[Gpdd] [MISC] grief for baby Truffles, going forward

warmbreath at comcast.net warmbreath at comcast.net
Fri Jan 1 19:40:25 EST 2010


Dearest Corrine and Michael,   I am so sorry for your grief, and the loss of 
another precious life. It is so very hard. Remember I lost a piggie and son 
in a year, Alge has endured multiple health insults and just lost her 
father, and Joanie was in the shape you are over the loss of her Hershey, 
remember whee had an uncooperative vet in that case too. I am saying these 
things to say that the human spirit endures, whee are built that way and I 
am still convinced that their is something systemic in you environment that 
whee can find and fix, it's a very difficult problem. Hawaii is very moist 
and molds, bugs virus and all sorts of things flourish there. I have spent 
time there and found even the cleanest people got huge cockroaches, its a 
completely different environment and presents its own hazards, some of those 
may be the reason, maybe even just the heat as they aren't comfy over 80deg 
F

I have a suggestion for you to consider from reading your old emails. You 
have a heart as big as your island and you care for your piggies plus the 
feral cats and you have a demanding job with long hours, and your husband 
does too. Trying to balance all this and nurse sick piggies 24 hrs a day 
would drive the sanest person to the brink, I know this, whee all do, and 
have the deepest sympathy for you.

I still believe whee can solve the mystery and save Sparkles and I believe 
our group can help you cope because whee have all had to go thru horrible 
awful things that seemed unbearable, it's the one thing  whee have had to 
learn to do, is to support one another and whee do all care.

My suggestions are fairly simple but will take time. I believe you have 
probably taken too much on for 2 normal people. May I most kindly suggest 
that you find someone else to care for the feral cats. You have less 
emotional attachment to the individual cats and another person or persons 
can be found. If you can afford it, donate instead to a cat rescue or some 
energy to a fundraiser that can take the cats in and find indoor homes for 
them and vet care, as feral cats in Hawaii are killing off the native birds. 
Also feral cats carry many many many parasites, and diseases and they could 
be responsible for your babies deaths.  It has been found that this H1N1 flu 
is transmissible too and from cats, so they could be spreading that disease 
to your family, piggies, and other people, cats and wild life. Second is 
that feline HIV/AIDS is rampant in cats and they need a vaccination to avoid 
passing it, whee have no idea if its passable to piggies. But one thing is 
sure, Most of your piggies that have died have declined over a long period 
of time first and all three of these conditions could have come for cats. 
This will free up your time to spend with your piggies, they will stay 
cleaner and you will be able to catch things sooner. Weigh them weekly.  You 
can channel your love for the cats by participating in a rescue fund raiser 
a couple times a year and this will provide a better solution for the cats 
than allowing them to remain feral in a delicate habitat like Hawaii

You and Mike should clean out every thing the piggies use and bleach out the 
stuff that can be bleached, either full strength or down to 10%. Wash any 
throw rugs bed spreads, throws, etc just give the house a thorough cleaning. 
Keep all the piggies indoors. Dont feed them anything grown where feral cats 
could be going to the bathroom, could transmit parasites

Get Sparkles in to the vet for those 2 Ivermectin shots 7 to 10 days apart 
and try to get the necropsy I suggested yesterday on your Baby Truffles if 
at all possible, i know the holiday may make this impossible, I didn't know 
you would be taking Blossom to the vet or I would have suggested it then. 
The better vet is the best choice as the regular one seems to think piggies 
aren't worth trying to treat. The Ivermectin kills all sorts of round and 
thread worms and other things that could infect the piggies. You might 
consider a pair of titre tests for e.c. for her but I think that possibility 
is low if she hasn't has any neurological problems. Answer this, have any of 
the piggies ever had even a short time where they had even a mild paralysis 
of the hind legs? If yes, either get the titre tests or go into the e.c. 
protocol after the 2 Ivermectin shots are finished by a wheek or 2 .  Make 
sure Sparkles gets exercise but make sure she doesn't go on carpets where 
either cats or sick piggies have exercised and may have peed or pooped. Use 
gloves between each piggies cage cleaning if you have more than one. if you 
just have Sparkles lets just keep her alone until the case is solved unless 
she grieves to deeply. Use antibacterial wipes before and after holding them 
on a table, change blouses. Use the alcohol gel on your hands before and 
after holding your piggies, washing up after them, etc. Do their laundry 
separate. Dispose of their litter promptly and dont use bedding as compost. 
You wont have to do this forever, just till the environment is completely 
cleaned and the Ivermectin is finished, if Sparkles stays healthy a month 
will do.

You  get the idea.  And please consider strongly doing the time line and 
history I have asked for, it's not a fun job, but if it helps us pinpoint 
when each pig got sick, what they were exposed to at the time, what there 
living conditions were, what they ate, one of us may find something the 
others have no knowledge of. A complete history is what a people doc does 
for you, whee really need that to build up a knowledge of every facet of 
their lives. Why, cause it's not an easy thing to find and it takes darn 
good detective work sometimes to find an elusive problem.  These aren't the 
easy answers, but they will keep you busy and set you on a positive course 
of doing something positive to help you live through this awful time. And I 
can guarantee that when whee are successful with your help to fix whatever 
it is you will feel such a relief. Even if it turns out to be something in 
your control still the fixing of it will relieve your mind to a huge extent 
and you will be able to go forward with having piggies without all this 
implacable guilt and worry.

I also suggest you have a conversation with Joanie, Baby Puffs mom, 
Hershey's mom the piggie who died this summer of e.c. In the beginning she 
felt every bit as awful as you do now, but finding the cause, and moving 
forward with baby Puff has done wonders for her, and she has become much 
more assertive and confident since then, I believe this extends to her 
handling of her vets, she is just better now more assertive and I 
congratulate the hard work she did to get her perspective back and to stop 
blaming herself. Corrine, I myself have made horrible mistakes that killed 
piggies I loved like children but I went forward, I learned, and I studied, 
I try to share what I learned to help save piggies here, it's all I can do, 
I think its all I can do. When yours or other peoples piggies die, I cry, I 
grieve, I light a special candle, and I try to bless them off on their trip 
to the Rainbow Bridge. Sometimes in the night I will wake up feeling badly 
about this pig or that, or just miss them, but I try to bring myself back to 
front and center, remember what I have done to correct the problem or help 
someone else,  I think it has made me a better person, I care more deeply, I 
am more likely to take a positive action and  most of all I thank God for 
letting me share those little lives for a while when their light shines so 
brightly. I cant make you feel better instantly, but I tell you there is 
life after this, there are positive steps to help the animal in your life 
and ways to help you be a better piggie parent and a stronger person. So 
even if these steps seem impossibly difficult, please take one step at time 
starting with the things to save Sparkles. This my way, maybe it's not best 
for you, you and your loving husband can figure it out for yourselves, I do 
believe that positive forward steps work best and last into your future and 
will make you a better happier person. Try to send your informative messages 
to us all so whee can all learn and try to help, I dont mean that you 
shouldn't seek out others private support, but try to use us all to help, 
and if anyone is unhelpful just set that one aside and keep your eye on the 
prize

Yours in healing yourself and Sparkles, and keeping your lost ones in you 
memory, moving forward  Sandy and Shipwreck Sam








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