150-200 Guinea Pigs in Ann Arbor, MI

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Cindy in MI
Supporter in '05

Post   » Thu Nov 21, 2002 10:06 am


To our dear Hermie
unknown to 11-16-02
We will always love you.

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I tell you about Herman's leaving us. Herman was one of the Ann Arbor pigs who made his way to imanut4u's rescue. When we were looking for a piggie for my then 9 year old daughter, when she saw Herman's picture on the rescue website, she decided THAT was the pig for her. She never wavered from that position. When we got him, Herman quickly earned the nickname "Squirmy Hermie" as it was obvious he wasn't accustomed to being handled. We only had this sweet little pig for about four months but he managed to squirm his way deep into our hearts. He became used to being handled and was just the sweetest little thing. Hermie started having problems breathing that my daughters noticed on 10/31/02. We rushed him to the vet. He was placed on Baytril in case it was a URI and Lasix in case it was CHF. He improved somewhat and seemed to resume a normal life. Last Friday on Nov. 15, I thought I noticed him being a little less active and made it a point to keep an eye on him. I thought his breathing wasn't quite right but not as bad as before. Saturday morning came and it was clear that Hermie's breathing was not good. I really became concerned when he didn't want any of his morning veggies. We got in touch with a different vet who has a reputation for having a particular interest in GPs and she agreed to see him. When she examined him, she couldn't hear any breath sounds on one side and very little on the other. Poor Hermie was also cyanotic. We decided not to take him home to suffer and struggle but to have him put to sleep. I held him and petted him and cried over him as he died. The poor little baby had a crappy start in life but he was loved like crazy during his last four months that we had him by my two daughters and myself. Hermie's death just about broke my 10 year old's heart. He's safely buried in the back yard with my 12 year old kitty who died two years ago and my 8 year old's hamster who died last summer. Hermie left a hole in our hearts that will be with us for the rest of our lifetimes.

I apologize for this tribute to Hermie being so long and rambling.
The rest of the world doesn't seem to understand the pain in losing such a little one. I thought you folks here would.

Rest easy my dear Hermie. You will always live in our hearts.

Cindy in Michigan

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lisam

Post   » Thu Nov 21, 2002 11:01 am


Oh Cindy, how sad. I'm sure he was so happy to have you. I am very sorry for your loss.

kleenmama
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Thu Nov 21, 2002 11:23 am


I am also so sorry.
They manage to just grab your heart, don't they? Perhaps Imanut4u still has a dear pig that can help fill the hole in your heart. I know it sure helped me to have another pig to love.

Take care, I'm glad he lived out his short life with someone who loved him...

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AuntyLaura

Post   » Thu Nov 21, 2002 11:38 am


I'm so sorry for your loss. He had such a wonderful life with you!

imanut4u

Post   » Thu Nov 21, 2002 11:52 am


Cindy, I am so very sorry for this sad turn of events. He was blessed to be with you & the girls for what was no doubt the happiest time of his life. It breaks my heart that time was too short. Years even never seem enough with our pets.

I'm thinking of you all.

pigpal

Post   » Thu Nov 21, 2002 12:17 pm


I'm very sorry for your loss. I'm sure Hermie knew how much he was loved.

Caroline

Post   » Thu Nov 21, 2002 1:02 pm


Cindy,
Hermie was one lucky pig to have found such a beautiful family to share his short life with. And you gave him so much love and care.
I am sorry your time together was so short.
Thinking of you.

Nurgle
...what, what, what?

Post   » Thu Nov 21, 2002 1:16 pm


I'm so sorry you lost Hermie. He had the best of his life with you.

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Jill

Post   » Thu Nov 21, 2002 7:36 pm


Cindy, I'm so sad to hear about Herman. He was so lucky to have his time with you.

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bats

Post   » Fri Nov 22, 2002 1:48 am


Damn, I hate reading stories like this. I'm glad he had the few months with you, but I really wish Hermie could have had a longer stay. He deserved it.

Thanks for giving him a good home for as long as possible, Cindy. You done good.

GetShelly
I give

Post   » Fri Nov 22, 2002 2:14 am


Cindy, you had such a big heart to take in a special needs guinea pig. I'm sure that in time you can find enough room in your heart to love and spoil another lucky piggie.

You're in my thoughts.

Shelly

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Cindy in MI
Supporter in '05

Post   » Fri Nov 22, 2002 9:22 am


I want to thank each and every one of you . . . lisam, kleenmama, AuntyLaura, imanut4u, pigpal, Caroline, Nurgle, Jill, bats, and Shelly . . . for your kind words and thoughts of comfort and support. It means a lot to me that you all understand and took the time to express your concern. The rest of the world just doesn't seem to get it. That you are there and understand helps.

To kleenmama,
Yes, they reach right in and grab your heart and you don't even know it's happening. Regarding imanut4u and another pig, well, she and Jill are working on me. Just between you and me . . . . imanut4u thought her moniker was 'Pig Hustler'. Wrong. It's REALLY 'Ruthless Pig Hustler.' LOL! Did you notice she updated it? And Jill's not much better! :-) They've sent me pictures of two adorable baby sweeties. It seems that imanut4u, Jill and my 10 year old daughter are getting this all figured out. It's just that I haven't gotten that far yet. We still have Hermie's cohort, James. So we aren't pigless. But I think even James would vote for a new cagemate.

To imanut4u,
I'm glad to see you've updated your moniker to a more accruate description. You are GOOD at what you do. You are right, we could have had Hermie for 7 years and it still wouldn't have been enough time. It's never easy to let them go, no matter how long we've had them.

To bats,
Thanks for your vote of confidence in saying I done good. Hearing that helps because I tend to drive myself crazy with the 'what-ifs' and 'if-onlys'. I keep telling myself we do the best we can with what we have to work. But the what-ifs and if-onlys still creep in there. In order to keep the what-ifs and if-onlys at bay, I have an appointment with the vet to look James over to make sure everything is okay. He seems completely okay but since we don't really know what it was that Hermie had, I want to make sure there's nothing detectable with James. I don't think we could go through losing another one so soon.

Again, thank you to all of you for your kind words. I read them over and over again and find comfort in them.

Piggie wheeks and blessings to you all,

Cindy in Michigan

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