Absolutely Devastated

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princess tigerlily

princess tigerlily

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hertfordshire
My gorgeous girl Cinders didn't just pass away but was literally scared to death by my dogs . My dad left the downstairs gate open by accident and my sister accidentally left my bedroom door open so when we were all out the dogs got upstairs and opened the cage somehow. Cinders wasn't torn apart or anything but a very very small mark was on her shoulder where I think the dogs tried to play but not hard enough to do much damage as there was no blood that I could see. They couldn't fit their heads through the entrance to the cage so all I can think is they scared her so much after somehow opening the cage that she jumped out. She is a lot more timid than belle (her sister) and I was finally gaining cinders trust. Now belle is so quiet and she is NEVER quiet. She is just hiding away. It all happened last night and my dad feels bad and so does my sister. I can't be angry with anyone as no one meant for it to happen. I feel like a child grieving so much over my Guinea pig when in fact I'm 22. I'm putting a lock on the outside of my door now so everyone remembers to lock it and not just shut the door and I know everyone will shut the gate now. The cage has clips over the doors so unless the dogs get opposable thumbs they can't undo the cage if God forbid they ever got into my room again. It doesn't change what's happened or how devastated I am. I don't know what to do for belle. She is in so much pain I can tell. She's not herself at all. She's nibling at grass freshly pulled from the garden and hay but that's it. She's not eating any actual food and I haven't seen her drink anything. I can't bear the thought of getting another Guinea pig but I am so worried about belle also I don't know what to do. Pictures attached are of cinders (speckled nose) and belle (black and white). I brought them in this winter so they wouldn't have to be in the cold but if they had stayed in their hutch cinders would still be alive! I feel terrible.

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HUGS
I am very sorry - it is the kind of scenario that we all have nightmares about! Guinea pigs can die from sheer fright.
RIP Cinders - she was a beautiful and much loved girl

Here are tips on what you can do for Bella. She has to cope with both the shock and the loss of her companion right now.
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
 
Wiebke said:
HUGS
I am very sorry - it is the kind of scenario that we all have nightmares about! Guinea pigs can die from sheer fright.
RIP Cinders - she was a beautiful and much loved girl

Here are tips on what you can do for Bella. She has to cope with both the shock and the loss of her companion right now.
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
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Thank you, I will have a read now.
 
This is a verry tragic situation, I'm sorry for your loss! I think take it one step at a time and greave for the loss of your beloved pet first b for worrying about finding s companion. In these situations all you can do is learn from them so to avoided it happening again, few years back one of my degus chewed a wire that had slipped near his cage he was electrocuted and paralysed we lost him few days later in the vets just saying it happens to us all
"show me a perfect person and I'll show you a liar ,,, "

Again sorry for your loss :/

Kind regards
Alex
 
Any loss of a guinea pig is tragic but in these circumstances you must be devastated. I'm really sorry for you loss x
 
I'm sorry for your loss, what a shock...
And don't feel like a child for grieving for any kind of animal. I'm still grieving the loss of Teddy, and it happened two months ago, and I'm nearly 26, and I'm not ashamed by any means about it. It doesn't matter your age, nor the type of animal you lose. You loved her, and that's why you grieve. Sending you big hugs.

Popcorn free Cinders x
 
Oh you poor thing. This is tragic but please don't blame yourself or anyone else in your family. This was a tragic sequence of events. Unfortunately in life we simply cannot eliminate risk. All we can do is take steps to minimise it. Sometimes bad things happen despite all our safety mechanisms. Age is irrelevant in relation to grief. I'm closer to 50 than 40 and I'm still weeping about the loss of my beloved Mr Ted a fortnight ago. Loss of a loved one (human or furry) brings real pain and grief.
Wiebke has given you the links to how to best help Belle. Hugest hugs to you and Belle. Popcorn free precious Cinders x
 
Oh no I'm so sorry. My heart goes out to you. Your grief is perfectly understandable, trust me, many of us here can relate to that. Also you are neither the first nor the last to have experienced a tragic accident with their pets either. As others have said, you can't predict everything and it's so very easy to slip up somewhere along the lines.
If Belle doesn't pick up very soon your only option may be to get her a cage mate, perhaps a youngster, to help her feel safer again and give her the will to eat. Please try plenty of hand feeding and let her have treats. It's hard when you are grieving to set it aside and organise seeing to the needs of the one left behind, but if she doesn't pick up soon this may be necessary.

