coping with pet anxiety

piggymad28

piggymad28

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi all

Not sure if this is the right board to post on for this topic. Obviously I know no one can provide medical advice , I'm not looking for that.

I'm really finding it difficult to manage anxiety around my pigs and the heatwave. I
 
Hi all

Sorry, pressed post too soon before I finished.

I'm really finding it difficult to manage anxiety around my pigs and the heatwave. I do have anxiety anyway, and adhd - my medication for this actually increases my body temperature so this heatwave is a nightmare for me!

I have 3 sows, one is 5 years 10 months(ish). She is the one I worry about the most but to the point where its not helpful for me. I have a thermometer in the living room where their c&c cage is, and do all I can to keep them cool - and they seem fine for now. I'm just so worried I'm not doing enough and that I will lose my old girl.

I lost 3 piggies from the end of 2021 to October 2022, two of those deaths were traumatic for me. I think these haunt me still and I feel not good enough as an owner.

No idea why I'm posting this actually. But I can't focus at work because all I can think about is my girls overheating. My adhd meds make me overheat, so I assume they must be too hot too, but they're ignoring the ice blocks and other cooling stuff I've put out for them so clearly they're OK!
 
I'm sorry to hear you're struggling. It's perfectly natural to worry about your precious piggies, but not to the point where it's causing you extreme stress or affecting your daily life.
I can't give you much heat-specific advice, but this guide has been really useful for me in the past (Pet Owners Anxiety - Practical Tips For Sufferers and For Supporters). All of my guinea pigs also had fairly traumatic deaths (traumatic for me, not so much for them), so I do understand how you feel. There are lots of us on the forum who struggle with piggy-related anxiety, so there will always be support here for you.
Don't be afraid to reach out to a professional (or a trusted friend or family member) either. Xx
 
It makes me feel better to know I'm not alone in my piggy-related anxiety because I did feel like I was alone, and felt like I was going mad!

I follow the heat-specific advice religiously, and I've had piggies since 2018, but this year is the first time I've really been anxious. The side effects of my meds don't help because they leave me feeling overheated. I'm doing literally everything to make them comfortable, as I always do.

I will check out those tips now. I want to enjoy my girls again, especially my old sow, luna. I know logically she'll go when it's her time, and I don't want my enjoyment to be shadowed by anxiety.
 
Hi, you are doing everything right by your piggies and keeping them safe. You have provided them with ice blocks which they are ignoring so you know they are not overheating.

I totally get how hard it can be when you yourself are feeling too hot. Hot weather and heat can trigger my anxiety and when I start to panic I start to burn up, so it becomes a vicious circle and I start to panic about the pigs too. I found the heatwaves last summer very traumatic. I have had CBT since then so this time around am able to remain calm. Also as it is September the hottest hours are shorter than in the height of summer, which is reassuring.

You are definitely not alone but the hot days will pass and your girls will be find. And you will be fine too xx
 
Cbt sounds interesting. Unfortunately it's never worked for me as I'm autistic. I also get in a cycle about the heat which makes it worse. Also heat causes sensory overload and triggers meltdowns for me, and I guess I'm assuming my piggies are finding it as painful as I am.

But you're right and i know I'm doing everything for my girls. I can't do any more. They ignored the ice blocks last night and the younger two were as active as usual! Luna isn't active much these days anyway because of her age, and tbh she's always been lazy lol. Its my own anxiety I need to work on managing.

Thank you all. I felt like I was weird for being anxious about my pets and it helps so much to know I'm not!
 
I really struggle with anxiety, and I get how hard it is. I’m on medication but even that can’t overpower the love I have for my animals.

Things I find helpful are focusing on the facts of the situation. So in your case your girls weren’t using their ice packs, that’s a great sign. If they started using their ice packs that’s also okay, it was a very hot day, instead of panicking you have to take a second to breathe and think about what you can do instead of focusing on what’s going to go wrong. You can offer them a piece of high water content vegetable so you are sure they are getting enough water in (don’t over feed), you can set up a fan and place some cooling item such as ice water infront of it to try and cool the room down (fans and hot air don’t mix well, but putting something cool infront of it can help spread a sort of cool mist around the room, just ensure you place it far enough away from them). Worst case scenario you can relocate them into a temporary cage in the coolest room, even into a bath tub if necessary.

