RoyalDuke
Junior Guinea Pig
My little Royal Duke...
Duke has had a cold for the last week or so, but today he couldn't fight it anymore. I knew he wasn't OK this morning when I went outside to open up the cage he shared with Crispin. I had that "6th sense" feeling. I brought them both inside, and while Crispin went crazy running round and pooping on the carpet, I snuggled with Duke by the fire. He was doing OK up until about 3pm - he started twitching and didn't want his food. Around 5pm, he couldn't walk, all four of his legs has lost strength and he couldn't co-ordinate them. He went completely floppy and weak in the car as I took him to the vets.
I had Duke put to sleep. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.
He had suffered some form of stroke and wouldn't recover. He was only 2 years old.
I'm going to miss him so much...he was soft as a brush, the little thing, loved a chin scratch and cuddle. Crispin is going to miss him much more, I can tell. They were inseparable. Sure, they hated the sight of each other, always bickering over something, but they always made up and they hated being apart. Today was one of the very rare chances I saw them grooming each other, Crispin cleaned Dukes face and took all the green stuff out of his eyes. True to his nature, he bit him on the ear afterwards and popcorned away, but...
That was them. Crispin always led Duke straight into trouble. Picked on him but loved him all the same. They were like brothers.
One should never be without the other.
Duke has had a cold for the last week or so, but today he couldn't fight it anymore. I knew he wasn't OK this morning when I went outside to open up the cage he shared with Crispin. I had that "6th sense" feeling. I brought them both inside, and while Crispin went crazy running round and pooping on the carpet, I snuggled with Duke by the fire. He was doing OK up until about 3pm - he started twitching and didn't want his food. Around 5pm, he couldn't walk, all four of his legs has lost strength and he couldn't co-ordinate them. He went completely floppy and weak in the car as I took him to the vets.
I had Duke put to sleep. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.
He had suffered some form of stroke and wouldn't recover. He was only 2 years old.
I'm going to miss him so much...he was soft as a brush, the little thing, loved a chin scratch and cuddle. Crispin is going to miss him much more, I can tell. They were inseparable. Sure, they hated the sight of each other, always bickering over something, but they always made up and they hated being apart. Today was one of the very rare chances I saw them grooming each other, Crispin cleaned Dukes face and took all the green stuff out of his eyes. True to his nature, he bit him on the ear afterwards and popcorned away, but...
That was them. Crispin always led Duke straight into trouble. Picked on him but loved him all the same. They were like brothers.
One should never be without the other.
