Fluffbabies
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi everyone,
I'm sorry this will be a long one. Long story short we have had all three of our 'original' piggies sick at once and it's so hard
I've avoided writing so far because it's been too hard. But I feel like people don't understand I'm still grieving and our piggies are our lives! I need to talk to people who understand.
It's been three weeks since we had to put Leia down due to a cancerous tumour behind her eye. We had taken both her and Ginger to the C&R with lumps three weeks prior. At that appointment we found out Leia's was a cancerous lump on her face and Ginger's couple of lumps (which appeared really quickly) were lymphoma and she actually had more like 6 lumps around her body and ovarian cysts. There was nothing to do for either except keep them comfortable for the time they had left. They thought Ginger might only have 1-2 weeks left to live but Leia's lump hadn't changed since we first noticed it so she could have months. We had so much anticipatory grief for Ginger and spent the first few weeks fitting in as much love as we could for all our four piggies but especially Ginger. We took loads of videos and photos.
But after these 3 weeks we were surprised Ginger was still with us, but Leia's lump was growing fast behind her eye and we had to put her down. We tried not to focus on Ginger in case Leia got sick quicker but it seemed so unlikely. I know it's a normal part of grief and logically I know how much love I showed her all through her life and the final weeks but I wish I did more with her, held her more. It's just never enough time with them. I'll never be ready for any of them to go!
So we had about 4 weeks of anticipatory grief with Leia plus the couple of weeks before that when we spent worried waiting for the appointment. But it's still so painful. I miss her so much! I just want to hold her, cuddle her and kiss her all over. Wrap her in their fluffy blanket and stroke her again til she closes her eyes like she used to. I know the pain is my own and we followed the vet's advice as to when it was time and she was showing signs it was time. I know she's at peace and I was relieved when we put her down because I could tell it was time and didn't want her to suffer. I know we did right by her but it's still hard.
Ginger is still with us. She's been to the vets a few times to check she's still comfortable. As well as lymphoma, her cysts have grown large and she's lost some weight now. She's going back to C&R today to find out the vet's opinion on how she's doing but I know she's coming close to the end. On top of this we found a little lump on our third 'original' piggy Oreo and her nipples have become very large. I wonder if she has ovarian cysts too and we're worried about the lump.
It's more than either my boyfriend or I can cope with. These three are our first piggies and his first ever pets. They're all 4 years old. (We also have a fourth piggy we rescued in Jan 2020 called Nugget who we think may be a little younger.) We never imagined they could all get ill/pass away so close together. We are heartbroken. I feel like I don't have enough emotional or physical energy to grieve for a second and possibly a third so close to the first one going. And it's hard to spend happy time with them because we're broken. I can't believe it was four years ago we got them as babies. They melt our heart with their piggy ways every single day. We don't have children and they've always been like our babies. They're not in the garden somewhere. They're in our living room and we're constantly interacting with, watching and cuddling them. They're extremely tame and love to pancake on us and have cuddles. Oreo especially is very soppy and will lick your face. She's my boyfriend's soul animal and he is struggling to bear the thought of her passing too.
I'm sorry this will be a long one. Long story short we have had all three of our 'original' piggies sick at once and it's so hard
I've avoided writing so far because it's been too hard. But I feel like people don't understand I'm still grieving and our piggies are our lives! I need to talk to people who understand. It's been three weeks since we had to put Leia down due to a cancerous tumour behind her eye. We had taken both her and Ginger to the C&R with lumps three weeks prior. At that appointment we found out Leia's was a cancerous lump on her face and Ginger's couple of lumps (which appeared really quickly) were lymphoma and she actually had more like 6 lumps around her body and ovarian cysts. There was nothing to do for either except keep them comfortable for the time they had left. They thought Ginger might only have 1-2 weeks left to live but Leia's lump hadn't changed since we first noticed it so she could have months. We had so much anticipatory grief for Ginger and spent the first few weeks fitting in as much love as we could for all our four piggies but especially Ginger. We took loads of videos and photos.
But after these 3 weeks we were surprised Ginger was still with us, but Leia's lump was growing fast behind her eye and we had to put her down. We tried not to focus on Ginger in case Leia got sick quicker but it seemed so unlikely. I know it's a normal part of grief and logically I know how much love I showed her all through her life and the final weeks but I wish I did more with her, held her more. It's just never enough time with them. I'll never be ready for any of them to go!
So we had about 4 weeks of anticipatory grief with Leia plus the couple of weeks before that when we spent worried waiting for the appointment. But it's still so painful. I miss her so much! I just want to hold her, cuddle her and kiss her all over. Wrap her in their fluffy blanket and stroke her again til she closes her eyes like she used to. I know the pain is my own and we followed the vet's advice as to when it was time and she was showing signs it was time. I know she's at peace and I was relieved when we put her down because I could tell it was time and didn't want her to suffer. I know we did right by her but it's still hard.
Ginger is still with us. She's been to the vets a few times to check she's still comfortable. As well as lymphoma, her cysts have grown large and she's lost some weight now. She's going back to C&R today to find out the vet's opinion on how she's doing but I know she's coming close to the end. On top of this we found a little lump on our third 'original' piggy Oreo and her nipples have become very large. I wonder if she has ovarian cysts too and we're worried about the lump.
It's more than either my boyfriend or I can cope with. These three are our first piggies and his first ever pets. They're all 4 years old. (We also have a fourth piggy we rescued in Jan 2020 called Nugget who we think may be a little younger.) We never imagined they could all get ill/pass away so close together. We are heartbroken. I feel like I don't have enough emotional or physical energy to grieve for a second and possibly a third so close to the first one going. And it's hard to spend happy time with them because we're broken. I can't believe it was four years ago we got them as babies. They melt our heart with their piggy ways every single day. We don't have children and they've always been like our babies. They're not in the garden somewhere. They're in our living room and we're constantly interacting with, watching and cuddling them. They're extremely tame and love to pancake on us and have cuddles. Oreo especially is very soppy and will lick your face. She's my boyfriend's soul animal and he is struggling to bear the thought of her passing too.
And you know they know you'd never do anything to harm them and you'll look after them always and spoil them. It breaks my heart that I won't see them looking up at me like that anymore. 
It made me realise we should take more videos of pets, loved ones and memories from now on. Photos are beautiful and I'm blessed how many we have but I feel I need to see her and her mannerisms.. see her running around, exploring, how she sat upright at her food bowl like she was sat at a table, how she stretched up like a meerkat when we got the salad out, how she drank upside down and you could tell when Leia was drinking from another room because of how loud she drank :') 
