[Gpdd] Rainbow Bridge - Samantha

[staileys]

It is with a sad heart that I must inform you of the passing this morning of
The Dowager Lady Samantha (aka - one of the Loose Ladies from D.C.).  She
had slowly declined over the last week and then stopped eating yesterday - a
sure sign that the end was near. She took a bit of syringed water during the
night but nothing else.  She passed peacefully in her cage this morning
surrounded by her 3 cage mates. Samantha was with us for 4 years and 2
months.  She was a rescue from our vet's office where she had been abandoned
by her original owners after they refused to pay for an operation to remove
a nasty mammary tumor. At that time, our vet estimated her age to be between
1-3 years old, so she lived anywhere from 5 to 7+ years. A very respectable
lifespan.

I am going to miss her terribly. Yet, I know she led a great life and I take
great joy in that. She was the most personable and gentle of my 4 pigs. She
never failed to greet you and was always up for a head scratch or a cuddle.
She was always first at the food dish and over the years became
affectionately known as "Fat Sam" and "Wide Load".  She survived operations
for a mammary tumor and an abdominal tumor, several cases of mites and
several more URI's.  She had a grand time in Oxford at Prince Biscuit and
Princess Jasmine's wedding and would never tell me what went on in Las Vegas
with Gwen's Boys from Vegas. And, she was immortalized in Leah's book "The
Adventures of Brownie Bear and Butterscotch, School's Out" as the model for
Wally the Wacky Guinea Pig on page 13.  She was a grand pig and our herd
will not be the same without her.

Sami, you were a beautiful, loving piggie.  Thank you for gracing our lives.
Now, run free forever over the Bridge with our Belgian piggies, Anakin and
Dodger, and your friends, Sam and Rosie.

Your sad slaves, Laura, Breton, Elspeth and Jud Stailey
and the remaining 3 Fluffernutters, Pearl, Frodo and Zoe