[Gpdd] MISC. -- Little M is such a sweetie

[corrine sakumoto]

I like routines as do piggies.  When I would change the piggies blankies (mom Sunshine and daughter Little M are in one pen) we'd do our bit.  I would put the blankie down then a cozy then their hut and Little M would come along, go into the hut and go under the cozy.  Every single time.  You bet I had a smile on my face!  Sometimes I'd be a bit slow and Little M would come over and there'd only be a blankie so I'd apologize at being so slow!  Usually I would make their bowls after cleaning their pens in front of Sunshine and Little M's pen.  They usually munched on hays but sometimes I'd take a little too long for some little piggie and she'd come to the front of her pen, peer at me at what the bowl delay is and stay there and watch me until I would hurriedly finish making their bowls (pellets, dried veggies, dried fruits, various treats).  Little M always made me so happy and proud that my hard work was appreciated.  :)
Little M had a hard life.  We adopted sisters Sunshine and Starlight (they told us their names after being here a few days) from the humane society.  About a month or so later Starlight blessed us with her son Wheeksie and Sunshine had her daughter Little M.  After a year and a half, on a sunday night, Wheeksie had blood in his urine so we gave him baytril until he could see the vet the next day.  He became, well, he didn't eat.  We syringe fed him but lost him a week later.  Supposedly, one in ten guinea pigs won't tolerate antibiotics?  This freaked us out that we didn't like to give them meds of any kind.  

A few months ago, Little M had pink urine.  At first we could smell that it smelled sweet.  We had recently given them dried fruits like raspberries so we think that's what it was.  About a month or two ago she again had colored urine.  This time it didn't smell sweet so we tested it for blood and it came out negative.  Of course we were worried and of course we wanted to take her to the vet but after what happened to Wheeksie we were terrified of losing her.  The color of her urine stopped.  She always seemed okay and active.
Two years ago all three girls started to have thinning hair. So we bathed them all and Starlight and Sunshine grew their hair back but Little M's back side continued to be sparse hair.  We bathed her again a few months ago and her hair began to grow back rather nicely.  She never scratched or anything so we didn't know why her hair was sparse on her back side. Daddy Mikey thinks they might have been inbred so they had health problems from the get go.  We got Starlight and Sunshine when they were only a few months old and they were in a pen with several other piggies their size so we assume they were all related somehow.
A couple of weeks ago, Little M's other eye began to turn white.  It was then that she started to act sad and depressed.  We kept the pen the same and she seemed okay with it.  But a few days later she had runny poo and seemed bloated.  So we syringe fed her and gave her gripe water and then later simethicone.  That seemed to help with the bloating.  She began to produce regular poo pellets and even was more alert.  But she still wasn't herself.  On December 31st at around 2 a.m. daddy Mikey syringe fed her then we turned in.  At 6:30 a.m. daddy Mikey checked on Little M and she was gone.  He took it hard and cried hard.  As for me, I was in shock because she seemed to be getting better so I couldn't accept it.  I went in and out over the next few days.  I couldn't accept it.  But what kept me going is that I was worried about her pen mate, her mommy, Sunshine.  At first Sunshine was quite lethargic and seemed so sad which is understandable.  We tried to give her extra attention and even though she's still not the same, a few days later, she seems okay.  We keep a careful eye on her.  As for me, I miss the spokespig wheeking so loudly that their meal is late.  Or her carefully watching me to make sure I did their bowls correctly.  Or her playing with the hut and blankies.  I miss all that.  

I miss you, Little M.  I love you so much.  You were ours from the start.  You were born here.  I hope that we managed to make your life as enjoyable as we could.  I miss you telling me what to do and making sure I did a good job.  In a way I wish I didn't survive the surgery so that perhaps you'd be okay today instead.  You'll be in my heart forever.  I love you, Little M.  Love, human mommy Corrine