Found...

A few summers ago, when I could still walk,
Edwin and I spent a long, long day hiking the lakes 
and high trails around Mount Baker. 
We picked wild blueberries, prayed by ponds
of glacial melt, and languished in the altitude where
 I always seem to forget I have ever been ill...


We came across a number of free-standing rock sculptures
to which Edwin added his own touches.


This one really spoke to me.
If we had our way, it is where we would like to have
spread the guinea pigs' ashes but under the circumstances
I am still trying to find strength to wash the bird's nest
out of my hair! They know this is where we will go
to remember them. They also know everywhere we
go we will remember them. They also know we cannot
ever stop remembering them, nor would we
ever want to, for we are all better for their
having been in our lives, our Little Buddhas!


As each one died, I wrapped him or her in my favorite
pillowcase to take to the vet for cremation and have
come up with another 6 word short story:


"For Sale:
Pillowcases.
Broken heart included."


love,
Chana

LOVE FROM AROUND THE WORLD

WE FEEL QUITE SURE
THAT INGRID, HELMUT, AND
THEIR 8 MEERIS WOULD
BE HUMBLED IF WE ACCEPTED
THEIR PRECIOUS GIFT OF LOVE
AS COMING FROM EACH AND 
EVERY ONE OF YOU WHO HAVE
BEEN THERE AND CONTINUE
TO SUPPORT US THROUGH THIS
DIFFICULT TIME...


YOUR CONDOLENCES...WE MUST
NOW TURN INTO PRAYERS FOR
YUM-YUM, VINNY-GUINEA,
AND BHINDI'S LIVES, PLEASE.


PLEASE...

YumYum, Move Your Butt! We're Squooshed!

The other day mom took all three of us to the vet to have
her head examined. We all got checked out, cleared, and showed
no symptoms of the killer pneumonia, so were given a round
of "pre-emptive" antibiotics that we are not enjoying.
Once mom actually FINDS OUR MOUTHS then finds
the place between our front chompers and our molars
and gives it a good squirt, it's actually quite tasty,
but make no mistake, we put her through it!
How dare she?


And what have we gotten for all this? Killer YumYum
has returned to his old self. While he (and everyone) continues
to adore that wee scamp VinnyGuinea, I am now being
attacked by YumYum and being blamed for everything,
LIKE, HELLO?! I JUST GOT HERE!
So now I have to live ALONE in a separate cage,
although it is adjacent to theirs and Vinny goes
back and forth to play with me, to play with YumYum,
but he lives with YumYum and - check THIS OUT -
YumYum keeps coming to the bars of his cage,
acting like he misses me so, shoving his bossy snout
out to touch mine in a show of loneliness, the cad!
THANKS A LOT, MOM.
(except for yeah, if the antibiotics save our lives, then I'll really mean it.)


Now for the bad news.
Mom didn't do well without Raj next to her bed or in her bed
last night.


Now for the worst news:
When she took him to the vet to be cremated with his brother and
friends yesterday she found out what she feared most.
Whatever type of pneumonia the herd caught presents symptoms
which can remain dormant for weeks, but once they become
active they are antibiotic resistant and the disease is fatal
in one to three days. There is no cure. Period. For no stone
has been left unturned and all who began showing symptoms
have died. 


Now for the worst of the worst news (about me):
When mom got me to befriend Raj after Coconut died, he was
not presenting any symptoms at all. She did not yet understand
the nature of this killer pneumonia and naively placed me
with him to give him comfort and a reason to live through
the grief, and not give up. Therefore, I was exposed to the disease.


Now for worse news:
When he began displaying symptoms, she was not thinking
clearly and immediately place me with YumYum and VinnyGuinea, thus exposing whatever killed Raj and Coconut
and everybody else to all three of us. Now, we have all
been exposed. We are all taking "pre-emptive"
antibiotics and have one thing going for us, which is
none of us were housed in the same areas at Parkers
where our brothers and Coconut originally caught
the fatal viral or bacterial infection leading to
this killer pneumonia...so, while we have the best
survival chances, mom CANNOT get any more
guinea pigs and she now lives knowing that
once one of US gets sick...


You know the rest.
What we all went through, AGAIN.


What's more disgusting to us is that she has
not even washed her hair in two weeks.


love,
Bhindi


P.S. Please feel free to leave comments. We simply need
to moderate them now due to the presence of some num-nut.
Thank you.

Love From Bavaria...

Our Little Fairy, who was secretly engaged to Raj Mahal, introduced us to her dear friends, Ingrid and Helmut and their 8 meeris (guinea pigs) in Bavaria a few months ago. We think we would really, really like Bavaria because it sounds like Bellingham with more mountains,
just without the islands and the whales. 


