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Had an awful day.
We had to rush Marigold the guinea pig to the vet this am to be PTS. She came to us a few years ago after being adopted from
P@H adoption centre, they accepted her and her brother for adoption although they were not old enough to be weaned and weren't eating. A lady who had guineas took them and reared them, she kept the boy to be bonded with her own one but asked if we would take the girl. Marigold never grew very much and was only about 2/3 of the size of a normal adult guinea pig and always drank a lot. Lately she had been losing weight and drinking more ( and having a wet bum). I took her to the vet and concluded she was in renal failure, although the vet thought she was very bright. She has been eating well and bright, although thin and drinking, however today she was weak and tucked up so I took her in to be PTS. I knew it was the end and even from putting her in the car to the time we got to the vet she had deteriorated. She was only 2.5 years old, although I found out her brother died in a similar was a while ago.
In the afternoon we found Olive, our 11 year old mam pig, walking in her run, wobbly a and dragging her nose against the wall. We have known Olive most likely had an abdominal tumour as she was losing weight along her top line while becoming swollen in her stomach. The vet said it wasn't her heart, she wasn't jaundiced so didn't think it was her liver but likely to be a tumour somewhere ( uterine tumours are common in pigs!). Olive was not a hands on pig and I would not put her through an ex-lap to find out what was going on so we were monitoring her and giving horse Metacam.
I knew, when I saw her it was the end, the vet came out and managed to PTS using a vein in her ear. I was dreading her dying as I had been told they either had to use a captive bolt or a gun, but it was peaceful and calm. In a way it happened at the best time, we were both there, so neither suffered for long and Olive had left her bed and her daughters which meant we did not have to deal with them ( shut them in their bed) and it made removing her body from the pen as easy as it could be. I know it sounds callous but with large animals it's something you have to consider for your own safety and the upset of their companions. Her daughters, Kerry and Patsy look sad and I'm sure it will take them time to recover the loss of their mum, which upsets me more than our own loss.
Rest in peace girls, we will miss you.
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