Hi everyone
You may know that I have 4 beautiful guineapigs, well sadly I now have 3. Peaches, my best friend and my pretty princess is dead. As I write this, I can barely type.
Last night Peach’s breathing was bad. When I took her to see the vet about 5 weeks ago for mites, I mentioned the fact she makes funny breathing noises sometimes and jolts her head forwards but he tested her heart and lungs and said everything seemed good.
I had peaches out for half an hour on my chest and took a short video of her breathing problem to show the vet next time I saw him.
This time her breathing was bad for a longer period of time than usual. By the time she went back in her cage, she had calmed down a lot. She has had breathing problems on and off for most of her life and sometimes it would be fine for quite a while. I have even seen her eat whilst her breathing is not sounding great.
This morning I woke up to lots of squeaking. They usually only do this if they want more food. I noticed that not much piggy mix had been eaten but all the carrot had been consumed. So I made all four of my pigs breakfast. I observed Peaches. Snuggles, her sister, was licking around her eye and I thought that was because she had had some yucky white stuff around both eyes last night, that I thought was to do with the mites, that she and the other pigs are still being treated for. Peaches then went and huddled in the corner facing the wall quietly. Neither her or Snuggles, her sister, were eating. Peaches was docile. I lifted the top of the cage off and was shocked to find peaches very poorly, she was struggling to stay alive and jerking her body back forth. She was coming to the end of her life.
I called the emergency vet, they could see her straight away. I called for a taxi because I don’t drive.
When I got outside my home, Peaches was hardly breathing, I knew she was almost dead. I phoned to see where my taxi was and they said he’s in the next street. Then the Taxi driver phoned me and at first I didn’t know who it was, I said yes this is Sandra but I can’t speak now because my guineapig is about to die and I have got to take her to the vets. Then I asked who it was and the taxi driver said who.he was. It was clear he was stuck in traffic, still on the street before my road, on the opposite side of the road.
Eventually he got close to my home and he stopped a bit further up and I rushed in to the front. I had to be careful not to crush Peaches in my haste. The driver could see she was in a bad way and almost not breathing. When we got to the vets, he stopped the clock for the cab and told me to get my guineapig in there and get her seen to and then pay him. I was so glad he did that.
She was put on anti-biotics straight away and oxgen. But the vet wasn’t hopeful.
After giving consent, I got told to leave, as there was nothing more I could do and phone back in about an hour. Less than an hour later, at 9.20am, I got a phone call from the vet to say Peaches had died. My heart is still in pieces. I am kicking myself that I didn’t take her last night as the vet said she had a lot of air in her tummy because she had been gasping for breath. She also said she had a respiratory infection that the anti-biotics couldn’t fight. She believes she has had a respiratory problem from birth and said she is not sure that if I had got her seen last night, that it would have helped. In the long term it wouldn’t have. She said I now need to kerp my eye of the other 3 as the problem will be genetic and they are all related. She lived with her sister Snuggles who is the mother to my other two, Cinnamon and Daisy. Snuggles was pregnant when I got her from the pet shop and I couldn’t
give her babies up.
My vet said I cannot get a companion for Snuggles yet as her and Cinnamon and Daisy, all need to be checked over as it is a genetic problem and Daisy is still scratching and biting. It is possible that it could be more than a mite problem, lets hope not.
I have been advised to get all of them checked over tomorrow morning, so I will need to take time off work to do it but it will be worth it.
To my Peaches: You may have left from my life but you will always be in my heart. I love you with all of my heart, our bond was so strong. My memories of you may fade but my love for you will never leave you and I will always remember you and the special times we shared. At the moment, the pain and sorrow I feel for you, is cutting me like a knife. I wish I had taken you to the vets last night. I am so sorry that I didn’t. I hate myself right now for it, even though I have been told your fate would still have been inevitable in the long term and the vet said it may not have made a difference. Thank you for the wonderful life you gave me, the motivation and inspiration to live on and fulfil my dreams. Right now, the only dream I wish would come true, would be to have you back in my life once more. To have you breathing comfortably and pressing your soft furry cheeks against mine. The twitch of your wiskers, your warmth against my body. You are my baby teddy bear and princess and I will miss kissing and hugging you for many years to come and always.
Here are some photos of my beautiful baby Peaches, who would have been two years old on the 12th of October.
Gone but never forgotton. I am sorry for your pain during the last moments of your life. Please forgive me for not acting sooner last night. I had always had a feeling that you may die young due to respiratory problems, even though the vet couldn’t find anything wrong with you before. That is why I said goodbye lots of times before. I told you that I don’t want anything to happen to you but if it did, I will always love you and I am blessed to have had you in my life. I am still blessed to have known such a gorgeous little life. You will always be my real-life teddy bear. I will look after your sister Peaches for you and Daisy and Cinnamon and get them checked out. I don’t want this blog post to end because it symbolises the end of your life.
