Lovely Lumpy Laylla

Oh, Laylla, will you be my Valentine? 

Laylla is a love!  She also such a fatso (I tell her that all the time - I hope it doesn't hurt her feelings).  She has a tiny butt, a smallish head, and this massive middle.  Oof.

She's active and curious - any time I approach the cage she runs to me (rather than running away to hide).  Of course, that's because she's hoping I have treats.  She reminds me of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.  Feed me! 

There's not usually a ramp to the second floor in my cage.  I added it because I didn't want Laylla to hurt herself if she couldn't leap up there.  Guinea pigs are amazing - Laylla usually skips the ramp and leaps up and down anyway!  I don't try to pick her up often but when I do, she can sprint like a much thinner guinea pig.  Zoom!

Unfortunately, our foster piggy is a little lonely.  Her pal Negrita was surprisingly unwell when we picked them up from Dakin.  The vet and I thought it might be from stress, but when she continued acting oddly, we brought Negrita back to see the vet.  She was sent back to us with medication and pain killers in the hopes that the mass in her abdomen might resolve itself.  She was better for a day or two but then took a rapid downturn.  Negrita was a wonderfully snuggly and personable piggy.  She liked to be touched and patted.  She would have made such a great auntie to Laylla's pups.  I was so very sorry to have lost her this way.

Pictures simply can't capture Laylla's size.  You can get a hint by how her hind feet stick out behind her.  Amazingly, she's still lighter than Pinniped at her heaviest (and that was without being pregnant).  But I think even Pinni's double-wide wasn't this expansive.  I can see and feel the pups moving around in there.  I think left-side pup wants to be an acrobat. 

When will the big day arrive?  Hard to say.  Could be a week.  Could be the first week of March.  Fingers crossed it all goes well.