Wiebke's Tribe: Sows and the City Boars

Wiebke said:
Thank you. I am going to try and see whether I can squeeze Brathlys in before Christmas; it's become really noticeable only recently. Her bad eye has also got worse over the last weekas well; unfortunately, she is a bit too frail for an eye removal op these days. When I had Lissie checked at the end of August, it was still OK with Kim.

Hyperthyroidism in older guinea pigs doesn't seem to be all that unusual, actually. I've had quite a few with behaviour like that, only that there was no treatment or not yet any reliable treatment that Kim was happy to prescribe.
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Cream has dental issues and is seen every 6 weeks. When he started to lose weight, only three weeks after his dental, I took him in to see Kim. I presumed there was an issue with his teeth, but they looked good. Kim detected a nodule in his neck and commented on his edginess. His heart rate was high and so she thought it would be worth giving Thyronorm a go! It seems to have done the trick. I’m not exactly sure how old Cream is, but not elderly.
 
Dylan's widows Beti (Betty) and Begw (Peggy) are thankfully good friends.
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Begw has been coping with the loss of her adored 'daddy boar' 2 months ago (the day before my family arrived from Cornwall) better than expected. She has just passed her 4th birthday and has been with Dylan since she was no longer welcome as a mis-sexed little baby the size of a small 3 weeks old that was shoved through the door of a cigarette smoke filled house. She's never grown large.
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2 years old Beti joined them in January. She is happy with a companion that cannot challenge her. Beti was an emergency referral from my local vet after he had to pts her companion and the owner couldn't cope, just before last Christmas.
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Cerian 'Little Love' and Breila 'Briar Rose' are kind of sailing along quietly in the background (apart from Cerian's incurable bad bar biting at feeding time).

They are very closely bonded, like to share a hut at night (the only ones that have persistently done so) and don't like any other piggies being introduced to them. Breila lunges and Cerian incessantly dominance humps any other piggies including all - usually shell-shocked - boars she is introduced to. They are both 5 years now.


I adopted them at the very end of November 2018 from April Lodge Guinea Pig Rescue in Sandwich, Kent, so they have just celebrated their 4th Gotcha Day. It was a 5 hours journey back with them, but I needed only a mile long walk from St Pancras station to Euston station in London to switch trains in order to avoid the tube.

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I am very gutted so see my gorgeous Breila ('Briar Rose', previous name Rosie) out of the blue deteriorate very quickly and go into multiple organ failure over the weekend in order to end a miserable year in style. She passed away not long after midnight last night (or rather in the early hours of today).

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Breila and her closely bonded bestie Cerian have not long celebrated their 4th Gotcha Day (adoption anniversary) and are both 5 years old. The bonded pair have been my only ever fail in putting together the Adoptables adverts for Guinea Pig Magazine for the last 6 years - they never made it as far!

Please accept that I need some respite to grieve and to catch up on several nights with little sleep, especially as I have several minor crises with other piggies on my hands.
 
So sorry Breila, what a year. I hope next year is better for you and the piggies x

Sleep tight little lady 🌈
 
So sorry for your loss.
Breila had a lovely life with you.
Take all the time you need to grieve and gather your strength again.
Holding you in my heart ♥️
 
This is such sad news. Your year has been a rollercoaster and I am sending hugs at this awful time. Breila had the best life with you and is now at peace. 🌈
Take care of yourself x
 
Unfortunately, it has become a double piggy burial for me today.
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Breila and Hyfryd with their goodbye bouquets - sweet Spring clematis and a white pelargonium flower for Breila and winter jasmine, rosmary (for remembrance) and the last red porch pot flowers that have survived the big frost for Hyfryd's enduring love of her life.

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My currently oldest and frailest lady Hyfryd wanted to spend Christmas at the Rainbow Bridge with her beloved Nye and her daughter Hirael. Hapus did snuggle up with her in a cave all night and gave Hyfryd the moral support and living warmth that she craved. Arthritis and old age sadly caught up with her yesterday. She passed away this morning, just a day after her cage neighbour Breila.