Peaches, mummy will always love you. See you in piggy heaven one day. xxxxxxxx
Take care of yourself and your loved ones before it’s too late.
Write as soon as I am able to.
Sandra
So sorry Peaches has gone. Zoey the Cool Cat and I are sending you and Snuggles lots of positive vibes from here in San Diego.
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Thanks Russel and Zoe, I appreciate you saying that. It has been hard as she was my best friend and not even two years old. It happened quite suddenly in the end.
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It’s so difficult when pets are sick or die. I’m sorry for your loss and hope that time will heal the pain you feel over Peaches.
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Thanks shirley for your understanding. I am trying to remember how blessed I am to have had her in my life, if only for a short while.
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I am so sorry. I know how it feels to be close with your piggie and I hope you know that she is happy now and that you will see her again someday.
She must have been very happy to be your companion:)
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I know she loved me just as much as I loved her. She radiated a total pure love energy like nothing I had experienced before. It was incredible and so was she.
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I’m sorry for your loss. I hope the others won’t have the same health problems.
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Thanks so much for stopping by. Peaches died from a respiratory infection and genetic lung condition. My three other pigs were taken to be examined the following day, as they are all related. Snuggles, Peaches’s sister, was found to have a tumor and had the tumor removed that day. She was x-rayed and she has an enlarged heart and a spot on her lungs.
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I’m sorry for Snuggles and hope she’ll live a bit longer though. :S
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Thanks so much. I do hope so. She is eating well but now I know she has a lung and heart condition I feel I am on borrowed time with her. I don’t want to lose another pig so soon after losing her sister Peaches. I get the results back from the lab on Monday to find out if the tumor was cancer and she is going for a check-up later this morning.
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Sorry for your loss!!!!
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Thanks Judy, your condolences are much appreciated.
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Thanks Judy, that means a lot.
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My girls and I are so sorry for the loss of your sweet Peaches.
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Thanks. Your kind words mean a lot, especially at this sad time.
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I have only now read this post. Please, accept my belated condelences. I understand very well the pain felt at the loss of one’s animal companion. I am glad to see the outpour of responses and am hopeful that your pain will soon ease.
With regards,
D.
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Thanks Diedre. As my guineapigs live in my flat, in the same room as me, I am very close to them. I was extremely upset on Friday when it happened. Her sister Snuggles, is being so brave after having had a tumor removed the day after losing her sister.
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Oh gosh, I’m so sorry to hear this. It’s not much comfort but I truly understand what you are going through. It does sound to us like an upper respiratory infection with heart complications which is what we lost Nutty to. Recurrent upper respiratory infections are a sign of a heart condition which often remains unnoticed until too late. If it is a genetic lung complaint this could make them more susceptible to URI’s
My recommendation here would be to ask for x rays or ultrasounds to check for fluid on the lungs or an enlarged heart on the three little ones. If none of them are showing symptoms the best thing you can do is get regular check ups and just keep an eye on them.
If you need any help or advice please drop me an email, roominyourheartcampaign@yahoo.co.uk and I’ll help in any way I can. I have experience of this from Nutty and previously when I lost my baby Nugget to it as well.
Once again I am so sorry to hear this. Thinking of you
~ Amy
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You are almost spot on, as you have seen from my next post. Snuggles’s xrays showed has an enlarged heart and a spot on her lung. The vet said to keep an eye on her breathing, at the moment she is Okay in that respect. He said it wasn’t necessary to xray the other two as their heart and lungs sound fine. He said Cinnamon has a heartbeat the strength of a cat.
When I showed the vet the video of Peaches, the night before she died, he said it was fluid on the lungs.
Thanks for saying I can email you. I may need to in the future. Any help you can give me, is appreciated. I knew about Nutty and was upset about your loss, sorry about Nugget. You must be very sad. What does the U mean in URI’s ?
Thanks for thinking of us.xx
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The U stands for Upper. It’s treated the same whether it’s upper or lower though 🙂
xxxx
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Thanks. My mind is not with it at the moment. Had Sat off work to take my other 3 pigs to the vets and sort Snuggles out.
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I know, I can only imagine what you are going through right now. It’s really tough, I was just numb for the first few days. People who don’t have piggies just cannot understand the magic of loving and losing them.
