How to care for a bereaved piggy?

[danuutka]

As I’m sure some of you will have seen, on Friday I experienced a tragic accident which resulted in the sudden death of my beloved Benio. Now I am left with a 7 month old bereaved piggy, and I’m not sure how to help him.

He is a very independent, cheeky boy. Unlike Benio who preferred human company over just about anything, Ozzie prefers to be left alone - he doesn’t appreciate cuddles or petting, he would rather chill away from humans, and is just overall a curious, but a bit antisocial piggy. Hence, I am finding it quite difficult to support him. When anything was wrong with Benio, cuddles and attention made it all better. However with Ozzie, I just don’t know what to do.

I have already contacted rescues, and I am just awaiting a response - because I want to get him a little buddy of his own. Thankfully, he is coping relatively well - he is still eating, drinking and pooping. However, he has stopped making any noises, and he keeps searching for Benio. Because he was the underpig, he keeps waiting for Benio to lead the way, not realising that he is not there to do that anymore. I have put in a little teddy for him, and also Benio’s favourite pillow which is covered in his fur/scent.

I’m really struggling with ways of helping him cope between now and getting him a new friend. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Guinea pigs grieve just the same way as we do. All you can really do is what you are doing. Find him a new friend when he needs it and otherwise keep an eye on him - weigh him regularly to ensure he is eating enough as he grieves. The link below should help you with information

Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

In terms of finding him a new friend, you have done the right thing in contacting rescue centres, and waiting their responses. You will need to find a single boar to bond him with. Alternatively, you could neuter him, have his six week wait to become infertile and then he will also have the option of living with a female piggy/ies

 

[Wiebke]

As I’m sure some of you will have seen, on Friday I experienced a tragic accident which resulted in the sudden death of my beloved Benio. Now I am left with a 7 month old bereaved piggy, and I’m not sure how to help him.

He is a very independent, cheeky boy. Unlike Benio who preferred human company over just about anything, Ozzie prefers to be left alone - he doesn’t appreciate cuddles or petting, he would rather chill away from humans, and is just overall a curious, but a bit antisocial piggy. Hence, I am finding it quite difficult to support him. When anything was wrong with Benio, cuddles and attention made it all better. However with Ozzie, I just don’t know what to do.

I have already contacted rescues, and I am just awaiting a response - because I want to get him a little buddy of his own. Thankfully, he is coping relatively well - he is still eating, drinking and pooping. However, he has stopped making any noises, and he keeps searching for Benio. Because he was the underpig, he keeps waiting for Benio to lead the way, not realising that he is not there to do that anymore. I have put in a little teddy for him, and also Benio’s favourite pillow which is covered in his fur/scent.

I’m really struggling with ways of helping him cope between now and getting him a new friend. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi!

You are doing all the right things!

Keep in mind that Ozzie is grieving, too, and that he is confused because he doesn't know what has happened and where Benio is. I assume that he hasn't taken leave of Benio? It is normal for a bereaved piggy to go very quiet at this stage.

This is always the most difficult period in my own experience because there is relatively little you can do at this stage. You cannot sit down with a piggy and explain to them what has happened after all. Take consolation that you are doing what you can!

You can try and see whether some enrichment ideas can keep Ozzie occupied: Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

However, the one thing that new companionship will achieve instantly is to give Ozzie his sparkle back. When you have never experienced this before you cannot imagine what a massive relief this is going to mean to you and how much it helps with your own grieving to know that you have been able to make the remaining piggy happy again.
It is not necessarily the often dramatic and not quite rarely traumatic end that counts but your daily care and your determination to put the welfare and interests of your pets before your own that defines you as a caring owner - that is the area you have full control over. Whereas the end usually not all that much...

We all suffer feelings of guilt and failure at the onset of the grieving process; these are of course so much stronger when it is an action or decision of yours has brought on the death. Don't underestimate the boon that seeing your grieving/disorientated surviving piggy will give your own emotional wellbeing. But until this happens, all you can do is hang in there.

Take consolation in that Ozzie is not acutely pining, even if he is subdued, and that he will keep until he can set out for his journey to find a new friend of his own liking. THAT would rather feel like a replacement, as I know from my own experience and my initial weeks of numbness/resentment I did feel towards my special Minx's replacement Llewelyn; especially as Minx's widow Dizzy (who didn't cope at all well with her loss) decided to fall in love with a piggy with similar coat colours and markings. Eventually I did fall in love with Llewelyn, who became the partriarch around who I built up the big Tribe group after his beloved older lady Dizzy died a couple of years later...

Hang on in there and try to be kind to yourself and to take care of yourself, too! Things will gradually get better for you, but they have to take their very own time. Right now you are in the bottom of the valley after a very nasty fall down a very steep cliff.