Grieving process when losing a cage mate

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SpookySundae

New Born Pup
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We sadly lost Sundae a day ago and her cage mate Spooky is now alone. While Sundae was seperated at eating times for the past month and over her last week she was seperated completely, Spooky was never really alone. They could see and touch each other through the divider and had play time in the neutral play zone.
Sppoky has always been more timid and shy, she is very skittish but loves cuddle time with us. She followed Sundae every where and never ventured too far from her friend. Now alone, she rarely leaves her hiding spot, if I sit with her she will come out and munch her food or say hello but at any movement or noise she scurries back in hiding.
We really do not have the means to get another piggy at the moment as all our reserves were drained with Sundaes care and vet bills, we need some time to grieve and recover before reaching out for a nee mate.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
What I did when Smudge passed (for Smokey) is that I gave him as much attention as humanly possible (he was basically never away from me) until I knew he was okay (we didn't know what happened to Smudge) around three days later we got Bacon. You know Spooky is okay so as soon as you can get her a friend. I'm not an expert and this post is like all my others a jumbled up mess, all I can say is to spend as much time with her as possible.
 
I am very sorry for your loss. Allow Spooky to grieve but spend more time with her once she comes out of her deep mourning after around 4 days. Plan to get her a new mate once you can.

If you can, get her a toddler safe cuddly toy to snuggle up to; a second-hand one will do. If you can rub it over with something with Sundae's or her scent, then all the better.

You can find some good ideas on enrichment in this thread here. Some of the best piggy toys revolve around brown paper bags (any handles cut through), toilet roll inners and brown cardboard.
Guinea Pig Toys
 
Thank you, I will look into gp toys. I do have a stuffed piggy I could put in with her, should I worry about her chewing it? Maybe remove the hard button eyes?
 
SpookySundae said:
Thank you, I will look into gp toys. I do have a stuffed piggy I could put in with her, should I worry about her chewing it? Maybe remove the hard button eyes?
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Please remove the hard button eyes and don't be upset if she prefers to ignore it. ;)
 
Spooky started wheeking this morning 😁😁 She is coming out of her house a lot more and was pop corning durining exercise time. Looks like the little girl is slowly coming out of mourning, wish it was that easy for us.
 
SpookySundae said:
Spooky started wheeking this morning 😁😁 She is coming out of her house a lot more and was pop corning durining exercise time. Looks like the little girl is slowly coming out of mourning, wish it was that easy for us.
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There is never a time when guinea pigs and humans differ as much as in the way they process a loss. Guinea pigs don't mourn any less deeply but the much more immediate need to survive means that they have to pick up their lives a lot quicker again. This guide her addresses this problem.
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
 
She has a little stuffed buddy with her and loves her cuddles with my boy, before she ran away!
I am so glad to see her out and about, we were getting worried.
 
I'm so sorry for your loss. :( I'm glad Spooky is beginning to adapt a bit. Some pigs have an easier time moving on than others. It's very positive that she is eating and wheeking.
 
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