It’s hard, it really really is, but what I have found helpful is taking a second just to breathe and think logically, as your flight or fight instinct isn’t very helpful in these situations.

It’s easier said then done but it’s certainly not weird or strange to have anxiety in these situations. You sound like a great owner x
 
piggymad28 said:
Also heat causes sensory overload
Click to expand...

I can understand this, more than I'd like - for me, heat feels restrictive. Like weighted blanket type restrictive, and it's almost painful. Heat is not my favourite weather type.

I don't have anything useful to add, I'm sorry. Just wanted you to know it's not just you, and that even if we can't understand the specific heat-related anxiety issues we get the anxiety, because we've all been there before. You're doing everything you can do, and that's what matters.
 
Hi

I have tried to write guides with an eye to anxiety sufferers of which we have a fair number on this forum. Extreme weather and loss are always stress situations so what you are experiencing is pretty normal.

I would recommend that you read these links here. They have lots of very practical advice and easy to implement measures that can make a real difference for your own life and heat comfort. They have also real-life feedback from other anxiety sufferers during last year's record heat.
Pet Owners Anxiety - Practical Tips For Sufferers and For Supporters (worth a read for any anxiety sufferer or anybody in regular contact with somebody suffering from anxiety so they can help you better)

Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike (the biggest collection of possible and tested measures - most of them low foot-print and easy to implement. It is the combination of several little things that can make a real difference.)

Hot weather warning for the UK - plan now to keep your piggies safe! (This thread is from last summer when forum members tried a range of the measures from our hot weather guide, tested and adapted them for their own situation and reported the feedback. It is also a bit of a support Q&A guide for forum members with anxieties around hot weather. You may find it very helpful. )

Make sure that you counter your anxiety with planning at least one enrichment activity for every day so you create a positive memory and know that you are giving your piggies what they want from life each day: a happy today. Enrichment can be something very, very simple and free of cost outside of a cuddle, as long as you share the moment with your piggies. Enrichment addresses all the senses and not just cuddles and toys.
Do this even more so at times you feel stressed as a counter to your anxiety. Watching your piggies having fun is the best antidote and reassurance that they are OK. :)
I would also recommend that you take a picture or a little video and create a folder or a private account on social media. These activities create precious memories that will stay with you for your life and that will mean that you never lose your pets completely, even though you can no longer touch them. They are always with you in your thoughts and in your happy memories - and by recording those happy moments, you will be able to access them at any time when you are feeling down and overwhelmed and will be able to bring back some happy feelings and reduce your stress hormones.
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs


Now to the less enjoyable part:
The guides below do not make necessarily easy reading but they are invaluable for when you find yourself struggling with any of these aspects, from emergency/serious illness support to dying and grieving/coping with loss. I have made them as practical, precise and easy to follow as possible but they are also sensitive and supportive at the same time.
Just so you know they are there at any time and that you are not just left to fall into a black hole in the middle of the night when this forum is mostly silent.

I would recommend that you bookmark all the links in this post so you have them easily available at all times. I would also recommend that you tell your home support (family/friends) to remind you regularly to re-read them if needed.

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection
A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs

Human Bereavement: Grieving, Processing and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children
Looking After a Bereaved Guinea Pig

We have much wider information resource with lots of helpful as well as interesting information about life with guinea pigs and learning to understand better where they are coming from and what makes them tick: Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive Information Collection

I mainly hope that this will help to reassure you. There are lots of little things that you can do and that others in your situation have worked through and have given feedback on. There is also instant help for you whenever you really need it in extreme situations that talks you through all the little things and show you how you can work through them little step by step.
 
Thanks all. This is super helpful stuff. What a wonderful forum ! Can't wait for this heatwave to be over, it's horrendous in London.
 
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