[Gpdd] Mics--Tribute to Potter

dganley at tampabay.rr.com dganley at tampabay.rr.com
Thu Nov 22 00:24:30 EST 2007


Some of you long-timers know about Potter-the newer people probably don't since I haven't posted in ages, just due to my own lazieness & lurking--but she was such a special pig.

My daughter, Colleen, & I adopted Potter from the North Pinellas Humane Sociey, almost 6 years ago.  She was dumped in a box with 4 other pigs in front of the local Petsmart in January '02 & later taken to the Humane Society for adoption.  We live in Florida but it gets pretty cold down here in January!  Potter was probably about a year old then--who knows?  

She was my First-Pig, & also my Only-Pig for about 2 1/2 years--then we brought Molly home from the Humane Society.  Potter welcomed her, & also the 4 babies Molly blessed us with a few months later.  She turned into Aunt Potter at that point. The babies went to their new homes--2 to Dana Hakes, one little boy to my vet's receptionist--Emma stayed with us.  Potter was always good with the little ones, as well as our various visitors that we've had thru the years--we're suckers for pig-sitting!

Potter was also the SpokesPig for our little group--no one could wheek louder at salad time than Potter.  My husband swore he could hear her in the garage with the door closed!  Molly & Emma never bothered learning how to wheek--that was Potter's job!  

She was hysterically funny--what a sense of humor!  She took her walks thru the house, percolating all the time (my girls are free-range & we're very pig-proofed) with Molly, gave me holy hell when it was veggie-time & would walk into the kitchen if I didn't get my butt in gear, plus stand on my foot every night waiting for treats.  She'd go over to the towel to scoff down her romaine or parsley, then double back to see if I had replaced their hay in the house I was scooping--I'd tell her "come back later" & she would go back to the veggies & come back when I was done scooping & the hay had been replaced.  She understood every word I ever said to her.

Potter was a lipoma pig & had 2 or 3 surgeries for it.  She purred her way to recovery every time & was a world-class eater within 10 minutes of having her surgeries.  Dana told ya'll about her salad platter incident--that wasn't unusual for her!  It wasn't a lipoma that caused her death on Monday--she lost 4 oz a month ago & I decided to just keep an eye on her; she was so active before, I thought it was just activity & old age that caused the slight weight loss.  She was about 7 years old by then.  Last Thursday, she started slowing down--by Sunday night I knew what I had to do on Monday morning, she suddenly dropped a ton of weight & was lethargic.  As Dana told you all (& thanks to her for breaking the news--no way could I do have done it at that point) we made the decision to help her over the Bridge.  Potter went quickly & peacefully--Dr Hughes is a treasure in the small animal world, where it's so hard to find a good exotics vet.   His entire office staff was in the room when she went to the Bridge, they all knew her for so long.  I brought her home & my husband buried her in our yard in her favorite cozy. 

I still cry every day when I think of her--I don't know how long it'll be until I recover entirely--Potter was my heart for so many years.  Molly & Emma know what happened & we've given them extra attention since Monday.  Molly actually tried to take over Potter's role by wheeking for salads on Monday--first time she's ever wheeked.

Thanks to everyone who helped us thru this difficult time  --we really appreciate it--especially Dana, Donna, Tex (who was such a huge help when we were wondering what was wrong) Bev, Jeri, Eleanore & Lois--as well as all the other slaves who responded to us with condolences.  If I've missed anyone, just email me & give me hell!     Deb, Molly & Emma (& Potter, always with us.)

  




More information about the Gpdd mailing list