Little Scooter passed away last night. Something was clearly wrong but I wasn’t able to get her to the vet last night. She was eating Thursday night and active so something happened pretty fast. She was with me for 4 years and was was fully grown when I adopted her. So I’m estimating she was at least 5 years old. Guinea pigs typically live 5-9 years but can live beyond that in some cases. She got sick a few months ago but seemed to fully recover with meds. Tess has never been sick. Maybe being older she wasn’t as hardy, I don’t really know.

Matt buried her in the yard this morning. I was thinking that I would let Tess live out her life with me and then no more guinea pigs. Guinea pigs are really not meant to live alone though and human interaction doesn’t replace their need for socialization with their own kind. So leaving Tess to her remaining years completely alone doesn’t seem right either. She was at least a year old when I got her in early 2008. Matt said he wants to adopt another pig. He has been helping me taking care of them and cleaning their cage for the most part over the past year. I told him we need to make sure Tess is healthy first. I would like to adopt from the rescue who took Tess’s baby boys (she was preggo when I adopted her) but they are several hours away and I’m not sure how we would test out the compatibility with a potential new life partner.