Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Feb 12, 2017 19:42:34 GMT
I sure hope the little guy gets better soon <3
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Whimsy
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Posts: 400
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Post by Whimsy on Feb 1, 2017 21:24:51 GMT
I still think it's weird to go grocery shopping too, because I'm so used to buying veggies that I knew the guinea pigs would like and now it's just about me. I'm currently looking through old pictures of my cats, because I might want to make a photobook of them too. I got Molly in 2001 and since that I got 4 other cats (1 I adopted, two from my then boyfriend and one from a friend who couldn't keep his cat at his new place). All of them except for Molly have passed away now, but it's really neat to look back that many years and see all the crazy stuff they did. I even have little videos of them too, including Melvin wheeking as a little baby. So cute. I hope I never forget any of them - including cats and dogs we had growing up.
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Feb 1, 2017 4:16:56 GMT
Nothing like a little side eye!! :-) Such cute pictures.
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Feb 1, 2017 4:15:10 GMT
The digital photo frame is a good idea. I have one, so maybe I should make a little slideshow. I went away already and I had a good time in Costa Rica. I saw lots of animals - snakes, iguanas, monkeys, anteater, birds etc. I really wanted to see a sloth, but I didn't. I might have to go back another time just to see a cute sloth :-) I am doing ok. Of course I miss Melvin every day and it's still hard to think about having to say goodbye to him. I do think it was good for me to go away, because now that I'm back it's like I'm starting a new routine. When I first lost him, it was so hard to get up in the morning, not having to go see him, not prepping his food, feeding him etc. Now that I have had a break from my everyday life, it seems like I can kind of start over. I don't know if that makes sense. It's still difficult for example when I cook for myself and then I suddenly think "I should give Melvin a piece of pepper" or whatever and then you realize that he is gone. I still really enjoy looking at videos of piggies and I really think I would be great to have them as pets again some day. I will post a couple more pictures...just because they're cute and I miss those furry little guys so much <3 Attachment Deleted Attachment Deleted
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Jan 31, 2017 3:23:40 GMT
I can't believe it's been close to a month since I said goodbye to Melvin. I sure miss that little guy. I spent a few days last week looking through all my old pictures from 2012 to now and making a photo book online. It will be like having a photo album just with pictures of Melvin and Mila. It was really nice to look back at all the good times, but also very sad to live through both of their illnesses again. Once I get the book, I will post a picture of it. I'm pretty excited about it and having it, I can just take that out and look at all the pictures instead of looking through old files on my computer. I found this picture of Melvin when I first got him and one of Mila when I first brought her home. So cute <3 Attachment DeletedAttachment Deleted
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Jan 31, 2017 3:11:25 GMT
What a terrible story. I'm so sorry for your loss. I can understand why you all blame yourself, but it was an accident, so you need to stop being so hard on yourself. Nobody wanted that to happen, so all you can do is be a little be more aware next time. We all make mistakes and this was exactly that. I hope Mr. Guinea does ok and if you can get him a friend, hopefully they can have a long happy life together.
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Jan 25, 2017 17:33:37 GMT
Oh my...your little guinea guys are adorable <3 I used a C&C cage and put grids on top as well to protect Melvin from my cat. My cat didn't care about the guinea pigs at all and never tried to jump into the cage or anything, but it made me feel more comfortable to have a "roof" on the cage when I wasn't home. My cage was just a 4x2, so what I did was I put 4 roof grids on the back, secured to the cage and then the front 4 were attached to the back 4, so I could flip them up if I wanted the cage open and down when I wanted to close it. It's hard to explain. I'll have a look to see if I have a picture. I used fleece and was happy with it. I used to use to shredded paper type bedding, but it super messy and ended up everywhere in my house.
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Jan 12, 2017 2:12:54 GMT
It's a nice thought that all the pets that have passed away are together now. I hope I join them wherever they are, when my time comes.
