[Gpdd] RAINBOW BRIDGE: Tumbleweed

[Cindy]

It is with a most sad heart that I write to tell everyone that 
Tumbleweed recently passed away.  I am most remiss in not posting 
sooner, but after a day or two, we became very worried about his buddy, 
Friday.  Friday has been in serious mourning, and we are looking for a 
new friend for him.

Tumbleweed was six years and two or three months old.  He and Sunshine 
(RIP) came to us as part of the Maryland piggie rescue, which 
Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue coordinated (thanks, Judi and company).  
Tumbleweed was a black and white (with a bit of "hidden" caramel) 
Peruvian piggie, and his crazy bangs inspired my vet to suggest his 
name.  Like a snowflake, Tumbleweed's hair never looked the same twice.  
His white was mostly at his waist, and I always thought of his lovely 
long white hair as angel wings. 

Tumbleweed was a good-natured, laid-back piggie who never met a 
stranger.  When we introduced him to Sunshine, it was friendship at 
first sight.  Then we introduced both piggies to our Joey (RIP), and the 
reaction was the same.  Later, we got Friday, and Friday decided 
Tumbleweed was the best friend ever.

Our boy loved standing on the wooden tables in his cage to eat hay.  He 
also enjoyed laptime and falling asleep in his hay trough on the floor.  
Seeing him trot across the floor was quite a treat, as his wings swept 
behind him.

Behind Tumbleweed's gentle nature was a quiet bravery.  Vet visits, nail 
trims, X-rays, shots -- nothing ever phased him.  Two years ago, we 
almost lost him after he developed a tooth abscess that affected his 
chin.  He had to have a tooth removed, and for the whole summer we were 
so afraid we would lose him.  We cut his food into strips, syringed 
pellets, water, and Critical Care to him, and cleaned his abscess 
daily.  Sometimes, in the intervening two years, he had gas, and my 
husband made a vibrating massage pad for him.  He never seemed to mind 
resting on it, and it finally helped.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that his poops seemed to be getting smaller.  
I took him to the vet, and we tried Reglan, but his poops didn't 
improve.  We then had an X-ray done and were shocked to discover that he 
had a (probably) cancerous tumor pressing on his intestines.  By then, 
he was growing much weaker, despite our syringing a slurry of pellets to 
him and tempting him with his favorite foods.  Palliative care, 
including a steroid shot and a shot of antibiotics, didn't help, and 
when he sat in his "sofa" without moving and refused to eat, we knew it 
was time to help him to the Bridge.  Our vet gave him a sedative, and I 
held him while my husband and I talked with him.  I think the pain 
gently began to leave his body.  Our vet then took him to give him the 
final shot <sniff> and told us that his passing was peaceful.

Although surgery was not an option, due to its high probability of 
failure, we had hoped so much that he might somehow perk up.  As he grew 
weaker, we reminded him of how he had come to live with us, of all the 
piggies he had known, and of how very much we loved him and appreciated 
each day with him.  I also told him to use his "wings" to fly to the 
Bridge when it was his time.

If you'd like to see a photo of him, there are a couple of places on the 
Web to look.  Among his adventures, Tumbleweed was very happy to be able 
to become one of the SCAMPS and to be included on the SCAMPS site.  
Thanks, Mieke.

http://scamps-gpdd.blogspot.com/2009/08/tumbleweed.html

He also was most pleased to be recruited by AgentF to be a Secret 
Agent.  Thanks, AgentF.

http://undercoverguineapig.wordpress.com/2010/04/ -- see April 27, 2010.

Tumbleweed, thank you for sharing your life with us.  You will live on 
always in our hearts.  It was an honor to have known you.

Sadly,
Cindy and Friday