That little Fairy is so well-connected can you imagine the wedding?!
It would have made Kate Middleton's look so...so humble, we are sure of it, for Fairy is nothing if not a social butterfly! 


ALAS.

HOLINESS

~February 17, 2012~


Last night the cab never showed 
up so I took it as a sign of hope.
Raj endured his hydrated food mixture and super-charged antibiotics like a real trooper. And he was in pain. A lot of pain. The vet at the 24 Hour Emergency Clinic remembered me from Calvin and suggested I have pain meds on hand for times like these.
For when the cab doesn't show up.


Then I "got" to give those other three scoundrels their antibiotics.
Bhindi's mouth was nearly impossible to even find beneath
his swirly-fur face and he kept wiggling and shaking his head
back and forth. VinnyGuinea simply slithered effortlessly out
from between my hands and made his escape, running around
looking for Bhindi to play with him. YumYum was grumpy
from his trip to the vet with those two earlier in the day.


By 4:30 a.m. Raj was doing so poorly I still wanted to take 
him to the vet but clearly he was not going to last the night.
So, once the little Pirates had all been caught, given their
antibiotics in different doses according to their weight,
all syringes washed thoroughly and laid out to dry,
I tucked Raj beneath the covers next to me for the night.
By this time he was having frequent, painful seizures
but I felt that the two of us all cozy and warm together
in my bed was the best place and way for him to
spend his last night and this morning when I awoke
only a few hours later, he had mercifully gone to
join his brother, Taj, and the rest of the herd.


Nothing remains now but to keep the Pirates from
even getting sick in the first place.


And figuring out how to post your comments here since 
a few of my close friends and I have attracted the
undesired attention of a rogue person when we
least need it.


If your comment does not appear here, please re-send it
until I figure it out because even the space between the
letters of every word you write brings us comfort.
And our gratitude dwells in an inexpressible place.


Love,
Chana

The Cab That Never Came...

The same time I called for a cab, a shuttle flight from Seattle had arrived at the airport so no one ever came for us. And now it is so
late I am too sleepy.


Tried force-feeding Raj the wet food mixture version of his pellets
and dry treats but he threw up. His breathing is worse, he seems to

be in pain, and he is moaning. He keeps coming to the edge of my bed to be picked up and I have stopped life-saving interventions other than going down to the car where I left their antibiotics, which I will give him. Other than that, he is being combed, petted, and we are just hanging out. Then he gets up once he is worn out so I place  him back on the floor and he finds a place to lie down, his breathing rapid and shallow. It appears doubtful he will survive the night but at least he will be home.

And YumYum has decided that after being packed into a tunnel with Bhindi today, that it was all Bhindi's fault and the "old" YumYum began his familiar saber-rattling, teeth chattering, and lunging, so dear, innocent Bhindi is now in a separate cage adjacent to Vinny and YumYum, with Vinny being shared between them. Vinny misses Bhindi so much I had to pile up a bunch of Tunnel Floors so he could get high enough to at least see Bhindi and touch noses! Those two! Would really have been nice for the three of them to have been able to live peacefully together but Bhindi and Vinny are certain to have many happy adventures in the future.

Must go down to give and administer their antibiotics now; keep looking at Raj to see if he is still breathing. Can this get any harder? I don't want to know...

KD Lang sings "Hallelujah" LIVE at the Winter Olympics 2010 - YouTube

KD Lang sings "Hallelujah" LIVE at the Winter Olympics 2010 - YouTube

HALLELUJAH

Raj is doing his best to climb onto the bed and into my lap. I am listening to kd lang sing "Hallelujah" LIVE from the 2010 Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver, B.C. Winter Olympics because it best embodies the moment but I have posted it here many times before and they removed the video anyway.


Edwin waltzed in that afternoon without a ticket and got in. He actually heard her sing it. LIVE.


I am choking back tears.


And the meds are all in the car. I forgot to bring
them up.
And Raj chokes now and again, as if there are
goldfish swimming in his lungs...


Hallelujah.


Thank you, kd, you express what I will never
be able to. Tonight will be a long night after a 
long day following a long week in the beginning 
of a new year. Is he asking to be taken to the vet
now? Because he climbs on my lap for awhile,
waits, chokes, then slides off the bed returning
to his pigloo only to continue struggling to breathe.
I want to be sure these aren't social visits, that they
are his pleas to be released from more suffering...
One thing's for sure. I am not capable of listening
to him choke all night, perhaps not even for five
more minutes. Hallelujah. We are but imperfect mortals trying to love divinely. May that be our
worst flaw.


Anita, I am surviving on your hand-made marmalade, sent to us from England. On english
muffins and soy milk.


And the love of you all. 


Now we must go to the vet.


