On Saturday February 5th my guinea pig Yossi (short for Yossarian) passed away after being ill for quite some time. I put off writing this tribute because let's face it, who wants to write one of these to begin with?
Yossi was my very first pet guinea pig and I got him from a pet shop when he was six months old. Apparently he had been dropped off their by his original owners who were "moving to Europe". Yossi was always a pretty sweet little character. He never put up a great fuss about anything. Not long after bringing him home I decided that he needed a friend seeing as guinea pigs are extrememly sociable critters and do best in pairs or groups. Lu
ckily at that time my mother spotted an add for a guinea pig who was Critter of the Week in the local humane society section. We went and picked her up a day or so later and I named her Scout.
Now Scout, you must understand, was the complete opposite of Yossi. She was a spicey, sassey, whirlwind of a pig. Her nickname was WWII. In order for Scout and Yossi to be playmates Yossi had to bite the bullet and go in to be neutered. Unfortunately the vet operating on him wasn't quite with the game and ended up leaving a seuter in where he shouldn't have and poor Yossi ended up with a golf ball sized swelling full of pus- yikes! The new vet we took him to turned out to be brilliant and a very good hand with small animals. He had Yossi healed and ready to go in no time! Since then he is the only vet I trust my piggies with, and he even took care of Phinneus :)
Now there were two...but I had the guinea pig bug and while I was delving full throttle in pigg research and care tips I remembered another little cavy at the pet store where I had aquired Yossi. She was aproximately the same age as him, but had been in the store for a while. She was all white, except for her dark ears, dark paws, and dark nose.
She had pretty pink eyes and seemed like just the perfect little lady. It should be no surprise
that I brought her home and name her Calpurnia, or Cal for short.
Cal is a cheeky lady with a great appetite! She remained Yossi's constant companion until the end, even snuggling with him in the last few hours.
After Cal I was quite sure that three piggies would be the limit. My parents were too. After all I was a junior in high school so my time at home was limited to a few years anyway (apart from summers and all that). It was best not to settle myself in with too many critters that would need caring for when I was away. That was the official decision.
Then I went to the pet store, and as it always happens, I wasn't looking to get another guinea pig, but I saw Lily (and heard her sad back story) and then and there it was decided to amend the three pig rule and make it a four pig rule. After all, how much of a difference could just one more make? Three might as well be four. As it turned out Lily was a wonderful little pig! She was feisty and sweet all at once, cheerful and curious; always the first one out to eat and inspect visitors. She chirpped away about her day as you held her and was rediculously adorable.
Four pigs were the limit and so I stopped there and worked on
building a guinea pig kingdom. I took outside for play dates on the grass, I gave them baths, I fed them the best food I could find. In short, life was good for the pigs. When I went to college my dad graciously volunteered to take over caring for them.
In the first summer after college I lost not only my baby dog Hershey but also Lily. She had reached old age for a guinea pig and died peacefully, but it was terribly sad to loose such a special little lady. The rest of the summer and then the first semester of the next school year passed without incident. Yossi started to become a little thin, but not overly so.
In January of last year Scout was the next to go. She too was older and also died peacefully of old age. I was away at school when it happened, so my parents took care of the burial and all. Then there were just the two younger pigs, Cal and Yossi. Yossi continued to become fatter while Cal got plumper. She was the picture of health while Yossi was rapidly becoming nothing but fur covered bones. His eyes remained bright, however, and his appetite and attitude remained healthy. The vet treated him repeatedly for nasty foot infections and discove
red a heart murmur. When I was home I gave him weekly baths and foot treatments. My parents lavished ointment, Vitamin C tablets, and treats on the piggies to keep them healthy and happy. They loved the delicious vegetables from out garden.
Yossi chugged along for more than a year, but eventually passed away. This time I was able to be home and spend time with him before he died. It's very odd to think that he IS gone because he was my first guinea pig, so as far as I am concerned the guinea pig world has never existed without him in it. Now there's just Cal and I'm a little worried about her being lonely. She spent her whole life so far with other pigs and now they're all gone. My plan is to open up the room she is in to get more traffic from the rest of the house. We are going to install a radio so that she can hear other "beings" in the room with her. Cal has health problems of her own, besides now being a lonely pig. She went to vet to have a big lump looked at and I am hoping it isn't cancer.
For now though, Cal can enjoy having all the treats and cuddles lavished upon herself. She is Queen Guinea Pig.
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