Dec. 7th 2001
Pot – Belly Pigs
I received a little pot-belly pig for Christmas in 1991.
He was just a few weeks old and no bigger than a rat.
I needed a crash course on how to care for him.
I bought every book I could find on pot-belly pigs.
He got named Pigpen Linus because that was the
only pig name I was familiar with.
Six months later I was given a female pot-belly pig
and she was named Sylvia.
Then came Alice pig and so that made 3.
They each had their own personality and likes and dislikes.
Linus was a “talker” and always had to have the last word
about everything.
Sylvia was such a lady and had the cutest little way of walking.
Very dainty and feminine. When I would scrub the floors on my
hands and knees Sylvia would stand right next to me.
As I would backup and scrub another area she would
backup also. She kept her head down like she was inspecting my work
and so she became known as the supervisor.
Alice was the door greeter. She loved people and would run to
the door to meet everyone that came in the house.
Her most favorite person was the pizza man and I always said
she had a sixth sense when I ordered pizza.
She would go to the door and sit there waiting for the delivery man.
Then she would give him the biggest smile and wait
patiently for her share of the pizza.
They loved to cuddle and would argue about who was going to lay
next to me on the floor during tv watching time.
I was surrounded by them and they would get as close to me as
possible and go to sleep.
They loved a bath and were so easy to potty train.
They loved to give kisses.
Christmas was their favorite time of the year.
They waited on the gifts to be opened and would take the
wrapping paper and tear it to shreds.
That was such a game to them.
When they had a nice pile they would lay on it and go to sleep
until dinner time. As they got older they started to slow down.
They were on a very strict diet to prevent them from
getting overweight.
Their vet said they were his favorite pigs to care for.
Linus developed a tumor at the age of 9 and it grew so large
over the past year. It was inoperable.
He was having pain and it broke my heart to see my baby struggling.
Sylvia had seizures from the time she was 8 months old and
they had really become more and more frequent to the point
that she became confused and would walk away from
her food and water. I had to hand feed her twice a day.
The last seizure she had was terrible. She also had developed trouble
with her legs and had a difficult time getting started in the morning.
She would walk on her knees until she could get up on her feet.
Alice had the same problem. They were not fat but their little legs
were getting lame. Alice could not get up without help some mornings
and she cried with pain.
I made the decision to put them down. My babies and my loves.
Medicine did not help their legs and they were getting worse.
The day they died a part of me went with them.
I will never be the same without them.
There is so much more to say about how loving and
funny and loyal they were but there is not room.
I will miss them the rest of my life.
Dee
| Linus Sylvia & Alice |