How long did it take for you to feel better after losing your piggy?
- Thread starter Chaz
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My Piggies
Adult Guinea Pig
After the sudden loss of my piggy Rosie in 2017, it took me a couple of months at least to feel better. As time goes on, you will be able to think of your piggy and smile because of all the happy memories you had with her. I find it helps to think about their life, rather than their death. I'm sure your piggy had an amazing life with you and enjoyed every moment. Take care of yourself 
Betsy
Anniversary Herd
After losing both Dennis and Christian within 4 days at the end of last year it took a good 3-4 months before I was even able to begin to feel better. I still have the odd cry now about them a week is really a very short time.
Someone told me 2 things about grief which I'll share with you here.
The more you grieve the more you have loved
Grief is love with nowhere to go.
Everyone grieves differently. What you are feeling is right for you there is no right or wrong way to grieve. It's a process that you have to go through.
I'm sorry that you lost your piggy.
Someone told me 2 things about grief which I'll share with you here.
The more you grieve the more you have loved
Grief is love with nowhere to go.
Everyone grieves differently. What you are feeling is right for you there is no right or wrong way to grieve. It's a process that you have to go through.
I'm sorry that you lost your piggy.
Bill & Ted
Forum Buddy
Grieving is quite a strange process, one minute you feel ok and the next your heart aches so much it feels like it will break in two. be kind to yourself it will take a long time. I lost both my boys Bill and Ted last year and I still have sad moments, you hurt because you loved and cared. Try think of all the lovely times you had together when you feel sad x
Black piggies
Senior Guinea Pig
Sorry you're still feeling rubbish. It can take months but hopefully this is the worst you'll feel. It's very much 2 steps forwards and 1 back so hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
A strong bond, guilt or unanswered questions make it take longer with me. Hopefully you come to feel this didn't happen because you missed something, sadly it was your piggy's time and the pneumonia was stronger than your beloved piggy.
A strong bond, guilt or unanswered questions make it take longer with me. Hopefully you come to feel this didn't happen because you missed something, sadly it was your piggy's time and the pneumonia was stronger than your beloved piggy.
piggieminder
Forum Buddy
For me it's been different each time I've lost one depending on the circumstances of their death. Grief is like a roller coaster it comes and goes in waves until one day you realise you've just smiled at a funny memory of something they did rather than cried. The smiles gradually become more frequent than the tears. Our lost loved ones live on in our hearts, they are never really lost to us.
I hope you feel less sad soon.
I hope you feel less sad soon.
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Every loss is different and everyone grieves differently.
I lost Jemimah last year. She had a terminal diagnosis 3 months earlier so I was grieving all that time. It didn’t take as long for me to feel better after her death as it did when I had no time to prepare for her sister Keziah’s death.
I still have moments when a memory is triggered for any of my piggies.
The rawness does pass. A week is no time at all.
Holding you in my heart as you grieve for your loss
I lost Jemimah last year. She had a terminal diagnosis 3 months earlier so I was grieving all that time. It didn’t take as long for me to feel better after her death as it did when I had no time to prepare for her sister Keziah’s death.
I still have moments when a memory is triggered for any of my piggies.
The rawness does pass. A week is no time at all.
Holding you in my heart
as you grieve for your loss
Everyone’s grief is different, and you need to work through it at your own pace. Some days are easier than others. Just as no one can tell us how to love, no one can tell us how to grieve. It’s entirely personal. I have found that piggies burrow deeper into your heart than others, and even now I have tears when I think about how I lost some of my RB piggies.
Wiebke has written this excellent guide that explains more about grief and gives details of resources if you feel you would benefit from additional support.
Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children
Wiebke has written this excellent guide that explains more about grief and gives details of resources if you feel you would benefit from additional support.
Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children
Guinea Pig Magazine
Junior Guinea Pig
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We've never fully recovered from any of our Guineas passing. We remember them all with fondness and sadness. It can be saddening when remembering a lost one. We try to turn that round and think positively of them. Of course, it doesn't help that we have portaits of them on the walls of our home.
baleofhay
Junior Guinea Pig
My first guinea pig passed over 10 years ago now. Sometimes I think of him and tear up. 11 others have joined him since. The only thing that really makes me feel better is a a cuddle with a piggy still with me. Overtime the immense grief after a death does slowly dissipate but does seem to linger always. I have developed a little ritual that makes me feel better. As others have said, everyone grieves differently, it's not surprising to me that it can rock you so hard when you love them so much.
JoannaMarie
Junior Guinea Pig
I am so sorry to hear about your lovely piggy passing. I am in a similar place to you. My Monty passed away last Wednesday. He had arthritis and hadn't been able to walk for the last two months, I've been giving him a lot of care and he had good days and bad days. The bad days got more and more frequent though and it got to the point he was struggling to lift his head up on his bad days, and he was losing weight at a really fast rate because he didn't want to eat much. I made the decision to put him to sleep last Wednesday. He was actually having a good day, but I thought I would rather him go on a good day than when he was in pain/struggling. I feel so much guilt, I feel I should have kept fighting for him. I miss him so much, and working from home isn't helping as there are memories everywhere. The loss I feel is much greater than I ever thought it would be, for me the biggest pain is the weight of wanting to hold him again, it's almost unbearable.
The @Wiebke post about dealing with bereavement is really helpful to understand the process, although no words can take the pain away at least it is reassuring to know that what you're feeling is totally normal and OK. I think it will be a long time for me to start feeling less pain about Monty's death, he was such a sweet, loving boy and over the last few months so much of my time has been filled with looking after him, keeping him clean and comfortable. This gave us an even stronger bond than before.
Like others have said, the more pain we feel the more we have loved, and how lucky we are to have the capacity to feel such unconditional love for such beautiful, loving animals. They are a gift and bring us so much joy and so many memories, but the other side of the coin is that when we lose them we lose a piece of our heart. They will always be with us though, held in our hearts and in our memories. My profile pic is a piggy who passed away over five years ago. I only had him for six months but he made a big impact, he was my first piggy. I thought I would never get over the loss. Over time the raw emotion did ease, and now when I remember him it tends to be happy memories, although I do still feel sad I didn't get more time with him. It took several weeks for the initial raw emotion and feeling of loss started to ease. Everyone is different and each bond is different though.
I'm sending you lots of love, I hope you start feeling a little better, day by day. There will be good days and bad days, little things can bring back a memory or an emotion. Our piggies were very lucky to have such loving owners, and we were very lucky to have them in our lives. Big hugs to you x
The @Wiebke post about dealing with bereavement is really helpful to understand the process, although no words can take the pain away at least it is reassuring to know that what you're feeling is totally normal and OK. I think it will be a long time for me to start feeling less pain about Monty's death, he was such a sweet, loving boy and over the last few months so much of my time has been filled with looking after him, keeping him clean and comfortable. This gave us an even stronger bond than before.
Like others have said, the more pain we feel the more we have loved, and how lucky we are to have the capacity to feel such unconditional love for such beautiful, loving animals. They are a gift and bring us so much joy and so many memories, but the other side of the coin is that when we lose them we lose a piece of our heart. They will always be with us though, held in our hearts and in our memories. My profile pic is a piggy who passed away over five years ago. I only had him for six months but he made a big impact, he was my first piggy. I thought I would never get over the loss. Over time the raw emotion did ease, and now when I remember him it tends to be happy memories, although I do still feel sad I didn't get more time with him. It took several weeks for the initial raw emotion and feeling of loss started to ease. Everyone is different and each bond is different though.
I'm sending you lots of love, I hope you start feeling a little better, day by day. There will be good days and bad days, little things can bring back a memory or an emotion. Our piggies were very lucky to have such loving owners, and we were very lucky to have them in our lives. Big hugs to you x
Hi!
