Recently we had to say goodbye to Snickers, Izzy's beloved guinea pig. She stopped eating one day which is never a good sign. After no improvement and a lump found right jaw, I took her into the MSPCA. It was either going to be cancer or an abscess. A CT later we learned she had chipped a tooth which seeded an abscess. While abscesses are common in guinea pigs, Snickers' abscess unfortunately pushed on / involved her facial nerve causing her jaw to be severally misaligned. Because guinea pig's teeth constantly grow, they need to chew them down. With her teeth misaligned, we were hoping that draining the abscess would resolve this issue. We had no such luck. Snickers jaw was not going to improve. Our choices were to syringe feed her for the rest of her life and file down her teeth on a monthly basis or let her go. This was one of the hardest decisions to make given the impact this was going to have on the kids.
Dr. Noonan was a wonderful vet how walked the kids through the process. When he brought Snickers to us after not seeing her for a week (she was hospitalized), Snicker immediately ran up Izzy's chest and sat in her favorite spot on Izzy's shoulder. Izzy was given an option of staying with Snickers the entire time which she did. She spoke to Snickers (I love you, I'm going to miss you) during her injection which was so heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Once Dr. Noonan pronounced that Snickers had passed on, Izzy began wailing. It was gut wrenching. I'm proud of how brave she was and know that she won't ever regret her decision to be present the entire time. Snickers was such a sweet guinea pig. She was Izzy's "soul pet" and helped her cope with life during the pandemic. She will be greatly missed.
Our last moments with Snicker.
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