~ Amy
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Thanks. Your words mean a lot. I agree they don’t understand. A lady in my work asked me how much I paid for Snuggles’s operation and xrays. When I said I paid £428 and took it out of my ISA, she asked me if it’s worth paying that much for an animal. I said of course it is, I don’t want children and they are my babies.
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Oh poor Peaches, so very sorry for your loss 😦 I recently wrote a tribute to our darling little hamster, Eric, who we lost a couple of week’s ago. I still miss him so much. As you say, gone but never forgotten.
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Thanks Sherri for your soothing words, they mean a lot. Sorry for your loss of Eric, I know how much it hurts. I felt like a knife had cut through my body yesterday. I had to focus on Snuggles’s tumor removal today.
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She was a beautiful girl, I’m very sorry for your loss.
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Thanks so much. When I took my other 3 piggies to the vets, Snuggles, Peaches’s sister, had a tumor. She had to have an operation to remove it today. I have written a post about it.
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Sandra, I am sorry to hear Peaches is gone. It is hard as you loved her and yet it is good she does not have to struggle anymore. Lots of hugs!
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Thanks. She seemed fine on Wed evening. Just over 5 weeks ago the vet said her chest and heart were fine. My other 3 have got to go to the vet tomorrow to be checked over and perhaps have tests. Peaches had a lung problem that was passed on genetically and all of them are part of the same family. I go to London on Fri 27th. I hope they will all be okay. I am not sure if you still want to meet up? The theatre is in Covent Garden and I will be eating in Maxwells in Covent Garden beforehand. Did you want to eat there with me? Or are you busy now?
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Sandra, it would be lovely to eat there with you if htat is ok. Tell me what time and we can meet there and chat over dinner. I would love that! I am sure you have someon to look after your pigs while away?
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The doors to the theatre performance open at 7pm and I have to collect them from the box office so it would be good to meet you at Maxwells for 5pm. It can take up to 40 mins to get food and if I meet you at 5pm, I won’t have to rush my food and can chill a bit with you. If you could email me your phone number, just in case I need it, that would be great. quirkybooks.net@quirkybooks.plus.com My mum is looking after my pigs and coming with me to the vets on Thursday, for Snuggles’s check-up after having a tumor removed today.
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Great… have sent you an email! See you Friday! 🙂
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Thanks. I have replied. See you soon.
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Although I clicked like, it is to say that I read the post. Sorry for your loss, Sandra. It doesn’t matter what our pets are, when we lose when it is very upsetting. When my daughter lost her hamster, we were all devastated. So I know how you feel.
{{HUGS}}
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Thanks so much for your understanding Alastair and the hugs. I think Snuggles, her sister and house companion, is being braver than me at the moment. I am devastated. Peaches gave off this energy of pure love that I have never experienced from a guineapig before.
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Creatures have their own way of dealing with loss. They don’t always show it so much. They may go off their food for a bit.
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Thanks Alastair for always being there with lovely words to sooth. I am worried about my other 3 because Peaches had a lung condition that has been passed on genetically and all of my guineapigs are closely related from the same family.
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Peaches my just have been unlucky. I’ll keep my fingers crossed
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Lets hope that was the case.
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Thanks.
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Sorry for the loss of your pet Peaches. Big hugs.
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Thanks Jackie. I look like I have two black eyes from all of the crying I have done.
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Oh Sandra, am so very sorry to hear about your loss of little Peaches. I really do know how you feel as I lost Star last week. Maybe they are playing together on a different plane of existence. Big hug. Ralph xox 😥
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Thanks Ralph for being so understanding and comforting. The loss was quick this morning and it took a while to believe it actually happened. Was Star a guineapig?
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No, a rescued kitten. I wrote a post on her life recently.
Have another hug. 😦
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Thanks Ralph. I am very behind with catching up on reading other people’s posts lately. I have been writing a guest blog article for http://www.payjustice.co.uk for the last week and a half. It was published on their site yesterday. I had intended to do some catching up last night and today but Peaches was a priority. Got over 460 emails to wade through.
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Wow !! 460 in your Inbox. I sense a mass delete coming on. Ute advised me not to check the “Notify me of follow-up comments via email” box in comments and my Inbox has drastically reduced from about 125 while I’m asleep to about 25. I keep any interesting New Post emails and go back a few days later to see what new comments have been made.
I hope you have a lovely meal with Ute. I am sure you will hit it off and become real life friends.
Another big hug. 😀
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Thanks Ralph. A lot of the emails are notifications of new WordPress posts by people I follow. I only view comments in WordPress, on my Mac and phone. It will be great to meet Ute. Thanks for all the hugs. I really need them at the moment. Especially with the fact that Snuggles, Peaches’s sister, had to have a tumor removed today.
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