 Mr.Wiggles R.I.P. 09/05/05 We lost our little Mr.Wigs in September 2005. He was a very sweet and photogenic guinea pig. We were very lucky to have found him at the SPCA back in 2002. Below you will see his story, and many of the photos we took of him over the years. ..............................................................................  Wigs Original Adoption Photo Mr.Wiggles age was unknown, but we suspect he was approx. 5 years old. He arrived here from the Montreal SPCA in 2002. Due to his calm disposition, he became our first therapy pig, traveling to local nursing homes with Jodie.   Even though we took every precaution to keep our animals comfortable, pet therapy is hard work! Nursing homes are very warm, and the animals are handled alot. After about a year of this, Wiggles made a much needed career change He decided to become a full time companion to his cagemate, Jinkies. Jinkies was a sweet and gentle pig, who had actually been the inspiration for Jodie's Jiggley Piggley Rescue Farm.  Jinkies Jinkies had begun to lose her sight and Wiggles was always there for her. He kept company and made sure she never lost her way. ............................................................................................................ Sadly, on December 30th 2003, little Jinkies passed away at the age of five. She had been orphaned at birth, and we had hand reared her. She was a very friendly and calm animal, and we all loved her alot! ............................................................................................................  Wiggles & Bridgette Soon after, Wigs began sharing his digs with our lovely and gentle Bridgette, another special needs pig. Bridgette had large ovarian cysts and was unable to be put up for adoption. Together they made a great couple. Around this time Mr. Wiggles developed a very large tumor on his side. It was growing quite quickly, so even though we were quite sure that it was benign, we decided to have it removed. The incision turned out to be much larger than we anticipated, and poor Wigs had a terrible time recovering from the proceedure. It took weeks for him to finally begin to move and eat on his own. There were many times that we were quite sure we were going to lose him.  Wigs Surgery Site  Young Voluteers Helping Feed Wiggles Thankfully mr. Wiggles did recover, and we learned a valuable lesson... do not submit older guinea pigs to surgery, unless they have a life threatening, or painful condition. When Wiggles was completely back to normal, he recieved a position as the official Guinea Pig Fun mascot. He popcorned at the opportunity! ............................................................................................................ Sadly, but not unexpectedly, Bridgette passed away on October 16, 2004. She had lived a good life despite her large cysts, but they finally weakened her to the point that she was no longer mobile. We decided to have her put to sleep. ............................................................................................................ After an appropriate mourning period, Mr.Wiggles made a new girlfriend, Zip.  Wiggles & Zip She is the last remaining female of a trio we aquired about 2 years prior. Her two sisters had a new home together, but Zip had been unable to go up for adoption, due to a series of cysts on her abdomen. They weren't causing her any discomfort, so with the Wiggles lesson under our belt, we decided not to try to have them removed. She lived with Wigs and they enjoyed a quiet life. ............................................................................................................ On the morning of Sept 4, we discovered that Wiggles was not moving or eating. We kept him warm and comfortable, and early the following morning he quietly passed away. We were very sad to see him go, as he was one of our "founding piggies" and he was a very sweet little animal. Mr.Wiggles has a final resting spot in a leafy green corner of our large property. He was buried beside his former girls, Jinkies and Bridgette and was later joined by Zip.  ............................................................................................................ Here are a few more pictures of our most photographed guinea pig!  Wiggles liked to romance his girls!  Wiggles in the pumpkin patch!  So chubby and cute!  Yum!  He loved sunny days!  The summer 2005 and the last photo taken of our Mr.Wiggles. |
1998-2003We noticed that our sweet Jinkies was not herself over the past few weeks.As her condition worsened, she was losing weight, and clearly in quite a bit of pain. We chose to put her suffering to an end on Dec. 30th 2003. Jinkies lived a long and good life. She was 6 years old. Along with 3 other piglets, Jinkies was born long before Jodie had hatched the Jiggley Piggley Farm idea. Delivery was complicated and her Mother, Wee Willy Winky, and one baby, died at birth. It was Jodie's first experience with the loss of a pet, and the last time we ever bred any of our animals. In the absence of their mother, I hand reared Jinkies and her siblings. At one point, we allowed Jinkies to go live with another family. They were thrilled to have her as a companion to their guinea pig. Suprisingly though, within just a couple of months, they had given away their animal, and returned Jinkies to us, stating that the children had tired of them! It was then that Jodie wondered how many rejected guinea pigs floundered in basements all over the city, and we began tossing around the guinea pig rescue idea. Our little Jinkies was the inspiration for this snowballing, mother/daughter hobby! She lived out the rest of her life here, with her good friend, Mr.Wiggles. Jinkies was an ever present, and cheerful fixture in our home. She will be missed by the whole family. |