I hope sharing on here helps you, and please know you are not alone. Please keep us update about little Belle.

Cinders was absolutely beautiful. RIP sweet girl x x
 
Belle isn't eating or drinking. I'm getting worried and don't know what to do. I can't bear to lose belle. I know I have to get her a new friend I'm just struggling to think about that.
 
I understand. I'm tagging @Wiebke as this is getting rather worrying for Belle. It really can be very hard to get into that mode of searching for a friend for a bereaved piggy, even when the piggy in question is coping well and getting on with things, but this seems to be hitting her hard, and it seems to me she needs a friend fast. She has the shock of the incident and the loss of her friend, and whilst I'm not trying to rub that in as it's so very painful for you, it needs dealing with for little Belle.
I suggest mushing her pellets with water and trying to get her to eat some.
Massive hugs, I know the whole thing is really stressful :hug:
 
princess tigerlily said:
Belle isn't eating or drinking. I'm getting worried and don't know what to do. I can't bear to lose belle. I know I have to get her a new friend I'm just struggling to think about that.
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Please step in with syringe feeding and watering asap. Sometimes, it only takes a few feeds to stimulate her to eat again, so you may be lucky. Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

I agree that contacting Hazelcroft Rescue as an emergency with an acutely pining piggy would be best. As bad as you are feeling yourself, and however shocked you are yourself, in a situation like this you have to try and put this aside to save your remaining piggy's life. You do not have to feel obliged to have any feelings towards a newcomer for a goodly while yet, not while you are grieving. The companion is for Bella's sake and not for yours. The rest will come later, in its own time.
More rescues within your reach: Guinea Pig Rescue Centre Locator

I have been where you are now with my first own piggy as a teenager; his sow-wife was killed by our neighbour's dog which had managed to wiggle underneath their badly maintained fence and then into the supposedly safe run. Thankfully a neighbour on the other side noticed the ruckus in time to save my boy. He was left badly pining and refusing to eat and drink, but perked up instantly when we went to get him a new little companion - the immediate change was such a relief for the whole family that we never rued it. :(
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
 
Update. I have emailed the rspca near us and am ringing tomorrow if no reply. They have a single neutered boar looking for a female friend. I don't have the room for a herd indoors I'm afraid. The cage is 4ft by 2 ft. Our hutch outside is much bigger (5ft by 2.5ft) and is double tier but belle is used to being in the warm so until summer comes I don't feel I can place her outside just yet as the temperature has dropped again. I will ring hazelcroft if no reply from rspca. I have mushed some pellets up and she seems to be nibbling and she has drank a small amount of water today. I'm a human nurse by profession and realise she must be getting dehydrated. I'm going to start daily weights also and I'm going to try some hand feeding. Carrots are her favourite. I didn't do hand feeding before as she has been so scared she has just been hiding and I didn't want to push her but I will not let her go as well! I have a couple syringes from work that I accidentally left in my pocket from the other night so have them if this doesn't work. Thank you everyone! I will update again in an hour
 
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Quick update. I thought she would be scared of me but she seems really settled on my lap. She wasn't interested at first but hand fed her and she took the carrot slice. After she ate that she seems to have gotten an appetite and dived head first into the bowl. Is happily munching out of the bowl now. a little pic is attached :) so happy she is eating xx

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princess tigerlily said:
Quick update. I thought she would be scared of me but she seems really settled on my lap. She wasn't interested at first but hand fed her and she took the carrot slice. After she ate that she seems to have gotten an appetite and dived head first into the bowl. Is happily munching out of the bowl now. a little pic is attached :) so happy she is eating xx

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I have been hoping for that - in my experience, stimulating the appetite with a little syringe feed often works! Hopefully, she is getting over the very worst now.

