Wiebke's Tribe: Sows and the City Boars

Sorry for the loss of Nye and your other losses over the past year. I know how hard it can be, having lost 7 piggies myself this year. Having so many sharing their lives with us is a blessing but sadly those lives are never as long as we would like, even when they live to a great age. Hugs x
 
He sounded like a lovely pig who had a very happy life. I’m so sorry you’ve been having such a rough ride. You do so well for those pigs, they all get the best chance of a happy and long life and I dread to think what their lives would have been like without you rescuing them.
 
Pound Shilling & Pig said:
Sorry for the loss of Nye and your other losses over the past year. I know how hard it can be, having lost 7 piggies myself this year. Having so many sharing their lives with us is a blessing but sadly those lives are never as long as we would like, even when they live to a great age. Hugs x
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Thank you and hugs back.

You can get used to and anticipate some of the mechanics of the grieving process but since each piggy and each bond is unique, the loss never becomes less hurtful and the new gap in your life not any less big, no matter how many have gone before. :(

Losing youngsters is very upsetting; losing oldies means having a lot more shared memories that tie you together, and it can be very painful. A stampede to the Rainbow Bridge (a multiple loss in a very short time) can take a long time to fully digest. You also do not grieve any less whether it is a sudden death or a long journey with a terminally ill piggy - it's just that the grieving dynamics differ.

I have been grieving for Dylan for some time now as he has got gradually worse while Nye has come more as a surprise even though he has been getting fairly frail over the last weeks; he just went suddenly into multiple organ failure and was able to make his journey under his own steam in just under a day. Whenever Dylan passes, a good deal of the grieving will have already been done although the actual loss will still hurt as much as with any piggy.

There is never an 'easy' goodbye or an ideal age or way to lose a piggy. Every death of any pet comes to soon because their lives are shorter than ours. :(

But we wouldn't continue having them if we didn't get ultimately more out of having them in our lives than we have to pay back in terms of grieving.
 
Queen Elizabeth said to the grieving families of 9/11 20 years ago that
‘Grief is the price we pay for love’
I think that’s so true and all we can do for our piggies ( other pets/ loved ones and ourselves) is give them their best lives and make our lives the best.
Thank you for your lovely words Wiekbe as you cope with this loss 💔❤️
 
Sorry to hear that your cheeky chappie Nye has popcorned off to Rainbow Bridge. Glad you didn't have the upset of having to help him on his way though. I hope Hyfryd will be okay.

Sleep tight, Nye 🌈 😥
:hug:
 
Roselina said:
Queen Elizabeth said to the grieving families of 9/11 20 years ago that
‘Grief is the price we pay for love’
I think that’s so true and all we can do for our piggies ( other pets/ loved ones and ourselves) is give them their best lives and make our lives the best.
Thank you for your lovely words Wiekbe as you cope with this loss 💔❤️
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I've been saying the same for a goodly while, too. It is true. You have to grieve as much as you have loved.

But love enriches our lives so much that it is a price worth paying. And working through our own losses can make us more empathetic and understanding of others suffering.
 
I’m so sorry Wiebke I spelt your name wrong ! 😬 complete error
 
Roselina said:
I’m so sorry Wiebke I spelt your name wrong ! 😬 complete error
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Not a problem; I am used to it.

I have grown up 500 miles from where my name is traditional and then moved even further afield when I married a Welshman. I've had teachers who couldn't cope.
Personally, I blame my parents for not finding the exit from Switzerland in time before I and my siblings started school, as originally planned. :D
 
So sorry you lost Nye, sending hugs 🌈 Hoping next year you have a happy loss free year x

Sleep tight little man 🌈
 
I am very relieved that my remaining three rather frail old ladies (all coming up to 7 years) have decided that when the chips are down the benefit of companionship outweighs any personal ego/grudge and have agreed to move in with each other. It is my third incarnation of a Golden Oldies group.
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From front left to right:
Nye's widow Hyfryd (Lovely), Barri's widow Llawen (Merry) and her fallen-out sister Hapus (Happy), for whose arthritis young Tudur has become too much.

They have two hay trays (with lowered rims) so Llawen can do her own thing if she wishes to but there is no big dominance going on. Hyfryd and Hapus may even become friends eventually now that they have sorted out the hierarchy between them.
 
Aaah ladies 💕
Let's hope we all mellow thus with age. I saw 2 old ladies gently squabbling together at a care home once and asked a staff member what it was about. "Oh, they think they're sisters" she said, "they're always together!" It turned out that they'd only known each other a matter of weeks but between them they 'remembered' a lifetime of history.
 
Sadly, no let up for me! I have been grieving not just for Nye over the last weeks but also for Dylan, who I had to finally send to the Rainbow Bridge today. :(

Dylan had a massive crisis over the long weekend of the Queen's funeral and I was braced for having to rush him to the emergency services for pts at any moment. Amazingly, he did pull through; it was Nye instead who chose to join the Queen during the night after the funeral.
Dylan kept going by sheer willpower but he sadly never recovered. He suffered another major downturn on Wednesday evening, but again he made it through yet another sleepless night for me. I sadly had to make the decision for him since he had lost his mobility (affecting not just his back legs and part of the spine but also to some degree his front legs, too) and his teeth were by then overgrowing rather badly due to one-sided chewing in the last few weeks due to a muscular issue with one side of the jaw. He was far too frail for any treatment or procedure.

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Dylan has spent four happy years with the Tribe, making up for being stuck alone in a hamster cage on a carrot and lettuce diet for the first two years of life. It took several months to build up the atrophied muscles in his back (he couldn't even walk a yard without his back end caving in at first), expand his diet and overcome his social deficits but he became a great 'daddy boar' first for baby Llelo and then his beloved wifelet Begw, who misses his gentle hubby very much - as do I. They were joined by Beti in January so Begw is not alone.

Dylan was only the second of my adoptees who came with a Welsh name of his own after the Tribe founder Llewelyn, so he kept it when I adopted him from the Potteries Guinea Pig Rescue in July 2018 on a hot summer day.
 
Oh Wiebke, I dont know what to say. I'm so very sorry. He was so lucky to have found you. You gave him the best. ((Hugs)) :hug:
 
I'm so sorry that you have had to say goodbye to gentle Dylan. I'm certain all his many happy days with you very quickly erased his sad early memories. Thank you for giving him a proper dignified piggy life with the care and companionship he deserved.
 
So sorry to hear about Dylan.
Thank you and the Potteries Guinea Pig Rescue for helping him.
Thank you for taking the time and showing him the love and the life every piggy deserves.
Massive hugs to you.
Sleep tight little Dylan.xx
 
So very, very sorry that you have lost Dylan so soon after Nye.
Holding you in my heart ♥️
Be gentle with yourself and grieve for both your lovely boys.
You gave Dylan a wonderful second chance at life.
 
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