Being a guinea pig owner is pretty great... or I wouldn't have been at it for half my life. I got my first pig when I was in college. (Which the college didn't like.) Sadly, guinea pigs are rather short-lived naturally. Their lifespans tend not to go above the single digits. And while most of mine max out their lifespans, some things just can't be accounted for.

HiFi (that's not him above, mind) passed away suddenly on Mother's Day. He was fine in the morning, fine in the afternoon, and then in the evening he was suddenly extremely lethargic. I've dealt with enough poorly pigs in my time to know when it's too late. And as I was loading him into his carrier, I realized he would almost certainly not survive the length of the drive to the emergency vet. The best thing I could do for him was sit with him. He was gone well before my friends who were coming to check on me got to my house.

There's every possibility he had a congenital issue. I've had piggies with all sorts of problems. It could easily have been something that finally just kicked in out of nowhere. I wish I knew, and I wish I could have stopped it. But I'm relieved I was able to be with him.

That said, pigs don't like being alone. Espresso and HiFi were litter mates and have literally never been apart, so even one night alone was hard on the remaining pig. I rarely wait long to introduce new cage-mates when necessary, because piggies will pine. And Espresso was already starting to.

Thus... meet Percy.

Percy is an Abyssinian, meaning he's got those whirly little cowlicks all over him. He's about three or four months old (I'm going with three because of his utter smallness). And fortunately for all of us, he acclimated pretty much immediately.

He's a good-tempered little guy, but I also made sure to introduce the two of them outside the cage. Espresso is very territorial, and I've read that introducing pigs in the cage can make the resident pig see the other as an intruder. Whether that's the case or not, this went extremely well, and Espresso treats Percy like his own baby.

Maybe he just likes being the big pig of the cage. Or maybe he misses HiFi and likes having a friend who likes him back. But it's been a week and they're pretty much joined at the hip. I couldn't be happier. Well, I could under the circumstances... but about this specifically, I'm happy.

HiFi is going to remain my poster pig on the right-hand side of the blog for the time being. He was a sweet boy who loved to be cuddled, loved attention, and always ended up snuggling with Espresso even if they'd gotten on each other's nerves during the day. Guinea pigs only stay with us for a little while, but their loss is always rough.

Incidentally, if you're a pig owner, I highly recommend checking out GuineaDad. (Not sponsored, I just really love this site.) Their fleeces and cage accessories have made the cage really cozy for the boys, and that's been a big part of Percy feeling at home so quickly.

If you need more pigs in your life, check out my Instagram. I'm going to try to be better about at least sharing stories of the boys.