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Puddles1999

Puddles1999

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jun 4, 2019
Messages
338
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174
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365
Location
Carbondale, Illinois
Hi! This is my first time posting on here so kind of new to the whole aspect. We have two piggies. One named patches and the other puddles. Patches recently passed away last night due to an illness, we tried everything for her. The vets had no idea and we tried giving her critical care and medicine. The only other option was exploratory surgery and if they found something bad, they’d euthanize her. As you could probably see, we definitely didn’t want to put her life at risk when she could live out her life to the max. Me and my boyfriend are completely devastated. One of the hardest things to do is say goodbye these are our first piggies. Puddles seems to be doing alright and she’s eating and drinking. We let her see patches to let her know. We were wondering when we should get a new piggy and what age? Puddles is over 5. Not to mention, we are moving in about 5 days.
 
Puddles1999 said:
Hi! This is my first time posting on here so kind of new to the whole aspect. We have two piggies. One named patches and the other puddles. Patches recently passed away last night due to an illness, we tried everything for her. The vets had no idea and we tried giving her critical care and medicine. The only other option was exploratory surgery and if they found something bad, they’d euthanize her. As you could probably see, we definitely didn’t want to put her life at risk when she could live out her life to the max. Me and my boyfriend are completely devastated. One of the hardest things to do is say goodbye these are our first piggies. Puddles seems to be doing alright and she’s eating and drinking. We let her see patches to let her know. We were wondering when we should get a new piggy and what age? Puddles is over 5. Not to mention, we are moving in about 5 days.
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Hi and welcome

I am very sorry for your loss! We have got a Rainbow Bridge section for those members that would like to post a tribute to the piggies they have lost whenever it feels right for them.

Unfortunately your options depend very much on what is available where you are, especially in view of access to good standard rescues that rehome only properly sexed and fully quarantined/vet cared/guaranteed not pregnant sows or neutered boars and in many cases offer rescue dating to allow a single/bereaved guinea pig to choose their own new friend, so you don't run the risk of ending up with two piggies that don't get on and you can neatly avoid all the pitfalls that can await the unwary. It is well worth the extra effort for total peace of mind!

You can find lists of recommended good standard no-kill rescues with quarantine and vet care in this guide link here, which also contains advice on what you can do for Puddles in the immediate and in the longer term. If she is eating and drinking on her own, and is not acutely pining, you have ideally 1-4 weeks' time to set up an adoption.
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
Here is a guide with help for owners left devastated by their loss: Human Bereavement - Grieving, coping tips and support links for guinea pig owners and their children

If you do not have access to a rescue where you come home with a new mate only if acceptance has happened, then you have to look elsewhere but have to plan for the case that any bonding may not come off and you have to keep the company in an adjoining cage with mutual interaction and stimulation through the bars - ideally allowing fully (body language), nose touching and scent exchange in addition to just vocals. Guinea pig communication and social life is much more complex than most people assume.
In view of Puddles' age, you may want to consider whether you'd rather get a pair of younger sows that can live together as a pair if Puddles turns out to prefer her own territory, as many older sows do.
In this case, please take the time to read the guide links below, which include what to look out for when getting guinea pigs from an unquarantined background (shop, breeder, free-ads), a very detailed step-by-step bonding guide.
As to quarantine: If you get two pet shop girls that can keep each other company throughout, I would strongly recommend a 2-3 weeks quarantine in a different room. In a single baby the need for company is generally overwhelming, so you'd be better off bonding quickly and treating Puddles and the newbie for any problems.
What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

I hope that that helps you! We can support you better with recommendations only once we know which country, state/province or UK county you are since we have members and enquiries from all over the world. If you click on your username, go to account details and down to location, this makes it appear with every post you make and allows us to tailor any advice and recommendations to what is available and revelant for you straight away.
 
We’re in the u.s! Were moving to Houston, Texas. Its about an 18 hour drive but we will be making a stop somewhere for the night and then continue going the next day.

Thank you very much! First time losing a piggy, just hope it gets easier as time goes by. From where our home will be, there is a small animal rescue about four hours away. When we move in a couple days, we’ll be going through that town and we were thinking of going to look at piggies when we drive through, also we would have puddles with us so she might be able to choose a new friend she gets a long with! She’s a very laid back piggy, she was the submissive one when patches was here. Oh okay! That’s great to hear! We do feel really bad just seeing her by herself, I wish we had a little piggy to interact with although we are taking her out as much as we can.

All we know is that we definitely don’t want to adopt from a pet store! They really are just so uneducated about piggies and it’s quite sad :(. We will definitely ask if we could bring in puddles to see if we could find a piggy she’d bond with! I heard older piggies do well with younger baby pigs as they’re not worried about competition? Not sure how true that is though. You’ve definitely helped a lot. Thank you so much!
 