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Jan 9, 2017 23:55:09 GMT
Thank you for all your nice words. I downloaded the last pictures I took of him and I'll post a few here. He looks so tired I hope he is pain free and happy wherever he is now <3
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Jan 5, 2017 23:31:14 GMT
It's true.....when you choose to get a pet, you know that some day you will have to say goodbye to them. It's devastating, but I honestly think it's worth it. You get so much joy from your pets and I love mine more than anything. Some might think I'm a little crazy, but I don't care. In my mind, there can never be anything wrong with caring for an animal and doing everything you can to give them a good life. I really do hope to get guinea pigs again some day and I will definitely get two. As I said earlier, I didn't know much about guinea pigs when I got Melvin, but I learned so much while having him. He was alone for about 7 months before I got Mila and he loved her. Unfortunately she only lived about 2 1/2 years after that and the he was alone again. I always felt kind of bad about that. Not that I think he suffered, because I spent a lot of time with him, but still, I'm sure he would have been happy with another friend. I'll post a couple more pictures now. Such a little character! Lots of people don't think they have that much personality, but they sure do :-)
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Jan 5, 2017 23:15:31 GMT
It makes me happy to hear how much of an effort you're making to make it work. Lots of people are very quick to get rid of pets because of all kind of reasons. Good for you for trying different things. I hope it works out!! :-)
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Jan 5, 2017 4:05:25 GMT
Thank you so much everybody. All the things you say are true. He was sick for so long and we had a pretty set routine and suddenly it's gone. I catch myself thinking "oh, I better go check on Melvin" and it's so sad. I took his cage apart yesterday - not that I wanted to, but it was so hard going into that room and seeing it exactly how it looked when I took him out of there the last time. I have put all the fleece, his bowls and water bottles away. I'm keeping it for now. I hope some day I can get guinea pigs again, but my living situation is not ideal right now. I'm not allowed to have them and although I'm not too concerned about that, the bigger problem is, that I don't have anybody to look after them if I go away and since I'm in Canada and my whole family is in Denmark, I need to leave once in a while. Melvin was my first and I didn't know much when I got him, but I fell in love with him and guinea pigs in general, right away. Next time I will know what to expect and I can give them the best care possible from the very first day. Right now, I'm just sad. I was looking through some old pictures of Melvin today and that really made me realize how much he changed. He used to be so healthy and chubby looking and at the end he was so scrawny and tired looking. Although I do feel like I did everything I could, it's hard not to have that little bit of doubt...maybe I could have done more. I feel so restless now. It was kind of like running a hospice and now it's just me and my cat. I lost 3 cats in 5 months to cancer in 2011. Then I lost another cat in 2014, Mila the guinea pig in 2015 and now Melvin. That's a lot of pets to lose. I now have my cat Molly and she is almost 17, but I hope she lives for a long time. I will post a few older pictures now. I haven't downloaded the last ones yet, so I will post more another day.
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Jan 4, 2017 0:45:50 GMT
Unfortunately I have some bad news. I had to say goodbye to Melvin last night. The last couple of weeks, he just seemed to get weaker and more tired. On Dec. 24th I finally called the vet to take him in and I could get an appointment yesterday. There was no emergency, so I thought it was ok to wait. He was still eating, but slept a lot. Wednesday he kind of stopped eating and I got really worried about him. He didn't eat much Thursday either and I knew it was time. But then he started eating again and of course that confused me, but he looked so tired and he could spend hours with me on the couch, just sleeping in his snuggle bag. It was very difficult. He kept losing weight and was less than 700 grams when he passed away. I spent all the time I could with him the last week. We had Christmas and New Years together and we got to snuggle lots and I took lots of pictures. I will post some later, but it's hard for me to look at them right now. Last night I took him to the vet and she was surprised that he had made it this far, with how skinny he was. He basically weighed half of what a normal guinea pig weighs, but he was strong to fight for so long. She said I had made the right decision. I was there the whole time and was holding him while he fell asleep and was petting him and talking to him when he passed away. It broke my heart and I feel sick now. It's so empty here. I have had such a routine with him for a long time now, with his Critical care feeding, preparing his vegetables, cleaning his cage, just spending time together etc. and now there's nothing. It's really really difficult, but I am confident I made the right decision although it was extremely hard. I miss that little guy so much <3
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Dec 14, 2016 3:49:23 GMT
As much fun as it would be, I don't think the piggy cam would work. I'm not sure how great the wifi is where I'm going. I'll definitely train my boyfriend to take care of Melvin and make sure he knows what he is doing. He knows I love Melvin and will do his best to take care of him, but I still worry that something happens while I'm away. The trip is still a month away and lots can happen, so we will see how Melvin is doing closer to me leaving. He has actually been more energetic the last few days and almost kind of hyper at times. It does kind of worry me, because it's a typical hyperthyroid symptom, and it can't be easy to go go go all the time and be hungry all the time too. Anyway, we will see what happens. He is still eating lots and still losing weight, so nothing is really new. I'll keep you posted on any updates.
