Penny 2015 – 2023. She sadly passed away right when I was in the process of finishing and launching this blog. This site is dedicated to you, sweet girl.
Why am I dedicating this site to a Guinea Pig? Because Penny was the best guinea pig. I did not expect her to come into my life, nor I did not expect to eventually adopt her. A little furball of charisma, with and arsenal of quirks, she treated me like I was a big guinea pig, often demanding food when she knew I had it, super comfortable being picked up, and communicating with an entire small vocabulary of sounds. I supposed in my mind somewhere I had begun to think of her like a small little guinea pig person. She passed away right when I was on the verge of launching this site, and I knew right away I had to put those plans on hold a bit and dedicated this site to her memories. Penny, sweet girl, I dedicate this site to you.
Loud, messy, headstrong and sassy. A bit mischievous, she’d sneak off and start eating something she probably wasn’t supposed to (paper, wires, plastic) the second you’d look away. Vocal. She could be demanding. She knew when she wanted food or scratches, and she’d boss her cage mates around (until she got too old). But she was also affectionate and funny. She almost never minded being picked up and would often return ear scratches with a couple small finger licks or present herself for pets. She was a ray of sunshine that was always on call, always ready to make one laugh or just be quirky and adorable. Brave. Not just brave for a guinea pig (which isn’t typically a high bar), but brave for anyone. I can only recall really 3 times in her life when she seemed actually scared. A trooper. A survivor. A little rodent inspiration. I’d call her Penney but I’d also use typical nicknames like “Piggy” or “Pig Pig” or “Potato Princess”, things like that. I’d also call her The Best Pig. I believed it.
She somehow snuck up on me and became a big presence in my life. She was a constant source of endless amusements she’d deliver every day. This is her story.
I miss you, little princess.
Penny: The Early Years
Penny came into my life unexpectedly. It was shortly after Christmas. During the holidays, think it was Dec 27th 2015 (but I can’t remember for sure) I was visiting my then girlfriend Whitney in Denver. One late overcast afternoon we found ourselves next to a pet store for some reason. Without warning Whitney decided to go in and buy a guinea pig. At the time it just seemed very random. Penny was a total surprise that day. Turns out it was a very fortunate surprise, because I would quickly grow to adore the little piggy.
In the store, Whit tried out holding every one they had, some of them several times. She didn’t choose the most exotic, or cutest, but the one who was most comfortable in her hands. She liked the name Penny, and it worked well with her copper brown spots, so it became the new piggy’s name. Now Whitney did have guinea pig once before, about a year earlier, but it had died young. So we both were pretty much inexperienced pig owners. But she still had the old cage from the former pig, and we picked up some hay and pellets at the store and I think a few treats too, and brought Penny home.
I can still remember sound of the her wheeking in her box on the drive home, and Whit explaining that it was a happy noise. When we got back, she took out the old cage, lined it with a fleece blanket, put in some new food, and then dropped the new little piggy in her new home. Penny knew what to do. She found the food and enthusiastically started eating right away.
The cage seemed so big at first. It was furnished with a toy log that was initially many times her size (she would consume it several times over during her first year), a hammock that she constantly napped in, a space for a small bathroom area in the corner, plus a small hay rack and food bowl on the upper level. She was messy from the start, probably tossing around at least as much hay as she actually ate (which was substantial), but when it came to pellets, vegetables, or treats she’d leave nothing behind, wheeking loudly and chattering her teeth if she even thought she heard a hint of the sound of a crinkling food bag. She’d stand up using the cage bars, then sprint to the food area and then back to the bars If you took longer than a few seconds and would often do multiple takes from the food bowl back to you as if to say “Hey, what’s the hold up?” She’d devour most edible things with excessive urgency as if the fact there was uneaten food was an emergency to her. With veggies she’d usually stand up before you could even put ’em down to try to get early nibbles, or if you were refilling her pellets she’d frantically smell your hand as you reached in. She’d never bite or be aggressive though, she’d just get really excited.
