Remembering Athena and Victoria

I adopted Victoria and Athena in December 2003.  They were the first guinea pigs I ever adopted from a shelter.  I bought a car about the same time and I was honestly more excited about the pigs than the brand new car.

The two of them were very funny together.  Vicky would do her best to utterly harass Athena, until Athena would show her teeth and hiss at Vicky.  Vicky would literally piss off Athena (and then get pissed on).  But right after all this hassling and apparent bickering, they'd stuff themselves into their hidey house together and take a nap.  I have not witnessed another pair of guinea pigs as deeply bonded as these two.



Athena

Athena was a master of being cute

A strong name for a wussy pig.  I often called her the Goddess of Car Alarms, because she'd go off like one any time you picked her up. But she was a sweetheart.  She loved to be snuggled.  For appearing to be so timid, it turned out that Athena was the boss pig.  Vicky was a total pushover to her. 

Athena liked to be scritched under her chin and loved to sack out when being held. She was crazy about hay, even choosing to eat fresh hay over romaine lettuce. Athena was very talkative and told all sorts of tales.

I lost Athena June 2005 from a mass growing in her chest; she died in my arms.  I think she was about 5 years old.

Both Vicky and I missed her very much.


Victoria

Vicky-in-the-box, envy of all pigs

Vicky was a handful. Two seconds getting her into the cage when I first brought them home and she was dumping the pellet dish. I had been warned she would do this, but I just didn't believe it.  During floor time, she'd be into everything.  Bad pig.  Watch out for Tricky Vicky with the black bandito mask! 

I loved the lightning strike on her bum.  She had the softest fur and such floppy ears.  She was such a pretty guinea pig.

Victoria was first to wheek for food in the morning and when I came home at night. She was as bold as brass when it came to begging. She also ran laps in the morning. For being so fat (at her heaviest, she was 2lbs, 11oz), she moved amazingly fast.  She would just dematerialize and rematerialize from one place to another.  It was the funniest thing to watch her popcorn as well; that much fluff shouldn't have had that much vertical lift.

As bold as she was, she was the sensitive sort. Vicky would look to cuddle with Athena, not the other way around. Unlike many other pigs I've had, she didn't tell the world she was being murdered, but took abuse in silence (such as getting a bath, being handled by the vet, or getting an injection). She rarely complained about anything, right to the end. I lost her in February 2006 after an extended illness.

She was my good pig.


They were my first experience in bringing home an older pair.  They had so much personality right from the start and were so calm and collected.  The disadvantage of adopting an older pair was that I didn't have nearly enough time with them.  They were such a wonderful pair.