Guinea pig grieving for lost companion

[JasperCavy]

I am looking for some advice for my Guinea pig. She is alone after her life long friend just passed away.

Here is the background situation for her. I got her when she was on a few weeks old. About a month later I picked up another female that was just a few weeks old as well. They bonded very well. They were together in the same cage for a little over 4 years. Last week the younger guinea pig passed away after a week of sickness. I let her see the dead body because I wanted her to know that she was gone. When one of my other girls passed away two months ago I did not let them see the body and the other two spent a long time looking for her around my place. She groomed the dead body by cleaning her nails, feet, mouth and head and then snuggled in real close to her body for a few mintues with her head resting on her friends chest. It was very sad to watch. I know she knew she had just died. She has never gone looking for her as I know she realizes she is gone. Now, my last guinea pig is alone and very sad. She has nightmares at night, with screams that wake both her and me up. She puts her igloo in the corner of the cage with the opening facing the plastic wall. She doesn't purr as much when I pet or hold her. She still eats well.

My question is should I get her another companion and how old should the new guinea pig be? I used to have three of them, but one died two months ago. I kept her in a separate cage because they did not get along. The used to fight all the time when I would let them all out together. I got her from a Petco as a returned guinea pig that was a couple of years old. I am worried about my last guinea pig getting along with a new one. Would a younger one that is just a few weeks old be ideal for her? She used to enjoy taking care of her cagemate. I don't know if she needs more time to grieve or if a new cagemate would do her tons of good. My fear is getting another one that she does not bond with and once again I am with guinea pigs in two separate cages. I do not want that.

[DaCourt]

Yes...get her a friend. I know with boars it is easiest to bond a baby with an adult. I think girls are easier. When one of my boys passed this year, my dominant pig would not come out of the pigloo that the sick pig had spent all his time in. The other one stayed at teh other end of the cage. We ended up adoption one of our foster pigs who we knew was very submissive. I have never had such an easy introduction. My grumpy dominant one even shares his pigloo with him which he would never do before. Good luck.

[etplante]

Sorry your guinea pig passed away.

I would definitely consider adopting a friend for your remaining pig. Guinea pigs are herd animals and do best with at least one companion.

If you are having problems with them getting along you might consider making some modifications to your cage. Guinea pigs should have at least 8 sq ft, the more the better, and plenty of hiding spots. A second level is also good for avoiding confrontation. Check out Guinea Pig Cages, Your Cavy At Home for great cage ideas.

[papiggieluverz]

Yeah, I would definitely get her a friend. Check out the classifieds on this site, and also check out Guinea Lynx :: A Medical and Care Guide for Your Guinea Pig on the forums under Cavy Placement you might find a companion there as well.

Keep us posted.

Also I'm so sorry for your loss.

[Mutty]

That is so sad Jasper. I would definitely adopt another piggie for her. My Boofhead fretted terribly when his cage mate Teddy died at age 3 years. I got them both together when they were only a few weeks old.

Boofhead wouldn't eat and sat in a corner so we got him a mate Beanie who was only a few weeks old. He immediately picked up and started eating again and popcorning. I think that he still misses Teddy though as he adored Teddy so much.

A new mate would take her mind off her grief a bit.

Maybe you could take her along to a rescue and introduce her to a few piggies to see who she likes.

[Foggycreek]

What illness did the other one die from? You may want to get your remaining guinea pig checked out by a vet to make sure she's healthy before adopting her a companion.

[JasperCavy]

Actually I am not sure of why she was so sick and would not eat. The vet could not figure it out either. $500.00 later, x-rays, urine tests and so on and we couldn't find the problem. I do know that she had a gas buildup in her intestine areas that the x-ray showed and she did have diarrhea for a couple of days. Her teeth were fine, but she did have a hard time swallowing. I fed her by hand with a syringe for seven days about every three hours to keep fluids in her. I got fluid injections and vitamin C boosts from the vet to help her. She acted like she wanted to eat. Every morning she came to the food dish and put the food in her mouth, then just dropped it. She went to the dry food tray, the hay dispenser, the water sipper and the lettuce tray and then went back to the igloo. It was very sad to watch. Two days before she died I went back to the vet for a followup and with additonal information and research they still could not figure out the problem. They said cross your fingers and hope for the best. They recommended more tests that were more intensive and required more time under anesthesia. I did not feel comfortable with that during her current state, since I figure she may not be able to be revived so I declined. Two days later she died of a heart attack. She went downhill within a matter of hours. It started with rejecting food by throwing it up. Then she started to breath three times her normal rate, followed by fluids coming out of her nose. Then she gave out these horrible screams every few mintues. Then came her heart attack which was drawn out and painful. I really thought she would come around, but when she started going downhill it was late, the vets were closed and I couldn't get her anywhere to be put to sleep. What I regret the most is watching her die that painful death. It still bothers me to this day very much. If anyone has any ideas on what might have caused her illness I would love to know. The main thing was her being unable to swallow properly. She would choke on eating hay and use her little hands to pull the hay out of her mouth. She would swallow water and the critical care solution I was feeding her. She would still grind her teeth with the critical care with her jaw moving from side to side like chewing so between that and the vets exam her teeth looked fine.

[Mutty]

Jasper, That is very sad. I know how you feel as my Teddy had a similar experience and died in my arms as I couldn't get him to the vet before he died.

Teddy died from pnewmonia. He couldn't breath. He was on AB's but the vet had given him penicillan. Then I went to another vet and they didn't know what was wrong with him.

I now think that it was his molars that caused him to stop eating because he did the same as your piggie and put food in his mouth and then couldn't swallow it. Right up until the time he died, he kept going to his foodbowl to try to eat. It was so sad and I had been handfeeding him, but he couldn't breathe very well.

After he died I bought my computer and found GuineaLynx and this forum and learned about the health of piggies. Then when my Beanie got sick I knew what to look for. He had the same symptoms, not being able to eat and loosing weight and going to the food bowl and trying to eat and gagging on food that I hand fed him. My first vet did a procedure on Beanies mouth and when that didn't work he said there was nothing else that he could do and to euthanize him

So, I found another vet that was much more experienced, and he did the procedure properly (Molar planing) and Beanie pulled through and is now well. I wish that I had, this wonderful vet when my Teddy was alive as he died, for nothing and suffered, just because most vets here in Australia, know very little about the health of guinea pigs. (I don't beleive, that they should be able to sell them, if they cannot provide medical care for them) and I have written to my local Mayor about this.

I had to travel for 4 hours to my new vet, and as far as I know there isn't another one in Sydney, or the surrounding areas acording to my research. There is one in Perth, Tasmaina, The Gold coast and other states possibly. This is a pretty bad situation when all these little piggies are being sold and bred and there arn't Guinea pig savy vets to help them.

Sorry to go on. I got off the track a bit.

I would find a realy good vet, if I were you. So that you have one ready if needed again. I did my research on the web and word of mouth.

My vet is great and phones and e-mails on a regular basis. He is in Crows Nest, Sydney,Australia. if anyone needs a good vet over here in NSW.