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How Will My Guinea Cope With Bereavement?

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Ayapapaya

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one of my two guineas, pearl, has died and her sister marble is still alive. When we found pearl, we think she had been dead a few hours so we buried her straight away and now marble is living alone with a cuddly toy but it's only been one day so we're not sure how she's coping. I want to know if marble will be okay to play out in the garden in her run alone or should we get her another Guinean of the same age to keep her company?
 
First of all so sorry you have lost little Pearl, please feel free to leave a memorial to the in our Rainbow Bridge section of the forum.

Is Marble eating okay? Piggies normally react one of two ways to loss, some pine and stop eating, others are a little quiet for a few days but then get on with surviving. Try and spend a little more time with her if you can. Is she an indoor or outdoor piggy?

Piggies are social animals so love to have company of their own kind. You in newcastle have some amazing rescues nearby so I would advise contacting them regarding a possible new friend. Both owners are active on forum so will tag them in for you @Stewybus @Caviesgalore (EPGPR)


  • North East Guinea Pig Rescue
    Walkerville
    Newcastle-upon-tyne, NE6
    07812 417302

  • Tees Valley Guinea Pig Rescue
    Sherwood Road
    Thornaby
    Stockton-on-Tees , United Kingdom TS17 0ED
    07834 760412
    Have a read of this thread also Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
 
Thank you. She lives indoors but regularly goes outside in her run (previously with pearl). She's been a little bit quite but I think we'll have to wait a few days before saying if she's okay.
 
I'm really sorry for your loss. Best thing to for the time being is to give Marble a little extra tlc. You've done right giving her a cuddly toy. Check to see how she's eating, she will probably eat a little less as there's now no competition. If she's leaving most of her food, weigh her daily to see how much she is losing. She may lose a little over next few days but others aren't affected at all.

How old is Marble? Sometimes with older girls they find it harder to rebond with another girl unless it's a baby girl. A neutered boy would be another option. At present we don't have any suitable girls at Tees Valley Guinea Pig Rescue but do have some boys who were neutered in December who will be safe to live with girls in the last 2 weeks of January & 1st week of February x
 
Stewybus said:
I'm really sorry for your loss. Best thing to for the time being is to give Marble a little extra tlc. You've done right giving her a cuddly toy. Check to see how she's eating, she will probably eat a little less as there's now no competition. If she's leaving most of her food, weigh her daily to see how much she is losing. She may lose a little over next few days but others aren't affected at all.

How old is Marble? Sometimes with older girls they find it harder to rebond with another girl unless it's a baby girl. A neutered boy would be another option. At present we don't have any suitable girls at Tees Valley Guinea Pig Rescue but do have some boys who were neutered in December who will be safe to live with girls in the last 2 weeks of January & 1st week of February x
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Thank you, she's 5 1/2 now and she's very easy going and quite quiet so if you have any guineapigs available please let me know!
 
Ayapapaya said:
Thank you, she's 5 1/2 now and she's very easy going and quite quiet so if you have any guineapigs available please let me know!
Click to expand...

I have 4 boys who have been neutered. They are Danny (born Jan 2015) ready for bonding on Jan 22nd, Winter (born Dec 2015) ready for bonding on Jan 22nd, Rolo (born Oct 2015) ready for bonding on Jan 29th & Coco (born Dec 2015) ready for bonding on Feb 5th. We have 1 girl born in Nov 2015 but I think she may be too much for your girl x
 
I'm really sorry for your loss. Some pigs take bereavement harder than others. We've been there a couple of times... one of our pigs who lost a companion was quieter, but otherwise ate and drank and behaved normally. The other was really distressed and would wheek for us to come over to her and was afraid to go out of the cage on her own (she has always been a really timid pig and obviously isn't cut out to be alone. She takes all her cues from the dominant pig and seemed really lost without another pig there.) In both cases, we did get another pig relatively quickly because we had planned to keep on having pigs anyhow. We ended up getting babies because we wanted to keep on having pigs... the first time we deliberately picked a pig that was really submissive because our surviving pig was quite the bossy lady. The second time we picked Hadley on looks and Sundae ended up falling in line right behind her because Sundae doesn't want to be the dominant pig... both times bonding went really well and our surviving pig was obviously very happy to find a friend!
 
Hi! I am very sorry for your loss. You are welcome to post a tribute to Pearl in our Rainbow Bridge section if or whenever it feels right for you.

Here are our tips on what you can do for a bereaved piggy. Finding her a new companion of her own choice is always the best way forward; rescue dating a good rescue that rehomes only healthy and safe piggies is the best way forward if you can get to one - and you can be assured that acceptance has happened at the rescue.
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
 
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