Best of luck with your search.
 
Oh thank goodness she's eating! What a relief. :hug:
Hopefully everything will fall in to place with finding a partner for her x
 
She has not eaten anything since last night and has not drank anything either. I'm hand feeding her and syring feeding her water to get her to drink. She has barely drank anything since cinders passed but is taking the syringe ok. I have emailed hazelcroft rescue as no reply from rspca by phone or email. She was a bit noisier this morning though so hopefully that is a step forward. Some picture are attached

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princess tigerlily said:
She has not eaten anything since last night and has not drank anything either. I'm hand feeding her and syring feeding her water to get her to drink. She has barely drank anything since cinders passed but is taking the syringe ok. I have emailed hazelcroft rescue as no reply from rspca by phone or email. She was a bit noisier this morning though so hopefully that is a step forward. Some picture are attached

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Poor you - of course the timing couldn't be any more unfortunate. Please keep syringe feeding and watering her. She needs a minimum of 40ml of syringe feed to stay alive and an intake of solids of 120 ml in 24 hours to keep her weight in the long term. Try to entice her with fresh herbs or dog-safe grass if that is possible, and continue to give her as much water as possible.

HUGS!
 
:(Very sorry for your loss. Cinders was a beautiful girl. :bye:

Perhaps, if you don't feel up to getting another piggie yet, you could just "lend" Bella to a rescue for a week or two. In that time they could find her a new friend, and you will have time to concentrate on yourself, grieve for Cinders properly and sort yourself out.
 
Thank you everyone. She has started to eat and drink again tonight. Properly! I gave her a small syringe feed this evening and syringe fed her some water. Since going back into her cage she has drank from her bottle for the first time in three days! And has started eating her food again! I'm so relieved! I was so worried when I got home and she hadn't touched anything and hadn't drank anything but since going back in her cage after lap time and syringe feeding she is eating and drinking again. So relieved. Will still weigh her daily until I'm sure she is 100% again. I have had a lovely offer from hazelcroft rescue that if I can't find a friend for belle and she doesn't pick up they will take belle for a while until she has a friend (unfortunately no single piggies available for belle at the moment). I'm still waiting to hear from the rspca about the single neutered boar looking for a girlfriend so hopefully will hear back tomorrow as bank holiday ends, and who knows maybe belle will have a friend in a couple days. Will keep you all updated. Very happy to see belle has picked up a bit this evening ☺️ Hopefully she continues to otherwise she may need to stay with hazelcroft rescue for a short time to be near some piggies. Fingers crossed
 
Belle has a new friend. I couldn't wait much longer and the worry has been getting to me. A friend mentioned that pets at home had a single adult female piggie for rehoming so I went to see her. Turns out they took her in because she was aggressive with other piggies and argued with other piggies so wasn't a suitable match. Either way I mentioned how belle was struggling and they pointed me in the direction of some piggies. One employee was very knowledgable. Even took the two smallest ones on the shop floor back to the back room as they were a bit skinny and said he wanted to make sure they were the right weight before leaving. He checked the feet, eyes, body and listened to the chest before handing me the new Guinea. She is called Merrida. I feel a bit distant from her at the moment but after a couple weeks I'm sure everything will be fine. The introduction went really well and have both been put in the cage (which has been cleaned and all the snuggly places that have just been washed have gone in so Belles smell is minimised). Belle seems really happy. She has snuggled up to her new friend, is eating and since having a new friend has drank about 15mls of water in a couple hours! More than she has drank (without syringe feeding) in the last three days! In all my years of owning I've never had a baby piggie, not this young anyway as I've always adopted. It's all new but I'm just happy that belle is happy!
 
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Thank you. I still miss cinders but I had to do this for belle. I'm sure in time Merrida will hold a place in my heart too. Their cage is in my room so I can keep an eye on them tonight. My sister will check on them tomorrow throughout the day. Thank you everyone for your advice and support xx
 
I am so sorry for the loss of Cinders, utterly tragic.

Sleep well pretty girl

RIP Cinders
x x
 
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