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Struggling to breathe

Try to focus on all the extra life he had, thanks to your amazing dedication and devotion. It sounds like it was his time to leave and what you describe sounds like what happened, when we lost Monty. Monty died with dental disease, but not from it. Simon said he’d gone into congestive heart failure and had fluid on his lungs, which was making it difficult for him to breathe. He was really struggling and although it broke my heart, I knew we had to let him go.
You gave Little the very best life and you have all your precious memories that no one can take away from you. It’s always sad to lose a piggy, but when you’ve invested so much emotion into ensuring they have the best life they can, despite having other issues, it can hurt even more.
Take care and time to grieve. Hugs x
 
I am so very sorry for the loss of your beloved Little. Sending big hugs.

Popcorn free across the rainbow bridge handsome boy. ❤ ❤
 
Thank you everyone for every message, I really appreciate it. I miss him a lot, it’s really hard. I’ve had him since I was 14, I’m 21 now so he’s been by my side for lots of different times in my life. We took care of each other, and knowing that he needed me kept me going when things have been hard.
Part of me feels like I’ve failed him, like I should have picked up on something sooner. Little dealt with tummy problems for most of his life and we just got on with it. He had been on emeprid morning and night for many weeks due his bad tummy, he was having good poos in the day time and horrific poos in the night time so I was up every 2/3 hours in the night for just over a month sorting him out. His tummy would gurgle but then we gave him nystatin as prescribed for a yeast infection and it stopped gurgling but his poos never got better. We stopped the nystatin and the gurgling began again and persisted for maybe 2 weeks (basically until he died), we continued with the emeprid but stopped on about Saturday/Sunday as we felt there was some improvement. Then when I think back, I noticed Monday that Little’s breathing looked quite harsh on his sides but I just decided to keep my eye on it instead of act as he has become a very physical breather in his old age. So it seems like that was due to his tummy pain, maybe if I’d have carried on with the emeprid instead of stopping then maybe he would be okay. Or maybe I’ve just been prolonging the inevitable for quite some time. I’m just dealing with a hundred what-ifs, going over every scenario like it’s going to change something.
Then I feel like maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention to him because I’ve also been dealing with BB for just over a month who almost died twice and was diagnosed with bowel disease, Little and I hadn’t had our proper weekly (at least, usually a lot more) cuddles for about a month because I was just exhausted from getting up multiple times every night and taking care of both Little and BB that I feel like I forgot to love him in the process. Maybe I’m just rambling and overthinking, I’m just distraught.
I know it’s been a hard year for Little, and that this was on the cards sooner or later. Around this time last year, he dealt with his first jaw abscess and then around June he had his second. He’s been going for his teeth trimmed every 2/3 weeks since around March. His poos had been bad since June time and we’d been giving probiotics which helped a lot, then about December time they got bad again and probiotics wouldn’t help, then he was diagnosed with a yeast infection when his poos were better actually so Simon advised us to hold off treatment, then he had a problem where he was holding his pee in so wouldn’t eat or drink or anything, then he dealt with bladder sludge on and off, then his poos got really bad and we gave the nystatin and then his poos were still bad afterwards and then he had to be PTS.
He’s had a tough year, and this was a piggy who never got ill before this time last year. He’d dealt with a bad tummy nearly all his life but we managed it, and then he had an abscess on his back due to an infected scratch but that was it. He was 6 years and around 6 months when he died, so he’d gone over 5 years of never really being ill. It seems his age must have been catching up to him, and things started slowing down.
If I had taken him to be seen by the vet again earlier for his gurgly tummy maybe things would be different, but then last time they said it wasn’t anything to worry about. And also what more could they have done? I know Zantac was recalled so aside from emeprid which he was on (and cisapride which Little wasn’t on) what more could they have done that would have actually helped? Once we stopped giving the emeprid on Saturday/Sunday, Little’s gurgly tummy stopped so I thought things were making progress, but maybe it was because I’d stopped the gas moving its way out of the system. Maybe he’d still be here had I carried on, but as I said before maybe I was just delaying the inevitable. And maybe he was in some pain that we just didn’t see until the emeprid stopped. I suppose I could just keep going around in circles, I just hope he wasn’t in too much pain. The bad breathing at the start of this was pain related, but by the time we went back to the vets about 4 hours later fluid had also built up in his lungs due to the pressure on all the other organs. I’m just rambling at this point, I’m in the house on my own with all these thoughts going around my head.
Anyway, I just miss him a lot. And I hope he wasn’t in too much pain, and I hope he knew I loved him a lot even if we didn’t have our cuddles much this last month.
Again, thanks everyone for your kind words. He was an extra special piggy, and there will always be a Little-shaped hole in my heart.
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He knew he was loved, and you gave him a wonderful life. I know you're focusing on these last few days and that's natural to do but they are nothing compared to all those years of happy, healthy days that he enjoyed. Be kind to yourself, you could not have done more for him.
 