Penny spent a lot of time burrowed in Whit’s blankets that first year. It still surprises me she never peed in ’em. She would leave some droppings (which is ok, guinea pig droppings aren’t really that gross, they’re just hard pellets and are easy to pick up). She liked to chew on toys and sticks then and had a lifelong habit of biting the cage bars when exited. Whit doted on her and there is no doubt she learned much of her affectionate nature from those early years. I think training a social guinea pig takes a takes work, especially in those young years, so Whit’s constant attentions were definitely formative in her personality. Penny made it easy. From very start she was easy to handle, social and affectionate herself. Little did I know how big of a part of my life she would become.
Penny the Traveler
During Penny’s first years, Whit and I would go back and forth from Denver to California. We were always driving her station wagon, because it fit Penny’s cage, and piggy would always be with us. We would often sneak her into hotels in Whitney’s handbag, or if we were in a motel, we’d just take her into the room. Who cares about the pet policy. She was still small enough to fit into an open hotel dresser drawer lined with a fleece blanket, and when we left it was just an issue of clearing up any leftover hay and droppings upon leaving. It still amazes me in how those young years she never peed in any of the many hotel beds she’s been burrowed in. I think.
How I wish I had more pictures. There are so many quirks and mannerisms I’ve just never recorded. And many of her early ones are lost. So I hold onto the memories, only gradually starting to realize their value.
The Middle Years, a Health Issue, and a New Home
I’d say Penny’s middle years were from roughly mid 2017 to maybe late 2020. Whit and I had broken up but we still talked. Things had changed. Whit couldn’t be home much anymore. Meanwhile Penny had grown and grown. Her first cage, so big at the time, was way too small now, not even 2 body lengths anymore. Whit just didn’t have room for a bigger one. And it turns out Whit had a hay allergy, which at first was very minor and non-issue, but had gotten worse, especially as Penny got bigger and started making bigger and bigger hay messes. She just couldn’t take care of the of the piggy like she used to because of being gone so much, or take her out of her cage and give her attention when she actually was home. Penny just spent too much time alone all day, trapped in that small cage, often sitting in her own mess because there was just so little space to move anymore.
It wasn’t really anyone’s fault, just lack of foresight. But it was undoubtably very unfortunate for the little pig. Probably due to these conditions, just sitting alone for so much time, she developed a bad sore on her side. It got infected, and it eventually turned into a large open tumor. A vet diagnosed it as likely terminal.
I was 1000 miles away in Minnesota trying to figure out a new career myself when I heard the news of her conditions and situation. How quickly the feelings that I had for that little critter returned to me. I didn’t really have to think about it too much; I offered to adopt. It took Whit a little bit of time to think about it, because she still cared for the crazy little pig herself as well even if the situation wasn’t great. But she knew Penny no longer had enough attention and needed more room, so maybe the rest of her life, however long that may be, could be a little more comfortable with me. So she agreed.
That was my goal. I just wanted to make the rest of her life comfortable, however long it may be, because of the years spent being delighted by her when she was young. Luckily for me, for kind of the first time in my life, I had some extra income to play with. Now I wasn’t super rich or anything, but getting a big cage was no big deal. In fact, I started dreaming up my own design. It was a lot of fun. There are some fundamental things I’d change if I could redesign the cage again from scratch, but I’m still happy with how it turned out.
The day eventually came and I went to Denver to pick her up. Even though Whit and I weren’t together anymore, Denver was always a fun trip and we hung out for a day. I remember being a little worried because I didn’t really know Penny’s condition, and I wondered of the flight back would be too stressful for her. But turns out there was nothing to worry about. The best news? The vet had been wrong. Turns out, Penny would have years left.
