You see, guinea pigs are only meant to live to the age of six, if that. Jessica made it that far, and further. She saw the death of her sister, Tina, who passed away about three or four years ago. She also saw the death of Desmond, our second male guinea pig, who was brought down in his prime by mites.
These were not our first guinea pigs, though only by one. Desmond and MacGuyver, two males, were our first. MacGuyver died only a few days after we first got them, though Desmond lived to see Jessica and Tina introduced to the family. But then, Desmond was struck down by mites, and sadly passed away.
The next to go was Tina. She died when she was supposed to. She had a life of around five to six years. But then Jessica was left on her own.
Then Cherrie and Isabel were introduced. Two young guinea pigs, not even 20 centimetres long, who grew to weigh about one and a half kilograms, (the last time they were weighed).
But then Jessica began to fade. Slowly at first, then more rapid. She grew ahernias, one grew larger than the others, and finished at about the size of half a golf ball. She began to feel arthritis in her back legs. She went part blind, and mostly deaf. A few days ago, she began to not be able to walk without staggering. Her breathing became irregular, her heartbeat forced.
Yesterday, we found that we had to actually hold food to her mouth for her to eat, as if lifting her chin was too much effort. She had a cold, and her nose ran.
My parents decided that enough was enough. On Monday, ny mother rang the vet. He said that if she wasn't any better in the following couple of days, to take her in, and he'd have a look at her.
The next day, my dad said he'd give her until the end of the week.
She didn't make it to the end of the week.
At around 9 o'clock, she was found by my mother. She had just stopped breathing, given up.
She was buried that afternoon, in the garden down the back behind a unit in our yard. She is in that garden now, where her grass used to grow, that she used to love. She had a concrete slab over her, so our dog will not dig there.
Hopefully now, she is with her sister, realizing what a life she really had.
My dear Jessica, we love you, and I love you.
Aimi.