HUGS
I am very sorry about your pain and upset.
I have written a series of practical but hopefully also sensitive guides to help people through the difficult times in the areas that are sadly still very much taboo from dying to looking after bereaved guinea pigs to human grieving. The grieving guide includes further resources for parents as well as support links for people with acute pet bereavement (i.e. struggling to cope with acute loss and processing it).
A week is only a very short time in terms of grieving. You are processing but you are now very much at the stage where your loss is still raw and where it is jarringly and very painfully brought back by unexpected reminders in real life, dreams, physical cravings, established routines or impulses bringing back the loss in all the little and large ways. They are the more painful because you cannot brace for them.
This is the link to our grieving guide: Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children
Here is the access link to the whole collection that covers the whole area around dying/death/loss for both owners and cavy companions. If you struggle with the way your guinea pig has died, then the dying guide may help you with putting some aspects into more of a perspective; the same if you have issues in respect to your remaining piggy: Death, Dying, Terminal Illness, Grieving and Bereaved Companions: Information and Support for Owners and Their Children
The stress from the pandemic has impacted on most of us in terms of our mental health. Pet anxiety and pet bereavement can affect anybody but people with heightened stress or already existing mental health issues are more prone to suffer from it; a bad loss can also trigger PTSD. Dreams, anniversaries or things that bring back sudden memories can bring back your loss very painfully back again without warning.
We never stop missing our beloved ones but for some the way to learn to live with it can sadly be much harder.
Please contact the free Blue Cross Pet Bereavement Services for the UK - they have extended their services with trained volunteers to offer different access from email to free phonelines to a live chat with a volunteer and a facebook group so you can choose the level and mode of support yourself. This is the best, especially after a very upsetting dream where you would like to discuss your experience in confidentiality.
Here is their new portal: Pet bereavement and pet loss
This thread here from a forum member suffering with pet bereavement may hopefully give you hope: On grief, and hope
HUGS
I am very sorry about your pain and upset.
I have written a series of practical but hopefully also sensitive guides to help people through the difficult times in the areas that are sadly still very much taboo from dying to looking after bereaved guinea pigs to human grieving. The grieving guide includes further resources for parents as well as support links for people with acute pet bereavement (i.e. struggling to cope with acute loss and processing it).
A week is only a very short time in terms of grieving. You are processing but you are now very much at the stage where your loss is still raw and where it is jarringly and very painfully brought back by unexpected reminders in real life, dreams, physical cravings, established routines or impulses bringing back the loss in all the little and large ways. They are the more painful because you cannot brace for them.
This is the link to our grieving guide: Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children
Here is the access link to the whole collection that covers the whole area around dying/death/loss for both owners and cavy companions. If you struggle with the way your guinea pig has died, then the dying guide may help you with putting some aspects into more of a perspective; the same if you have issues in respect to your remaining piggy: Death, Dying, Terminal Illness, Grieving and Bereaved Companions: Information and Support for Owners and Their Children
The stress from the pandemic has impacted on most of us in terms of our mental health. Pet anxiety and pet bereavement can affect anybody but people with heightened stress or already existing mental health issues are more prone to suffer from it; a bad loss can also trigger PTSD. Dreams, anniversaries or things that bring back sudden memories can bring back your loss very painfully back again without warning.
We never stop missing our beloved ones but for some the way to learn to live with it can sadly be much harder.
Please contact the free Blue Cross Pet Bereavement Services for the UK - they have extended their services with trained volunteers to offer different access from email to free phonelines to a live chat with a volunteer and a facebook group so you can choose the level and mode of support yourself. This is the best, especially after a very upsetting dream where you would like to discuss your experience in confidentiality.
Here is their new portal: Pet bereavement and pet loss
This thread here from a forum member suffering with pet bereavement may hopefully give you hope: On grief, and hope