Saying Goodbye again - Chief Engineer Biscotti Pippin

Last night we said goodbye to Scotti-boy. That makes it sound peaceful. It was not. But now he is out of pain and at peace. Luckily, we caught it early and within an hour he was out of pain. We do not know what happened. Heart failure, stroke, kidney stones, bloat, omental torsion, a combination of any of those - we don't know. 

It is hard to not think of those last moments. It was scary and shocking and I was in denial that we couldn't save him. After calling three emergency vets, two exotic vets, and one the best in the nation back in Indianapolis, which would have been at 1 am EST, (I wasn't kidding when I said I was in denial), we made the decision to euthanize Scotti. His condition was disturbing, and that is not what I want to remember.

So this is my attempt at remembering the good times with my little piggy. He was the sheriff of the town - always rumble strutting his way around the cage. He was the king of the pip-pip-pip exploratory noises and the loudest wheeker of the bunch. We buried him next to Xabi and in guinea pig burial fashion, he was laid on top of a bed of timothy hay. 

I have posted my favorite photos of him below. Rest in peace little guy.

This is the first week of when we moved into our house. The grass was overgrown and I set the boys to work at mowing it down.

Curious Scotti.

Jedi Biscotti. We often would hold the piggies in our hoodie pockets. Justin, in particular, would have "study sessions" with Scotti while working on homework in grad school.

What a feast! Biscotti loooooved corn and parsley.

Classic Scotti move. Sit IN his hay bin.

Enjoying the loft and bed. 

This was when we went on a "pignic". 

Thanksgiving glamour shot.

Another one taken at our house. Here he is on the cool sidewalk during a summer day.

One of the first photos of Biscotti. I used to bring home boxes from the deli for the pigs to run around in. He's so little here!

Chilling out in the pig castle.

 Here is one of my favorite photos. This is me skyping home when we were living in Indiana. He's my buddy.

Happy Pigversary!

Three years ago yesterday we adopted the three little pig pig pigs. We celebrated with carrot cake for the humans, and a fresh piggy salad for the boys: green lettuce, cucumber, sweet red, orange, and yellow mini-peppers, carrots, fresh parsley, and cherry tomatoes.

I'm really missing Xabi, but it was fun to clean Scotti & Harvey's cages and hear them squeak and pip around before discovering their delicious salads. 

Happy pigversary!

Pool Pigs

Piggy Picnic...Pignic

My mom bought us this little pig-carrier that we can take to the vet, or, as I decided yesterday, on a picnic! The pigs were nervous-squeaking the whole walk (which is like 2 minutes) to the green area at the center of our apartment complex.

 

"IF YOU THINK I'M GOING TO COME OUT OF THIS CARRIER, YOU THOUGHT WRONG!"

"Oh, you brought parsley? You didn't mention that..."

"Um, excuse me? What incentives do I have here?"

"Oh, well, this is acceptable."

(I LOVE this photo! Hahaha!)

Here's Biscotti the Not-So-Brave. For all of his rumble-strutting, he is the most nervous in situations like this. He is cautiously testing the waters, here. 

Carrots make everything easier.

Isn't that right, Scotti boy?

Xabi Chops, being cute. (And in focus, for once!)

Eventually they all got out of the bag! Aren't they adorable?

Favorite Spot

Now that we have a loft, the pigs have found their new favorite spot. It is on top of a little bed that my mom made, that I put in the corner of the loft. 

Post-feast fatigue. "So...full...can't...move..."

 Xabi has a fiesty side-eye. Reminds me of Lucille

Biscotti, the bossiest of them all, taking a nap. Probably exhausted from all of his rumble-strutting.

 Isn't he so cute? This is before they spread hay everywhere. Here Biscotti is soaking up the morning sun on a weekend. (Although, to guinea pigs, every day is a weekend)

Harvey, settling down for a 15 minute interval of sleep before going back to the regularly schedule program (eating).

Cage Expansion...again

I recently made yet another expansion to the pig cage. It is something I'm both proud of and a little embarrassed by. I'm not sure how long it will last, because it's going to be a pain to clean, buuuuut, let's just let the illusion play itself out, shall we?

Ta-daa! A new loft! We'll see how long it lasts. They don't seem overly excited about a new ramp. I'm not entirely sure they know how to climb it yet. They can also run all the way around underneath the loft, and there is a little cubby with a bed, too. 

Fancy ramp with side walls.

Xabi, the forever black blur.

"Oh, you just spent hours expanding our cage to an even larger size and added on a new fancy loft? That's nice. I think I'll sleep in my tiny, shabby, old teepee instead. Night night!"

Biscotti

Fresh Cage

Yesterday the piggies got a nice, fresh, clean cage. They are always much more active and curious when this happens. I wish I started recording right when we put them in. I also wish the lighting was better, but oh well!

Fun with Hay

Nobody sees me!

Oh, how convenient. Someone put this trough out for me to sit in while I eat!

Now I'll poop in it, so it makes the hay stink and nobody else can eat it!

Nothing to see here!

Time for a little nap surrounded by my dinner.

Dinner Time!

Young Pigs

I found this video from back in July. Aren't they adorable!? They all look so young! Especially Harvard. 

Cuddle Time

 Aren't they cute? I love how Harvey does a little turn-around like cats and dogs do before laying down. Also, Xabi's ear twitch is adorable. He is practically asleep there! Biscotti was content staying in his little tunnel. (aka the arm sleeve of my robe)

Happy Halloween

You must use the force!

(Biscotti is actually in the front pocket of Justin's hoodie, haha!)

Pig Weigh-In

By the way, grams to pounds, Biscotti is 2.33 lbs, Harvey is 2.46 lbs, and Xabi is 2.24 lbs.

Little porkers!