Daisy and Ruby, bonded pigs

pinta

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:26 am


Ruby and Daisy came to us in August 2008 through SARs (Small Animal Rescue http://smallanimalrescue.org/) They were 4 1/2 years old. Our first introduction was this email:

Two more seniors??? Here is the story. These two are pretty old...Don't
worry if you don't have room though. No pressure.
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Those 2 pigs I was boarding since Feb... can they go to pinta's too? One is Moose's daughter (beige with red eyes) and the other is her friend (brown, white with red eyes). The family is having a disagreement on whether the pigs can come into their new home, the dad is much against it and the daughter and mom are quite unhappy about it. I kinda knew this was happening as they didn't contact me all summer.

Any chance pinta could take the 2 girls this weekend or next? My place is much too hot and I worry about them since they are getting on in age. I'm sorry to sack her with these 2 old girls but they are great pigs, never any problems. If she can't, then I can keep them.

Thanks,
S

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We often take on "bonded" pigs only to find them dumping each other the second they hit the pig condo. Ruby and Daisy were different. As soon as they entered our home we could tell they really were bonded. Daisy was clearly in charge. She was the voice of Ruby, her tri-coloured friend.

As Ruby spent most of her time resting her chin on the food dish while Daisy hovered over her, it didn't take long for us to suspect heart issues and to slap Ruby on heart meds. Ruby's activity level increased a bit and we increased the heart meds bit by bit until Ruby was able to move from level to level in the condo and even make her way down the ramp to check out the kitchen.

Still, Daisy kept a close eye on Ruby who was never out of her sight. If food was needed Daisy would scream for both of them. At the end of the day of grazing in the backyard, they would be found together in the same shelter. They were always within feet of each other.

When they first arrived I noticed one hell of a lump in Daisy's abdomen. The lump took up one third of her abdomen. During her health check appointment my vet thought it might be a desiccated fetus. She was x-rayed but no definitive diagnosis was forthcoming. At Daisy's age my vet was very unwilling to "upset the applecart". Exploratory surgery had a greater chance of killing Daisy than helping her. She was happy, had great quality of life and it was decided she was best left alone. Daisy and Ruby enjoyed another summer of grazing and being fully participating members of our herd.

In the fall of 2009, Daisy's hair started getting sparse. Very sparse. Damned close to "skinny" pig sparse. There was some weight loss and a visit to the vet resulted in the same "don't upset the applecart" advisory. If she was a senior before, she was even more senior now and an even poorer candidate for surgery. She was happy and had quality of life and the condo had additional heat already for the skinny pig in residence. All was as well as it could be although my vet expressed a firm desire to get a hold of her when she died to see what the hell was going on in there.

About a month ago she developed a constantly wet butt and the smell of infection. A round of sulfa had a small effect but not enough. A switch to Baytril seemed to be doing the trick until January 29.

I had uncharacteristically locked up the pigs in the condo for the night much earlier than usual. A couple of hours later, in the early morning, I came downstairs and heard a strange noise coming from the condo. It was Daisy in an agonal state. She was on her side gasping for breath. I gave her oxygen knowing although it wouldn't cure her but hoping it would make her feel better. She died in my lap. She was 6 years old.

As we always do with pigs who have passed, we put Daisy in the condo so the rest of the herd would know what had happened. We particularly worried about Ruby knowing she would feel the loss of her best friend far more than the other pigs. But Ruby looked fine and greeted a condo restocking with the same enthusiasm as usual.

In the morning we removed Daisy's body and put her in the fridge for my vet to do a necropsy on Monday.

The rest of the day was a typically busy Saturday. By late afternoon we were back home and as always, checked on the pigs. Ruby was dead. Within 12 hours of losing her best friend in the world, Ruby had died.

This we did not see coming. We had had pigs grieve the loss of friends and we had had to break quarantine on vet orders to distract a grieving non-eating pig with a new cagemate, but we had never had two best friends die within hours.

So now we had two pigs in the fridge awaiting necropsy.

Plenty of reasons why Daisy died: the lump was the biggest uterine tumour my vet had ever seen. It had adhered to the bladder which was backed up with infected urine. The ureter to the kidney was clogged. It was more a question of why Daisy had lived as long as she did rather than why she died. Ruby's heart looked good, everything looked good. There was one questionable growth on her intestines that was unlikely to have done her in at that point. Essentially there was no reason why Ruby had died. Except for the loss of her Daisy.

Did Daisy hang on for Ruby or did Ruby hang on for Daisy? All I know for sure that these really were bonded pigs.

CinnamonSpice

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:23 am


Awesome, a new chronicle. Can't wait to hear more about your pigs, and hopefully.... pictures?

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TexCavy

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:53 am


It was my impression the story is over, unfortunately.
I'm so sorry their time was up Pinta. But I am sure they had the best possible life with you as their caregiver.

CinnamonSpice

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:00 am


Oh, gosh... :(

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clairey

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:28 am


Oh that's so touching. *sniff*

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Bytxlaura
Remembering Nemo

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:34 am


Oh man, it teared me up :( What an amazing pair!

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pigjes
Cavy Comic

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:44 am


What a very sad story. Yet, how endearing that they really loved each other that much!

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Sidera17

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:49 am


I'm sorry to hear about your losses. The girls must have really loved each other. Now they're together again at the Bridge.

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LAWomans
"Live Long and Prosper"

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:06 am


Pinta,

Thanks so much for sharing this.

I had the same thing happen with Millie and her cage mate, Lulu. Millie died from a tumor and her cage mate died a week later, from unknown causes. Lulu wasn't even that old and they had only been together about a month. Lulu was the only pig Millie would tolerate after I tried so many of them, and then she passed. Very strange.

My friend Lisa's pig, Betsy, passed away and her cage mate, Penny died within a week, too. They were senior sisters, about 6 years old.

Lisa tried to bond Penny, but she hated every pig she tried, and then passed away and is now with her sister over the Bridge.

pinta

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 1:33 pm


I probably shouldn't have posted their story here as it won't continue. Lynx, do feel free to move it to the appropriate spot.

Do we have a cavy psychology forum?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 1:55 pm


Some of the stories here are about guinea pigs that are no longer alive. I think it fits here fine. Thanks for sharing Daisy and Ruby with us.

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lisam

Post   » Mon Feb 22, 2010 1:56 pm


How bittersweet! It reminds me of an ancient mother daughter pair I had as sanctuary pigs in the rescue. Daughter died first of old age related issues, and mother within the week. They had been together the daughter's whole life.

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