I hate only coming on here to post one of these threads.
Sadly this morning, Dylan, our 6+ year old guinea pig with the head tilt, passed away in my arms on the way to the vet.
We got him from RSPCA Medway in January 2007 after I spotted his profile on their web site. As soon as I picked him up and he snuggled in to my arms I knew he was coming home with us.
He hadn't had the best of starts to life as he'd been rescued by the RSPCA from a house with 50+ guinea pigs all running free. He was small but, since he obviously wasn't a baby, he must have struggled to get enough food, and the shock of that and the move to the RSPCA centre meant he had a stroke on Boxing Day 2006 whilst in rescue which left him with a very noticeable head tilt.
The RSPCA didn't give more than 6 months to live, and they also said he was blind in one eye... they got both of that wrong. He was with us for 5 years, 9 months and 11 days, and the cloudiness in his eye that the RSPCA assumed meant he was blind was actually caused by a piece of hay stuck inside his eye lid!
He was such a strong piggie, he came through a bout of diarrhoea, teeth problems and a burst sebaceous cyst during his time with us. He was the loudest piggie wheeking at dinner time and would basically eat anything, so much so that we often called him Dustbin Dylan... the only thing he ever turned his nose up at was courgette... but who could blame him
He often had quiet periods when we think his head tilt was affecting him but other than that it never caused him any problems. His only fault was we just weren't able to bond him with any of our other piggies. He would quite happily chat to Pepe/Bear/Boomer and latterly Xander through the bars of their cages but put them next to each other without the seperator and the teeth chattering would start. He was a bit of a grumpy old man at times, just like his daddy!
He was definitely a daddy's pig as he would prefer to sit on my lap rather than Julie's and he would always take any medicine from me without a word of complaint.
Although he'd been suffering a bit with impaction the last few weeks it was only last night when I got in from work that I noticed something was wrong. He wouldn't eat his wet food (unheard of) and when I tried to syringe feed him some critical care he took a few syringes and after that let it dribble from his mouth, as he did with some water. I knew the end was in sight when he refused to take any metacam, which he loved the taste of. I gave him a long cuddle during the night after he refused all this again and when I picked him up to take him to the vet's this morning I almost knew he wasn't going to get that far. I think his time had just come.
I will miss him terribly, he was the best guinea pig I have ever known, and such a good boy.
Rest In Peace Mr. Dylan, I'm sure you've been reunited with Scampy, Blaze, Oscar, Boomer, Bear, Leo and Pepe and are giving them a hard time already. Mummy and Daddy will never forget you and will love you always.
Martin & Julie
xxxxxxx
Sadly this morning, Dylan, our 6+ year old guinea pig with the head tilt, passed away in my arms on the way to the vet.
We got him from RSPCA Medway in January 2007 after I spotted his profile on their web site. As soon as I picked him up and he snuggled in to my arms I knew he was coming home with us.
He hadn't had the best of starts to life as he'd been rescued by the RSPCA from a house with 50+ guinea pigs all running free. He was small but, since he obviously wasn't a baby, he must have struggled to get enough food, and the shock of that and the move to the RSPCA centre meant he had a stroke on Boxing Day 2006 whilst in rescue which left him with a very noticeable head tilt.
The RSPCA didn't give more than 6 months to live, and they also said he was blind in one eye... they got both of that wrong. He was with us for 5 years, 9 months and 11 days, and the cloudiness in his eye that the RSPCA assumed meant he was blind was actually caused by a piece of hay stuck inside his eye lid!
He was such a strong piggie, he came through a bout of diarrhoea, teeth problems and a burst sebaceous cyst during his time with us. He was the loudest piggie wheeking at dinner time and would basically eat anything, so much so that we often called him Dustbin Dylan... the only thing he ever turned his nose up at was courgette... but who could blame him
He often had quiet periods when we think his head tilt was affecting him but other than that it never caused him any problems. His only fault was we just weren't able to bond him with any of our other piggies. He would quite happily chat to Pepe/Bear/Boomer and latterly Xander through the bars of their cages but put them next to each other without the seperator and the teeth chattering would start. He was a bit of a grumpy old man at times, just like his daddy!
He was definitely a daddy's pig as he would prefer to sit on my lap rather than Julie's and he would always take any medicine from me without a word of complaint.Although he'd been suffering a bit with impaction the last few weeks it was only last night when I got in from work that I noticed something was wrong. He wouldn't eat his wet food (unheard of) and when I tried to syringe feed him some critical care he took a few syringes and after that let it dribble from his mouth, as he did with some water. I knew the end was in sight when he refused to take any metacam, which he loved the taste of. I gave him a long cuddle during the night after he refused all this again and when I picked him up to take him to the vet's this morning I almost knew he wasn't going to get that far. I think his time had just come.
I will miss him terribly, he was the best guinea pig I have ever known, and such a good boy.
Rest In Peace Mr. Dylan, I'm sure you've been reunited with Scampy, Blaze, Oscar, Boomer, Bear, Leo and Pepe and are giving them a hard time already. Mummy and Daddy will never forget you and will love you always.
Martin & Julie
xxxxxxx
I remember him so well (((hugs ))) sleep peacefully Dylan x
