previous saint colton has passed away..i am posting this simply because most folks really do not think too often about the small animals, but also not really too much about their lives and the ending of their days. thx meghann for loving and caring for

I just wanted to let you know that Colton passed away at home last night. He was at the vet's last week for an eye infection. I got some drops for it and he seemed his normal, feisty self. Then, a few days later, he began to refuse his veggies - which he never, ever does. So I took him in again, and the vet found swollen lymph nodes and a growth on his lungs. He suspects lymphosarcoma, though I'll have the cytology results tomorrow. Everything I've read says the course of the cancer in guinea pigs is 2 to 5 weeks, and there aren't really any options for treatment.

Colton was comfortable up until the end. The vet said his breathing wasn't laboured and he accepted me syringe-feeding him warm pellet mash until yesterday morning.

I'm glad that he got to spend his last years with my two boys, Gandalf and Digory. All three enjoyed hanging out on the grass on sunny days, and they would often cuddle up together in one of their little plastic houses in their cage. I've had my other two guinea pigs since they were only 3 months old, but Colton always remained a bit suspicious of me. He definitely preferred their company to mine and complained loudly when he needed a bath or a nail trim. But I loved his guinea pig-ness - he will be sorely missed.

I've attached a few photos from the last gorgeous day he spent outside in the sun in October.