[Gpdd] Misc: Clover has gone on

[arcochrane at gmail.com]

Hello all,
I wanted to tell you all that my sweet girl Clover has passed on to the bridge today after an illness. She joins her mom, dad and brother who all passed long before her. She is particularly special to me because I had her whole family and I was there not long after she was born. I love my adopted/rescue pigs, but I felt a special bond with Clover because she was so used to me as I had been there from the beginning. 
She had turned 5 years old in March of this year. I'm not sure exactly what she passed of, I think maybe kidney failure based on the smell of things. I took her to the vet a month ago and they weren't quite sure either, she tried to tell me she might have scurvy but I didn't believe her. I have had pigs for years and have never shorted anyone on Vitamin C. I think she had severe arthritis in her hips/knees and lost her ability to use her back legs. The rest of her family all passed from lots of issues with bladder stones so I think there might have been a genetic issue with over-calcification, as none of my other pigs have ever had these problems. So it would make sense to me if she did have severe osteoarthritis. Her feet would work just fine in the bath but she could not bear weight. I kept thinking I was doing physical therapy for her by putting her in some warm water and holding her up while she moved her paws. She didn't seem to mind it at least and I hoped the warm water would bring her some comfort. I had been cleaning her and helping her get around for about a month now. She was on Metacam when she passed which gives me some comfort as I hope she wasn't in much pain. Thank you for letting me share my story.
Anneli and Cresta, Poofa, and Rocky remaining