Hyfryd 'Lovely' took two years to start living up to her Tribe name; not until cheerful little Nye entered her life and brought the love and joy she had been missing in her life. She was found dumped pregnant in a park in Leeds together with a boar and another pregnant sow (probably as the result of adding a mis-sexed third piggy). Her previous life and home had sadly left her rather traumatised and stressed; and she would initially not bond with any other piggies - especially not any boars she was being introduced to!

It took small unthreatening Nye and several months of a growing friendship through the bars to melt her heart. When I tried to introduce Nye to the girls after Nosgan's death in April 2019, Nye went straight up to Hyfryd and planted a big smacker in her face. The rest is very much history...

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She was fully grown rather large sow when I adopted her and her rescue born daughter Hirael in March 2017, so she would have to be at least 7 years by now. After Nye's death in September she joined sisters Hapus and Llawen who are just a few months younger in an old ladies group and got on really well with them; especially with Hapus.
 
So very sorry that you have had to say goodbye to these two precious piggies. 🌈

I hope you can take some time to grieve and not be hustled by any demands of the season.
 
So very sorry that you are having such a sad time at the moment. Sending you a big hug. :hug: Please take comfort in knowing that they have lived their best life with you and their friends.

Sleep tight little ones. 🐾🌈❤️
 
Oh Wiebke. I am ever so sorry.
What absolutely beautiful burial bags with a gorgeous choice of flowers. They will spend Christmas up in the sky eating the biggest veggie and grass roast dinner that pigs could ever wish for 🌈 :wub: :hug:
Sleep tight sweet ones xx
 
So very, very sorry that you have lost Hyfryd as well.
What a horrible time you are having.
Hold onto the good memories of the lovely girls and the great life you gave them.
Holding you in my heart ♥️
 
Oh Wiebke I’m sorry to learn that Breila and Hyfryd have travelled to RB.
They lived their best lives with you, your family and their piggy family.
To love them also means the sadness when they go
Thinking of you Wiebke - take care
 
I am lost for words to read this. I am so sorry and send another big hug to you. Their floral tributes are beautiful and reflect their wonderful time with you.
Run free together at the bridge little souls 🌈 🌈
 
Remembering my 10 little furry friends who have made their way to the Rainbow Bridge this year.
It's been officially both my worst calendar year and even more so my 16 worst consecutive months of having to deal with 18 piggies passing away in this house (Claire W's Edward in August included in the latter).

Mererid (24th February 2014 - 15th February 2022)
Morwenna (24th February 2014 - 19th June 2022)
Adopted May 2014 from TEAS
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Barri (ca. July 2016 - 26th April 2022)
Adopted June 2017 from TEAS
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Teggy/Tegwen Draenog (ca. 2015 - 1st June 2022)
Adopted August 2017 from Little Pips Rehoming and TEAS
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Miaren (9th November 2017 - 24th June 2022)
Private intake from a forum member December 2017
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Nye (ca. July 2016 - 20th September 2022)
Hyfryd (ca. late 2015 - 20th December 2022)
Nye adopted in November 2016 from The Potteries GPR and Hyfryd in March 2017 from Milhaven GPR; they moved in with each other in April 2019
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Dylan (ca. 2015/16 - 7th October 2022
Adopted July 2018 from The Potteries GPR
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Cai (ca. 2017 - 12th October 2022)
Adopted October 2021 from TEAS
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Breila (ca. August 2017 - 19th December 2022)
Adopted November 2018 from April Lodge GPR
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But I have also been blessed to celebrate my first 8th Adoption Anniversary ever with Morwenna on 1st May and to see Brangwyn and Bronrhyddyn born here on 29th October at a time when I was no longer able to cope with the incessant and relentless clumpy string of losses between August 2021 and October 2022 with 16 losses in just 14 months.

My little dumped family from Cornwall (via Maria's Animal Shelter) and the new lives, the joy but also the very different headaches they have brought have helped me to balance it all out a bit.
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