The Purple Dragon Blog

My little guinea pig died today. We had to have her put down. She’s been a little listless for a couple of weeks, and suddenly she became quite skinny and stopped eating. So we took her to the vet this morning. Diabetes, the vet said. She could smell the ketones on her breath easily. Even if you could treat guieapigs for diabetes, which is almost impossible, it would have been too late with Kitt anyway. The vet asked if Kitt had always been this small, and I said yes, not so thin, but always my tiny pig, and the vet noted that she had probably had diabetes a long time and that was why she never reached normal adult size.

She was such a wonderful piggie, you know. When I first saw her, she was a tiny moving rug with an eager, friendly little face. Dad called her Ruglet because of all her fur. I named her Kitt, after a fanfiction author I adored at the time, when I was sixteen. Whenever I went past the pig cage she’d run out and look up at me, hoping for treats or pats, always so happy to see me. 

Last night I let her sit on my lap for a long time. She moved close to my arm and rested her head on my arm and just lay there peacefully as I stroked her and tried to convince her to eat. Lil Sis took photos for me.

This morning the vet said, I could have her put down or let her die naturally… she was starving herself to death. Could anyone submit their pet to such a terrible death as painful, ill starvation? So I stroked her and talked to her, holding her gently all the way home, singing to her until she died. Then I cried. We will bury her when Lil Sis gets home from school.

I will miss her, and love her very much. That’s all I can say, really.