HeatherW
Adult Guinea Pig
My lovely squeaky boy Leo passed away on Wednesday 2 August, not long after being diagnosed with kidney failure (Blood in pee?). I was expecting to have to make a final journey to the vets to have him PTS, but instead he spent his final couple of days eating grass on the lawn in the sunshine with his two favourite girls and gently passed over in the night, for which I'm very thankful.
I wanted to write this mostly to share some of the joy he gave us in the ~18 months we had him, and to remember some of his quirks. You can also see some of his antics on the thread here: Meet Jynx!
We adopted him already neutered in February 2020, and I wasn't sure we could keep him if he wasn't going to get along with Jasmine and Pickle. However, Leo was such a sweet boy, he very quickly wormed his way into our hearts, so I decided we'd make it work even if the girls didn't accept him.
Before he arrived, he'd been living with four other boys and he was SO EXCITED to finally meet some ladypigs! He couldn't stop rumbling, constantly gnawed at and patrolled the bars, and flattened himself into a pancake to gain their approval - hence Torpigdo! Jasmine, as ever, was very nonchalant, and Pickle took a while to warm up to him, but he eventually managed to win both ladies over and Pickle was smitten.
Sadly, it wasn't to last long. A month after he'd arrived and only after a few days of the trio living together, Pickle died after her spay. It seemed that Leo had arrived at just the right time to make sure Jasmine was okay after losing her daughter.
However, Leo was quite a needy boy and wound Jasmine up, so she eventually decided on a divorce a few months later! Poor Leo had to be separated. He was clearly unhappy without company, so I went on a quest to find him a new wife. There was a brief fling with a gorgeous honey-coloured sow called Apricot, and his reaction to her was hilarious! When Jasmine and Apricot greeted each other through the bars beside him, he tried to squeeze his face all the way through as if to say "What about meeeeeee?!" (Leo's had a long day). He popcorned next to her like he had hiccoughs (Leo pocorning), and the nuptials appeared to be going well. However, it wasn't to be once again. Apricot suddenly caught a uterine infection after having only been with us for two weeks and had to be PTS, leaving poor Leo bereft of company once more.
After reaching out on the Guinea Pig dating site for him (https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/handsome-boar-seeking-love.185092/), he was off to meet Jynx! At first, Leo was rather confused about having a girlfriend who could easily evade his amorous attempts, but he soon realised that she gave him the attention he craved, and would constantly nuzzle up to her for some cheeky eye licks.
Leo's desire for Jasmine never went away though. He was always a bit of a creep, and would sit and stare at her through the bars without moving. However, it seemed to give Jynx a bit of a break when even she found him a bit much! So began the tales of The Fuzz (Jasmine), The Fab (Leo) and The Slinky (Jynx).
One of Leo's favourite past times was running straight through, squeaking loudly, and demolishing the freshly-laid hay pile - or just sticking his face in it and munching away. I'll always remember the time I topped it up, looked away for a couple of seconds, turned back around and there was a clear path right through the middle of it.
Even now, his legacy lives on; Leo taught this to both Jasmine and Jynx, and now it's never long before one of them starts spreading it all over the cage!
Leo also enjoyed his lawn time. He was surprisingly happy out in the open, and always went to the best bits of grass rather than hide away first. Jasmine, despite being rather bold herself, is less keen on being outdoors, so Leo showed both her and Jynx that it's less of a scary place than they thought.
Jasmine and Jynx taught Leo things too. Jasmine's trick was to show him how to sit up on his back legs when I put my hand into the carrier to be picked up, and Jynx demonstrated how the hammock is supposed to be used, i.e. in it, not under it! She also showed him the delights of burying oneself under the bath mats, which I was a lot less impressed with.
After his experiences with Jasmine, Leo was much more of a gentleman to Jynx. She would always go in the carrier first during cleaning time, and he would respectfully wait outside until I either ushered him in or Jynx gave him enough space to get past!
Another favourite memory is sitting outside in the garden with my OH's family who each gave him a cuddle. I picked some grass for them to feed him, but he wouldn't touch it until he was safe on my lap to munch on it.
His fabulous hair made him a favourite on the forum, even if Jasmine had other ideas and insisted on giving him haircuts - and the bars didn't stop her! Leo had a really soft spot for her though, and would pretty much let Jasmine do what she wanted, lying down next to where she could get a little nibble of him.
Leo was my Noisy Boy. It wasn't wheeks so much as lots of loud squeaks all the time! He couldn't ever play in the hay without making sure everyone knew about it. He was a very sweet, gentle soul with gorgeous lips who adored blueberries and would hoover them up in no time, and just wanted to be loved and adored by his ladypigs.
He will be very sorely missed.
