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guinea pig death

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sad guinea pig owner

I have not used this forum before so sorry if I am not posting in the right place but we are all feeling very sad as one of our guinea pigs died today. We brought them four weeks ago from a pet shop for my son's birthday and at first Fudge (who died this morning) seemed the confident one but recently he has not been moving around as much and not putting on as much weight as toffee. As we have not had guinea pigs before we did not realise how poorly he was and also I have been unwell so we have all been distracted. I think he may have had a respiratory infection as I noticed in the week that his breathing was different and I wish we had taken him to the vet. We are now not sure what to do we have a lovely big hutch and run and one very lonely looking 10 week old boar does anyone have advise for us on when and how we could introduce a new playmate for him. My son has just gone to bed crying his eyes out and I feel sad for toffee alone in his hutch, any advise very welcome.
 
Hi welcome to the forum.
Sorry that its at a time like this. 8... I'm not a very experienced guinea pig owner and I'm not sure what the best thing to do would be for Toffee apart from giving him lot of cuddles and reasurance. There will be some more experienced members along to give you some asistance. I just wanted to say that i'm thinking of you and your son at this sad time. I hope he's not too upset.

Sending hugs to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

RIP Fudge may you run free at the rainbow bridge.
 
AWW that's sad and very similar to something that happened to one of ours at the start. Sorry for you and for your poor son bless him.

The good news is that you have found a forum that will support and offer the best advice for all guinea pig needs.

As for me - I am fairly new to guineas but as yours is young he may accept a guinea friend and you could definitely get him a guinea pig baby boy friend. If you could get one from a rescue then that would be fab and some rescues even let you bring along your guinea pig so that they can pick a favourite friend.

Sorry again
 
sorry that you have joined this forum for this purpose. you should consider adopting from rescues. (many homeless guinea pigs out there that are just as cute and lovely as the ones bought at the pet shop)
here are some reasons to consider rescues:
-you can bring Fudge along to pick out his friend
-sometimes they are already used to handling from the previous home
-you can get correct advice from rescues
-and you'll have that happy, proud feeling that you have rescued a guinea pig rather then BOUGHT a guinea pig.

hope you consider this!

RIP Fudge x
 
I am so sorry! Getting used to a new pet is not always easy.

The best thing would be to let Fudge choose his new friend, if possible. Rescue pigs are only rehomed when they are absolutely healthy and in good condition; you also get help and advice from the rescue and the initial bonding is supervised by somebody who can judge it!

I am attaching a link to the rehoming website which contains addresses of rescue centres: http://www.guineapigrehome.org.uk

It pays to ring around; often rescues have more guinea pigs than on the website.
 
Thank you I have found details of a rescue that is not too far away and I have sent them an email. I am also worried about Toffee we cleaned out the hutch really well but is there anything else I need to do to make sure he does not get the same thing? He seems well at the moment but he keeps looking round for Fudge and I feel sad for him. I wish I had found this forum sooner as I may have been able to get help for Fudge.
 
Many of us wish the same... including me!

If you happen to have some fleece or other soft fabric; or little cuddly toy for him to wiggle into.

Guinea pigs do mourn their companions; make sure that you pass by often and talk to him. Once he has a new friend, he will be a completely changed piggy.

I wish you luck. Be aware that quite often rescue people are very busy, so don't be put off if you don't get an answer immediately. Try again by phone...

If you have more than one rescue within reasonable reach, it might be worth asking around. I did that twice after one of mine had died. I went to the rescue first that had the biggest selection of likely candidates and got a brilliant match each time (even if it never was the piggy I'd have chosen myself!)
 
Like us, all guinea pigs will die one day, however it is a wretched experience that this should happen to you so soon. Even with many years experience of guinea pigs it is something I have never got used to. The one thought I taken some consolation from is that when a pig dies it creates a space for another pig. I wonder if your two pigs were brothers?
 
Thank you, the piggies were not brothers as Fudge was short haired and Toffee is Abyssinian, however we understand from the pet shop that they had been together at the same breeders from a very young age. The pet shop have offered us another guinea pig but I am not sure if this is a good idea. Does anyone know if I would be better to match Toffee with an older boar or another baby as he is so young? Also how soon do you think I should wait before trying to match him as I am worried about him getting lonely? Any help warmly welcomed as we are all upset by this loss.
 
It might be worth pairing him with an older boar past his hormonal phase. He will be like a daddy figure for your little one at first and you are less at risk of a fall-out when both want to be the most macho boy ever at the same time.

However, you can look out for a baby companion as well, as he is still so young.

I prefer to find a new friend pretty soonish (within two weeks), especially with a baby one; they take being on their own usually very hard. Most guinea pigs come out of deep mourning within a few days.
 
thank you. I am worried that it may take a while to find an older boar to match him with, so I wonder if I should take the piggie that the pet shop are offering so that we can get a playmate for him quickly, but I am now nervous of guinea pigs from petshops. I have contacted the retreat to see of they have any appropriate boars to match him with. He has always been a very cautious and nervous piggy and we so want to get this right as we have all been so upset by the loss of Fudge. He does now seem to running around his run and eating well which I guess is a good sign. Thank you so much for help.
 
If you can get a piggy from the retreat, it would be better, because they will try and match him with boar that compliments your boy in character.
You can also have the added security of getting a healthy pet.

If Toffee is out and about, he's not pining too badly, so you can take your time. It's worth it!

(PS: I went off shops after I had double the number of guinea pigs within seven weeks! Give me a rescue any time!)
 
Thank you for your help. I have contacted the retreat in Bristol and they have a very lonely one year old boar, who has been with them one week and we have arranged to take Toffee over there on Saturday to see if it is going to be a good match, so fingers crossed. Toffee seems good, he was running about in his run this afternoon, eating food and squeaking on our laps, we hope he will like his new friend. Thank you for your support this has been a steep learning curve!
 
Sadly, sometimes it is!

I will keep my fingers crossed for next Saturday; the retreat is very good and careful with their rescues, so you are in very safe hands!
 
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As I said, the death of a pig makes room for another one, who is probably in greater need.
 
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