[Gpdd] Bridge: Wooly Bear has passed

[Cavykatie at aol.com]

My dear little Wooly Bear passed to the other side of the Bridge from a  
stroke a few days ago.  He was 5 and a half years old.  He was an  albino Abby 
mix.  His late relatives are his brother, Tiptoe; his cousin,  Harry; and his 
cousin/girlfriend, Rose.  He is survived by his mommy,  Scamper; and his Aunt 
Lilac.  
    Wooly Bear will be remembered dearly in our hearts  as our sweet ball of 
fluff who had a knack for getting himself into  trouble.  Once, upon arriving 
home late one night, we found to our horror  that Wooly Bear was missing!  
After searching high and low for him, he was  discovered in a newly-opened (but 
still completely full) bag of shavings.   He was sitting in the bag, just on 
top of the shavings.  How he ever got  into there from his cage, I think that we 
will never know.
    And then there was the time that he and his  brother, Tiptoe (both were 
neutered and rarely fought), got into a rather  large tiff and Wooly ended up 
with a 4 inch slice down his back before we could  pull them apart from each 
other.  He ended up having to get four staples in  his back to close the wound 
that was so deep, bone and muscle was easily  visible.  All the same, he was a 
good boy for the vet ("Definitely one of  my best guinea pig patients, 
especially given the circumstances") and  didn't even squirm.
    These are only two of the many  predicaments that Wooly Bear always 
managed to get into.  Of course, there  were always the many messes that he made 
when given his favorite treat:  applesauce that he got to lick off of a spoon.
    Wooly Bear was born on November 5, 1999.  He  was born prematurely, and 
it was not until he was several days old that he could  even walk without 
falling onto his side after taking two or three tiny,  wobbly steps.
    When he was about two months old, Wooly Bear  (along with Tiptoe)  went 
to the vet to be neutered.  By the end  of it all, the vet told us that if we 
ever decided that we wanted to look for a  new home for Wooly for any reason, 
we should let him know (And just for the  record, Wooly would have had a very 
nice home--several guinea pig only rooms of  his house for happy and safe free 
range pigs--if we ever decided to).  Of  course, we would never have given 
away (or sold for even huge sums of money, for  that matter) our beloved Wooly 
Bear.  We loved (and love) him (and our  other piggies, past and present) more 
than I would have ever thought  possible.
 
    We will remember him forever as our ball of fluff,  our source of joy, 
and our outlet for unconditional love.
 
Rest in Peace, Wooly Bear
 
    Katie & the Cavies
        ~Scamper and Lilac and the  always remembered Wooly Bear, Rose, 
Tiptoe,
            and  Harry~