In the early afternoon of Dec 24th, 2019, right after getting back from the plane, nearly exactly four years after I had first met her, I introduced Penny to her new home in Minnesota. Just like the first time we had put her in her old cage all those years ago, she immediately knew what to do: Find the food, and start eating! She looked around for maybe 3 or 4 seconds before she found a loose strand of hay on the floor and started munching it down. For some reason I remember the first veggie and treat I gave her (it was a green bean from an Airport salad on the way back, and her first treat was a long timothy hay biscuit in her carrier). Penny would later get many more veggies and treats, she’d eat most things but she also had her own clear favorites that I would learn by heart.
Her tumor would never fully heal, and she would have it for the rest of her life. It did eventually get smaller, it eventually stopped running, but she’d nibble at it, sometimes to the point where it would get bloody, so I would have to keep it clean for her sometimes. A vet advised me to just leave it there because removal was risky. But Penny really had some sort of mysterious inner rodent strength. The tumor, usually hidden under fur now, became mostly a non-issue except for the occasional, maybe 2-3 times a year when she would start biting at it (and I’d simply clean it off, put on a bit of drug-store pain-relief antibacterial stuff, and seal it with a liquid bandage when she did).
She seemed happy in her new home. I am proud of that cage. Most pigs will have a favorite spot or two in their cage. Penny had ten! (with runners up, and then later 6 when she got old and couldn’t make it upstairs anymore).
Meeting New Friends
Penny had always been a solo piggy her entire life. I wanted her to experience friends. Even though she was quite the presence, that new cage was just too big and empty with just her anyway. Before too long I had adopted another pig, and then a third. I adopted Winnie (originally name Winifred), who came from a shelter, and Rosie (originally name Rosalina), who came from an nearby local owner – who accidently had bought a pregnant pig and ended up with about 5 more than she expected. They were both very young when I brought them home but they already had personalities too. They weren’t the larger than life furballs that Penny was, but they each had their own individual quirks and were endearing in their own ways.
Penny did take a while to get used to them however. At first she would constantly strut around and make rumbling sounds. It never got serious though – Penny was all rumble and no bite. She was always super vocal anyway. This lasted a few weeks. And whenever I brought veggies for all 3, she would go plop directly on top of ’em and try to eat it ALL. But they never fought. And it never went past the rumbling and maybe the occasional head-raising contest (apparently seeing who can raise their head the highest is how guinea pigs argue). Before too long, she eventually learned to share space and food, and it’s clear her new friends turned out to be a great thing for her. Sometimes she’d even let Rosie groom her. Sometimes.
Penny the Outdoor Pig
This is a big regret of mine. I waited too long to get this outdoor cage! It wasn’t until 2021. Penny thrived outdoors. The difference with the other pigs wasn’t that noticeable. But for Penny it was huge. As she got older, y’know, her personality never stopped, but her body did slow down. That would almost completely melt away in the summer when she would spend time outdoors.
She’d be out there, eating grass for hours, then often chill out in the hay tunnel if it wasn’t destroyed (her favorite spot outdoors, and they’d go through a few each summer, destroying ’em over and over again) or one of the pads. I’d have to move the cage day by day, because they’d eat every last strand of grass to the point where you could see the clear criss-cross pattern of where the bars were the day before (they couldn’t eat the bits under the bars but everything else got mowed to the ground). At night I’d almost always bring them in, but sometimes I’d cover the bars with a mosquito net to deal with bugs and leave them out if the weather was good, but only sometimes. It was safe, it was a very sturdy and I don’t think even a coyote could break in. It had the covered indoor area too in case anything spooked ’em. Rosie and Winnie would often go and sit in that part when not eating, but Penny would be splooted out in the grass probably over 95% of the time.
They say 65-75 degrees is the ideal temp for guinea pigs, but I bent the rules slightly. Any day between 60 and 80 degrees was sure to be spent outside because she just thrived so much in it. 2021 – 2022 I would work from home a lot, so during the warm months I would often just got to my window several times a day, and just watch them out there, doing their guinea pig thing, whether it was destroying the newest hay tunnel, spooting out in the shade on a pad, or working hard at their daily mission to consume every last strand of grass they possibly could.
