Penny, age 4, passed away last night. She was gentle and a good listener, and loved Romaine lettuce with a love that passeth understanding. She instinctively knew that as a sow, she carried within her the future of pigdom, and showed she took that responsibility seriously by spending most of her time hiding under a pile of hay. (We kept her safe from predators and never introduced her to a nice boy pig, so her instincts misled her, but her intentions were good.) Penny is survived by her beloved boy, Coffeekitten, by Mom and Dad, and by the baby, who is blissfully too young to know about such things.
Interment will be late this afternoon, after Coffeekitten gets home from camp.
I’m sorry, coffeecat. I’m a huge cavy-fan and have lost several of the little guys myself. We’re going to be adopting two more in the very near future [as soon as I quit smoking], so two of Penny’s homeless friends will find a loving home if that’s any consolation at all.
The three ferretistas send their most solumn condolences, and sincerely wish they had had the chance to know Penny better. Which is only one reason that Penny lived to 4…
Thanks for the gentle laugh, and here is a virtual hug from another small pet owner {} and sympathy dooks from the ferrets. Little critters sure do cast large shadows, and make us better for having known them.
Sadness.
When I was about seven, I saw an ad in the newspaper for guinea pigs, $5. I asked my parents if I could have a guinea pig. They said I sure could, as soon as I saved up the money for the pig and all the necessary implements, figuring I’d forget long before that happened. Three weeks later, being a somewhat cash-hording seven year old with plenty of birthday money stashed away, I produced the cash and, not being able to go back on their word at this point, off we went to get ourselves a cavy.
I distinctly remember this conversation in the car on the way there…
MamaArmadillo: How long do guinea pigs live, anyway?
PapaArmadillo, DVM: Oh, a couple years, not too long…
Eleven years laterSkippy The Wonder Pig shuffles off the mortal coil shortly after I left for college, and the ParentsArmadillo are still to this day talking about the joy that was that little piggy.
