We are in the middle of a big move at the moment. Pumpkin and Daisy are heading to Vancouver and I”m heading off to Spain. It’s been chaos around here the last few months, and it’s all coming down to the final days now.
In the middle of all of this change, our family lost a member. Our guinea pig friend Sweetie. Mom had noticed that she had dropped some weight in the last few months, and had inquired about possible problems. Then she was told how old guinea pigs generally live. Between 5 and 6 years old. She then realized that Sweetie was a senior citizen. She was older than 7!! Heck, I could have told her that- us seniors stick together!
Sweetie was a little more tippy on her feet, but seemed to be just fine. She slept a little more but came out to eat banana chips and yogurt drops with her best pal Pumpkin. She was loving the timothy hay and would still drink and chat with Pumpkin all day. But mom had a feeling that she wasn’t going to be around much longer.
Unfortunately, she was right. Mom was in Vancouver moving when she got the call from her sister that Sweetie had passed away. We all went in to see her and she was curled up in her little house. Mom brought her out and showed her to us, but she didn’t smell the same. I knew she was gone ( I’ve had to say goodbye to lots of different critters), but I think this was Pumpkin’s first time losing a friend.
He didn’t seem to connect that little lifeless body with his girlfriend of 4 years. It’s actually now making me quite sad. He spent the last four years lying in the hallway outside the office door waiting to see her. Everyday he’s spent most of his days chatting with Sweetie and wishing she could play. they say that guinea pigs don’t do well alone. Well for some reason she really liked that big lug, and would run away when mom came in the room, but would come right out of her house and sit nose to nose with Pumpkin. Very strange.
So Sweetie’s been gone almost a week now, and it’s actually breaking my heart to see Pumpkin rush into the office, look around for her, and then sit down dejected. He really has lost his best friend. I think the timing for the move is probably good. We are all sad to be splitting up, and sad about losing Sweetie, but moving to a new place with no memory of her is probably what Pumpkin needs to heal.
Who says dogs don’t have deep emotional feelings? Just one look at Pumpkin will change your mind. Goodbye Sweetie. We’ll miss you.