Hello everyone, I'm new here to the forum. Just needing some support from people who might understand and not give me the, " Why are you crying so much over a freaking guinea pig?" remarks. Well, first off I had a guinea pig named Bungles. He died in my arms yesterday morning. He would have been 7 years old come December. To help ease the pain, I just need to write about him. ( I have some great videos of him too! lol ) He was just such a character and so affectionate. I'm just so used to him being here and every morning hollering out, " Bungles!" And hearing him squeaking in response. Well, he's slowly but surely started showing his age over the last few months. He developed a respiratory infection but I treated him for it right away. He was on an antibiotic and seemed to start coming around. Before he got really bad, he got really good. Then it just all went downhill. Yesterday, I didn't see him when I called his name. We've had this routine for almost seven years - he never sleeps when I call out his name lol But I didn't see his head peeking over the bars and I started crying right then and there - just feeling something was horribly wrong. He was lying under his water bottle, his eyes were wide with fear, and his breathing was sharp and labored. He started giving out these horrible shrill squeaks like he was hurting so badly. I called the vet right away and asked if I could bring him in so he could be put down and wouldn't have to suffer like this. He said I could bring him in 15 minutes. I wrapped Bungles up and held him to my chest and whispered to him. Which calmed him down. Oh yeah, I was bawling the entire time. The last thing I said to him was, " You're a good boy, Bungles. You don't have to be scared. It's okay, buddy. I'm going to help you. I'm going to make the pain go away." Which I sobbed through every word. I sifted through all the crap in my bedroom closet, trying to find a shoebox. And when I went to put him in it to take him to the vet - I realized he had shut his eyes and passed. He looked so sad though... Oh my God, I'm bawling as I write this. But he looked so sad that he had to go. I believe he really was frightened of dying... he looked so scared. I held him to me for a few minutes and just could not control the sobbing. I had a dog for 14 years and never cried this hard. It's hard to explain the connection you can have to an animal. And nothing in my life so far has come close to how close I was to that little guy. I feel so heartbroken it's unreal. My kids and I wrapped him in a little blanket with blue stars on it. My grandmother gave me one of her large plant pots that would be big enough for him.. and we put him in the bottom, added some soil, and all of us painted the pot. We put our hand prints and little hearts on it and wrote all the things we loved most about him. Of course, I cried more then my kids the entire time. I told my boys this way if we ever move, Bungles always gets to come with us. And yeah, the pot we buried him in is outside lol I'm not that weird. This really sucks. I just can't help but feel so bad - I'm afraid he had suffered throughout the night and I hadn't known.
Well, thanks to anyone who read this. I'm a freaking mess right now.