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Dec 10, 2016 22:30:41 GMT
True..it's really all about the animals and when it's the right time for them. None of us want them to suffer. Guinea pigs are so tricky though, because they hide their illnesses so well and I'm having a hard time reading him and figuring out if he is ok or not. I do trust the vet I've seen and she is pretty much the only one around here who knows and treats guinea pigs regularly. I think the problem is, that I can't take him there all the time, because of time and money, so she sees him once in a while and will have to base her opinion on that. I see him every day and know him much better. That's probably why I didn't put him to sleep shortly after my last visit. I felt like he was ok for a whole anyway. The last couple of days he's been slightly more active. He still loses weight, but he's been a little hyper almost at certain times. That might just be a typical thing of thyroid issues. I don't know. I have one big concern though and it's causing me some stress. I'm going away for 8 days in January. I haven't been away for more than one night in 2 years I think, because I don't have anybody to look after Melvin. This time my boyfriend is looking after him and my cat. I've explained that he needs extra care with feeding and stuff and he says he's ok doing it, but he's not a big guinea pig lover like me and doesn't pick Melvin up. He says he will do it all when he is alone and I'm not there to do it, but it's hard not to worry. I think I'm just going to see what happens the next month or so and take it from there. If Melvin seems ok, I'll let my boyfriend look after him. It would just break my heart if Melvin passed away when I'm not here. Aarggghh....so much stress for those little guys 😢
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Dec 8, 2016 22:07:52 GMT
I understand what you're saying 3piggles, but personally I'm not afraid of taking care of sick animals. I think for me it comes down to his quality of life and obviously I struggle with that. I syringe feed him several times a day and he still loses weight, so at some point it really feels like I'm keeping him alive, which is fine, but am I not just prolonging the whole thing. As you know it's very difficult to see your pet get weaker and weaker knowing that you're responsible for making the dreaded decision of when is it enough. Anyway, I'm just kind of taking it day by day. There's no change other than more weight loss, but I keep watching him closely and try to get as much snuggle time as possible :-)
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Dec 7, 2016 2:07:29 GMT
That makes sense. Thank you. I know the time is coming, but it's a matter of how soon. I'll give it some serious thought...again :-0
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Dec 6, 2016 14:38:38 GMT
He's behavior hasn't changed, but he keeps losing weight. I know it's my responsibility to make sure he has a good life and maybe make the decision to end it too, but it's difficult. If I end up taking him to the vet soon and they recommend I put him to sleep, I will follow their advice. Sometimes when I look at him, I just feel like he's looking so fragile and then other times he seems more perky. It's tough.
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Dec 6, 2016 14:34:10 GMT
Aww, popcorning is a great sign. I think they'll be besties soon :-)
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Whimsy
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Post by Whimsy on Dec 5, 2016 2:53:59 GMT
I don't know for sure, but I think it's just them trying to work out who's the boss. I think it will get better with time and they will get along great. I'm sure somebody else has experience with this and will reply to your post later :-)
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