[Gpdd] Rainbow Bridge - Cocoa (long)

[Suzy Dünser]

Hi everyone,

It is with a very sad heart that I have to tell you we helped Cocoa to  
the Rainbow Bridge today.

As you know from my flood of posts, he had lost weight and looked ill  
last week. He was diagnosed first with overgrown and maloccluded  
molars, which were trimmed, and then yesterday, by a different (and I  
hoped, more experienced) vet, with a dislocated jaw. The vet had tried  
to reposition it, but couldn't - he thought that scar tissue might  
have already formed that prevented him from doing so.

On the off chance that it wasn't that, we took Cocoa home, hoping he  
could recover. The vet had given him subcutaneous fluid, so he wasn't  
dehydrated anymore. But we didn't have much luck at home getting food  
or water into him even with the syringe, and he seemed stressed by our  
attempts to feed him. This morning it was even worse - his breathing  
was laboured, he was hardly swallowing at all, and we were afraid we'd  
suffocate him if we shoved the syringe farther down his throat. All  
this made us decide that we didn't want Cocoa to suffer any longer.

We all said our goodbyes this morning. After explaining in detail to  
Katie (7) and Erika (9) what was going to happen, they were both  
accepting of it, although of course very sad. I read them the Rainbow  
Bridge poem someone had posted last week in Issue 92, and that helped  
them a lot.

I took Cocoa to the vet's this morning, and afterwards, brought his  
body home so we could bury it in the garden. We had a little ceremony  
for him, and Katie put a piece of rockmelon in with him, in case he  
was hungry on the "rainbow bus."

We have been giving Rocky lots of attention (and food). I am hoping  
with a lot of love he will accept us more as his family, not just as  
the people who bring the food.

Although I can't keep from thinking about all the "if onlys", I'm  
trying to focus more on Cocoa's life for most of the time he was with  
us. He and Rocky hadn't been handled by people much the first 7 weeks  
of their lives, so they were naturally shy. I didn't know too much  
about guinea pigs when we got them, but I found the gpdd and guinea  
lynx and the C&C cage website, and that all helped enormously. I built  
them a 2-level 2x4 cube cage (well, the top level is only 2x3), with  
hay on the bottom and fleece on the top floor, and made sure they had  
lots of hay to eat and hide in, as well as little houses and tunnels  
etc. They seemed happy, and tolerated being held by us and the girls'  
friends, eventually relaxing enough to eat while we held them, and  
even enjoy their floor time a bit.

Cocoa was always a little character, especially when it came to food -  
he was definitely in charge of who ate what. If I gave them a treat,  
Rocky had to grab his and hide to avoid it being taken off him -  
because of course, whatever your brother has is always yummier than  
what's still in the bowl! If I gave them apple slices, Cocoa would  
take one, bring it into his little house, and then come back and get  
the other one, too. This seemed less unfair once I realised that Rocky  
wasn't actually all that crazy about apples, and so I started giving  
him rockmelon for his treat, instead. But only after Cocoa was all  
set! Because of course Cocoa loved rockmelon, too. Cocoa was a  
gorgeous little guy, and even he was only with us for a year, I really  
enjoyed knowing him, watching him happily munch down his leaves, and  
petting him when he allowed it. I really tried to give him the best  
life I could, and right now I am trying very hard to think of him  
happy at the Bridge.

Thank you all for all the support you've given me over the last week  
(not to mention the last year). It's meant a huge amount to me, and is  
helping me get through a very tough time.

Sadly,
Suzy and Rocky
and little Cocoa at the Bridge