My Guinea Pigs

She was lazy but fast, tiny but big, tired but excitable; these are the words that define my guinea pig. My lovely, happy guinea pig, Tilly. Today she unfortunately passed away. Even though I miss her she went peacefully, and I know she has already been greeted by her friend Milly.

It’s astonishing how humans can create such a strong bond with an animal. Guinea pigs only last for 4 – 6 years, but even in that short time my family and I grew extremely fond of Tilly and Milly. I was given them both as a 14th birthday present. When I went to choose them these two were the two that stood out to me the most. With Tilly’s extremely soft fur and Milly's tiny body, there was no way I could say no. 

  

The first vegetable that I fed them both was a green French bean, and after that they were hooked. Every day all they really wanted was beans, but not just any beans they always had the finest chopped beans. They were very spoilt. Lots of people choose to have their guinea pigs outside, however it didn't feel right putting mine outside, they seemed too far away and lonely. So they became indoor guinea pigs, which many people disagreed with. However I am very glad I went against the norm, as after a year we learnt that Milly had a heart murmur, basically a hole in her heart. This meant that every noise or shadow would make her jump which could have brought on a heart attack. Therefore being outside was not an option.

She was the skinniest little guinea pig, she was also a long haired guinea pig so you lost her body in the huge amount of fur. She had the funniest character, whenever we opened the fridge both guinea pigs would try to climb up the bars of their cage. Whereas Tilly would only go a couple of bars up, Milly would climb until she was standing and she would nibble away at the bars. The paint has come off from where she nibbled so much.

Tilly was more of a relaxed, chilled, go with the flow guinea pig, she would've definitely made a good hippy.  

Milly died at the age of 4, an amazing age for a guinea pig with a heart murmur. After that the vets were sure that Tilly would not survive as separation and loneliness for guinea pigs can kill them, as they just give up. However my little one was too tough for that, she lived on for another year and a half, my family helped a lot by talking to her. She was a heavy guinea pig as no one knew who was feeding her what. My Mum would come home from work and chat to her then give her a bean or lettuce, and then my Dad would cook in the evening and give her something else. She was a happy fat guinea pig. But unfortunately today was her day, and now she can rest in peace with Milly. I  shall never forget my first pets.