Schrapnel passed away in the early hours of the morning today.

He had a stellar vet visit on Friday - all ornery and running around, being squeaky. he was so much better than he had been in a long time. His meds could be scaled down. As soon as I instituted the change however, he started to get loagy. he was fine on saturday, sunday he was dragging so I made sure he got enough food. We figured he was just very sensitive to the change in dosage.

Monday he hadn't drank any water, which should have been a dead giveaway (excuse the morbid pun).

Thank goodness I have the job I have - it gave me more time with him. I came home and noticed he wasn't well, and spent the rest of the day, feeding, petting, fawning and watering. I let him rest for a little bit while i went to craft, but I felt like i should check on him and when I got back, one of his eyes -NOT the injured one, was wet and crusty looking around the edge. I dabbed him off and
continued to fawn over him. This was after I had called the vet and made note of his condition, asking to up his dosage.

After calling a friend for pig advice, I set myself to making sure he was peeing and pooping. He did eventually pee (on me) and was pooping though with difficulty (this was not a new occurance considering his recent digestive issues)

He didn't want paste. He got some anyway, in small doses because I know he hadn't eaten. he refused a carrot - should have suspected something then, they are his favorite - but I gave him a nice wet chunk of green pepper and he tore into it, and didn't stop purring.

we debated all night if we should take him to the emergency vet. he was still fairly alert, even for a pig with no energy. he looked sad and was making very sad pathetic noises though.

he did eat some lettuce also, and perked his head up when I brought it to him.

I gave him syringe fulls of water.

We sat with him on the couch, in his pink towel and another towel. he seemed cold and kept puffing up. We wrapped him up and snuggled with him. he eventually stopped making noise.

We finally went to bed, figuring if he was peeing and pooping he might still be ok, but we both had misgivings.

I set him in his pooptray which I'd put fresh bedding in, petted him several times, covered up the cage and peeked in under the blanket just before shutting off the light. He looked at me.

I woke up to go to the bathroom at 5 something this morning, and didn't want to go check the cage, because part of me already knew.

He hadn't been gone long, he was still warm. I just hope he went in his sleep and didn't suffer much.

We don't know what happened. every time we took him to the vet something different cropped up, his tummy, his teeth, his eye, his bones...

I guess i should be happy he lived as well for as long as he did. we did everything we could to make him comfortable. he was definitely spoiled, and not to knock the other pigs, everyone's favorite.

It was a very hard summer for us. Schrapnel got ill in June and we'd been fighting the good fight since. One thing I can say is that he was a tough pig. he was not willing to give up easy, and he was very appreciative of all our efforts. He purred at us lots during this whole mess as if to say, "thanks for doing all this for me, even with all these damn syringes."

It was just so hard to see him go from consummate punk ass to convalescing piggie, and he did it SEVERAL times.

I somehow think that he was just holding out for us yesterday, that he would have died earlier that night if we hadn't been paying so much attention to him. I just hope that maybe I can find out why.

I worry about Licorice. I don't know if he saw Schrapnel die, but I'm sure he knew it was inevitable. I worry because he's always got that paranoid look on his face. he was sitting next to Schrapnel this morning. Even though he was a little bastard and peed on him when he was sick once, he always sat by him or near him.
I just don't want him getting sad.
I'm hoping the intoxicating smell of Connor's stinky butt will placate his piggy grief (I'm assmuing they grieve. Deal with it.)

I don't know how I got through work today. And yes, even after taking Schrapnel to the vet, i still went and got there early, and luckily left early.
There's something about reading about other people's pain that was both comforting and tear provoking. If I had been at the art store, I would have called in, that's for damn sure.

So, as I am now in the business of obituaries, I figure Schrapnel deserves a good one, with comments from his friends.


Schrapnel
aka stinky weasel, punk ass, punt butt, stinky head, weasel butt and crapnel
Nov 21 03- Sep 26-06
of part smooth hair and abyssian descent
survived by his enormous brother licorice.

He was a sexy pig, as noted by his devoted owner
(Our Lady of perpetual food) as well as those who cared for his optometical needs.
A pig of normal stature and swarthy complexion, he sported a mohawk that needed no toothpaste support, and had very expressive eyebrows. He had a winning smile and did a great bananaphone impersonation.

He was a very giving piggy, often generously donating cups of urine to every spare piece of clothing we could find. He was known for his cunning, such as nosing Licorice in the stomach while he was up at the food dish in order to knock him over.
He was efficient at mowing the lawn, laying around looking sexy, and he was also known for frequently giving a shit. or five.

His little known hobbies were watching TV and playing videogames. His well known hobbies were torturing his brother and being snuggly.

He hated baths, but he loved his carrots and would deftly wallop anything within reach once handed one. He didn't have a big sweet tooth, but grapes and watermelon were definite weaknesses.

He did have issues with excessive drinking, often emptying the waterbottle within a day if given half a chance, and was a loud drinker who would also keep his owners awake with his habit. It's what a pig has to do to keep his girlish figure though.

In harder times, he was sweet, understanding, and appreciative and would let you know he was feeling as such.

He looked adorable in pink and did find himself quite fond of "pig paste".

The house will no longer echo with the incessant rattling of his waterbottle, nor of the squealings of him and his brother tormenting each other. He walks now into the elysian fields which lay unmowed for piggies who go beyond this world.

He will be sorely missed.

Comments from Connor:
hey wus a goot boar, but ahm steenkier! STEENKY! SMELL MA BUTT AWL UF YUU!!!

Comments from licorice:
sniff. sniffle. I'm kinda lonely. sniff. sniff. Connor, your butt IS really stinky.
But I'm still sad.


RIP Schrapnel.
Vaya con carrots.