Danielle Smith
Teenage Guinea Pig
After we gave Tubs both of his little girls to look after, we only thought it was fair that Flubs also got a pair of ladies. You and Fudge came to us in January 2017 through a terrible breeding situation where you were essentially 100% free-range in a garden with no supervision or care.
On the day you first met your husboar, you were a very frightened girl, Tablet. Then you discovered the fleece forest and that set you off popcorning. I don’t think you’d ever known fleecy comforts before.
Before long, we found you becoming more and more pear-shaped and figured out you were very pregnant. We waited for days for you to give birth, each morning proclaiming you about to pop until… finally… when your mum decided she needed to go downstairs for a cup of tea you decided it was time for the babies to make an appearance. You blessed us with Quint, Flash, and Toffee on the 22nd March 2017.
After weaning your babies and your re-integration to Flubs’ herd, you started to get quite grumpy and quite frankly never stopped humping. We took you to the vet where they found no obvious cysts but on my insistence they treated you with hormones and what a difference! You were a happy but quiet little soul for a few months until the cycle started again.
This time we opted for a spay. You were so thin and we were very frightened we’d lose you under anaesthesia so we took some lovely photos of you the night before. When the vet called me mid-operation I knew something was terribly wrong – she said she’d found lots of horrible craggy tumors inside you and she couldn’t remove your ovaries. The vet said she thought it was kinder to let you slip away while asleep but I begged for you to come home and live our your time with us, with hormone treatment where necessary. You recovered from surgery really well and turned into something of a little Metacam addict.
All of your herd loved you, even though you could sometimes be a right toerag. Fudge in particular loved grooming your face, but Flubs was a true gentleboar, always up for a snuggle.
Amazingly, you were still with us almost 2 years after that attempted spay, and while your weight went up and down a lot (as well as your temper!) you were a mostly content little pig. At one point you managed to get all the way back up to one kilo in weight and, oh, how we cheered that day!
For the past few months you’d been gradually losing weight and being a lot less active – I’d find you snuggled in the hay or in a cosy any time of day. Your pigsonality totally changed too – you were suddenly a really really happy little girl, wheeking loudly for your veg when previously you could only puff air. You also started to enjoy smells a lot more, sniffing the air vigorously whenever I took you out of the cage. You enjoyed small snacks of critical care, but you soon let us know when you’d had enough.
When you decided it was time to leave us, you made a quick and graceful exit. On the evening of the 7th September 2020, I found you lying on the floor of your cage, weak and unable to lift your head. After a quick cuddle with your dad, we laid you back in your favourite soft hay and you passed overnight. Beautifully, we found evidence in the morning that someone had been with you overnight so you weren’t scampering over rainbow bridge alone.
Your hard start probably made things difficult for you sweetheart, but well done for hanging on so long and for enjoying yourself to the fullest. Goodbye my little trianglehead. Give Flash a snuggle for us please, we miss his fluffy bum.
On the day you first met your husboar, you were a very frightened girl, Tablet. Then you discovered the fleece forest and that set you off popcorning. I don’t think you’d ever known fleecy comforts before.
Before long, we found you becoming more and more pear-shaped and figured out you were very pregnant. We waited for days for you to give birth, each morning proclaiming you about to pop until… finally… when your mum decided she needed to go downstairs for a cup of tea you decided it was time for the babies to make an appearance. You blessed us with Quint, Flash, and Toffee on the 22nd March 2017.
After weaning your babies and your re-integration to Flubs’ herd, you started to get quite grumpy and quite frankly never stopped humping. We took you to the vet where they found no obvious cysts but on my insistence they treated you with hormones and what a difference! You were a happy but quiet little soul for a few months until the cycle started again.
This time we opted for a spay. You were so thin and we were very frightened we’d lose you under anaesthesia so we took some lovely photos of you the night before. When the vet called me mid-operation I knew something was terribly wrong – she said she’d found lots of horrible craggy tumors inside you and she couldn’t remove your ovaries. The vet said she thought it was kinder to let you slip away while asleep but I begged for you to come home and live our your time with us, with hormone treatment where necessary. You recovered from surgery really well and turned into something of a little Metacam addict.
All of your herd loved you, even though you could sometimes be a right toerag. Fudge in particular loved grooming your face, but Flubs was a true gentleboar, always up for a snuggle.
Amazingly, you were still with us almost 2 years after that attempted spay, and while your weight went up and down a lot (as well as your temper!) you were a mostly content little pig. At one point you managed to get all the way back up to one kilo in weight and, oh, how we cheered that day!
For the past few months you’d been gradually losing weight and being a lot less active – I’d find you snuggled in the hay or in a cosy any time of day. Your pigsonality totally changed too – you were suddenly a really really happy little girl, wheeking loudly for your veg when previously you could only puff air. You also started to enjoy smells a lot more, sniffing the air vigorously whenever I took you out of the cage. You enjoyed small snacks of critical care, but you soon let us know when you’d had enough.
When you decided it was time to leave us, you made a quick and graceful exit. On the evening of the 7th September 2020, I found you lying on the floor of your cage, weak and unable to lift your head. After a quick cuddle with your dad, we laid you back in your favourite soft hay and you passed overnight. Beautifully, we found evidence in the morning that someone had been with you overnight so you weren’t scampering over rainbow bridge alone.
Your hard start probably made things difficult for you sweetheart, but well done for hanging on so long and for enjoying yourself to the fullest. Goodbye my little trianglehead. Give Flash a snuggle for us please, we miss his fluffy bum.
❤
