thankyou so much, your words truly mean the world to me despite my guilt. i do think the heat was the final nail in the coffin for him because he was hardly coping despite trying 100s of cooling methods with them.
my only worry is his best friend (teddy) is also quite old now, around the same age as nugget. nugget died in the cage so teddy has been aware he's not well and has been aware he'd passed before we were. he's been eating all day and acting completely normal, no visible signs of grief, my main point however because of his old age i worry about finding him another companion incase teddy will also pass on within a year or so. he's always been a quite solitary and boisterous fella even so having nugget with him, will even more human love be enough?
Hi
Please take mental ease from the fact that Teddy has known what was going on (piggies have a much finer sense of smell, including for illness, and that he has taken his leave from Nugget. You do not need to worry about him pining and needing to rush out to find a new friend.
Any companionship measures depend on whether you want to continue with guinea pigs and access to rescues for temporary fostering solutions for end of the line piggies, especially with older piggies. It also depends on how accepting your bereaved oldie is of new company or next door company if that is another option for you. You have about a month so you can work through the roughest of your own grieving and look around. There is sadly no ideal solution that fits everywhere but just making that effort will be worth it.
You may find also our Singles guide very helpful because it discusses all those practical aspects in more detail and in a non-judgemental way. It also contains a chapter on how to spot when Teddy is transferring his social needs onto you.
Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities
Since Teddy is hanging in there, is eating and drinking you have a few weeks to think things through, make enquiries and your decision. We all encounter the guilt trap at the start of our grieving process in some form because it is a human species wiring that we reflect everything back onto ourselves and feel responsible even where we have done all the right things but what has happened was out of our control. It is usually worse if the circumstances not in our control were rather traumatic.
It is not like you have had much warning and you had Nugget seen promptly after the bank holiday with your vet unable to find the problem and its cause with the huge weather swing thrown into the balance. You have neither chosen the timing, controlled the weather and you are not a vet... but what you
are is a very loving and caring owner because if you weren't you wouldn't feel all this. It is the other side of the same coin called 'love'. And your love coin is a pretty large one.
Please try to be gentle with yourself and give yourself time and space to not be OK for a little while but seek help by contacting the free (UK only) Blue Cross pet bereavement platforms if you seem unable to snap out of this mind loop and it is interfering with your sleep and how you function in daily life. It has been a traumatic experiences for you.
All forum members who have spoken to them and have come back with feedback have reported that it has helped them.
Pet Loss Support
You are also welcome to either have this thread moved to our Bereavement section for ongoing support and help with finding the best practical solution for Teddy within your possibilities or to start a new thread in there in which we can give you moral support in your grieving journey and discuss all the various little and large questions, concerns and practicalities re. Teddy with you so you are not feeling so alone, trapped, helpless and guilty. What you are going through all of us do in some shape and form. All of us have to face or have faced the end of the line dilemma with all the added emotional baggage and practical hurdles that comes with that.
End of Life and Bereavement Support Corner
enjoy all the veggies at rainbow bridge! 
