Friday, August 7, 2015

A Sad Day

The girls went to Girl's Camp last Monday, just got home today.
I had thought that maybe Hubby and I could have a romantic get-away, but he scheduled work a long time ago, so he was out of town.  Also got back today.
I decided to go visit my parents, 80 miles north, since I am the only one who really wants to do this anyway.  I had a nice time, a couple of my mom's brothers and their wives were also visiting, I got to see my sister, shop with my mom, it was a nice relaxing time as it usually is.  Without the hassle of entertaining Hubby and the kids.
I took the dog and the remaining guinea pig with me, rather than board them or get someone to come watch them.
Wednesday my mom and I went to Sam's Club.  Before we left I put the guinea pig on the grass so he could graze.  I put the top of his cage out so he couldn't run away, and put his igloo and water there too.
When we came back I went to check on him and he had flipped his igloo upside down, and was lying limp on the ground gasping.  I picked him up and raced him downstairs where it was cool, wondering if he had over heated.  He did not seem to be improving.  I called my sister and asked her where a good vet is, and raced over there.
He had already died before I got there.  They said without an autopsy, they couldn't really determine the cause of death.  They'd have to ship his body out for the autopsy, and they'd send me back the report and the cremated remains.
That just seemed gruesome.  They gave me a nice little cardboard casket, put a hand towel in the bottom, and laid the guinea pig on it.  She closed his eyes for me.

I came home that night and decided to put him in the fridge.  Freezing him would have meant I had to cram his body into a zip lock bag, and make freezer space.  I had room in the downstairs fridge to put him in his little casket box.

I picked the girls up today and Blondie, whose pig this was, chattered all the way home, full of experiences to share from camp.  As it was Red's 2nd year, and she didn't have some of the dramatic experiences as her sister, she was quieter.  Hubby's plane had landed and he had arrived home while I was picking up the girls but he had to get on the phone, so we told them we had some bad news as we were getting out of the car, so it ended up that we told them that the pig had died as we were all standing in the garage in front of the car.  Of course Blondie was devastated, Red was sad too, as her pig had died this spring.

Blondie went downstairs and sat on the storage room floor with the box on her lap, petting the pig and crying for about half an hour.  We will have the funeral later, when Hubby gets off the phone.  I started digging a grave in the back yard, next to Red's pig's grave.

The problem with having these animals we love is that they don't live forever.


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