Conversation with Sesame

I was still a little sad today..... Sesame came to keep me company and we had a little chat....


Sesame: Wat ju trippin' sista?

Me: I'm so sad... Ketchup died.....

Sesame: oh, wich one is dat? Dey all look da same from behind.

Me: she's the littlest one with red eyes...

Sesame: littlest one.... red eyes.... She ain't da squealer then.

Me: I want another Ketchup....

Sesame: I hear ya sista, been risking ma life trying to give ju another Ketchup, Relish, Musta! How else ju think I ended up in da TOILET???

Ok, I think I need to think of a plan to get Sesame back together with Meatball!!!! Sesame said he's gonna give me another Ketchup, and then Muster and Relish toooooo!! Isn't that EXCITING???

Now I just need to find a way to do it without letting mum find out. Any thoughts? Maybe I'll talk to D-Guy, I bet he wants another Ketchup too!

(mum: Thank you everyone for your kind words both on the blog and on Facebook regarding Sunshade and her angel piggie Ketchup. I'm happy to report that Sunshade was a happy girl today. We checked on the guinea pigs in the morning, everypiggie was ok. Sunshade didn't seem to notice anything "missing", thank goodness no one ever taught her to count! I think having other guinea pigs there helps a lot. We pretty much spent the entire day at the apartment grooming. When we came home, she checked on the guinea pigs again and got to spend some time with Sesame. It seems that she isn't grieving the same way as she did when her Georgie passed away, and that is a blessing!! I'm going to do some research and be a good piggie caretaker from now on because, the rest of the piggies will have to OUTLIVE Sunshade! She can't take more of them dying!)

My Ketchup Piggie

I'm heartbroken......


 My grandbaby Ketchup stopped moving today.....


 She's the little red eyed girl, D-Guy's favouritest,


 This morning, mum and I went to feed MY piggies, and almost as soon as mum opened the bathroom door, she shoved me out. Made me go out in the yard. I was a little confused, so I wanted back in. After about 15 minutes, D-Guy let me in.

I knew right then that SOMETHING WAS WRONG..... because D-Guy smelled very sad.... (mum: she kept sniffing Derek and staring at him. She hadn't noticed anything yet about the guinea pigs... Derek wasn't crying or anything, but sad/upset, wondering if this could have all been avoided.)
Then mum took a box outside with my SuperDALE towel on top. I thought she had gotten me another piggie because that was how mum brought Meatball and Sesame home,


 But when I sniffed it, it didn't smell like a new piggie, it smelled like one of MINE,


 Meanwhile D-Guy was digging in one of my corners. I thought that was kind of strange, but maybe he had finally realized how fun it was to dig Dig DIG!! (I love digging so much!)

Then mum wrapped something in my SuperDALE towel, and I got worried,



I sniffed it and knew it was one of MY piggies in there....


Why did they put MY piggie in a towel!!!!


I told D-Guy to open it up, otherwise MY piggie would suffocate....


(mum: Sunshade was really going frantic. She knew there was a guinea pig in there, but she wasn't sure why it was all covered up and why we weren't letting her near it. Seeing how her anxiety was escalating, I thought it was best to just let her sniff it for herself so she would know what was going on here. We have come across dead crows, rats, squirrels, seagulls, seals on our walks before, and she ALWAYS knew when an animal was dead. She would sniff them very carefully without touching them, and then walk away very quietly.)

So D-Guy opened the towel up for me....



And I couldn't believe my eyes and nose.....

MY piggie Ketchup was lying there lifeless. I nudged her, but she didn't move or squeak.... She also smelled like she had never smelled before....


 Then D-Guy said Ketchup had to go to her new home now.....


 He said this was going to be her new home,


 In a hole??


 I mean, I love holes, but why does MY piggie Ketchup have to stay in a hole....?


 I'm so sad... who is going to clean her when she's dirty, dry her when she's wet, and snuggle up with her when she's cold??


 I asked to have a moment with MY Ketchup.... (mum: she was clearly very sad, and just laid down next to the hole.)



 Then D-Guy said it was time.....


And he covered her up with dirt. I'm glad Ketchup had my SuperDALE towel with her...


