Death - Bereavement Question

[Ellie2002]

I recently posted a thread explaining my story of two out of three of my guinea pigs dying. Minnie the shy and quiet one didn’t pass. She doesn’t seem at all effected my dandelion and Lily’s death she’s eating and letting us play with her. Does anyone know why this is since she was a baby she was with dandelion and lily we brought them together. So why isn’t she upset?

 

[Merab]

Guinea pigs grieve differently.
Remember their life span is much shorter than ours so everything else is shorter.
A bereaved piggy will get on with business of living.
Keep an eye on Millie, she will probably show signs of missing piggy companionship.
It’s harder for you so be gentle with yourself

 

[Wiebke]

I recently posted a thread explaining my story of two out of three of my guinea pigs dying. Minnie the shy and quiet one didn’t pass. She doesn’t seem at all effected my dandelion and Lily’s death she’s eating and letting us play with her. Does anyone know why this is since she was a baby she was with dandelion and lily we brought them together. So why isn’t she upset?

Guinea pigs react very differently to death; the same as humans. It is often not what you expect. Thankfully only a small minority of piggies pine acutely, which is very upsetting to watch. Soldiering on is not at all uncommon.

Please be aware that while guinea pigs are seemingly unaffected they do not require companionship in the longer run.
I am currently looking after a nearly 9 year old lady who was seemingly unaffected by the loss of the last of her long term companions, but over a few weeks became very clingy/attention seeking when in human company and withdrawn/bored as soon as she was left on her own. That was the reason why she came here to live out her life; she's been here for 14 months now. Her loving previous owner and I are both hoping that she is going to see her 9th birthday in May!

 

[Freela]

Guinea pigs grieve different that humans and may not always show signs that we can observe clearly. When we've lost pigs in the past, the majority of them took time to sniff and sit with the body before moving on. Two remaining solo pigs then got back to life as usual, with very little noticeable change (but both were clearly excited to be introduced to a new friend in a few weeks' time.) The other pig left alone was obviously quite distressed and would wheek for us to come and pick her up (something she had never done before.) She was also scared to get out of the cage for free time on her own. They are obviously all different and not all are going to outwardly show grieving. However, my experience was that all my pigs, even those who seemed unaffected, were very happy to see another pig again. They do naturally live with other pigs and appreciate that interaction, so looking into another companion in the future is likely what's best for Minnie.

 

[Ellie2002]

Guinea pigs react very differently to death; the same as humans. It is often not what you expect. Thankfully only a small minority of piggies pine acutely, which is very upsetting to watch. Soldiering on is not at all uncommon.

Please be aware that while guinea pigs are seemingly unaffected they do not require companionship in the longer run.
I am currently looking after a nearly 9 year old lady who was seemingly unaffected by the loss of the last of her long term companions, but over a few weeks became very clingy/attention seeking when in human company and withdrawn/bored as soon as she was left on her own. That was the reason why she came here to live out her life; she's been here for 14 months now. Her loving previous owner and I are both hoping that she is going to see her 9th birthday in May!

That seems exactly like Minnie she has been more open to let us pick her up I put it down to her feeling lonely, thank you for responding!

 

[Ellie2002]

Guinea pigs grieve different that humans and may not always show signs that we can observe clearly. When we've lost pigs in the past, the majority of them took time to sniff and sit with the body before moving on. Two remaining solo pigs then got back to life as usual, with very little noticeable change (but both were clearly excited to be introduced to a new friend in a few weeks' time.) The other pig left alone was obviously quite distressed and would wheek for us to come and pick her up (something she had never done before.) She was also scared to get out of the cage for free time on her own. They are obviously all different and not all are going to outwardly show grieving. However, my experience was that all my pigs, even those who seemed unaffected, were very happy to see another pig again. They do naturally live with other pigs and appreciate that interaction, so looking into another companion in the future is likely what's best for Minnie.

We are looking at rescuing a guinea pig but minni does seem very happy eating as usual, we just don’t want her to fight with a New Guinea pig making her life and the other guineas life miserable.

 

[Ellie2002]

Guinea pigs grieve differently.
Remember their life span is much shorter than ours so everything else is shorter.
A bereaved piggy will get on with business of living.
Keep an eye on Millie, she will probably show signs of missing piggy companionship.
It’s harder for you so be gentle with yourself

I really do feel as though Minnie is happy the other two were the confident ones and I think it’s allowed Minnie to come out of her she’ll more