How long to wait before considering getting my guinea pig a friend after one has died?

[sillybilly]

My little girl Ty Lee died today. She had a bladder stone lodged in her urethra, and surgery would have been painful and not had a great outcome rate. I opted for humane euthanasia. I am still in shock, it still doesn't feel real. So I hope I don't sound heartless when asking for advice on rebonding my Mai in the future.

It obviously isn't something I can or want to do right away, and there's no replacing a guinea pig. But Mai and Ty Lee have been together basically their whole lives, for 4 years, since they were 3-6 months old. I am super worried about Mai. She has always been so social and curious, I don't want her to become depressed and die as well.

Mai is 4 years old, intact, and female. She is very dominant. I wouldn't want to get a baby guinea pig for her, I would want an older one or one about the same age.

If anyone has any advice on how to deal with the loss of a guinea pig, and how to keep my living one healthy and happy, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m so sorry for your loss.

As long as she is eating and otherwise ok (she will grieve) then generally they are ready for a new friend somewhere between 1 and 4 weeks. However if it takes a little longer to find the right friend then that is fine - getting it right is important.

I would encourage you not to rule out a baby though. Baby piggies tend to be better accepted by an adult than one a similar age to your piggy.

While this isn’t the case in every older sow, and many older sows will happily rebond, it is important you keep in mind that:
The issue with older sows is they tend to be less willing to accept change as they get older. We also see older sows who have been bonded to the previous friend their whole life, be less willing to accept any new friend and they then would rather have another piggy living in a separate side by side cage than have another actually living in the cage with them.
The issue then comes if you are trying to bond your older sow with another older sow who is in the same trickier period of life potentially also having lost a life long friend, then you’ve got two piggies who are both less willing to want to be together before they’ve even started.
Also, A sow the same age or older will be more likely to challenge your piggy for dominance and it can make a higher risk of the bonding failing.
Bonding with a baby generally is more successful as the baby is looking for companionship and will not challenge your piggy for dominance.

Ultimately it all comes down to character compatibility and she may well do absolutely fine with a sow her age, so going to a rescue and trying her with a few piggies until you find one she likes is the safest way to find a new friend.

I’ve added a guide below to help you

Looking After a Bereaved Guinea Pig

 

[sillybilly]

I’m so sorry for your loss.

As long as she is eating and otherwise ok (she will grieve) then generally they are ready for a new friend somewhere between 1 and 4 weeks. However if it takes a little longer to find the right friend then that is fine - getting it right is important.

I would encourage you not to rule out a baby though. Baby piggies tend to be better accepted by an adult than one a similar age to your piggy.

While this isn’t the case in every older sow, and many older sows will happily rebond, it is important you keep in mind that:
The issue with older sows is they tend to be less willing to accept change as they get older. We also see older sows who have been bonded to the previous friend their whole life, be less willing to accept any new friend and they then would rather have another piggy living in a separate side by side cage than have another actually living in the cage with them.
The issue then comes if you are trying to bond your older sow with another older sow who is in the same trickier period of life potentially also having lost a life long friend, then you’ve got two piggies who are both less willing to want to be together before they’ve even started.
Also, A sow the same age or older will be more likely to challenge your piggy for dominance and it can make a higher risk of the bonding failing.
Bonding with a baby generally is more successful as the baby is looking for companionship and will not challenge your piggy for dominance.

Ultimately it all comes down to character compatibility and she may well do absolutely fine with a sow her age, so going to a rescue and trying her with a few piggies until you find one she likes is the safest way to find a new friend.

I’ve added a guide below to help you

Looking After a Bereaved Guinea Pig

Thank you so much for the advice and support, I really appreciate it.

 

[Merab]

Hope you can find a lovely companion for Mai

 

[Autonerd]

First, very sorry for your loss (and as a relative guinea pig newb, I hope it's OK to comment).

We started with a pair (Oreo and Twinkie) that had been together since babies. Twinkie had a tumor and died at only a couple years old. Using the advice we found here, we watched Oreo carefully for signs of loneliness or stress, but he seemed to be fine on his own. It was several weeks before he showed some agitation, so we went to the LA Guinea Pig Rescue and adopted him a new mate, Mario. LAGPR does bonding tryouts to find good mates, and Oreo and Mario got along right from the start.

The dynamic in the cage changed a bit; Oreo had seemed to be the dominant pig but now Mario had the upper hand. Still, everyone got along well and the cage was a peaceful, quiet place. Sadly, Mario wasn't with us very long, I don't think it was much more than a year.

We decided not to wait and after trying Oreo with a couple of pigs at LAGPR, we ended up with 1-year-old Harrison, not 100% sure if it would go well (they were testy in the test-cage, but no fighting). Once home, they were fine, and again the dynamic changed; Oreo and Mario co-existed quietly, but Harry is more active and demonstratively happy (so long as you don't try to pick him up), and Oreo seems not in the least bit bothered. March will be two years we've had him.

Now, as you might have read in another post, elderly Oreo is likely heading towards the off-ramp. When he goes, we'll definitely get Harrison a cage-mate. The dynamic may change again, but for us, that's part of the joy -- though we got more experience with this than we would have liked, it seems that each new guinea pig brings out a little something different in his partner. We'll miss Oreo when his time comes -- with all the syringe-feeding and cuddling we did, we've really bonded -- and we'll be happy to give a much-needed home to another pig.

I'll end with what a friend of mine told me when our dog died a few years ago, and now I say it to friends of mine when they lose a pet. "I know you're sad, but you have to get another dog right away. Yours is a good home, and right now there's another dog out there who needs you." (He was right; we still miss Balya, but are glad we welcomed Lexi, and later Bingo, into our home.) (Yeah, yeah, we know, Bingo is a stupid dog-name, but we didn't pick it and our no-changing-pet-names policy has now bitten us on the butt.)

So I'll say it to you: It sounds like you are a good and compassionate friend to piggies. Mia's cage-mate is out there and will benefit from the love, care and great home you gave to Ty Lee.