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Any Help Much Appreciated - Sudden Death And Bereavement

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MrsW

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Hello

Although i have been a member of this forum for a while this is my first post.
We had two male pigs age 3 years but sadly we lost one on Wednesday, he was put to sleep at the vets. We are totally heartbroken.
So they currently live outside in their two tier hutch, we've always brought them inside during the colder months and they are outside the rest of the time. Our garden is totally enclosed and all one level so they pretty much have free reign of it while they are out there.
On Wednesday afternoon my son let them out of the cage as normal and both pigs were happily grazing as they normally would. I was out there with them and my husband came out to join me and noticed immediately one of the pigs was lying on his side. My husband approached him and the pig tried to get up but couldn't walk at all. My husband picked him up and held him for a couple of minutes then tried to put him back down and he flopped straight onto his side again. He couldn't function his legs at all.
I phoned the vets who by the way were fantastic and saw us within 5 minutes of me calling and on our arrival at the vets our pig was barely breathing.
The vet examined him and said there was no broken bones, he wasn't dehydrated and there was no obvious signs of a problem. She pulled his legs out flat and lay him across the table and he wasn't able to pull himself up. He made no sounds whatsoever to indicate he was in any pain. She said she thought he had maybe eaten something that had pretty much paralyzed him although there was nothing in his mouth and he wasn't frothing from his mouth. She gave me the option of them admitting him and running tests which i needed to be prepared for coming back with nothing or putting him to sleep. As much as it pained me and my son who witnessed it all, i decided the kinder thing to do was to let him go. The vet assured me it was the right thing to do as the chances were the damage was already done. We arrived at the vets at 4.20pm and by 4.45pm he was gone.
We were able to bring him home and bury him in our garden that he loved to be in. We really are feeling the loss of him, it breaks my heart not having him squealing every time i open the back door.
So as a result we now have one lonely, confused piggie. We have smothered him with special treatment the last few days but i can just feel the sadness from him. I have reluctantly contacted two local farms that have petting areas to see if they could take him and both have said they cant right now. I am just so worried hes going to give up and follow suit of his little friend but i am aware i am not able to just add another pig in there with him. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Sorry this post has turned out very long. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
 
I am so sorry for your loss. It's awful when they go. It broke my heart when my last boy went. The house felt so empty without him. :(

A common misconspetion is that you can't house males that haven't grown up together. This is not true. Although they are trickier than females to bond, it can be done quite successfully. Have a look to see if their are any rescue centres near you. Some offer a piggy dating service where they'll match your piggies personality to one of their own. They will introduce them too, which means you don't have to deal with chaos of bonding :P

Someone will probably be along soon that knows what rescue centres are where. You could also check in the sales and rehoming section. ;)
 
So sorry for your loss but as @hsn97 has already said you should be able to find him a friend so please don't give up on him especially as
you obviously love them and care for them.

Good luck and let us know how you get on :nod: Sending hugs to you all at this very sad time :hug:
 
I am very sorry for your shock! It could have been poisoning, but strokes and heart attacks can also happen at any age and completely out of the blue; this sounds rather like a stroke, considering how quickly it happened. But in any case, you made absolutely the right decision. Sometimes, the ultimate gift you can give to a beloved pet is to not let it suffer.
You are welcome to post a tribute in our Rainbow Bridge section if and whenever it feels right for you.

Where are you located? We have got members from all over the world and your options depend very much on where you are. Please add your country, state or UK county to your details, so we can tailor any advice to what is available and doable for you. Please click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. thank you!

We have got a recommended good standard UK rescues locator on the top bar; most of these rescues, which are the ones we can guarantee for, offer boar dating at the rescue under expert supervision, so you only come home with a guaranteed healthy pig if the two like each other and get on. Mutual liking and character compatibility is the key to any boar bond; boars can be bonded or rebonded at any age provided they can choose who they want to live with. You also have the rescue to fall back on in case there are any problems throughout the life of any of their adopted pets. If wished, I can provide a link for recommended rescues in other countries.

Here are our tips on what you can do for the bereaved companion in the meantime: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/looking-after-a-bereaved-guinea-pig.110463/
 
I am so, so sorry for your loss. It always pains me to read a tradgedy such as this - but the silver lining to this dark cloud is that your guinea pigs were and still are loved.

I agree with what the above posters have already said and I really hope you are able to contact a local rescue and find your remaining gunea pig a suitable companion.
 
Thank you for the responses and kind words and also thank you for the advice given.

Wiebke i am in Cambridgeshire. I will add info to my profile now.
 
My condolences to you. It is really heart breaking when they die so suddenly. I know. But it might be worth trying to pair it?
 
I'm very sorry to read your post. How heart-breaking for you. It does sound like a stroke and nothing that could have been prevented, but these things often remain a mystery and puts us on edge in case we have missed something in their care....
I hope that you can find a new companion soon. I really feel for you, it's a horrible situation to find yourself in. xx
 
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