So sorry for your loss... feel free to post in the Rainbow Bridge section if you like. I would reccomend getting her a piggy friend after you guys get settled in and everything set up in your new house, or whenever you feel ready. She will be ready for a new friend before you are, unfortunately. As guinea pigs are herd animals and need the company of other guinea pigs. I would reccomend getting a baby guinea pig, ( a few months old) as adults and seniors usually accept baby guinea pigs. I would reccomend doing some googling and finding guinea pig rescues near you. If there is a rescue that do guinea pig dating, (when a piggie comes to a rescue to pick out a piggie that they get along with) then i would strongly reccomend to do that. I would also reccomend getting a sow if you are unable to get a baby boar and neattur him and wait the 6 week period before introducing. If there are no rescues that are near you then your last resort would be a pet store. If you get a pig at a pet store please double check the gender. Good luck!
 
Thank you so much for helping me out! How should I go about introducing them? I’d say the chances of puddles not getting along with a baby piggy is slim, I’d hope anyways :) and she is a pretty chill piggy. Just does her own thing. I have a big playpen I use to put them in when cleaning their cage. Should I use that and just put some hay down? I also read somewhere you’re supposed to put them in a cage next to each other to get used to each other but that’d be kinda hard to do 😬
 
For bonding her with a baby piggy ( i would reccomend a baby sow, as if you had a male baby you would have to get him neautured and wait 6 weeks before bonding) you can use tha playpen you have. I would reccomend putting a pile of hay in the middle of the playpen. And place the two pigs in and let the bonding go on for about 1 to two hours. Please be aware that you only have to separate them if there is blood drawn, intense teeth chattering, lunging, and intense biting. Also you do not have to put cages side by side, you can use the playpen and that will be fine. Once they have succsesfully had their first meal together they are clear to live together. Dominance behaviors such as humping and rumblestrutting are normal. Make sure to have two of these things with two piggies, two water bottles, hideys, food bowls, veg bowls (if you serve your veg in a bowl and not on the floor)
Puddles1999 said:
Thank you so much for helping me out! How should I go about introducing them? I’d say the chances of puddles not getting along with a baby piggy is slim, I’d hope anyways :) and she is a pretty chill piggy. Just does her own thing. I have a big playpen I use to put them in when cleaning their cage. Should I use that and just put some hay down? I also read somewhere you’re supposed to put them in a cage next to each other to get used to each other but that’d be kinda hard to do 😬
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Please be aware that personality is much more important than age. Sometimes babies work out because they just accept what's going on but it's not guaranteed. You would be best taking her to a reputable rescue to choose her own friend
 
Another quick question! We love our little laid back piggy. Say we wanted a cute bubbly outgoing personality piggy, how would we go about doing so? Or would that be kind of impossible? That’s okay if it is, just wondering
 
By the sounds of that the new piggy would most likely be the dominant one but i am not sure. Tagging @Minnieandpebbs as she is quite experianced and I'm sure she can answer this question.
Puddles1999 said:
Another quick question! We love our little laid back piggy. Say we wanted a cute bubbly outgoing personality piggy, how would we go about doing so? Or would that be kind of impossible? That’s okay if it is, just wondering
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Well another little update unfortunately. Puddles decided to get on to this health problem action. She has blood in her urine, we took her out and this is the first we’ve noticed of blood in her pee. Patches, our other piggy that passed had a bladder stone and she squealed when she peed but never had blood in her pee. Puddles doesn’t squeak like she’s in pain, she just has blood. We are 100% taking her to the vet, just wondering if this is a bladder stone or something else. Other than this blood, she’s doing just fine. Possibly a uti?
 
Possibly, i hope your Puddles turns out ok and let us know how the vet visit goes.
Puddles1999 said:
Well another little update unfortunately. Puddles decided to get on to this health problem action. She has blood in her urine, we took her out and this is the first we’ve noticed of blood in her pee. Patches, our other piggy that passed had a bladder stone and she squealed when she peed but never had blood in her pee. Puddles doesn’t squeak like she’s in pain, she just has blood. We are 100% taking her to the vet, just wondering if this is a bladder stone or something else. Other than this blood, she’s doing just fine. Possibly a uti?
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It might be worth looking through our rescue locator and contacting rescues directly. They don't always advertise their single piggies for the obvious reason of people contacting them wanting to keep one alone. You may also be able to reserve a piggy who is currently going through quarantine and not quite ready to go to their new home
 