If anyone has any other fun stories they'd like to share about him here, that'd be lovely.
I'd like to use this thread to remember him for the special boy he is.
I wanted to write this mostly to share some of the joy he gave us in the ~18 months we had him, and to remember some of his quirks. You can also see some of his antics on the thread here: Meet Jynx!
We adopted him already neutered in February 2020, and I wasn't sure we could keep him if he wasn't going to get along with Jasmine and Pickle. However, Leo was such a sweet boy, he very quickly wormed his way into our hearts, so I decided we'd make it work even if the girls didn't accept him.
Before he arrived, he'd been living with four other boys and he was SO EXCITED to finally meet some ladypigs! He couldn't stop rumbling, constantly gnawed at and patrolled the bars, and flattened himself into a pancake to gain their approval - hence Torpigdo! Jasmine, as ever, was very nonchalant, and Pickle took a while to warm up to him, but he eventually managed to win both ladies over and Pickle was smitten.
Sadly, it wasn't to last long. A month after he'd arrived and only after a few days of the trio living together, Pickle died after her spay. It seemed that Leo had arrived at just the right time to make sure Jasmine was okay after losing her daughter.
However, Leo was quite a needy boy and wound Jasmine up, so she eventually decided on a divorce a few months later! Poor Leo had to be separated. He was clearly unhappy without company, so I went on a quest to find him a new wife. There was a brief fling with a gorgeous honey-coloured sow called Apricot, and his reaction to her was hilarious! When Jasmine and Apricot greeted each other through the bars beside him, he tried to squeeze his face all the way through as if to say "What about meeeeeee?!" (Leo's had a long day). He popcorned next to her like he had hiccoughs (Leo pocorning), and the nuptials appeared to be going well. However, it wasn't to be once again. Apricot suddenly caught a uterine infection after having only been with us for two weeks and had to be PTS, leaving poor Leo bereft of company once more.
After reaching out on the Guinea Pig dating site for him (https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/handsome-boar-seeking-love.185092/), he was off to meet Jynx! At first, Leo was rather confused about having a girlfriend who could easily evade his amorous attempts, but he soon realised that she gave him the attention he craved, and would constantly nuzzle up to her for some cheeky eye licks.
Leo's desire for Jasmine never went away though. He was always a bit of a creep, and would sit and stare at her through the bars without moving. However, it seemed to give Jynx a bit of a break when even she found him a bit much! So began the tales of The Fuzz (Jasmine), The Fab (Leo) and The Slinky (Jynx).
One of Leo's favourite past times was running straight through, squeaking loudly, and demolishing the freshly-laid hay pile - or just sticking his face in it and munching away. I'll always remember the time I topped it up, looked away for a couple of seconds, turned back around and there was a clear path right through the middle of it.
Even now, his legacy lives on; Leo taught this to both Jasmine and Jynx, and now it's never long before one of them starts spreading it all over the cage!Leo also enjoyed his lawn time. He was surprisingly happy out in the open, and always went to the best bits of grass rather than hide away first. Jasmine, despite being rather bold herself, is less keen on being outdoors, so Leo showed both her and Jynx that it's less of a scary place than they thought.
Jasmine and Jynx taught Leo things too. Jasmine's trick was to show him how to sit up on his back legs when I put my hand into the carrier to be picked up, and Jynx demonstrated how the hammock is supposed to be used, i.e. in it, not under it! She also showed him the delights of burying oneself under the bath mats, which I was a lot less impressed with.
After his experiences with Jasmine, Leo was much more of a gentleman to Jynx. She would always go in the carrier first during cleaning time, and he would respectfully wait outside until I either ushered him in or Jynx gave him enough space to get past!
Another favourite memory is sitting outside in the garden with my OH's family who each gave him a cuddle. I picked some grass for them to feed him, but he wouldn't touch it until he was safe on my lap to munch on it.
His fabulous hair made him a favourite on the forum, even if Jasmine had other ideas and insisted on giving him haircuts - and the bars didn't stop her! Leo had a really soft spot for her though, and would pretty much let Jasmine do what she wanted, lying down next to where she could get a little nibble of him.
Leo was my Noisy Boy. It wasn't wheeks so much as lots of loud squeaks all the time! He couldn't ever play in the hay without making sure everyone knew about it. He was a very sweet, gentle soul with gorgeous lips who adored blueberries and would hoover them up in no time, and just wanted to be loved and adored by his ladypigs.
He will be very sorely missed.
If anyone has any other fun stories they'd like to share about him here, that'd be lovely.
I'd like to use this thread to remember him for the special boy he is.
He was such a special boy and had the most brilliant home with you.
xx
what a wonderful life he had Sleep tight Leo (((hugs)))
