[Gpdd] [RAINBOW BRIDGE] Muscade

[DebJonSara at aol.com]

Muscade was one of 5 pregnant mums I rescued from the unscrupulous breeder  
in January 2003, along with 22 young piggies. We called them the Spice Girls -  
Coriandre, Gingembre, Poivre, Cannelle and Muscade - and only rehomed 
Coriandre  and Gingembre. Poivre and Cannelle have already gone to The Bridge, and on 
 Tuesday night, Muscade joined them.
 
I have posted about Muscade before as she was my only barberer - she ate  the 
hair of other piggies. They didn't seem to mind too much, but this autumn  
when I brought them all indoors, I did decide to put her in a cage on her own  
between 2 others - not so much because of the barbering, but because she had a  
huge lipoma on her hip and I thought it best to have her in a smaller cage 
where  she didn't need to move about too much. The rodentologists from Cavies 
Castle  saw Muscade last Spring, and said not to worry about the lipoma unless 
it  started dragging on the ground, in which case infection would be a danger.
 
The lipoma had grown to the size of a tennis ball, but Muscade still  wheeked 
for food and ate and drank well. Saturday morning I noticed her dry food  had 
not been touched overnight, which was unusual, but she still ate her greens.  
Sunday morning she was less enthusiastic about her greens, but ate them when  
taken out and fed them. Monday she only ate grass, and was obviously in pain  
when urinating. I gave her antibiotics, Calpol and cystitis remedy and 
contacted  Cavies Castle. They said to look for a stone in the urethra and remove 
it, which  my daughter, Sarah, did. We hoped this would be the end of it, and 
she did start  eating again, but then Tuesday she was obviously in pain again, 
and also  staggering around.  I described it to Chris at Cavies Castle as "like 
a cat  recovering from anaesthetic". She said she had maybe suffered a 
stroke, and to  keep her warm and quiet, which we did. We kissed her goodbye and she 
passed away  in the early hours.
 
Muscade was grey and white, and amazed us by producing 3 beautiful nutbrown  
babies, who were all rehomed. She was very timid when she was rescued, but of  
the 5, was the one who probably became tamest, wheeking eagerly for food and  
content to lie on a lap and be stroked. She was one of our biggest pigs, and  
visiting children used to lie to hold her. The Cavies Castle rodentologists  
reckoned Cannelle was about 5 years old, and I would not be surprised if 
Muscade  was about the same. Although I already miss her terribly, I was not too 
shocked  by her death, as she was our only remaining "old lady", and I expected 
the  lipoma to kill her - it was the size of a tennis ball when she died, 
although in  the end, it was not that which killed her. As she was an adult 
rescue, I know  that she had a better life with us than she would have had with the 
breeder, who  would have sold her as crocodile fodder as soon as the lipoma 
appeared, I am  sure. I am also quite sure that she knew she was dearly loved.
 
Rod, please post a Rainbow Bridge beside Muscade's name on the Pooh Trail -  
she was number 2753.
 
Debbie - and the now only 14 Dolly Mixtures