[Gpdd] [RAINBOW BRIDGE] SCAMPS Dolly Mixture Fidget has departed

[DebJonSara at aol.com]

It is with great sadness I must announce the departure to the Rainbow  Bridge 
during last night of Senior Citizen Ageing Miracle Pig Fidget, son of  
Poivre, twin of Cherub and brother of Red Dandy, Cayenne and Pickle. I found his  
inert body in his cage when I went to feed them this morning. He had seemed fine 
 last night, eating his greens with relish as usual, but as most of you know, 
I  had been concerned about his persistent weight loss for a long time.
 
Fidget was born in our house after his mother was one of 27 piggies I  
rescued from an unscrupulous French breeder who was selling her surplus to be  fed 
to crocodiles because they were freezing to death in their unsuitable  outdoor 
accommodation. He was rehomed on the day his paraplegic twin sister,  Cherub, 
went to The Bridge, aged exactly 5 weeks (10th March 2003), and was  later 
joined by Scrabble, who was given to me in a group of 5 "females" after my  5 
were massacred by dogs in May 2003; when I found him to be male, I offered him  
to Jack, whp already had Fidget, also Chestnut, Scruff, Scarecrow and Cherry.  
These were all returned to me in June 2004, when Jack's family moved into a  
small apartment with no garden - they had always been outdoor piggies in the  
summer.
 
Fidget and Scrabble had always been bosom buddies. Fidget was the bolder  and 
more friendly of the two. He was also one of my only two singing piggies.  
Very occasionally he would sing out loud for all to hear, but more often I would 
 just hear him singing quietly, almost under his breath. I mean that 
chirping,  birdlike, mystery song they sing, not wheeking or purring. He started to 
lose  weight in October 2006, going down to 857g (1.89lbs) in December of that 
year,  but I wormed him on 22nd November and by April 2007 he was back up to 
1235g  (2.7lbs), which he had been in April 2005. I hope it's not  significant, 
but it was April last year that I started petsitting at other  people's 
houses, and I had to leave all the animals in Pete's care for frequent  periods, and 
it was from then on that Fidget gradually lost weight again. He was  just 
738g (1.6lbs) when he was weighed yesterday. But as I say, he showed no  signs of 
ill health, and he had been regularly wormed since November 2006. He  was 
twice treated for foreign bodies in his eye, but the last time was June  2007; 
that time it was a hay seed which had somehow managed to sprout and  had a long 
shoot growing into his eye. 
 
He was a very vocal pig, a champion wheeker, and always first to seize upon  
the greens when delivered to their cage. It used to puzzle me that Fidget 
seemed  to be always eating, yet it was his cagemate, Scrabble, who was the LAPS 
piggie  - he weighed in at 1300g yesterday. Scrabble has been hiding in his 
house all  morning, just popping out to drag his food in there. I fear he will be 
bereft,  although his cage has been up against those of Zebra and Scoot all 
winter, so he  does have other pigs to chat with. Actually, those two also seem 
very subdued  this morning - I think they also liked Fidget, who used to 
spend a lot of time  talking through the bars with them. Maybe in the summer I 
could try letting  Zebra and Scrabble meet in an outdoor run, as both have lost 
beloved cagemates.  I guess I could also try Scoot with Scrabble, but he 
bullied Zebra so I'd have  to supervise carefully.
 
I knew Fidget was likely to be the first Dolly Mixture SCAMP to depart, but  
it was a shock to find him gone this morning, and I had really hoped he would  
get just one last spring out in the sunshine. I have to believe that he is 
now  reunited with his mother and siblings, popcorning in the radiant sunshine 
of the  Rainbow Meadow and feasting on the lush green grass and dandelions 
about which I  am always singing to them. Run free, precious Fidget - I hope you 
know how very  much you were loved.
 
Debbie (and the 11 Dolly Mixtures)