I stayed beside MY Ketchup,


 Mum wanted to take me for a walkie to cheer me up, but I said no thanks.. If MY Ketchup had to stay here, then I wanted to stay with her too...


 STINKY was so clueless,



 He kept shoving his toy in my face and then running away, and then coming back to shove it in my face again,



 Couldn't he tell I was SO sad???

(mum: Do dogs mourn? YES. I have watched Sunshade mourn the death of her Giant Georgie, and now her piggie Ketchup. She actually woke up very happy, energetic this morning. Was squeaking her toy and throwing it around. When she saw me dressed in my dog walking clothes, she started spinning and running around out of joy. I thought I would go feed the guinea pigs before we went out, and that was when everything fell apart. Sunshade knew very well that something was up when she sensed our sadness and she was concerned. The moment she got to sniff the rigid Ketchup, she became very solemn.)

Seeing that I didn't want to go out for a walk, mum went out to buy a few things, and when she came back, I was still by MY Ketchup..... (that's STINKY in front of the door)



Me and mum and D-Guy made a little shrine around where Ketchup now lived,


 D-Guy made this boootiful remembrance photo of Ketchup, and I put my pawprint on it,


 I made sure the picture was placed properly,


 A cement block was placed over Ketchup's new home because mum was worried she would get dug up by raccoons and/or skunks that frequent our neighbourhood. (mum: I wasn't worried about Sunshade or Jaffa digging her up, I know Sunshade won't, Jaffa isn't a digger and doesn't care for dead animals.)

I told mum that we should put the special rockies that I had picked from various places, around the cement block. 

 My gift to Ketchup.....


I also told mum to cut up some of Ketchup's favouritest foodables, so she wouldn't go hungry.....


 And I stayed with MY piggie Ketchup....



(mum: she fell asleep like that.... This girl would have normally gobble those carrot pieces up in no time, she loves them, not today though...)

Below is a letter to all my friends at the Rainbow Bridge:

Dear Heavenly Friends,

I hope you are all happy, healthy, and smiley where you are. I have a huge favour I need to ask of you.....

Could you please take care of MY piggie Ketchup when she gets there?

Ketchup is a very very nice little girl, just like MY Giant Georgie and MY Mousie. She was never the strong one as she was the littlest one out of the three piggie babies. She was always the last one to suckle from Meatball because the other two, stronger piggies would each grab a ju-ju to suckle on (they only have two). When they grew older, Ketchup was the last one to figure out how to eat out of the food bowl, or drink out of the water bottle. But she always did figure it out in the end. She was also the one that would just let D-Guy hold her without struggling, and she was the one that liked to snuggle up against me the most. So my friends... she will need lots of caring.....

Do you think you could please take care of her for me until I can get there? D-Guy also really liked her, she was his favouritest, and I know D-Guy would be really happy to know that someone will be watching over Ketchup.

Oh, and could you introduce her to MY Georgie and Mousie? I think they would like her lots!! Thank you.

Sincerely,
Miss Sunshade (I miss you all, my heavenly friends)


(mum: We think Ketchup's death has a lot to do with the bath we gave her on Sunday, and perhaps not having dried her properly. She was still fine yesterday, eating and running around. I have since learned that guinea pigs have pretty delicate respiratory system. It doesn't take much for them to catch a cold, and apparently, they can die from a cold pretty easily. Ketchup was the runt of the litter, she was always a little bit smaller than the rest. She was always the easiest one to catch because she never ran from approaching hand. This was part of the reason that Derek liked her the best, he thought she had the best temperament. I can't help but wonder if she was just always weaker than norm, so she wasn't able to do what guinea pigs normally do. Nonetheless, it was still very upsetting to see any animal die prematurely under your care, and then having to watch Sunshade mourn was extra heart wrenching.

The way Sunshade was acting today was a total reminder of when her giant bunny Georgie died and she mourned his death for 2 weeks. It was very hard to watch.)

For the full story on Me & MY Piggies, please see below: 

The story of Me & MY Piggies,

More posts:

•  Me & MY Piggies 

Clean Piggies :-)

D-Guy decided that the rest of my piggies needed a bath today..... I was there to help him.

