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Rest in peace Daisy

K

Kim88

New Born Pup
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Today, I said goodbye to my final guinea pig and I’m feeling awful about it.

About two years ago I lost Rosie the last of my pair and was left with the lovely Daisy. I made the decision after loosing Rosie that as Daisy seemed more happy than sad about loosing her mate (I loved Rosie but she was bossy and daisy never got a look in for food, places to sleep etc) I was drawing a line with the guinea pig cycle and Daisy would be my last. While Rosie had always been cuddles galore, daisy genuinely disliked humans unless there was food involved and every time she was out of the cage she just jumped back in but slowly she had become a bit more loveable (about ten minutes before she got bored) and I have a cat who she’d made friends with. I agree it’s a weird pairing but I’ve seen her interact more with the cat than she ever did with Rosie and Coco the cat adored her. For the last yearish Daisy hasn’t been herself, slowly becoming very elderly and moving around less and less. She was 8 so I guess part of me expected this as she aged. In the last 3 months Rosie has slowly been losing weight and lost some of her fur to mange mites. She was quickly whisked to the vets and we finally seemed to be getting on top of it with some of her fur growing back. Then she got RingWorm which was another trip to the vets. I knew this was the beginning of the end and I think to be fair so did the vet but I didn’t want to face it. The day before yesterday I was having a cuddle and inspecting her fur and I really thought we’d turned a corner. Then last night I had gone to a friends for the night (my bubble as I have chosen to avoid my family with working where I come into contact with covid) and when I got back today the heating had gone off (boiler died while i was gone) and poor Rosie was dead. My brain knows it wasn’t the cold, she was next to her food bowl (literally her favourite place, she’d eaten the bits of her food she normally picks out) and looked like she’d literally just died while eating, her hay wasn’t disturbed so she hadn’t tried to use it for warmth and she wasn’t in her little house but out just going about her business. I also live in a new build that’s warm and well insulated and while it wasn’t warm it wasn’t freezing cold in the house. My brain knows I’ve done everything I can to keep her alive this last 3 months from vet visits, to the sheer amount spent on medication to buying her every treat from here to Timbuktu on the days where she wasn’t eating. My brain also knows that at 8 nearly 9 she was old for a guinea pig but I just feel so awful that I wasn’t there and the heating had gone off. My friend has sat with me tonight telling me that she’s been on her way out for a while and looked frailer every time she saw her and that she was well loved, looked after and spoilt rotten but tonight I can’t stop feeling awful. I hate the idea she might have been cold and wondering where I was in her last minutes. Of all the days it could have happened over the last few months, this is when it does. I hate feeling like this and genuinely don’t know how I’m going to live in the house without the sound of her squeaking, banging and eating whatever wooden toy was in there that week. Sorry for the long message and pity party but if you’d all spare a thought for my lovely daisy I’d appreciate it. Xx
 
@Kim88 I know exactly how you feel. Recently my Oreo passed away due to old age the day after I got back from holiday. A friend was looking after my piggies and I know it wasn't her fault. I just felt so bad for going on holiday and not being with her when she was struggling.
Sorry for your loss. X
 
Big hugs. It’s normal when we lose a beloved furry family member to question our own care and treatment of them, but don’t let the “what ifs” torture you. At her grand old age and from what you describe it is most likely that her heart just gave out while she was having a bite to eat and she passed quickly. Please don’t beat yourself up. She was very clearly loved. Sleep tight Daisy.
 
I’m so sorry you’ve lost Daisy, please don’t feel guilty, she lived to a marvellous age all down to your love and care x
Sleep tight little lady 🌈
 
Kim88 said:
Today, I said goodbye to my final guinea pig and I’m feeling awful about it.

About two years ago I lost Rosie the last of my pair and was left with the lovely Daisy. I made the decision after loosing Rosie that as Daisy seemed more happy than sad about loosing her mate (I loved Rosie but she was bossy and daisy never got a look in for food, places to sleep etc) I was drawing a line with the guinea pig cycle and Daisy would be my last. While Rosie had always been cuddles galore, daisy genuinely disliked humans unless there was food involved and every time she was out of the cage she just jumped back in but slowly she had become a bit more loveable (about ten minutes before she got bored) and I have a cat who she’d made friends with. I agree it’s a weird pairing but I’ve seen her interact more with the cat than she ever did with Rosie and Coco the cat adored her. For the last yearish Daisy hasn’t been herself, slowly becoming very elderly and moving around less and less. She was 8 so I guess part of me expected this as she aged. In the last 3 months Rosie has slowly been losing weight and lost some of her fur to mange mites. She was quickly whisked to the vets and we finally seemed to be getting on top of it with some of her fur growing back. Then she got RingWorm which was another trip to the vets. I knew this was the beginning of the end and I think to be fair so did the vet but I didn’t want to face it. The day before yesterday I was having a cuddle and inspecting her fur and I really thought we’d turned a corner. Then last night I had gone to a friends for the night (my bubble as I have chosen to avoid my family with working where I come into contact with covid) and when I got back today the heating had gone off (boiler died while i was gone) and poor Rosie was dead. My brain knows it wasn’t the cold, she was next to her food bowl (literally her favourite place, she’d eaten the bits of her food she normally picks out) and looked like she’d literally just died while eating, her hay wasn’t disturbed so she hadn’t tried to use it for warmth and she wasn’t in her little house but out just going about her business. I also live in a new build that’s warm and well insulated and while it wasn’t warm it wasn’t freezing cold in the house. My brain knows I’ve done everything I can to keep her alive this last 3 months from vet visits, to the sheer amount spent on medication to buying her every treat from here to Timbuktu on the days where she wasn’t eating. My brain also knows that at 8 nearly 9 she was old for a guinea pig but I just feel so awful that I wasn’t there and the heating had gone off. My friend has sat with me tonight telling me that she’s been on her way out for a while and looked frailer every time she saw her and that she was well loved, looked after and spoilt rotten but tonight I can’t stop feeling awful. I hate the idea she might have been cold and wondering where I was in her last minutes. Of all the days it could have happened over the last few months, this is when it does. I hate feeling like this and genuinely don’t know how I’m going to live in the house without the sound of her squeaking, banging and eating whatever wooden toy was in there that week. Sorry for the long message and pity party but if you’d all spare a thought for my lovely daisy I’d appreciate it. Xx
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Hi, I know exactly what you are going through, one of our guineas was pts yesterday he was only 2 years old. He had an ear and eye infection when we he was only a couple of months old. He recovered fine, but on Sunday at 2 years old his head was tilting we got him straight to the vets and put him on antibiotucs and pain killers, he git better on the Monday but took a turn for the worst on Wednesday he was so bad he was rolling over on his back a couple of times, he was eating hardly anything. The vet sad he can do various tests and try other things, but I really didn't want to put him through anymore stress and pain, but after we put him to sleep I broke down big time and have this massive feeling of guilt that I never pushed on I was shocked at how upset I am, I clearly loved him too bits. We have to stop beating ourselves up as I am sure your guinea would not what you to be too depressed about his or her passing. I put sugars interest way before my own and am suffering because if it, but I think deep down if I carried on treating him and he still died I would feel the same, the vet was great and said he would have to go through a lot of suffering to treat him, and there was a 50.50 chance he will still die. I could not put the guine pig and my daughter through more pain my daughter us dealing with this way better than me.
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So sorry for your loss.
Be gentle with yourself as you grieve.
Hold on to the lovely memories that you have of Daisy
 
