Adopted: July 2014
Passed: August 2014
Nickname: Bagel
Personality: energetic, quick learner
Special skills: easily stood on her hind legs, ran super fast
Although we only had Bianca for a very short time, we really enjoyed and loved this little pig a whole lot. After losing Saki in June of 2014 we really wanted to get a new friend for Tatiana. Since Saki was probably around seven when we moved baby Tatiana in with her, they only got to spend about one year together. We wanted to get a young guinea pig that would be closer in age to Tatiana so would hopefully have many years as buddies. After visiting several pet stores we ended up falling in love with the cutest little gray and white baby guinea pig - her coloring reminded us of a squirrel. We loved her little pink fingers and her gray nostrils and she was so friendly when we held her in the store. On the drive home I held her in my arms and she was so curious and wriggly, although I was concerned when she sneezed on me. When we got home we set up her quarantine cage and tried to think of a name. I remember the first time that I heard her purr - it was so low and rumbly and it was so adorable coming from this little tiny pig! We started calling her Bagel until we could come up with a name, and eventually decided on Bianca.
I brought Bianca to the vet for an initial check up (and to also get extra confirmation that she was in fact a girl). I mentioned my concerns about how she was sneezing on and off, but the vet listened to her lungs and didn't find anything that she thought was a problem, especially since she wasn't sneezing all the time. One of our favorite things to do with Bianca at home was to set her on the floor and have her run between us. She was so excited and fast and would tilt her head to the side because she was so eager to run. It was just so cute! One other thing that she was really good at was standing up on her hind legs. She could go from just hanging out and sitting in her cage to firmly standing like a prairie dog so easily.
After her quarantine was up, we introduced her and Tatiana together. It was really sweet to see them meet each other and to see Tatiana have a new companion. They got along really well on the floor, but when we moved them in together, Tatiana was not pleased. She did not seem to like this new pig in her space and there were a couple days where they were not the best of friends. However, they did start getting along and all was well. In fact, they probably were getting along too well, because Bianca was quickly picking up some of Tatiana's bad habits!
After the girls lived together for about a week, I noticed that Bianca was sitting puffed up and was not moving around much. She wouldn't even run around on the floor when we tried, which was extremely odd behavior for her. Her breathing also seemed somewhat off and so I made an emergency vet appointment and brought her there at 10 PM. As soon as the vet saw Bianca's breathing, she said that she had pneumonia. Upper respiratory infections can be life threatening for guinea pigs, and with Bianca being so young, I did not have a good feeling when we left. Jen and I had a convention that we had to go to the next day, so our mom gave Bianca (back in her quarantine cage) her medicine. Sadly, despite all best efforts, Bianca did not make it through the weekend. It was devastating to lose her, especially after only just starting to get to know her.
We still miss Bianca very much, although we were very lucky to get to have such a sweet and wonderful girl, even if it was only for a little while.
Photos