He washed Ketchup first since she's his favouritest. I dried her with my SuperTONGUE,


I watched her clean herself,


And then we snuggled together,


Oh, I hear another piggie squealing!!


Who is the next victim?


I did my job well, I took care of MY piggies!!

(mum: Meatball doesn't love being touched, by people or Sunshade lol... The babies are much better as they were raised by Sunshade from day 1!)

Update on My Grandbabies!!

Well, today started out VERY nerve wrecking.... I almost died..... I'll talk about that a bit later, but first, MY Grandbabies!!!!

As you can see......


My grandbabies are all doing well!! And guess what, they're all gurrrrrrrlies like ME!


They've grown a lot haven't they?

The three on the left are the babies. Their names are: Squeaky (she talks a lot and is very loud), Dumpling, and Ketchup (with red eyes). The one on the right with the white blaze down her face is MY Meatball the babies' mom.


I still take very good care of them, but their nails are getting very long and sharp and sometimes when they step all over me, it hurts, so I get up and move away. Otherwise, I'm still loving them!!


We share treats together,


Yup, raw carrots!!



They love those carrots, and they pee as they're eating them, but I don't care, I just get mum to clean up after them (I take care of their poo). (mum: she tries but I stop her whenever I can!)


MY bootiful Meatball,


This is Ketchup, she was left out because D-Guy luuuuuuurves her,


Everyday, D-Guy would take her out from her cage and spend some quality time with her. He says she has the best temperament and is very sweet,



And then it was Sesame's turn to run around. HE can't come out with Meatball and the gurrrrls because mum says he gets too frisky around them.


But look at what D-Guy did....... yes, he's gigantic now.....


He just had to bring Mean Juice out to ruin the peace!


I was NOT happy about Mean Juice being out, see my ears?


I couldn't enjoy my time with Sesame because Mean Juice was lurking around, ready to charge at me anytime.....



Finally, Juice went under the sofa bed and the peace was again restored,


Now about the SCARY incident this morning that almost gave me a heart attack....

This is where Sesame, Meatball and the babies live. Sesame has his own cage on top, and all the gurrrrrls share the big cage on the bottom,


Guess where I found Sesame this morning???


Yup... IN the toilet...... (and Evil-mum's first reaction was NOT to save him but to run and get the camera!!!!! Wait til she falls into the toilet!)


(mum: okay, he really was at no risk of drowning, all four feet were touching the toilet bowl and his head was way above the water.)

Since Evil-mum was in no hurry to rescue poor Sesame, I decided to give a shot, I tried to pick him up, but all I got was his haire..... See, he was so scared he had pooped in the toilet (mum: that's where poops belong!!)


So I tried to see if I could get him from the bottom,


FINALLY! Evil-mum decided Sesame deserved to be rescued!!


How did poor Sesame end up in the toilet?

Good question....

Well, here is my theory - Sesame is a boy, and D-Guy says boys like gurrrrls. So naturally, Sesame is always trying to get to Meatball and the gurrrrrrls. WHOEVER (he should not be named) that fed Sesame last night forgot to close the lid to his cage, so in a world deprived of female presence, Sesame did the unthinkable. Boy was he in for a big surprise because instead of landing in the fantasy world, he landed in the unimaginable..... TOILET BOWL!

After Sesame was rescued, Evil-mum decided he needed a bath!

SERIOUSLY?? After all he's been through??


(mum: we don't use that toilet, but still, you need a bath after you've been swimming in the toilet!)

I kept a watchful eye on him to make sure he doesn't get *almost* drowned, AGAIN!


I helped dry him,




I thought he might be cold so I snuggled up next to him,




He looks pretty cozy next to my SuperFUR don't you think?


Seriously mum, I'm TWELVE years old, I can't take anymore of this kind of STREEEEEESS.....


OH, and guess what D-Guy and STINKY were up to when all of this was going on?


They were BREAKING bowls in the yard!!! D-Guy said it was STINKY's fault.


(mum: yes, life with two Airedales and THEIR pets = never a dull moment!)

If you want to see more pictures and videos of me and MY Grandbabies, here are the links:

• 1 Day Old
• 2 Weeks Old