Good bye, Fairy. Raj loves you.

We ALL Visit The Vet: Our Last Hope For RAj

Three of us are packed into our Fancy Fleece Dinosaur Tunnel
and we are not happy about it because we have a feeling something we do not like is about to happen...although we do not know what.
Just that it is Not Good.

O.K. Now we have gone inside the elevator and we know that is not a good thing. So we have Clue #1 of the Not Good Thing.

Now our carrier is being seatbelted into the front seat of mom's 
car and we have Clue #2 of the Not Good Thing. VinnyGuinea,
our little rocket scientist, is squealing "VERY NOT GOOD! VERY NOT GOOD!" We agree and he melts in between me and Bhindi,
pretending to be invisible. We realize that is his plan and he is going to stick to it during the Very Not Good Thing because both Bhindi and I are Abyssinian with swirly fur. Raj has been at the vet all day receiving treatment...he was doing well until early last night when symptoms of severe pneumonia presented and his breathing became rapid, shallow, his eyes became crusty, and he refused his carrot juice. Mom asked him why? Did he miss his brother too much? Did he miss his herdmates too much? Had his will to live simply succumbed to his grief? He just let her hold him. He was physically the strongest he had been...he even scrambled off her bed and back into the pigloo he had shared with Taj for so long!
But his breathing was labored, and she became unsure he would last the night...so they communed as he asked her to let him go and she listened, crying. So, today, he went to the vet for an exam and
X-Rays confirmed the worst, he was given a cocktail of the strongest possible antibiotics and some dried food to mix with water which - if he was unwilling to begin eating tonight - would cause him to die of malnutrition, for while the carrot juice had indeed kept him hydrated and alive this long he HAD to get food or would not have the strength to survive what the vet saw in his lungs and even now mom hears him struggling to breathe and may need to take him to the 24 Hour Emergency Vet by cab...

We are really, really scared for Raj...Vinny is hiding between us.

Just because I'm the new kid on the block doesn't mean I deserve
to be squooshed! But it's O.K. if this is how we "cuddle" when we are scared for Raj and one another. And we are today.

YumYum, you can give me "the eye" all you like but I'm a 
boy, so...you know...

Today there was an unusual ad in the Bellingham Herald
classifieds that read: "LOST. MY MIND. LAST SEEN
SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUSTING AT FAIRHAVEN
VETERINARY HOSPITAL." So far, no one has found it.
Mom just...poofed!

Now that we're home I'm going "free range" and nothing
gonna fence me in.

THE RAJ REPORT: FEB. 16, 2012

Today brings mixed news: the good news is
how much strength he has gained. He can
scurry and walk across my bed and around
his new floor area. Not to play, though,
just to get from wherever I put him down
back into the Pigloo he once shared with
his beloved brother, Taj.


The other news is worrisome. His breathing
is rapid and shallow. He is now refusing to
be bottle-fed, and despite a quiet evening
cozying up with Bhindi (which I will not
do again as I can see now that it places
not only Bhindi, but the entire herd at 
risk) he still showed no interest in
anything. I hoped watching Bhindi
chow down on the many types of
food place in his new area, 
particularly the pulp from his
carrot and wheatgrass juice,
would pique his interest and he
might join him...nada.


He is now strong enough to be taken 
to the vet to have his mouth and teeth
inspected for possible malocclusion
and we need to find the reason
for his rapid, irregular heartbeat.
He is well enough now that the
trip itself would not kill him
but if I cannot feed him or
diagnose his heart disease...


Hopefully, they can squeeze him
in today. I have yet to take a piggie in
to the vet and walked out whistling.


The good news is that Bhindi showed no
signs of having caught whatever Raj has,
thank God, and I pray he won't!
That wasn't the best call in the world,
it was a desperate attempt on my part
but not a wise one by any means
and not one that anyone - myself included -
should ever do.


Your prayers...


Many gracious thanks,
Chana


Anita, we have the buttons you made us out
and your box arrived yesterday! Will open
tonight during quiet time unless weeping.
Thank you so much, Fairy, we have never
needed your Magic more!

What You Can Do For National Adopt A Rescued Guinea Pig Month - Guinea Pig Today

What You Can Do For National Adopt A Rescued Guinea Pig Month - Guinea Pig Today

Dear Friends,
One of the saddest things we see at so-called "pet stores"
is going to make you mad: small cages with the following
notes written on them as sales incentives:


"FREE GUINEA PIG WITH 
PURCHASE OF CAGE!"


Would you buy a teddy bear that came
with a free child?


