[Gpdd] [RAINBOW BRIDGE] Claude has finally gone

[DebJonSara at aol.com]

It is with very deep regret that I must inform the gpdd community that our  
precious little man, Claude (aka Cliddidge) finally departed for The Rainbow  
Bridge at quarter past midnight last night. As you know, he had been preparing  
for this departure virtually all year, but I think he found it hard to drag  
himself away from his harem, always wanting to see them one last time. But  
yesterday, the sun shone, so I put him back into the run for one last time, so  
he could say his final good-byes. He had stopped eating, and I knew he had  
decided it really was time to go.
 
Claude and his brother Pipsqueak were born on 15th November 2002, and he  and 
his mother, Etincelle, came to live with us at Christmas that year. Claude  
was to be my daughter's, and a companion to my first-ever guinea pig, Bafreur. 
I  delivered Pipsqueak to the neighbours of another family on Christmas Eve, 
as he  was to be a Christmas present for two little boys. Pipsqueak is still 
well, and  frequently crosses the English Channelk between Britain and France. 
It was in  seeking a female cagemate for Etincelle that I ended up discovering 
and rescuing  the 45 guinea pigs of whom just the Dolly Mixtures stayed with 
me, but Etincelle  was one of the 5 piggies massacred by dogs in my garden on 
6th May 2003.
 
Claude lived with Bafreur, a dwarf rabbit called Calin, and later Red Dandy  
as well, until one day he was found with a gash across his chest. We never 
knew  how it got there, and the vet stitched it up - the only time she has ever 
been  able to save a piggie of mine, and I remember now how her hands trembled 
as she  did it, as she had never sewn a guinea pig before. After that he lived 
alone,  but next door to Red Dandy, and in September 2004 I took him and Red 
Dandy to  live in Basingstoke with my daughter. Before he went, he managed one 
day to  escape into the girlies' enclosure, and became husband to Cannelle 
and  proud father to Zebra and Cannelletto.
 
When Sarah moved into the YMCA she was not allowed pets. My sister had the  
piggies for a while, until Red Dandy became ill. Then Claude was castrated at  
the CCT, and brought back to France, and Red Dandy went to The Bridge after a  
very long struggle, ending up at Cavies Castle in Hastings.
 
On Claude's 3rd birthday he was allowed to meet his harem - there were 12  
then! You can imagine the joy of a piggie kept more or less in solitary for most 
 of his life, suddenly being allowed to mix with 12 female piggies. You could 
see  his elation! In the winter, when they were free range in the porch, 
Claude would  choose in which cage to spend the night, but always when I opened up 
in the  morning he would trot off and do the rounds, checking on all his 
other girlies.  They seemed to love him as much as he loved them, but I think 
Cannelle was  always his very favourite, and he was sad when she went to The 
Bridge.
 
As I have previously posted, Claude started to lose weight around the  
beginning of the year, and I have explained my reasons for not taking him to the  
vet. Even yesterday, when he stopped eating and I could see he was  
uncomfortable, I didn't want to take him to the vet because I know they don't  use a gas 
anaesthetic, only injection, and I thought it would be too distressing  for 
him. I cuddled him all evening, and sang him my special songs about  going to The 
Bridge. I reminded him that he would be reunited with his mum  Etincelle, his 
sister Pirouette, his wife Cannelle, his son Cannelletto (whom he  only saw 
through bars) and his old pals Bafreur, Red Dandy and Calin. I'd love  to be 
able to say that he slipped peacefully away, but in fact he put up a fight  
right until the end and I found it extremely distressing. Still, he is at peace  
now, and hopefully popcorning through that lush green meadow with all his 
family  and friends - and I asked him to keep an eye out for Lilac and Little  
Munch.
 
Claude was the oldest of the Dolly Mixtures whose exact age I knew. I see  it 
as the beginning of the end, as they are almost all only 2 or  3 months 
behind him in age. Already Cherry has a serious health  problem, and others are 
losing weight. I dread having to endure this anguish  another 13 times - but I 
know, grief is the price we pay for love, and I  wouldn't have missed knowing 
any of them. Claude's body will be buried this  morning in our ever-expanding 
piggie graveyard, but his spirit will live on in  our hearts.
 
Run free, our precious Claude - you were a pig in a million, and you know  
how much you were loved.
 
Debbie (and the now only 13 Dolly  Mixures)