Puddles1999 said:
Well another little update unfortunately. Puddles decided to get on to this health problem action. She has blood in her urine, we took her out and this is the first we’ve noticed of blood in her pee. Patches, our other piggy that passed had a bladder stone and she squealed when she peed but never had blood in her pee. Puddles doesn’t squeak like she’s in pain, she just has blood. We are 100% taking her to the vet, just wondering if this is a bladder stone or something else. Other than this blood, she’s doing just fine. Possibly a uti?
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Yes it can be the symptom of a UTI (or bladder stones), if you can collect a urine sample from her to take with you to the vets then they’ll be able to test it and give her the treatment if she needs it (antibiotics/painkillers etc).
I always find it easier to take a sample with me as my piggies never seem to pee when we’re there for that, do it everywhere else!
Hope vet visit goes well.
 
I know this isnt really relevent but our dog, Piper (5) a few months ago has symptoms of what we thought was a UTI. Peeing blood around the house, (she NEVER does this and she is potty trained very well) constant whining, and constant drinking. When we took her to the vet we expected her to have a UTI, but it was bladder stones. She had the surgery to remove them and now she is great.
 
Thank you for relating the experience! And very true. It could definitely be a bladder stone as well. Is weight loss a sign of bladder stones as well? I’ve also not seen her drinking or eating more so that’s a good sign! I’ll definitely update after the vet visit. I wish there were more cavy vets around :( they can seem so hard to find
 
Yes they def are hard to find. Also sadly i do not know if weight loss is a sign of bladder stones. Hope the vet visit goes well.
Puddles1999 said:
Thank you for relating the experience! And very true. It could definitely be a bladder stone as well. Is weight loss a sign of bladder stones as well? I’ve also not seen her drinking or eating more so that’s a good sign! I’ll definitely update after the vet visit. I wish there were more cavy vets around :( they can seem so hard to find
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Yes my 12 year old cat Rosie was at the vets this morning for blood in her wee, she gets UTIs brought on by stress and they’re easily treated with antibiotics.

My past piggy Rupert had at least two bladder stones and UTIs a lot over a few years. He lost weight as stopped eating as much with the pain from them and also had a change of diet (less pellets and changed to grainless ones as better for piggies with bladder issues).
It’s best to try and find a good vet and get her urine tested first before worrying about stones straight away if you haven’t noticed symptoms up to now :tu: obviously mention it to the vet if you are worried though x
 
Okay SO, we found a animal shelter near us and we called and they said we could bring puddles in to meet their piggy. Like a cute little piggy date. Although, this piggy is 9 months, not sure what our age span should be 😬
 
Usually adult piggies accept baby pigs, so you are fine. Let us know how the date
Puddles1999 said:
Okay SO, we found a animal shelter near us and we called and they said we could bring puddles in to meet their piggy. Like a cute little piggy date. Although, this piggy is 9 months, not sure what our age span should be 😬
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and vet visit goes!
 
Weight loss can be a sign of both UTI and bladder stones. It's not so much the illness but the pain that stops them eating.

Good luck with the rescue, although 9 months old isn't a baby I hope they will get on.
 
Awe poor little thing :( I think we as their owners hate it just as much as they do! It sucks so much when they get sick, all you want is for your piggies to be better. how did you go about the two bladder stones? I know they usually have to have surgery for them. My piggy that had one almost passed hers so they popped it out. Very true though! I’m hoping it’s just an uti, something simple to fix 🤞🏻I am glad she doesn’t have any other symptoms other than this blood in her pee!
 
Puddles1999 said:
Awe poor little thing :( I think we as their owners hate it just as much as they do! It sucks so much when they get sick, all you want is for your piggies to be better. how did you go about the two bladder stones? I know they usually have to have surgery for them. My piggy that had one almost passed hers so they popped it out. Very true though! I’m hoping it’s just an uti, something simple to fix 🤞🏻I am glad she doesn’t have any other symptoms other than this blood in her pee!
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The first stone he had to have operated on because it was a life or death situation, his was stuck in the urethra so couldn’t urinate at all (basically they had to cut just above his penis and remove it, with a struggle, either that or I had to have him put to sleep). The second was small enough for him to pass himself thankfully.
Don’t worry too much though, hopefully ‘just‘ a uti that’s easily treatable! :) x
 
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I hope so too! Oh goodness, that’d be so stressful! As for puddles, we’re leaving this Saturday, and we’ll be getting to our new location around Sunday morning. Turns out not many vets are open on Sundays sadly. I don’t know if we should wait until Monday to get her in to the vet for this issue or take her to a vet here before we go, no vets here are specially for little piggies 🤨
 
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