Wiebke's Tribe: Sows and the City Boars

Wiebke said:
The morning after a night's hard partying in the freshly cleaned cage.

Of course, the lady who comes to help us clean the cages (as neither of us is currently able to crouch or bend down without holding onto something; and there is no guarantee of getting back up again), is away next week and won't be back until in two weeks' time... :yikes:

Beti, Brangwyn 'White Raven' (son of Modron), Melangell 'Sweet Angel' and Esme
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Modron 'Mother Goddess' and her daughter Millyn 'Sweet Violet' (Barcud 'Red Kite' is prudently not showing his nose...)
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I'm sorry I didn't see this before, but if you haven't been able to clean your cages since you posted this, and its getting a bit minging, I could pop over and help. I have a bit of free time in the next few days.
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
I'm sorry I didn't see this before, but if you haven't been able to clean your cages since you posted this, and its getting a bit minging, I could pop over and help. I have a bit of free time in the next few days.
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Thank you. Our kind cage cleaning lady has been weekly. :)
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
Sorry to 'hijack' this thread, @Wiebke, in the absence of DMs.. Can I come over and collect a bag or two of Macsen and Manon's nice hay, later this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon? I can bring with me some rhubarb 😋😉
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Hi @Qualcast&Flymo

Yes, please! Hub has just ordered another boxful of hay and three 10 kg bags of pellets (which should last us for whole of next year as well)! :D
 
Wiebke said:
Hi @Qualcast&Flymo

Yes, please! Hub has just ordered another boxful of hay and three 10 kg bags of pellets (which should last us for whole of next year as well! :D
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😄
My plans got a bit derailed by the beekeeper coming to look at her hives in my garden. The traffic will be bad now, so I'll come tomorrow, probably between 3-4pm if that's OK?
 
Unfortunately, it is a sad update this time. Manon has sadly suddenly and without obvious causes gone into organ failure over the bank holiday weekend and passed away peacefully sometime in the early hours of Monday; she has followed her daughter Maelona 'Princess' in that, who died last August in the same way. Maelona was just three and Manon 4 years old. :(

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I am ever so grateful to @Qualcast&Flymo for looking after Manon and Macsen over the last half year after I suddenly broke my hip, which then turned into a quite a life-changing saga ending me with balance issues caused by steroids, an inoperable brain tumour and endstage melanoma (without having a melanoma skin patch) by January and then during my slow recovery since I was put on the targeted melanoma immunotherapy in February, which has come with its own issues and challenges, as has the gradual weaning off the high dose steroids, without which I would likely not be around anymore.
Without Qualcast&Flymo's help my husband would not have been able to cope; especially not with Macsen and Manon who had the most difficult to clean cage underneath a table. She was also instrumental in finding somebody local who still comes weekly to clean the piggy cages for us while I am still not quite agile enough to do it myself, even with the help of my husband (who can no longer bend down with his bad knee).

I adopted Manon ('Queen' or 'Maiden') and her baby daughter Maelona 'Princess' via @furryfriends (TEAS) as the future wives for Macsen 'The Greatest' (after the last Roman Emperor on British soil, Magnus Maximus) in October 2021. The adoption was postponed for a few weeks because of a ringworm outbreak, which affected Maelona badly and it took two bonding attemps to get Manon past her fear-aggression issues due to the hellhole she had been rescued from.

You can see how thin on her flanks and how prominent Manon's spine is on this picture taken during the successful bonding attempt.
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But in time Macsen and his two skittish new wives formed a solid and enduring bond. They were a fairly quiet trio without big shenanigans but they loved to wheek for their food, especially any fresh grass.

2022
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2023
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After Maelona's sudden and unexpected death, Macsen and Manon grew even closer; they were both shaken by their shared loss. Manon was the one who suddenly started to popcorn and play tag with by then older Macsen about 2 weeks after her daughter's passing to mark both the end of her grieving and her affection for Macsen. It was so lovely to watch how caring they were with each other during that difficult time.

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Manon and Macsen have very much enjoyed their time and all the caring attention and interaction with Qualcast&Flymo. Manon especially did come a lot more out of herself.

I have buried Manon with lots of different rose blooms from my garden and one gooseberry leaf from Qualcast&Flymo's garden, who admired the great show of roses in the garden when she brought Macsen and Manon's body across this afternoon, so I hope that she will love Manon's send-off. She has found her final resting place in the same planter as her daughter. Manon is missed by her two piggy mummies.

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I’m so very sorry. She’s reunited with her daughter again. Popcorn together over the bridge gorgeous girls ❤️
 
I'm so sorry that Manon didn't get to return home with Macsen to the rest of Wiebke's Tribe as originally expected.

It was an honour to be entrusted with the care of two of Wiebke's piggies. Manon was extremely nervous at first but eventually found her confidence, going so far as to nearly cause me heart failure by "death-napping" in the open a couple of times. She enjoyed very much the fresh grass and forage I gave them from my garden, possibly enjoyed a bit too much as she did put on some weight ... It was a bit of a red light therefore when she wasn't very interested in the grass and veggies on Friday evening, but the vet on Saturday couldn't find anything wrong. It was some comfort to me that she passed peacefully in her sleep, curled up in a fleecy cave on a snugglesafe.

I shall miss her sweet little face up at the bars eagerly anticipating a nugget or peaflake or veggie treat.

Popcorn free Manon, reunited with Maelona 🌈💞x
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
I'm so sorry that Manon didn't get to return home with Macsen to the rest of Wiebke's Tribe as originally expected.

It was an honour to be entrusted with the care of two of Wiebke's piggies. Manon was extremely nervous at first but eventually found her confidence, going so far as to nearly cause me heart failure by "death-napping" in the open a couple of times. She enjoyed very much the fresh grass and forage I gave them from my garden, possibly enjoyed a bit too much as she did put on some weight ... It was a bit of a red light therefore when she wasn't very interested in the grass and veggies on Friday evening, but the vet on Saturday couldn't find anything wrong. It was some comfort to me that she passed peacefully in her sleep, curled up in a fleecy cave on a snugglesafe.

I shall miss her sweet little face up at the bars eagerly anticipating a nugget or peaflake or veggie treat.

Popcorn free Manon, reunited with Maelona 🌈💞x
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I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for me and the loving and caring home you have given Manon and Macsen for the last half year.

Macsen is mostly holed up in his cave with a fleece pegged over the top of his pen but his food has disappeard and he is visiting the hay tray. I am giving him a quiet day today to get his bearings.
 
The roses in Manon's bouquet are beautiful, just as she was. 🥀🌹

This morning I telephoned my vets (Broad Lane/Balsall Common Vets) and asked them to send the records for M&M over to your vets, as requested. Hopefully they have done that.

I hope you won't be needing to take Macsen anytime soon obviously though, except for more Metacam for his poor arthritic back legs. (I checked the other day and some hair has grown back, but not all.) Just for info, on my scales on Monday he weighed approx 978g, his usual weight in the last couple of months had been 1010+g. I hope he has settled back in now and is interacting with all his neighbours and eating well 😘💞
 
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