The Many Moods of Squirrel

I'm philosophical.

I can roar like a lion!

I can be a porcupine.

I am a ninja guard-pig!

I'm a caring creature.

Yum-Yum loves me!

(Yum-Yum:
"Mom, can I go back home now? 
This creature is annoying. 
I'm too old for this.
Thank you.")

When a Sanctuary Becomes a Hospice...

 

My name is "Squirrel" and
my favorite things are Yum-Yum,
cuddling into mom's warm neck
(although when she is playing
"Adele LIVE at Royal Albert Hall"
and singing along...well...
 (kinda TOTAL "Epic Fail!")
But I just act like she sings as
good as she does her hair on
her "bad hair days."
(see a few posts down and pity me.)
I also love running and popcorning
about the "Barnyard" mom made
me and Yum-Yum to keep us
separated from those other
creatures. Why does mom have
wild animals living here with us?


 

Mom's looking online and everywhere
for information about Yum-Yum's 
convulsions...they resemble "dry heaves"
but hasn't found anything other than 
bad stuff. And she and Edwin once
adopted their own vet's "hospice pig"
when the vet went to Australia once
a long, long time ago, about the time
they rescued Chai the Bengal Cat.
She was so sick from neglect (how could
a VET do that? Said it was "her daughter's")
but she died of a seizure in front of Chai
and he tried to bring her back to life and
mom and dad had already put a carpet
sample on the top of her cage because
he kept vigil while she was dying and he
remained there for at least 24 hours
silently after she passed.
So, we don't know what is happening with
Yum-Yum or how serious it is but we do
know it's my job as his squirrel to 
be happy and popcorn and run and 
sniff him and chew mom's furniture
and sleep next to him when he feels
poorly and I am a squirrel of Virtue.
Mom's a mess. But that's not my job,
THANK GOODNESS!
love,
Squirrel
P.S. will someone teach mom how
to spell it? She should've just named
me "brown box." Geez-A-Loo!

YUM-YUM WITH FAIRY DUST!

 

April, 2012
Yum-Yum moves into inspects
my birthday box from FAIRY!
HE APPROVES and is ready to
move right in!
err...ummm...Yum-Yum, it was
my birthday and I'm happy to
share but you can't LIVE IN IT! 
This morning he had convulsions
again. Squirrel has begun running
and popcorning about, chewing on
my drafting table (maybe he's a baby
beaver?) and Yum-Yum is already
enjoying his companionship in their
Extra Large, plush, Cavy Hut!
Every piggie gets individual cuddle time
at bedtime and we are carrying on 
best we can, given there is no diagnosis
 to treat convulsions. They resemble dry 
heaves, like he is trying to throw up.
Yesterday's X-Ray revealed no blockages.
Lots of love, all, and thank you for
your best wishes. We need them.
Love You, one and all.

Seasons Change...And So Do The Days of Our Lives

 

There was a pull and tug in my heart...
a darkness I could not describe,
nor understand. A darkness was
gathering in the skies, the water,
the sea, and in me...

 

It told me to find another guinea pig but
it didn't tell me why. So, every day for about
ten days, I asked the Pull & Tug to explain.
ONLY SILENCE.
Three days ago, I listened to my Heart.
Hearts don't give reasons, they whisper
only of Love.
I knew this had something to do with love
and that my friends would tell me how crazy
I am because I couldn't explain it.
I listened to Love anyway because
she has never been Wrong.

 

Yum-Yum had been doing poorly 
and I was worried for quite some time.
Guinea pigs live (if they are lucky)
an average lifespan of 5 -7 years.
Yum-Yum is between 5 - 6, I think.
He was the second rescue I ever got,
back when we still lived at the Wildlife
Refuge and PandaPig ADORED him.
But something didn't feel right.
It just seemed like he was fading,
losing interest in life. He has Ankylosing
Spondylitis (his spine is fusing and arthritic)
and his body is riddled with benign lymph 
tumors. He never complains, though I hear 
him cry out sometimes.  
Animals hide illness because
 in the wild a poorly pig would be 
fodder for a predator.
He has been courageous. Still, my heart ached.
 

Three days ago, I did the unthinkable.
Having read articles about how good guinea
pigs are as therapy animals for hospice
patients too weak for a dog or cat,
I thought "Why wouldn't a guinea pig
be a good therapy animal for a hospice
guinea pig?" and I found a squirrel and
brought him home. It was spontaneous
on one hand, but had also been percolating.
QUESTION WAS: Would Yum-Yum 
love him or try to eat him? It was a gamble.
Meet precocious "Squirrel."

 

 

 

 

 

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!
I made a little "barnyard" for
the two of them under the antique
drafting table i got at a thrift 
shop for drawing. 
They loved it!
Yum-Yum adores his baby 
squirrelly-pig and is no longer
lonely and despondent, like before. 
He has a protege pirate
to groom and bestow his Pirate
Powers upon. He is happy.
~*~
THE "WHY" REVEALED:
This morning, one day after moving
in together, Yum-Yum became sick 
and saw the vet this afternoon.
I couldn't believe it.


He and Squirrel were dining on
organic romaine lettuce leaves
when Yum-Yum began having what
looked like dry heaves, convulsions! Guinea pigs do not throw up. 
He kept convulsing. The vet 
didn't find out why. But she did
discover a small bladder stone,
blood in his urine, his temp was 
below normal, and he is ill.
You know what? 
Whatever happens now,
he has his Squirrel and us.
Yum-Yum is geriatric, ill, and has treatment to endure. But he is no longer alone, listless, lifeless, like before.
 He's happy in "the barnyard" with his special baby pirate who - at just five weeks - already sports that FINE 
"James Bond/Yum-Yum Swagger."
Whatever happens and for however 
long he remains in our lives,
Yum-Yum will receive all the 
love, care, compassion, and companionship we can gift him
 for the rest of his life.

As for those naughty Vampires and Werewolves?
Bhindi and Peter-Peanut, are spared
(for now) the "Snip-Snip."
...to be continued.
For Now, it is Good.
~*~

Peter-Peanut did WHAT?!

 

Don't even ask how, but
Peter-Peanut JUMPED
INTO BHINDI'S CAGE
AND ATTACKED HIM!
Now, the rabbit pen gates
are securely closed.
PIRATE-PIGZ!
Must have been inspired
by the OlympiGz.
Still...?!