As the leaves fell in the fall, they would eat them too, crunching away. Of course during the winters they’d have to be indoors. Although Penny liked her indoor cage, she would inevitably would slow down and show her aging. But when spring came again, you’d never know. I was really hoping she’d live to see another summer. Spring 2023 wasn’t really that far away when she passed on. How nice it would have be if she could have had another sunny season out there, in sunny grass munchin’ paradise. Among the three, it made a world of difference for her.
Penny: The Senior Years
Adult Penny was never small but after being with me for a while I admit: she got just plain fat. I could never deny her a treat when she asked or hold back any of her favorite foods. At her height she was over 1200 grams (according to google, females should probably be around 700-900). I don’t know if she ever broke the 3 pound mark, but she was certainly close. In retrospect her weight probably continued to her decline in mobility the last couple years. Another thing I should have done is gotten her checked up at the vet yearly. They could have helped with her slowly developing arthritis, her grooming, and any digestion issues that I didn’t know she had until the vet visits on her last day. I could have caught them if I had taken her. Why didn’t I? I just wasn’t on top of it. I was a guy who would still let thing slip. It’s just who I was, I should have been more careful then. But otherwise, she was happy.
She was still completely herself. In fact she would be right up into her final hours. She was starting to get clumsy, in her last year and a half she didn’t really like going up to the 2nd level anymore, but she was still the messy as hell strong and full of personality piggie, voracious, loud, sweet, demanding, and still a bit of a clown. In her last year she couldn’t scratch herself well anymore, and had started sort of presenting herself for back scratches which she came to enjoy, to go with the chin scratches she had always liked or the ear scratches, which she would still usually repay with a couple guinea pig kisses on my fingers. Holding her started to get risky as she didn’t control her bladder as well, so using a towel started to become a good idea. Other than that, she was always still a ray of sunshine that I always had on call, always an instant boredom cure whenever I felt like getting her from her cage.
She still got attention, and all her favorite foods even if I did end up giving too much, she still chilled with her cage mates. Sometimes I’d see all three fully splooted or laying on their sides next to each other. Even if she had slowed down, was starting to have trouble grooming, and had a bit of trouble moving like she used to, she was still living the good life. Slowing down, but still happy, a pig livin’ high on the hog.
The Sad Final Days and a Lessons from a Guinea Pig
Penny passed on March 8th, 2023. Even months later I am still sporting the haircut I got on Penny’s final day, I remember the meal I ate, I remember working on this site being excited to be about to launch until early in the AM hours, deciding to turn in, making a salad which would turn out to be Penny’s final meal. She had been walking funny for a few days, not the first time she had done it, I thought she had just hurt something somehow and she was just getting old and she’d be better before long. She still wheeked and tried to stand for her food that day, she still had snatched a treat voraciously from my fingers earlier that afternoon. She was still hungry, somewhat energetic, and full of her somewhat over-the-top personality that day.
But it was that night I noticed something was really wrong, and I had stayed up all night waiting for the vets to open in the morning. I remember hoping it wouldn’t be her final trip – spring was getting really close (indeed although it snowed heavily that day the snow would melt in less than a month and if she could make it she’d have at least one more summer in her). But it was – she was bleeding internally and spent her last energy fighting against the vet’s examination, going downhill right before my eyes until she didn’t have much left. Surprisingly fast.
I wasn’t ready to put her down, not at all (even if I had to do it again I still wouldn’t), and I wondered if there was some kind of other opinion, the vet suggested a hospital about 40 or so minutes away, able to get an emergency appointment. That turned out to be a mistake, not only because it cost about 500 bucks but also because they couldn’t do anything either and she wouldn’t survive the long, bumpy and pothole-ridden (seriously for some reason the roads were specially terrible that winter) trip back home. I swear I could have seen her breathing in the car on the ride back, making mental plans to pick up some of her favorite treats after I had got her back, hey, maybe she’d somehow recover and survive! I was thinking anyway – but sometime on that last drive, probably sometime a bit after noon on that last day, she had left. I do wish I had done it differently. If I could do it again I would have taken her back to the cage, and let her pass somewhere safe and familiar. I did have some pain medicine in case she was in pain, it would have been how she would have preferred to spend her final hours, no question.
