Sorry for not posting much over the last half year; it has been very difficult and draining.
In October, Teggy needed a massive urethral stone removing as an emergency operation at my local vets. Despite worries that she could end up with permanent incontinence or a blockage, she did make a good and full recovery despite a bit of bloating and needing some feeding support for a few days. In combination with a health check on Barri and a large new supply of his gut meds, it was a very expensive month!
Teggy on the left with Meleri and her newly removed eye with Gareth in the foreground.
The stone was about as large as could be pushed down the urethra without blocking it completely and was unfortunately firmly wedged in just before the exit, so it was a much trickier operation than expected!
I was my first bladder stone issue in 7 years but most likely caused by problems I had with getting hold of suitable fresh veg during the panic stockpiling and the transport issues at the start of the first Lockdown while I was shielding with my husband and only able to shop once a week. My supermarket was without peppers, herbs and whole lettuce for quite a number of weeks, and any other available alternatives were rather higher in calcium.
Then in January, Beryn had a mystery episode starting with likely a short partial or full GI stasis episode as she went suddenly totally flat between breakfast and lunch. By the time I found her, her gut was just about gurgling. In the two hours until I could see my local vet who kindly sacrificed his lunch break, she started to bloat quite badly although thankfully not severely. The following day, she lost total use of her back legs; thankfully that came back a day or two later. But during that time she needed round the clock support feeding and regular checks.
I assume that a short but intense source of pain has been likely the cause. So far, she has remained fine since then, with just a trace of arthritis in one back leg. She had as full-on a zoomies session as I have ever seen from her and as a 5 year old lady could produce once she had regained full mobility. The sudden loss of her back legs really freaked her out!
As many of you know Meleri needed her left eye removing after Easter; thankfully all other piggies checked out OK without needing an operation. Meleri's eye continues to heal well and her hair is growing back nicely. She is now used to be fully blind on one side.
My two remaining Triplets, Mererid and Morwenna, were able to celebrate their 7th birthday in February and their 7th Gotcha Day (adoption anniversary) on 1st May. Mererid has had a wobble over Easter but has come through it; I am however grateful for every day more my two very frail old ladies are still with me. I can never be sure that they are still here to greet me when I came downstairs in the mornings these days.
The one huge blessing for me in the otherwise tough pandemic has been that I haven't lost any of my 27 piggies since Briallen and Betsan died unexpectedly within 2 weeks of each other at the end of January/start of February 2020 just before the pandemic got really going - that means that I have equalled my previous record between December 2011-April 2013 (which was another very taxing period for me).
The timing of my intergenerational breather has been at least most fortunate after my losing 20 piggies over the previous 3 years (2017-19). Since by the end of this year half my current piggies will be 5 years or older, this break from constant losses is sadly not going to last forever and the next stampede or two to the Rainbow Bridge will inevitably happen at some point... But I truly appreciate it!
As wonderful as lots of piggies are, they are a LOT of cleaning, a logistical nightmare in taxing times and a constant heartbreak when several of them decide to leave at once - and while you learn to cope better with the mechanics of the grieving process, the pain of the individual loss is never any less since every bond is unique.
Hope she can come round to enjoying her grass time soon 
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