So sorry for your loss, she lived to such a good age she was clearly loved and well cared for! RIP Daisy 🌈❤️
 
Please be kind to yourself at this sad time. You obviously give your baby’s such a wonderful home and love them so much. Huge hugs, I am sorry for your loss

Sleep well little one

RIP Daisy
x x
 
Thank you everyone. My dad came yesterday to help me bury her in the garden. He thought it was hilarious that she was buried in a box, wrapped in one of my hoodies that was stuffed with hay and with her favourite toys in. Going to get something nice to put over the spot when the weather improves. Thank you for all your kind words. I still feel awful but I hope at some point I start to feel less like I let her down and remember the good times I had with Daisy. Xx
 
Kim88 said:
Thank you everyone. My dad came yesterday to help me bury her in the garden. He thought it was hilarious that she was buried in a box, wrapped in one of my hoodies that was stuffed with hay and with her favourite toys in. Going to get something nice to put over the spot when the weather improves. Thank you for all your kind words. I still feel awful but I hope at some point I start to feel less like I let her down and remember the good times I had with Daisy. Xx
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I know its really hard to forget what happened but you just need to try really hard to remember all of the happy memories you had together. I think it is a really nice idea to put something over the spot (maybe a daisy plant in honour of her name?).

Sleep well Daisy. X
 
I’m really trying. I sat working out how old she was last night - she was almost 9.

Then I went through her food and cage to find she’d not really weed in the time since I last cleaned her out. 5 days before she died - thinking now I remember spot cleaning poo but not urine but it didn’t register.

I keep going outside in the cold and trying to compare it to how cold it was in the house which is a memory and a feeling so I know how ridiculous that is. I keep trying to convince myself that there was nothing I could have done, I had no way of knowing that the heating had died, its not gone off once in the 6 years I’ve lived here, I’ve never kept her outside because I was worried about her getting cold, I had no way of getting back. I know that all of this is true and that there’s nothing I could have done. I also know she’d gone off her food these past few months to the point where she would literally only eat the green and orange bits of the museli that were incredibly bad for her or the overly dried out sugared crap treat fruit and even then she was at the point of leaving it, she’d gone from going through a full water bottle in two days to barely drinking anything this past few months, she’d stopped making any noise and that the cat who is the serial nesh one (and I mean I’m on top of the covers while she’s under it) in the house hadn’t even gone under the blanket like she’d normally be so it couldn’t have been that cold. I even spent the night after I found her in here with no heating with my summer duvet on so I know the house was cold but not freezing. It was only 2 degrees warmer outside than the lowest temp the other night. I also know she had at least 3 inch of sawdust in there ( I liked to keep her cosy much to the annoyance of my bank balance) as well as hay, tubes and her castle to hide in. When I found her she was stretched out against the side of the cage with her face against the side of food bowl which would have been the coldest bit, she’s made no attempt to move anything around to keep warm or even nuzzle into it. She wasn’t curled up trying to keep warm she was just stretched out dead laid on her belly - which is odd because I’ve never not had one lay in their side.

My reasonable brain knows that her cause of death was most likely old age and what ever the thing was that made her go downhill in the first place. I know she’d gone from one vet trip to another this past few months and we were getting to the point where we would need to be PTS soon. However, I can’t get it out of my mind that I was responsible and that she died feeling unloved, cold and alone. Every other animal has died in my arms even the hamster who was PTS and the vet had to let me in the back because I wouldn’t let her die alone.

Genuinely I don’t know how to try and forget and I think I’m driving everyone mad going over and over it. Sorry I just can’t seem to stop picking at it and feeling like she must have felt so unloved being alone even though that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve still got her cage in her normal place down steaks because I can’t bare to clean it out properly yet and throw her toys away. Xx
 
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