Remebering Boadicea

Boadicea (originally named Goldie) was our Boxing Day gift for 2014.  It was one of the more entertaining meet-and-greets as I was closed in a kennel with Cannoli and Boadicea.  Boadi had been in the system for months; I had seen her pop up on Petfinder in at least two different shelters while pondering a friend for Cannoli.  I was rather excited to adopt her after falling in love with her photo.

The many loaves of Boadicea

She came with a bad habit of biting.  I discovered a cage-mate of hers (they'd been split up in another shelter) had the same issue.  But Boadi soon learned biting wasn't necessary here.  I've never had a guinea pig make herself at home as fast as Boadi did.  Within a week she was far more relaxed than Cannoli was.  She quickly took advantage of her new digs and established herself as the head pig.

If that's not poisonous, would you care to share?

The one thing she didn't immediately take to was the veggies.  She was sure we were trying to poison her and was extremely suspicious at every piece of fruit and veggie unless she saw Noli eat it first.  Asking to share became Boadi's thing:   is it good?  Are you sure you're going to eat all that?  Wouldn't you like me to help out?  Are you sure you want the hammock to yourself?  She tired the same thing with Wedgwood (without as much success).

Boadicea was wonderfully human oriented.  She didn't necessarily enjoy lap time or being picked up, but she'd eagerly come to the side of the cage for pats and scritches.  She was always happy to see me, even if I didn't have treats in hand.

Boad could get so distracted by inspecting a clean cage she'd miss eating whatever treat Cannoli polished off.  She was an intrepid explorer.  I often had to chase her from under furniture and shelves.  She also had a taste for power cords.  I thought the three laptop power cords we found/replaced was the extent of her damage.  But as I plugged in my cell phone last week, I found one last frayed cord as a memento.  Thanks, Boadi.

She became quite loafy over her time with us and ended up with a very laid back attitude.  Nothing seemed to faze her.

Boadicea had some arthritis in her left leg that gave her a funny hop until we had it diagnosed and treated.  Then she mysteriously started to lose weight in 2016.  A blood test taken in the summer indicated her kidneys were failing.  Boadicea passed away very peacefully on October 16th, 2017.

Diaper-butt.  Master of the dubious look.  The Boad abides.  Always.