Newly Spayed Piggie Lost Her Friend. Help!

[misssaj]

I unfortunately lost my beloved piggie yesterday she didn't recover from the op. The vet recommended both my piggies be spayed due to ovarian cysts. I didn't research or question and now am left with the one surviving girl. She is slowly recovering but she will obviously be bereft and am wondering how best to deal with this. I have my deceased piggie and am burying her later but thinking of putting her in with the other one so she knows and can understand. As she is recovering would this be too much? No words for the sadness and guilt I feel for my poor girls :-(

 

[helen105281]

I'm so sorry, what a horrible shock for you. Is your girl eating ok? I know recovery after a spay can be a bit long. I have had 2 spayed, one sailed through and the other is still recovering now weeks later. Both were done as an emergency too. I have had mixed reactions when I have put a deceased pig in with their friend, some have groomed, some have hidden and one popcorned. You could try and see how she reacts?

Are you in the UK? if so, once she is over her recovery you could look at taking her dating at a rescue. Now she is spayed she could live with an unneutered boar. In the meantime, I think you need to take it day by day and top her up with syringe feed if needed. Is she on pain relief?

 

[David Piggie Lover]

Hello welcome to the forum. I'm sorry I can't help but I'm sure very soon someone will off this forum. Hang in their. i really sorry your piggie died and our love and support goes out to you. Kath and Dave. Be strong let's get other piggie better. x

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

BIG HUGS

I am very sorry; an ovarian cyst operation is a major operation. It is always very upsetting when you lose a piggy in an operation. I know, I have lost several of mine, one of them under similar circumstances 7 years ago.
Please keep telling yourself that you have accepted the operation to give your girl a problem-free future. large ovarian cysts can create severe issues. My Iola has just come through a touch-and-go ovarian cyst spay as one of the cysts had got attached to the bowel. It could have easily gone the other way with any less experienced vet. Only two weeks later I unexpectedly lost Nesta who had had an abscessed incisor removed just after Easter.

You'll always feel a certain degree of guilt/failure when one of the pets in your care dies; it is normal for the onset of the grieving process. But this can be much stronger when it happens during or after an operation as you feel your responsibility stronger. It is not so much an expression that you have failed your girl, but how good and caring an owner you are.

You do not have to let your other girl see her friend if you have doubts that it could endanger her own recovery; she'll know anyway. There is no hard and fast rule. I do not always show the body depending on the circumstances.

You are welcome to post a tribute in our Rainbow Bridge if or whenever it feels right for you. We all grieve differently, so there is no pressure, but it is there for those who would like to make use of it at some point.

Once your other girl is recovered enough, you can consider to either bond her with another sow or a full boar - if you can get to one of our recommended good standard rescue, that would be great as you are allowing your girl to have a big say in who she wants to live with. Age is much less of concern that mutual liking and character compatibility.
You can find links to lists of good standard rescues via the bereavement guide.
Tips For Post-operative Care
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

 

[misssaj]

I can't tell you how sad I feel. Tears are streaming. These are my first guinea pigs, they were rescues and I never thought I could love a piggie this much. My heart is breaking..My surviving piggie is eating now with encouragement and has pain relief. My deceased piggie was done as a precaution as vet advised. I feel so desperately sad that I let her have this done. Thank you for your replies they have really helped. I did put them together and my surviving piggie groomed her. It's doubly hard as my 8 year old daughter has taken the news badly. It was such a shock for us all we were under the impression that it was a quick, simple op with minimal risk.

 

[Deleted member 114675]

I'm so sorry for your loss

I suspect you are all grieving at the moment.

When you are ready, I hope you will consider finding a rescue to find a companion for you guinea

 

[David Piggie Lover]

Oh guys that's beautiful putting you piggies together in sad circumstances. Oh the shock of simple op has turned bad. we can't beat ourselves up over things that we can't control. ok I know you made decision to have her done but not expecting this. We feel for you and send our love. Big get well to other piggie. x

 

[Wiebke]

I can't tell you how sad I feel. Tears are streaming. These are my first guinea pigs, they were rescues and I never thought I could love a piggie this much. My heart is breaking..My surviving piggie is eating now with encouragement and has pain relief. My deceased piggie was done as a precaution as vet advised. I feel so desperately sad that I let her have this done. Thank you for your replies they have really helped. I did put them together and my surviving piggie groomed her. It's doubly hard as my 8 year old daughter has taken the news badly. It was such a shock for us all we were under the impression that it was a quick, simple op with minimal risk.

I imagine the piggies of mine that have passed away as little furry guardian angels looking out for my current piggies. In a way, it is true: They are always in my heart, and what they have taught me is informing how I care and interact with my current piggies. it is just a way of visualising their legacy - but perhaps this can help your daughter?

Piggies pack so much personality in such a small, cute package that they can burrow very deep into your heart to build a piggy-shaped nest there. You are also free to love a pet unconditionally in a way that you rarely can with people; but when you lose them, you have to grieve as much as you have loved; it is the other side of the same coin. Allow yourself to grieve. Love is not defined by species, but by the strength of your bond!

Look, you have given and are still giving your piggies love and the best of lives and care. You have made the decision with the best of motives. We never know the outcome and have to make our decisions blindly with the information we have available at the time and trust in those that should be qualified to advise us. We are not omniscient God; it is not always working out the way we wish to. you can research as much as you like, but in the end, it very often comes down to a leap in good faith or to being too paralysed to make any decision at all.
As much as we would like to, we cannot go back and undo a mistake, but we can carry our gained knowledge forward to the benefit of another being. Feel very sad, but please try not to let your memory of your precious girl be tainted by it. You have given your girl love, happiness and paradise on earth; all she would have wanted. That is the important bit.

PS: I am glad that your other girl is recovering well and that she has coped well with taking leave of her best friend.

 

[piggledy]

When one of my sweet, understanding, old soul piggy died a few years ago, I kept him cooled in a little blanket in a basket for a few days and I'd bring him to his younger companion. The young piggy was a rather boorish boar whom I disliked but I got to see a different side of him as he gently groomed his friend, walk calmly back and forth and occasionally nudged him. He knew what had happened and it was his way of saying goodbye. I think it helped both of us grieve and remember, but it also reminded me that I did not know the history of the younger piggy before he came to me and there was a reason for his behaviour and we became much closer as a result. I tend to think that letting piggies have time with their deceased friends at least lets them know what happened to them and is good regardless of the piggies' reactions.

It's not easy to lose a piggy. I am very sorry for your loss.

 

[misssaj]

What a wonderful bunch of people you are. Thank you so much for your kind words and suggestions I am truly touched. I am looking at contacting a rescue for a friend for my girl this weekend. Can't believe my gorgeous girl has gone but she really did have the best life and I will find comfort in this I'm sure in the days to come.