy herd of 6. Here's our 1st herdiversary photo, from the original PigglePuggle crew!
In her younger days well known for her chooken-sploddle-poses, like a celeb snapped by the paparazzi on their way to rehab, Blod was always quite relaxed- here's a photo from one of 3 separate threads suggesting Blod has been on the tequila!
And at xmas 2021, after the loss of our first herd member Jezzy Floof, Blod was central to welcoming in the new herd members Luna and Lavender. Blodwen always loved new friends, the more piggies the better!
But we all know time waits for no pig, and after a bad run of rainbow bridge piggy losses, including most of the original herd members and old matriarch Clover, Blod inherited the top job and became Queen Blodwen when we welcomed the refugees from The Potteries school rescue in February 2023 and made a new herd- here's our "noo friends" photo, where Blod had her first attempt at co-ordinating a herd bonding- 3 plus 3 ladies could have gone quite wrong, but Blod had it all under control!
Blod kept up the good management so well that for a while this group successfully recombined with both elderly boar Theo, and his gorgeous boarly protege young Dantyboo. Poor Dantyboo lost his mummy Hilda, and his favourite lady friend Lavender, but adoptive Granny Blod soon stepped in to teach him some manners around ladies, and the last herd photo we have included new girl Ruth, recently bereaved widow from @Merab's Slave !
What a piggy life well lived, so sad to say goodbye, but her good days were getting fewer, and although she had more than 9 lives, surviving her awful background, acute dental problems, pneumonia, kidney and bladder issues, living with all manner of lumps and bumps in her old age, and running up the most impressive vet bills- the xrays on her arthritic shoulder and twisted limpy foot, taken as a precaution while she was sedated ready for surgery on a troublesome burst cyst, suggested she was bravely hiding some awful pain, and her old bones were just at the point of giving way.
So we let her go, while we could all remember her happy and magnificent, the centre of every herd, friend of every piggy, so wise and kind and funny, aged about 6- after a long life very well lived- having clocked up an impressive lifetime achievement accolade of inspiring an entire university course, making over 2000 forum posts, spending £5400 in vet bills, losing 7 rainbow bridge companions, and leaving 6 more companions behind!
Love you always Blod x
I can remember when you first brought Blod home and all the problems she had. But you soon got her well again and what an amazing life you have given her (((hugs))) 
