[Gpdd] RAINBOW BRIDGE: Audrey

[pat schuett]

When I got home last night, I found that little Audrey had already departed for the Bridge.  Her friend Doris was standing guard over her body, grooming her and chirping softly.  

It's so terribly quiet in the guinea pig room today.  Even though Doris always seemed to be boss pig in that relationship, it was Audrey who always organized the wheeking chorus to demand snacks --- the other girls don't seem to know how to start it off without her.  Doris didn't come out of her cage at all this morning, though she certainly cleaned up her breakfast in short order; I realize now that it was also Audrey who was the bravest about trotting out for floor time and ranged the furthest afield in her perambulations.  It will probably take a while for little Doris to get used to coming out alone; she's a white blue-eyed piggie and I wonder now whether her hearing and/or eyesight might be getting less acute, and she depended on Audrey as a guide.  

Maybe sometime down the road, I will see if she and Olivia might get along well enough to live together: Olivia is much younger, but she's a very timid pig and I know she wouldn't bully Doris.  As far as I know, Doris has always lived with another pig (Audrey, for the five years plus that I've known her) and it must seem strange and a bit scary to find herself alone.  Portia/Carolyn/Desiree, the new pig, (I'm still trying out names) is a large and boisterous girl, and I'm pretty sure trying to combine the two of them would be a bad idea.

I have so many regrets about this.  I know there are always some, but I know in my heart or hearts that I really failed here.  If there is one thing that has been told to me over and over again about elder piggies, it's to monitor their weight so you can catch problems early.  Such a simple quick inexpensive thing to do, but I didn't do it.  If I had seen what was happening even a month ago, there would have been many options that were cno longer there by Saturday morning.  Now she's gone.  I can't believe that only two days ago, she was shaking the bars, complaining that I was late with breakfast.

I know what a caring and supportive group you are, but please, this time, no one tell me that I did everything I could.  I didn't.  Audrey deserved to live another year or so and then drift away peacefully in her sleep, not like this. Please give your elder piggies a kiss and a cuddle for me today (I can guarantee that Doris will be getting more of that than she wants for the next little while...)

                                                      Very Sadly,

                                                                               Pat S.





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