Oreo, who was one of our elders, had lived in GenPop since 2013 with a herd of huge pigs. She was a feral mix, as evidenced by those tall ears and wide eyes. She’d seen and heard it all.
She needed a little extra support to stay with her people, and we gladly provided it. She needed feeding to be a little less crowded. She needed arthritis meds. She needed supplements and extra snacks. She needed an easy trek to and from the swamp. She needed a hysterectomy to fix her lady problems, and we helped her fix that, too.
When she was spayed, the lab examined the tumors in her uterus. There are always different types of cancer in there with different levels of invasion. The docs can only fix so much after the damage has been done. Unspayed females get cancer in most cases…and their lives are ultimately cut short.
Oreo had a decreased appetite and we took her in for an evaluation. They found tumors in her lungs, and she was struggling to breathe. There was no fix for that. She was uncomfortable and struggling to maintain her oxygen levels. She passed peacefully with her medical team beside her.
Oreo was perfect and sassy and loved and respected. We loved every precious moment we had with her, but we wished we’d had more time to grow older together.