[Gpdd] [ANNOUNCE] - "Little John" - Somewhere over the Rainbow

[Rah (special lubber!)]

      Dear Piggy lovers and much loved Piggies.

      I have been an ardent reader of the GPDD for 2 years now and I, too, have shed many tears and chuckled over the many touching stories about our little ones, although I've only posted once or twice to date.

      Today, however, it has VERY unexpectedly become my turn to post an announcement about the passing-over of one of my Guys - "Little John". 

      "Little John" (or LJ) passed over yesterday at 12.15 (Sunday night/Monday morning) - he was not even 2 years old.  A silver agouti rex with a curly, white tummy and muzzle, he really  was the MOST cute, charming, funny and athletic piggy and as his name suggests, he WAS "Little" too.  

      When I first adopted Little John (at 3 months) he was so small and thin that I got to calling him my "scraggy little pig", a nickname that stuck for the rest of his life, although the name somehow tranformed into "Scragmeister" for some unknow reason!  It's funny how the nicknames we call our little ones seem to evolve so naturally, even though they don't make any sense to anyone else, only to us.

      I could go on for hours about him but to summarise, LJ became sick overnight, about 3 days ago.  He was particularly bad on Saturday but yesterday (Sunday) there was a little improvement, he even showed an interest in fresh, grass and parsley/melon/cucumber - his favourites - but he couldn't eat.  So, I spent Friday, Saturday and yesterday syringe feeding him water, Critical Care and cranberry juice - he LOVED that!  The vet wanted to put him down on Saturday but I brought him home instead, as he wasn't in any pain at that time, with the hope that my 24hr care just might pull him through.  

      I don't want to bore you all with the full details but I DO need some kind of reassurance because the very last time I held my 'scraggy pig', he was crying in pain and I had to make him take yet MORE medicine to help this.  I just remember him crying and trying to push the syringe out of his mouth - I'm sure he'd had enough by then and just wanted to be left in peace.  Unfortunately for him I couldn't bear for him to go on in pain so I made him take this medicine.  It didn't help and Little John passed away within an hour.  

      I can't rest about having done this to him through his last hours with me.  I keep wondering whether I should have let him 'go' when I had the opportunity at the vets but the thought of THAT injection was too much and I wanted to take him back home again to give him a chance.

      How have some of you coped with this situation?  I would really appreciate some input here as I'm absolutely devastated that the last experiences of me , his trusted 'parent' for Little John, were so traumatic for him.  

      Through all this I have also smiled through the tears, especially when thinking about LJ's spunky character and athletic prowess.  It was only a week ago that I had to have a friend come round and build a higher barrier between him and Monty/Tommy and Bramble-pig (The Funky Pigs), because LJ had found that he was, indeed, a good climber or depending on his mood, a terrific jumper.  He could jump a distance of over 1.5 ft., from the top of his run-shelter across to The Funky Pigs roof.  He would then proceed to cause havoc, especially with Bramble-pig who was, up until LJ's 'invasion', the 'boss-pig'!!

      I cannot tell you the amount of times I had retreive him from the Funky Pigs pen and he would NEVER give up, so in the end I relented and put him in to live with them!  Not good enough for LJ though, oh no............he THEN wanted to invade Tribble's pad, NOT a good idea 'cause Tribb. is not the most sociable of pigs!  Thankfully, LJ restrained himself - I reckon he knew not to push his luck TOO much there!!

      Again, I could go on about his funny ways but my lasting memory and the one I want to keep of his last days was at 6am, Sunday morning.  I was lying on the sofa with Little John on my chest and we were drowsing when he suddenly decided to climb a little further up.  He actually climed up to nuzzle my face, then snuggled up under my chin.  I looked down at him (the tears were flowing by now, of course!) and into his big, brown eyes and felt so much love for him.  

      I feel honoured to have had such a loving, perceptive and funny little fella in my life.  I'm sure you will all understand that depth of feeling and thank you all for being there and for 'listening'.

      God bless Little John - my "scraggy little pig".  May he be forever happy, and able to safely 'invade' anywhere he wishes to visit!  He will always be in my thoughts.  I love ya little guy!
     
     


Sarah S. x