paulag
Teenage Guinea Pig
Just had to make one of the most difficult decisions I've made about a pet.
As some of you know I took two elderly girls last year Guiness and Stella who were about 6 1/2 now.
Guiness has been losing weight for a little while now. She went to the vets last week , mostly for Stella's breathing and she was fine apart from the weight loss and a small lump on her chin that the vet thought was a little tumor. Sadly she was wrong.
Today Guiness was clearly in pain and the lump had grown rapidly and was clearly an abscess. I rushed hr down the vet who confirmed this and that she had lost another 70g. There was a possibility of curing it win surgical drainage and removal, or we could have tried antiinflammatories an antibiotics, but that would only "manage it". For me the fact that she has lost 20% of her body weight in quite a short period of time, was only 800g as opposed to 1100 when she came to me and her age made the decision that it wasn't kind to put her through major surgery. I've tried to give them a comfortable and happy retirement and decided that letting her go was kindest.
Poor Stella hasn't been apart from her ever, but I think that she will go in with Prissie and Marmaduke as it was Guiness and Prissie that had problems. I will always remember little Guiness standing off against all comers defending her patch of grass in the run. She is the piggie to the right in the picture.
Pigs on the lawn by pgallon311, on Flickr
Paula
As some of you know I took two elderly girls last year Guiness and Stella who were about 6 1/2 now.
Guiness has been losing weight for a little while now. She went to the vets last week , mostly for Stella's breathing and she was fine apart from the weight loss and a small lump on her chin that the vet thought was a little tumor. Sadly she was wrong.
Today Guiness was clearly in pain and the lump had grown rapidly and was clearly an abscess. I rushed hr down the vet who confirmed this and that she had lost another 70g. There was a possibility of curing it win surgical drainage and removal, or we could have tried antiinflammatories an antibiotics, but that would only "manage it". For me the fact that she has lost 20% of her body weight in quite a short period of time, was only 800g as opposed to 1100 when she came to me and her age made the decision that it wasn't kind to put her through major surgery. I've tried to give them a comfortable and happy retirement and decided that letting her go was kindest.
Poor Stella hasn't been apart from her ever, but I think that she will go in with Prissie and Marmaduke as it was Guiness and Prissie that had problems. I will always remember little Guiness standing off against all comers defending her patch of grass in the run. She is the piggie to the right in the picture.
Pigs on the lawn by pgallon311, on Flickr
Paula
