January 2, 2007
I just wanted to write this little tribute to my Louise.
She passed away today quietly in her sleep on the way home from the
vets office. I thought she was going to be fine, but I guess it was
not meant to be....
Louise was one of my sweet rescued girls , we had had her along with
her "sister" Thelma for nearly 10 yrs. she was a very sweet,
quiet spirit that never caused us a minutes trouble, they came to us
from a frantic call from a girl saying that there were some guys that
were going to kill them and eat them if I did not come and get them!!
So my friend Barbara and I went and picked them up and I imagine that
those guys are still talking about those 2 crazy women that herded those
pigs into those crates and took off !!! But we did it and I hope for
the next 10 yrs they knew they were loved and that they were safe and
special girls. I am very worried about Thelma now, as she has not been
without her sister for these 10 yrs. but I am going to try and spend
extra time with her and let her know that I tried to help Louise.
I don't know if you knew it or not, but for the last couple of weeks
maybe longer Louise had been losing weight and having trouble eating.
I started to stay outside when I fed them to make sure she ate all her
food and that Thelma did not push her out of the way. She progressively
got worse and the last 2 or 3 days she has not eaten really at all,
so I knew I had to find out what was going on. I really felt like it
was her teeth or mouth that was causing her the problem. So this AM
I crated her and drove 2 plus hours with my dear dear friend Barbara
Baker to take her to the vet that I felt like was the most knowledgable
about pigs and could do whatever would be needed once they examined
her. I thought that the procedure went fine and Louise did have 3 bad
teeth and some bad tarter build up but that was all they found. We loaded
her up and were on our way home when I got this bad feeling that something
was not right, she had q! uit "snoring" and I could not tell
if she was breathing, Barb tried to check her and it was not possible
with the car moving and it was dark etc. anyway, without a sound she
passed away ...... by the time we got the car stopped and could check
her she had left us, just like in usual Louise fashion, quietly, without
so much as sound or any indication that she was in distress.
I really have no words to express my sadness and my deep feelings of
loss and the "what ifs" that I feel at this point, I really
do feel that I did the best for her, I tried to take her to the best
possible vet to treat her and I know I could not let her continue to
not eat and be feeling so bad, but still the sad feelings of did I do
enough, should I have demanded more from the vet, asked more questions
, on and on it goes. I just hope that she knew I was trying to help
her and did not want her to suffer.
Please say a little prayer tonight for my sweet Louise and be sure and
give your piggies an extra hug and kiss as you just never know what
can happen, no matter how much you try to protect them. I am sure this
sounds very rambling and confusing, please forgive me for this long
post but I just wanted to honor my sweet Louise I knew you all would
understand .
Janie