SarahP1991
New Born Pup
Hello everybody,
I am new to this forum, I hope I put this in the right section. Sorry in advance for this long post!
For three weeks, I have been seriously hesitating to keep a guinea pig or not, after the guinea pig of my husband and I, Flappy, passed away on 7 July 2018. Her death hurt me a lot, it felt like my heart broke into a thousands pieces, and I still miss her every day. On February 5th, we received news from my sister-in-law that a colleague of hers had 4 newborn guinea pigs, and she wondered if we were interested in keeping a guinea pig. I immediately panicked and I did not know how to respond, I felt especially guilty towards Flappy at the thought of keeping a guinea pig. Two weeks ago, I decided to pay a visit to the guinea pigs first, to see how I feel about holding a guinea pig again. In that moment, I felt rather good and I was convinced that I was ready, until ten minutes later when we came back home, and my mood changed completely. I started crying, and feelings of guilt hit again. Tomorrow, we have to let our decision known, and I still don't know what to do. They always say that you have to follow your heart, but in this moment I really don't know what my heart is trying to tell me. Flappy also died in a terrible way, she suffered in the end, and I will never forget those last images before she died. I try to focus on the good times we had together in those 5,5 years, and this went well before we got the news, but since that news of the newborn guinea pigs, it's like the mourning process completely started from scratch for me. I think I'm also afraid to feel that pain again when the guinea pig will die.
My husband says I may not be ready yet, but others think it might just help me feel less lonely, and fill the void that Flappy left behind.
The guinea pigs are almost 4 weeks old now, they are two boars and two sows. That colleague would keep the sows, and at first she was planning to bring the boars to a pet store, but if we would make the decision not to keep a guinea pig, she is planning to keep the two boars, but separated from the sows. I thought this would make my decision easier if I knew that the guinea pigs would stay together as a family and do not have to go to a pet store, but unfortunately I'm still having doubts.
I know that we can give a guinea pig a good home and the love that he or she deserves, but I'm afraid that I am not ready yet, that I will compare the guinea pig to Flappy, and that I will feel less attached to the new animal, and I am also scared when I say no, that I may regret it within a few weeks.
Have you ever experienced a similar situation, or do you have any advice that you can give me? I'm really afraid to make the wrong decision ...
I am new to this forum, I hope I put this in the right section. Sorry in advance for this long post!
For three weeks, I have been seriously hesitating to keep a guinea pig or not, after the guinea pig of my husband and I, Flappy, passed away on 7 July 2018. Her death hurt me a lot, it felt like my heart broke into a thousands pieces, and I still miss her every day. On February 5th, we received news from my sister-in-law that a colleague of hers had 4 newborn guinea pigs, and she wondered if we were interested in keeping a guinea pig. I immediately panicked and I did not know how to respond, I felt especially guilty towards Flappy at the thought of keeping a guinea pig. Two weeks ago, I decided to pay a visit to the guinea pigs first, to see how I feel about holding a guinea pig again. In that moment, I felt rather good and I was convinced that I was ready, until ten minutes later when we came back home, and my mood changed completely. I started crying, and feelings of guilt hit again. Tomorrow, we have to let our decision known, and I still don't know what to do. They always say that you have to follow your heart, but in this moment I really don't know what my heart is trying to tell me. Flappy also died in a terrible way, she suffered in the end, and I will never forget those last images before she died. I try to focus on the good times we had together in those 5,5 years, and this went well before we got the news, but since that news of the newborn guinea pigs, it's like the mourning process completely started from scratch for me. I think I'm also afraid to feel that pain again when the guinea pig will die.
My husband says I may not be ready yet, but others think it might just help me feel less lonely, and fill the void that Flappy left behind.
The guinea pigs are almost 4 weeks old now, they are two boars and two sows. That colleague would keep the sows, and at first she was planning to bring the boars to a pet store, but if we would make the decision not to keep a guinea pig, she is planning to keep the two boars, but separated from the sows. I thought this would make my decision easier if I knew that the guinea pigs would stay together as a family and do not have to go to a pet store, but unfortunately I'm still having doubts.
I know that we can give a guinea pig a good home and the love that he or she deserves, but I'm afraid that I am not ready yet, that I will compare the guinea pig to Flappy, and that I will feel less attached to the new animal, and I am also scared when I say no, that I may regret it within a few weeks.
Have you ever experienced a similar situation, or do you have any advice that you can give me? I'm really afraid to make the wrong decision ...
