[Gpdd] [RAINBOW BRIDGE] Scruff has no more pain

[DebJonSara at aol.com]

It is with deep regret that I have to announce that dear little baby Scruff 
crossed the Rainbow Bridge around 2.00 am French time on Friday morning. Her 
sister Cherry was with her when she crossed over, and I was on the floor beside 
her cage. She wasn't a particularly human-orientated pig, so I made the 
decision not to hold her as she slipped away, but Cherry kept her company, though of 
course I put Cherry back with the rest of her friends once Scruff had 
completed her final journey.

Although Scruff was born in my house, she was not really my piggie. She was 
one of the 45 for whom I found adoptive slaves when I rescued all those piggies 
from the unscrupulous French breeder who had them outdoors in minus 10 
temperatures and sold her surplus to be fed to crocodiles - the infamous "Crocodile 
Lady" as she became known on here. 

Scruff's mum, Cannelle, was one of the five pregnant sows we rescued, and I 
watched Scruff being born, along with her sisters Cherry and "Vanilla" (Vanilla 
died whilst still a baby), and brothers "Batman" and "Tear", plus a nameless 
stillborn baby, on 4th February 2003. We only nicknamed all the babies, as we 
knew we couldn't keep them, and Scruff's nickname was "Spike", as we thought 
she was male at first. It was the two children who adopted her and Cherry that 
called her Scruff, and I never really thought the name suited, as she always 
seemed quite a smart piggie to me, her black and white chest markings reminding 
me of a tuxedo, although her fluffy fur, which she inherited from her mum, 
did always look as though she was having a "bad hair day". 

The children, Rosie and Jack, ended up adopting 6 piggies from us altogether, 
2 boys and 4 girls, and we always had them back to stay when the family went 
away on holiday, so we never really lost touch. Then this summer, the family 
had to move away to an apartment on the Isle of Jersey, where there wouldn't be 
any room for piggies, and Jack refused to consider giving them away to anyone 
except me. I already had too many piggies (16), but how could I say no, so I 
bought 2 new cages (as they only had outdoor runs) and they moved in. Although 
in the summer I kept them separate in their outdoor runs, when I brought them 
all in for the winter, I let all the girls run around the veranda together 
all day, and they all got on really well together. I have noticed that some of 
them are pugnacious, and there are certain combinations that don't work (I cage 
them at night), but Scruff has always been a sweet natured pig, never falling 
out with anyone else. She was calm and gentle, allowing her claws to be 
clipped or fur to be brushed without ever even seeming to want to nip. She loved 
her food, and was a champion wheeker.

Many thanks to everyone who sent me advice as to how to deal with Scruff's 
constipation. I took her twice to the new vets I have found - they are a 45 
minute drive away, but fortunately Scruff was used to the car through having come 
here from her previous slaves many times, although she had never been alone in 
her life before, and I think she found that stressful. The vets took Scruff's 
temperature and the second time did X-rays (at my request), and I was 
adminstering Simethicone, metoclapromide, probiotics, Baytril and "Critical Care", as 
well as using a vibrator on her tummy, but she just went steadily downhill, 
and not long after the second vets' visit, she started making that pitiful 
whimpering sound my dear departed Bâfreur had made on his last day with us, and I 
knew she was preparing to go. 

This is the third piggie I have lost to illness after vets have seemed unable 
to make accurate diagnoses or prescribe appropriate treatment - it's always 
been me searching the Net and emailing pig-savvy people for advice. But each 
one has died in prolonged pain after my fruitless attempts to "save" them. It 
must be truly horrible just to wake up one morning or come home from work and 
find ones piggie unexpectedly dead in its cage. But at least in such instances 
the piggie has slipped away in its natural surroundings, without having endured 
the stress of vet visits , investigations and painful interventions. I did, 
on this occasion, resist the suggestion of administering subQ fluids; I had 
injected these into both Bâfreur and Poivre, and although I know they cannot harm 
them, and in fact are essential if a piggie is dehydrated, there was no way I 
wanted to inflict such additional pain and bewilderment on my piggie in what 
could well be her last few hours with me. Probably cowardice on my part, but I 
just couldn't do that again. As it happened, even though Scruff had stopped 
eating, she was still drinking if I put the water bottle spout to her mouth. 

After Poivre passed away, I did post on here that I couldn't help wondering 
whether it would have been kinder not to have intervened and just to have let 
nature take its course. I asked you all what you thought, and your opinions 
were really divided between those who would leave no veterinary intervention 
untried and those who would euthanase as soon as a piggie stopped eating or just 
leave them to die in peace. I still feel so undecided. I do intend to buy as 
comprehensive a book as I can find to help me and my vets diagnose the next 
illness to inflict one of my piggies - I thank Roy for his suggestion, and will 
post separately for other advice before making a decision - I can only really 
afford one. 

I really wanted an autopsy done on Scruff - I even convinced myself that I 
would ask to watch it so I could learn more about piggies and maybe be better 
equipped to help the next little guy that fell ill. But the vets that had 
treated her said they couldn't do the necessary blood and fecal tests so referred me 
to the regional laboratory 1½ hours' drive away, and when I rang them, they 
said they had never done an autopsy on a guinea pig and might not be able to 
find out why she had died even if they did do one because they weren't 
specialists. They said if my remaining piggies all seemed to be in good health, it 
wasn't really worth doing an autopsy - it would only be worth it if others became 
ill and it appeared they had an infection. Well, the others all seem fit as 
fiddles (touch wood) so I decided to leave it. Scruff's little body has joined 
all the other piggie graves in our garden. 

She was only a baby - not quite 22 months old - and she will be sadly missed. 
I am almost certain she had bloat, but why when she shared exactly the same 
diet as the other 18 and had never experienced any health problems before I 
will never understand. What I do know is that she is now frolicking painfree in 
that beautiful sunshine-filled dandelion meadow across The Bridge with her 
brother Vanilla, 4 nameless siblings that were born dead, Cherub, Bâfreur and 
Poivre, waiting for me to come join them. Popcorn away, my little ones - "Mummy" 
will see you again one day.

Condolences to all whose precious babies have also recently crossed over,

Debbie (and her remaining "Dolly Mixtures")