Realistically, I should have taken her to the vet about 6 weeks before, when I first noticed she was walking funny, but she recovered and I thought she was just getting old. So when it happened again I thought it was just the same thing. I was sure she’d have at least one more year. But her final trip revealed several health problems – I do regret probably overfeeding her when she was younger and not managing her diet properly (too much calcium) and even though when I first noticed problems it was probably too late maybe she could have had a more comfortable last month or two with some pain/arthritis/digestive medicine and some diet improvements. If I had done things perfectly going back a few years would she still be around now as I write this? Hard to say but I think so. I do think little things add up over time. There are some lessons to be learned here. I also wish I had taken more pictures – so many things were just not captured on camera. (I guess with no other choice I’ll just have to risk trying to use my brain to remember them)
But she had lasted years. Much longer than people, including myself, thought at first when she first developed a big sore/tumor on her side. It never fully healed, but she enjoyed her second half of life, no question. One lesson learned is to appreciate what’s important, I’d trade so many video game sessions or nights spent sucking down a beer in my hand for more time playing with the charismatic little piggy. Another lesson learned is the importance of taking things more seriously, being on top of things a little better, I should have taken her to the vet for checkups way before, or even regularly, and watched her diet better. She could have had another summer. But finally, even though she eventually passed, as guinea pigs apparently tend to do after a while, she did have a second wind in life. A very significant one. Even with a grievous injury, she lasted for years, munching veggies, making new friends, lounging outside in the summers, and all around showing that you can make the best of a second chance.
When she left, it was amazing how big a difference it made. For years she had often been the first thing I would deal with in the morning, and often be the last thing I would hear before falling asleep. (She was always noisy and active late at night). The other pigs missed her too, her companions Winnie and Rosie were very silent for a long time, and the days following I would see Rosie sniffing around the cage several times, looking for something she couldn’t find (even though I cleaned it shortly after Penny passed maybe she could somehow still pick up a bit of scent). They eventually recovered, and I’m watching their diets a little better than I used to, even though they’ve both still very large now just like Penny was a couple years ago. They’re both still comparatively young, not even 4 yet , but when they get older I can fix some of the mistakes I had made with Penny, and I plan to change up my line of work and move before too long, and when I do I can get them a new companion or two, just like they themselves were new friends for Penny when I had first adopted them over 3 years ago. They had turned out to be great sisters for her.
One final lesson was how powerful good memories can be, it’s strange to explain but good memories seem to live in a stronger place within me, and simply remembering can be a source of internal strength. The part of me that doesn’t want to drink or be lazy or play games or procrastinate, but instead, be on top of things – that’s where the good memories reside.
So, in a way, Penny has left me one final surprise. One final ting I’d never expected. The effects of her memories. When I think of them I remember how valuable they are. It’s like she’s now a little angel on my shoulder, or the memories are at least, who in an indirect way can can guide me toward success if I choose to listen.
Well, regardless .. Penny, you little potato, you headstrong, brave little sweetie who for over 7 years goofed your way into my heart,
This site is dedicated to you, sweet princess 🙂
Songs that remind me of Penny
I’d like to close out this dedication with a few pieces of music that bring my guinea pig to mind.
- Schumann – Of Foreign Lands and People Also called “of strange lands and people” Probably because of the title, reminds me of the young little pig my then gf and I would take everywhere with us. The places and people must have seemed quite foreign. I wonder what she thought of it all.
- Deadmau5 – Pets The fast notes remind me of her scampering paws, the slow background progression reminds me of the times I spent holding the little piggie
- Youtube – Guinea Pig Bridge Song Of course this one is gonna remind me of my guinea pig
Penny: The Best Guinea Pig