The person to whom I entrusted my guinea pigs while in hospital works at this store. I had hoped that by partnering with them
(adopting unwanted, neglected, sick, dying, and "unsellable" piggies that people dumped there) and selling photo cards 

including links to resources on compassionate guinea pig care,
 we could educate the public and them about the humane 
treatment of these precious darlings. I have discovered 
a huge gap between the way farm people view animals
(food = profit) and the way the rest of us view them,
not only as "pets" or even as "members of the family"
but as holy brothers and sisters as entitled to our
humanity, respect, love, compassion, and mercy, 
as any human. My friend Kestra nailed it the time
she urged me to consider thinking of them as
my "little Buddhas" and if ever there was a time
of spiritual communion with them (and there have
actually been many which I have simply kept 
private) Raj's Journey now is the most
extraordinary because nothing we are doing
is anything I have ever heard of before and yet
he is still with us tonight and if/when he chooses
to join Taj it will be his choice how, when, and
where, all because when it sounded like he was
having a seizure last night, had I been strong
enough to take him to the 24-Hour Emergency Vet
to have him euthanized, it would have been a
terrible mistake! Now, I listen and he tells me.
It is time to turn off the computer, feed him, and
for the two of us to spend the night together.


Please know I could not do this alone.


You want to know how I do this?


You. Each one of you.


Because I could not do this alone.


I love you. We all do.


Yours,
Chana

Further, for every store like that, there are a thousand
more. Please consider, if you are able and have the desire,
reading this link published by Guinea Pig Today and 
advocating in any way you are inspired on their behalf so 
they are not "the treat that comes in a box of cereal." No one should advertise a free live guinea pig as incentive to buy
an inhumanely undersized cage which only imprisons one 

or more of our little brothers or sisters.

Thank you,
love,
Chana


P.S.
Raj has decided he wants to live on the floor in his new arrangement and that's just fine. HE ALSO MADE HIS FIRST POOP SINCE
MY RETURN HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL! WHICH MEANS
HE IS METABOLIZING HIS JUICE AND DERIVING NUTRITION...I hope to interest him in the pulp but so far he only
wants to be dropper-fed and he is not particularly active. The worst
is not over but it is definitely on hold! And when YumYum, Bhindi, and VinnyGuinea got a taste of the carrot juice and 
wheatgrass through a baby sippy-bottle OH MY GOODNESS!
SO I MAY CONTINUE TO SUPPLEMENT EVERYONE'S
DIET WITH THAT BECAUSE OF THE HIGH NUTRITIONAL
CONTENT.


YOUR PRAYERS ARE SAVING THEIR LIVES, DEAR ONES,
MAKE  NO MISTAKE! I am quite exhausted and hope to begin
answering your emails early next week but know how dear to me they are, how much hope the appearance of each one in my INBOX means to all of us here, and how much faith we DO HAVE IN THE POWER OF LOVE.


LOVE,
Chana

Raj Lives!

Every morning I wake up wondering
whether or not to approach Raj with
a pillowcase in my hand, just in case...
because once I feel him, going to get
a pillowcase may become impossible
in my grief. So it was another morning
awaking with the pillowcase and I am 
beginning to loathe pillowcases.


Last night he fell asleep under the covers 
with me until I placed him back on the
floor in the new home created for  him
so he could go under the nightstand
where he once frolicked with his brother.


To my astonishment, he was stronger and walked -
not to hide in the darkness to die, but to his sleeping bag
and sniff it, to his wheatgrass to sniff it, to his hay trough
to sniff it; to sniff all the fragrances of his deceased friends
whose aromas comforted him before retiring to his
pigloo for the night where I found him alive this morning
and gave him his carrot juice before tucking him in, 
waiting for a new social worker to arrive and 
"assess" my own in-home health care needs. 
(For Raj to live:  Could she do that, please?) 
I liked her. I like all the people who have come here, 
in fact. And my neighbors have also pitched in to
check on me and carry out trash and recycle,
visit, listen, and care.


So...Raj is still with us and today will receive a shot of
wheat grass with his fresh, organic carrot juice.
I am now beginning to wonder if he is getting spoiled
with these dropper feedings and will have any 
interest in eating on his own but who cares?
He's alive!


MIRACLE #2?
YUM-YUM HAS ACCEPTED BHINDI INTO 
THE NEW JUMBO PEN HE NOW SHARES WITH
THE INIMITABLE VINNY-GUINEA!


(possibly because Bhindi's chasing-to-hump tiny 
Vinny keeps Vinny from waking Yum-Yum all 
night like he used to by continuously jumping 
over him in their small, shared sleeping bag?
Vinny's kinda "occupied" now: GO BHINDI!)




WHO CARES WHEN YOU HAVE 4 GUINEA PIGS?


AT LEAST AT 1 p.m. Pacific Time...


thank you for so much precious love.
We are almost ready to become hopeful.


love,
Chana