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Help please - how soon rebond bereaved companion?

xlittlepiggiesx

xlittlepiggiesx

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi One of my guinea pigs aged 3/3.5passed away yesterday at 1am in my arms, he has been poorly twice in a one month but made a full recover he’s now left his cage friend they were always inseparable since I adopted them, ,my question is do I leave the remaining piggie a few weeks before trying to bond him with a new friend or straight away I did get told to wait 3 weeks incause the guinea pig who passed away have passed something on the the other pig ?
Thanks for reading and replying I greatly appreciate everyone’s advice xx
 
Hi!

I am very sorry for your loss.

You may find our detailed bereavement care guide helpful; it also deals with the question of quarantine vs. acute pining, as well as what you can do for your piggy in the immediate and medium term.
In essence, it depends on a) what your piggy has died from (infectious or not?) and b) how your survivor is coping with the loss. You have to weigh up the different factors and then decide what you prioritise.

If your survivor is coping (eating and drinking and getting on with life, if subdued) then you have the leeway to wait 2-4 weeks to set up a rescue dating session at Glynneath Guinea Pig Rescue, if possible. That is by far the best rescue for rebonding bereaved guinea pigs in the whole of South Wales and well worth the extra trip!
If your companion is not coping on their own (i.e. pining acutely) or is falling ill as well, then you have to put either finding a companion asap or put medical treatment first before thinking about companionship. You can however contact the rescue now and speak to them re. setting up a dating slot.

Here is our bereavement guide: Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
This is our new owners grieving guide: Human Bereavement - Grieving, coping tips and support links for guinea pig owners and their children

I hope that this help you? There is no one solution fits every case; but rather several factors you need to weigh up against each other and do your best for your piggy depending on how things run.

I hope that this helps you?
 
Hi thank you so much I shall take a look at them tonight unfortunately I can't bring my self to leave him with a rescue to bond as I find it hard being away from them but I do have experience with bonding
Thanks xx
 
xlittlepiggiesx said:
Hi thank you so much I shall take a look at them tonight unfortunately I can't bring my self to leave him with a rescue to bond as I find it hard being away from them but I do have experience with bonding
Thanks xx
Click to expand...

You can still take him there it see whether acceptance is happening at the rescue, so your boy has a say in who he gets on with. Suzy is so experienced that she can tell very quickly whether a bond has a good chance of working or not so it can be done within a day of necessary.
 
xlittlepiggiesx said:
It’s over an hour away too so don’t want to stress him in car
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Piggies travel amazingly well. I travel that distance to see my piggy savvy vet, including coming home with freshly operated piggies on the train. None have ever had any problems.

A number of my own piggies come from rescues from all over the UK and some have travelled for over 3 hours with me on the train. The furthest I have travelled was over 6 hours each way to the Llyn peninsula for a holiday with 2 piggies on daily meds when a carer pulled out at the last moment. The piggies survived their experience by a fair number of years and lived to 6 and 8 years respectively!

Here are our travelling tips: Travelling with guinea pigs

PS: My Hedydd and Heulwen are from Glynneath. I have been there (again) by train as far as Neath. They have made their journey over 7 years ago, and as you can see, it has not done any damage to their longevity with Heulwen eyeing up her 8th birthday in July and Hedydd hers in September. ;)
 
Unfortunately it's also too far from me so I would have to adopt from pets at home or buy a piggie
 
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