Bereavement

T

Throwa

Junior Guinea Pig
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Buckinghamshire - High Wycombe
We had a herd of 4 Guineas, 3x girls (Patch, Midnight, Honey) and a neutered boy (Boney).

Patch died in her sleep overnight, and we found her this morning with Honey huddled up next to her. patch was boss pig, then Boney, Midnight, Honey.

Midnight and Honey are getting on with their lives, eating everything which stands still long enough etc etc. Boney however who was particularly attached to Patch, is very sad and doesn’t appear to have eaten / moved much at all since he was put out on grass this morning.

What should we do next? Should we start syringe feeding him? Should we see if he gets over it himself in the next few days? Should we get a baby girl to make the numbers up to 4 again so they can split into two pairs? (We are not particularly keen on this option as the girls are all 3.5y and Boney is 2.5y, we don’t necessarily want a cycle of never ending Guineas, but we do want to help Boney).

He is a hefty 1.5kg boy so I’m not sure there is an immediate need for action, but I don’t want him to go too long without eating.

Does anyone have any advice?
 
I can't really offer any advice as no expert but sorry for your loss. If he is with your 2 other sows then he will have company so he might just take a few days to come to terms with the loss x
 
Throwa said:
We had a herd of 4 Guineas, 3x girls (Patch, Midnight, Honey) and a neutered boy (Boney).

Patch died in her sleep overnight, and we found her this morning with Honey huddled up next to her. patch was boss pig, then Boney, Midnight, Honey.

Midnight and Honey are getting on with their lives, eating everything which stands still long enough etc etc. Boney however who was particularly attached to Patch, is very sad and doesn’t appear to have eaten / moved much at all since he was put out on grass this morning.

What should we do next? Should we start syringe feeding him? Should we see if he gets over it himself in the next few days? Should we get a baby girl to make the numbers up to 4 again so they can split into two pairs? (We are not particularly keen on this option as the girls are all 3.5y and Boney is 2.5y, we don’t necessarily want a cycle of never ending Guineas, but we do want to help Boney).

He is a hefty 1.5kg boy so I’m not sure there is an immediate need for action, but I don’t want him to go too long without eating.

Does anyone have any advice?
Click to expand...

Hi!

I am very sorry for your unexpected loss! We have a Rainbow Bridge section for those members that want to commemorate their beloved piggies whenever it feels right for them; you are welcome to post a tribute to Patch if you wish to.

Please offer Boney some syringe feed and water; it can kickstart the appetite/eating reflex in a acutely pining piggy that is very upset.
Switch to weighing him daily at the same time to monitor his food intake until he has got his normal appetite back. See a vet if that doesn't do the trick.

Please keep Boney with his remaining wives and in the comfort of their company.
There will be some inevitable hierarchy shuffling in the coming days once your piggies come out of deep mourning to re-establish the group anew. Before you make any further decisions I would strongly recommend to see how things go.
Boney has already got company; he will have to redefine his relationship with them in the absence of Patch and that will hopefully get jhim going again.

If you want to take the group rescue dating for a fourth sow of any age at some later point once the dust has settled, then by all means do it. It is generally easier to add not fully grown sub-adult sows or a submissive sow from a group background to a group, but it all very much depends on the personalities and bonding dynamics that develop between them; they are never quite predictable. What looks perfect on paper can go pear-shaped very quickly in reality.
That is why rescue dating is worth the travel and the extra effort - you come home only with a piggy that is accepted by the group (or if you really want to split off Boney at some point). By looking for sows that cannot challenge the established group hierarchy, you up the chance of success.
By going to a good standard rescue with mandatory quarantine and pregnancy watch/vet care, you can also be assured that you are in experienced hands and won't have any nasty surprises with a new piggy. You also get the support of the rescue during the settling and the life of your adopted piggy if the bond runs into trouble at some point. If you can no longer keep an adopted piggy, it has to revert to the rescue you have adopted it from.
Here is our list of recommended and vetted good standard UK rescues we can guarantee you are in expert hands: Recommended Guinea Pig Rescues
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

I am very sorry for your unexpected loss! We have a Rainbow Bridge section for those members that want to commemorate their beloved piggies whenever it feels right for them; you are welcome to post a tribute to Patch if you wish to.

Please offer Boney some syringe feed and water; it can kickstart the appetite/eating reflex in a acutely pining piggy that is very upset.
Switch to weighing him daily at the same time to monitor his food intake until he has got his normal appetite back. See a vet if that doesn't do the trick.

Please keep Boney with his remaining wives and in the comfort of their company.
There will be some inevitable hierarchy shuffling in the coming days once your piggies come out of deep mourning to re-establish the group anew. Before you make any further decisions I would strongly recommend to see how things go.
Boney has already got company; he will have to redefine his relationship with them in the absence of Patch and that will hopefully get jhim going again.

If you want to take the group rescue dating for a fourth sow of any age at some later point once the dust has settled, then by all means do it. It is generally easier to add not fully grown sub-adult sows or a submissive sow from a group background to a group, but it all very much depends on the personalities and bonding dynamics that develop between them; they are never quite predictable. What looks perfect on paper can go pearshaped very quickly in reality.
That is why rescue dating is worth the travel and the extra effort - you come home only with a piggy that is accepted by the group (or if you really want to split off Boney at some point). By looking for sows that cannot challenge the established group hierarchy, you up the chance of success.
By going to a good standard rescue with mandatory quarantine and pregnancy/vet care, you can also be assured that you are in experienced hands and won't have any nasty surprises with a new piggy. You also get the support of the rescue during the settling and the life of your adopted piggy if the bond runs into trouble at some point. If you can no longer keep an adopted piggy, it has to revert to the rescue you have adopted it from.
Here is our list of recommended and vetted good standard UK rescues we can guarantee you are in expert hands: Recommended Guinea Pig Rescues
Click to expand...

Thanks Wiebke, we will get syringing and see how he gets on over the next few days.
 
Very sorry for your loss, please feel free to leave a memorial in our rainbow bridge section of the forum
 
Thanks all for your comments. The herd is all a little bit subdued this morning, but they have started to chatter away to each other again, they polished off their tea last night, and Boney is nibbling some grass, so I think that he will be ok. We will wait and see how the dynamics all work out before deciding whether to add another girl into the herd - the kids are keen to have a herd of 4 again but we shall see.

They are funny little things, guineas, they squeak their way into your heart without you even realising :-(
 
I’m so sorry for your sudden loss. It sounds like the herd are adjusting to the loss of their leader. I hope Boneyards continues to pick up,
 
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