Sad News...

Gizmo, my guinea pig, passed away on Friday.  He was old...almost 6 1/2 which is old for a guinea pig, and he had a really good life, but I don't think we are ever ready to say good-bye.  It's always difficult, no matter what.  Luckily, he didn't suffer, and was healthy as a horse right until the very end. 

Most people might think I am crazy for being so upset about the loss of "just a guinea pig", but he wasn't just a guinea pig...he was special, and my buddy.  He was with me through good times and some really difficult times over the last 6 1/2 years. 

Over the last several days whenever I am feeling really really sad, I try to remember the good times we had.  And rediculous times we had, too.  Like the time my apartment building was smoking and the fire alarms were going off.  I had come home during lunch and the fire alarms were going off.  We lived on the 13th floor (lucky, I know).  I ran up 13 flights of stairs, dumped out the contents in my purse, and stuck him in my purse, and waddled back down the stairs.  While we were waiting for everything to clear up, I took him to McDonalds and ordered a cheeseburger and gave him my french fries to keep him quiet and satisfied in my purse.  He loved French Fries.  I could barely move the next day my legs were so sore. 

He ate just about anything, and looking back I suppose it is a wonder he lived so long.  He loved pizza.  Pepperoni was his favorite.  He didn't get it very often but he begged a lot.  He also loved ground meat and empanadas.  That was purely an accident that I discovered that.  I accidently dropped my empanada on the floor once and he went to town on it. 

He came when you called him, generally, knew the word "No", and Spinach which referred to any food that was fresh.  If you were eating something that smelled good to him he would be at your feet, trying to stand on his hind feet (he was top heavy so it was difficult for him) and beg.

Another time he was sick and I took him to the vet.  He felt hot to the touch, and was lethargic and not moving around very much which was unusual for him.  He didn't like the initial medicine we gave him and I ended up having to pay extra for children's cherry flavored medicine that had to be given to him through an eye dropper.   

Surprisingly, he held his own between the dog and the cat.  He bit the dog a couple of times on the lip when the Cope tried to eat his spinach (the dog only eats spinach when someone else does...) and chucked poop at Guinness when he started to annoy him.  He also chucked poop at me too when he was upset about one thing or another.  That was a lot.  This pig had high standards.

I miss him so much already, but I'm really thankful for the time we all had with him, and very thankful he didn't have to suffer.