LondonLady
Forum Donator 2025/26
It’s taken me some time to do this, but it seems right to make some sort of record of Biscuit’s life with me. (Apologies for the length!)
I came to guinea pigs very late in life and I was on the verge of retiring when I adopted Biscuit and Toffee my first ever piggies in Sept 2020. They came from a rescue (not a Forum approved one) and I was told that Biscuit was 2.5yrs old. I didn’t like her original name which didn’t seem to suit her and I very quickly decided I wanted to call her Biscuit. It seemed to go well with Toffee, and her colouring made me think of a custard cream! Because of Covid I couldn’t meet them first, though I had of course seen photos. The evening I went to collect them I had to wait outside and they were brought out to me in a cardboard box.
Gradually they settled in and I began to see their different personalities. Biscuit was always a calm, placid piggy, happy to eat from my hand and although it took quite a while, eventually she would let me pick her up with only a few protest squeaks and would happily settle down on my lap for a few minutes until she decided she’d had enough. Often she would lick my hand, which I loved. She was never particularly active, she would wheek loudly for her evening veggies but I rarely saw her popcorn.
Biscuit always seemed happy. She never had any medical issues other than a case of mites which cleared up quickly when treated. She and Toffee got on very well, Toffee being in charge and Biscuit happy to follow on behind. One thing that always made me laugh was the way they used to swap hideys - they would each be in a separate hidey at each end of the cage, then one would come out for some hay or a drink and the other would immediately run into the vacated hidey!
Fast forward to last month. I began to realise that Biscuit was slowing down and spending more time snoozing. I was also aware that although her weight had been stable for some time, she weighed a lot less than when I first had her and I realised she was getting old. She was now somewhere between 5.5 and 6 years old and I was thinking about how long she had left… I think I had a sort of premonition that I had to get ready to say goodbye. I hoped she would make it to her 6th birthday.
One day I picked her up and she was wet underneath. On looking further I found she was messy and her ‘bits’ seemed to be crusty and swollen. I cleaned her up and thought I would see how things went for a couple of days before phoning the vet. At about the same time I noticed she was eating her veggies much more slowly. Although she was very keen to eat, she couldn’t seem to chew properly. I started weighing her daily and found that she was actually a few grams heavier each time I weighed her. This reassured me somewhat and I didn’t think there could be a major problem so when I phoned the vets and was told that ‘her’ vet wasn’t available for a few days I was happy to wait.
The morning of the appointment she seemed normal. Came out for her breakfast veggies and although it took her a long time ate everything, had a little wander round before going back to her favourite hidey.
Then a huge shock. The vet examined her and looking really worried she said all Biscuit’s lymph nodes were swollen and everything pointed to lymphoma. She said she could take some samples and send them off to be tested and I agreed and sat outside feeling a bit stunned while this happened. The vet promised to phone me as soon as the results were back so we could decide what to do next and I took Biscuit home. I offered her a sprig of coriander for being such a good girl but she didn’t want it. First time ever. It was at that point I knew that she wouldn’t make her 6th birthday and we were looking at… maybe a few weeks?
Sadly even this was an overestimate. The next day there was a huge sudden change in Biscuit. She refused her breakfast and spent most of the day in her hidey. I kept checking on her and later in the day I got her out to see if she needed cleaning. She was very floppy and her eyes were half closed. I spent the next hour holding her on my lap wrapped up in a towel and talking to her. At some point she passed away. I don’t think she was in any pain. It was very peaceful.
I feel guilty that I didn’t realise earlier exactly how unwell she was, and that I didn’t phone the vet again the day she died. But then again, as she had lymphoma (the vet confirmed this later) presumably it wouldn’t have made any difference.
My beautiful Bikkie, I had you for three and a quarter years. Thank you for those wonderful years. In that final hour when I was holding you I hope you felt comforted. I hope you could still hear me talking to you and recognise my voice. And I hope you knew how much I loved you.
I came to guinea pigs very late in life and I was on the verge of retiring when I adopted Biscuit and Toffee my first ever piggies in Sept 2020. They came from a rescue (not a Forum approved one) and I was told that Biscuit was 2.5yrs old. I didn’t like her original name which didn’t seem to suit her and I very quickly decided I wanted to call her Biscuit. It seemed to go well with Toffee, and her colouring made me think of a custard cream! Because of Covid I couldn’t meet them first, though I had of course seen photos. The evening I went to collect them I had to wait outside and they were brought out to me in a cardboard box.
Gradually they settled in and I began to see their different personalities. Biscuit was always a calm, placid piggy, happy to eat from my hand and although it took quite a while, eventually she would let me pick her up with only a few protest squeaks and would happily settle down on my lap for a few minutes until she decided she’d had enough. Often she would lick my hand, which I loved. She was never particularly active, she would wheek loudly for her evening veggies but I rarely saw her popcorn.
Biscuit always seemed happy. She never had any medical issues other than a case of mites which cleared up quickly when treated. She and Toffee got on very well, Toffee being in charge and Biscuit happy to follow on behind. One thing that always made me laugh was the way they used to swap hideys - they would each be in a separate hidey at each end of the cage, then one would come out for some hay or a drink and the other would immediately run into the vacated hidey!
Fast forward to last month. I began to realise that Biscuit was slowing down and spending more time snoozing. I was also aware that although her weight had been stable for some time, she weighed a lot less than when I first had her and I realised she was getting old. She was now somewhere between 5.5 and 6 years old and I was thinking about how long she had left… I think I had a sort of premonition that I had to get ready to say goodbye. I hoped she would make it to her 6th birthday.
One day I picked her up and she was wet underneath. On looking further I found she was messy and her ‘bits’ seemed to be crusty and swollen. I cleaned her up and thought I would see how things went for a couple of days before phoning the vet. At about the same time I noticed she was eating her veggies much more slowly. Although she was very keen to eat, she couldn’t seem to chew properly. I started weighing her daily and found that she was actually a few grams heavier each time I weighed her. This reassured me somewhat and I didn’t think there could be a major problem so when I phoned the vets and was told that ‘her’ vet wasn’t available for a few days I was happy to wait.
The morning of the appointment she seemed normal. Came out for her breakfast veggies and although it took her a long time ate everything, had a little wander round before going back to her favourite hidey.
Then a huge shock. The vet examined her and looking really worried she said all Biscuit’s lymph nodes were swollen and everything pointed to lymphoma. She said she could take some samples and send them off to be tested and I agreed and sat outside feeling a bit stunned while this happened. The vet promised to phone me as soon as the results were back so we could decide what to do next and I took Biscuit home. I offered her a sprig of coriander for being such a good girl but she didn’t want it. First time ever. It was at that point I knew that she wouldn’t make her 6th birthday and we were looking at… maybe a few weeks?
Sadly even this was an overestimate. The next day there was a huge sudden change in Biscuit. She refused her breakfast and spent most of the day in her hidey. I kept checking on her and later in the day I got her out to see if she needed cleaning. She was very floppy and her eyes were half closed. I spent the next hour holding her on my lap wrapped up in a towel and talking to her. At some point she passed away. I don’t think she was in any pain. It was very peaceful.
I feel guilty that I didn’t realise earlier exactly how unwell she was, and that I didn’t phone the vet again the day she died. But then again, as she had lymphoma (the vet confirmed this later) presumably it wouldn’t have made any difference.
My beautiful Bikkie, I had you for three and a quarter years. Thank you for those wonderful years. In that final hour when I was holding you I hope you felt comforted. I hope you could still hear me talking to you and recognise my voice. And I hope you knew how much I loved you.
