Raised by a Mundelein family, record-holding ‘oldest pet pig’ dies

MUNDELEIN – Patrick Cunningham knows his family’s pig lived a good, long life. And now the world will know.

This April, Baby Jane – the potbellied pig Cunningham adopted as a baby from a rescue in Virginia – officially became “the oldest pig ever to be kept in captivity,” as declared by Guinness World Records. At the time, Baby Jane was 23 years, 77 days old.

Surrounded by her Mundelein family, the pig died last month. She was 23 years, 7 months and 9 days old, said Cunningham, who is making sure the age gets updated by Guinness.

“We want her to get credit for her entire life up to the very end,” he said.

Baby Jane was more than just a pet. Cunningham and Stan Coffman’s children, 11-year-old Marchese and 12-year-old Justin, grew up alongside Baby Jane. Part of the family, she traveled with them on vacations.

Rarely outdoors, Baby Jane spent many days lounging on the family’s couch and cuddled up beside them in bed at night.

“She was just a loving animal,” Cunningham said. “All she wanted to do was love people and be loved. If you were sitting or laying with her and walked to the restroom or kitchen, she would sit up and wait, and when you would come back, she’d lay back down beside you. She just waited for people to be with her.”

Heartbroken by the loss, the family takes comfort in knowing that she’ll go down in history.

Cunningham pored through the most recent edition of the Guinness Book of World Records to find the mention of her on one of the pages.

The family used to joke that she would “outlive everyone.”

“We should put her in the Guinness World Records,” they’d say.

“After all these years, every year joking, it came time. We got to thinking it’ll memorialize her forever,” said Cunningham, who reached out to Guinness. Proving her age was easy, he said.

He had her since she was 8 weeks old, and Baby Jane became his and his husband’s when they married 20 years ago. The couple adopted another potbellied pig, 17-year-old Lucy, in 2004.

It took a bit for the two pigs to warm up to each another, but they eventually became friends.

“Jane would always bite Lucy in the [behind] all the time. It was funny, even if Lucy came up next to her she would look at her funny and Lucy would run the other direction,” Cunningham said. “But they would also lay on top of each other and sleep for several hours.”

The family moved from Ohio to Mundelein about six years ago, choosing the village because of its ordinance allowing potbellied pigs to be kept as pets, Cunningham said. They also had a couple of dogs, but both died within the past several years.

During the pandemic, the family – pigs included – regularly loaded up in an RV to travel to places such as Key West, Baby Jane’s favorite vacation spot.

The pig knew a couple of hundred words, Cunningham said.

“We’d have a conversation,” he said. “She would communicate with us. … I miss her banter back and forth, where she would give you different grunts and squeals. It’s really, really hard.”

The average lifespan of a potbellied pig is about 15 to 18 years, with few living 20 years or more. Before Baby Jane, a pig in Canada named Ernestine held the Guinness World Record for living 22 years, 369 days. That pig actually died at 23 years, 70 days, but the record hadn’t been updated.

As Baby Jane grew older, she remained sharp even as her body started to fail her. She needed to be carried upstairs and would whine at the edge of the bed to be lifted up and cuddled.

When she stopped eating her regular food later in life, the family worked with a veterinarian to find foods that she’d eat. She had rarely eaten people food throughout her life, with the exception of fruits and vegetables, but the vet suggested they expand her diet.

They eventually settled on Ensure mixed with water and a fiber supplement.

“She absolutely loved that Ensure,” Cunningham said, “and pizza and pasta. She would sit there and beg. She never begged except for that. We would give her a small piece of pizza.”

In her final days, they couldn’t get her to eat or drink.

“One morning she got up and she just looked at us and she told us it’s time,” Cunningham remembered.

The family wanted Lucy to be able to say her goodbyes so they brought both pigs to the vet and Baby Jane was put to sleep.

“We didn’t want Baby Jane to just not come home one day and for Lucy to wonder what’s going on,” Cunningham said. “Pigs do mourn the loss of one another. … They’re emotional animals. They can actually die of a broken heart.”

The family believes Baby Jane can help raise awareness and educate others about owning pet pigs. They encourage people to do research before adopting because there are no such things as “micro” or “teacup” versions of the animal, Cunningham said.

They all will eventually grow to become full-sized, he said, and they’re a long-term commitment.

“After the novelty wears off, you’ve got a 4-year-old kid,” he said. “That’s basically what it is. They’re smart. They’ll get into anything.”

Will the family get another pig?

“I know everyone says you can’t replace your previous pet and I agree. I would never try to replace her,” Cunningham said. “I think I would be disappointed if I didn’t have a relationship like I have with her. … I don’t think it’s in our cards right now.”