:agr: He was so loved and so lucky to have such a caring owner. Please don’t beat yourself up... you did everything you could for your special little boy and he had a fantastic life with you 💜
 
It sounds like you did everything right for Little. He got to a fantastic age. It was just his time. He definitely knew he was loved because he gave you love in return. Take care of yourself ❤️
 
How handsome he was! Please do not blame yourself. One of my piggies, Mupsu, also had tummy issues but otherwise was fine all her life. In the end, issues kept coming up and they just wouldn’t stop. Teeth, tummy, breathing.

It was time for your little one. You have so many memories, tuck him away safely in your heart, he’ll always be there. Your piggy knew he was loved. May he sleep tight and enjoy the Bridge 🌈
 
I'm so sorry... it's so hard to lose a pet. I've been there (thus far all of my pigs have passed at home) and watching them go is really hard to do. Thinking of you and many ((HUGS.)) He was clearly very loved. We abruptly lost one of our hammies unexpectedly yesterday, so I'm grieving right along with you. So many people don't understand how deeply you feel for the little pets, but everyone here certainly does.
 
Little was such a handsome chap, I know how you are feeling, numb and gutted. Don’t feel guilty about the wonderful care you gave him, no one could have been more dedicated. Little, like my Ted had dental issues but despite this Little had wonderful life filled with love and care all down to you. At the end of the day that’s the best thing we can all give them. We have often supported each other over their dental problems and Little and Ted died of something totally unrelated to their dental issues which is a testament to our care and Simon’s too.
Take good care while you grieve, you will in the future be able to treasure your memories of Little without pain and be glad you where so lucky to share lives together x
 
I'm so sorry to hear your news. Piggies, like people, get to an age where things start going wrong and they don't seem to stop as the body just cannot repair itself any longer. He had a wonderful life with you and the trust you built over the years would have served him well as he got older and had to cope with more difficult situations - he knew you were trying to help him. It was just his time 💕
 
Thank you everyone, I think you’re all right and that it was just his time. He was old and lots of things suddenly seemed to be going wrong for him, and since he wasn’t an illness-prone piggy it must have been an indication that things were coming to an end, and that his body was slowing down. I just hope he wasn’t in any pain these last few days or weeks, he always seemed so happy so I really hope he was okay. I know it’s not about last moments, or last days. I just really hope he wasn’t suffering in any way and that he was happy and felt safe. I really do appreciate all your words, and they do really help.
We buried him yesterday, we just need to figure out what flowers to plant in his pot. Today, we’ve re-done the cages so that we only have two instead of 3.
I know it was likely his time and that his age has caught up to him, but I just wish he was still here. I miss him a lot.

I would like to say a big thank you to @Bill & Ted and @furryfriends (TEAS) (and of course Simon) for all the support they have given me in the last year or so since I began dealing with Little’s dental issues up until now. You both have made things much easier to deal with and understand, so thank you so much. Little and I would have struggled even more otherwise :)
 
Claire W said:
Please don’t beat yourself up. He wouldn’t have been in any pain or suffering towards the end. You would have known if he was xx
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I really hope not, I hope I noticed something was off just in time. I wish piggies didn’t hide their pain like they do, the last thing we ever want is for them to be suffering. Little was a big drinker and would finish his small bottle at least once a day, sometimes twice. It wasn’t until the aftermath of it all that we noticed his bottle was completely full meaning he hadn’t drunk all night and all that day, so I’m glad I noticed something was wrong when I did as he was clearly not feeling well.
Thank you for all your support through everything Claire, it’s helped me a lot :) x

Fluffbabies said:
I am so so sorry to hear about Little :( I'm holding you in my thoughts. It's so hard when piggies get sick or pass over the bridge xx
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Thank you so much, it just came out of nowhere. It’s weird how you wake up one morning and it’s a normal day and everyone is - or seems - okay, and then by the evening everything has turned upside down x
 
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