Guinea pig has died and am GUTTED!

Peater

An old farming term that applies is 'Where there's livestock, there's deadstock'.

Natural to feel sad, but don't feel guilty. Pets like Guinea Pigs, Hamsters etc have a very short shelf life due to dodgy tickers. See it as a chance to teach your children about life and death.

Emmarillo

You poor thing.

I was on my way to pick up the children from school and checked the hutch like I always do and found one of our Guinea Pigs had died. I was absolutely devastated, and was in tears in the playground and felt such an idiot. I am quite an emotional person, but also very private so this was not like me at all. It's heartbreaking to lose a pet.

Just to echo what others have said about keeping rabbits and guinea pigs together, although my mother in law has had hers together for 8 years with no problems, and they live outside all year long. They do have a huge home made hutch/run combo though so maybe that's why there have been no accidents.

krlyr

Peater wrote: »

An old farming term that applies is 'Where there's livestock, there's deadstock'.

Natural to feel sad, but don't feel guilty. Pets like Guinea Pigs, Hamsters etc have a very short shelf life due to dodgy tickers. See it as a chance to teach your children about life and death.

Small pets have varying lifespans, not all just live for a year or two. Rabbits can live for 9 years+, guinea pigs 4-6 years+
Lots of factors that can affect this - if OP got them from a petshop, for example, chances are they came from a mass breeder who suppliers many petshops and the guinea pigs don't have the best genes. This guinea pig could have been born with a weaker heart, lungs, etc. or could have picked up a bug, or even just had a stroke or developed a tumour or similar. A post-mortem would give a more conclusive answer if you wanted to be sure, but it might be better to take the remaining guinea pig(s?) to the vet just to have them checked out.

skypie123_2

Ours died on Saturday
We have two guineas and 2 rabbits (one rabbit lives with one guinea) well we did.
This one was about 6 years old and was a lovely character. When I went out to feed them Saturday morning I found the rabbit lying on him and his eyes were open but he was definitely dead I don't know whether it was the cold or the rabbit who kicks a lot that killed him but it is very sad.
We can't bring them in because there is nowhere to put them so I pack their beds full of straw and feed them lots.It might have been a particularly cold snap friday night and that might be what killed our guineas?
He is buried in the garden now and we found a little statue of a guinea at the garden centre that looks just like him and put it on top of where he lies.

Peater

Post mortem???? Jeeesh! What ever happened to just burying pets in the garden?

Oh, and if you take it to the vets, expect them to charge you for 'disposal'.

fannyanna

Ok I'm not one for guinea pigs but you're not silly for being upset. I have two cats and they're like my babies. If anything happened to either of them I would be really, really upset.

krlyr

Peater wrote: »

Post mortem???? Jeeesh! What ever happened to just burying pets in the garden?

Oh, and if you take it to the vets, expect them to charge you for 'disposal'.

If the guinea pig died of something contagious, or perhaps an environmental factor that could affect the others, a post-mortem could prevent the same thing happening to the others. You may think it's ridiculous but that's your opinion. OP has already said they don't like people considering them as "only" a small pet so is your post really that helpful?

digitalphase

Aw, I'm sorry for your loss hun. I know what it's like as I have guinea pigs (7) and have lost some along the way.

Rabbits and Guineas shouldn't be kept together as they require different care. They need different food, as Guineas can't make their own Vit C so need a daily dose of this provided in their dry food and veg.

Also they are not hardy like rabbits. They are from South America, so quite a hot place in comparison to rabbits from Europe. A hutch hugger is not adequate protection for them in our bitter winters.

My OH's family years ago used to have loads of them and they stayed out all the time, and I believe they only survived because of the sheer volume of them. They would huddle up together to keep warm. I think some where lost though. However that was not an ideal situation, and there was a birth control problem there!

Our piggies are in three separate hutches as they don't all get along, but they are all girls. We have two pairs who are in the stable at night now in a double hutch, and they will go out in separate large runs during the day if it is fine (or out 24/7 in these in warmer weather). My other three are an adult and two babies (to replace a rescue piggie we lost a month or so ago), and they are in the house as they are far too young to be outside. They'd probably be OK in the stable, but the third hutch we have is only an indoor one, which isn't good enough for babies outside. They will all be in the stable next winter though.

Piggies are sociable creatures, so I'd really strongly advise getting a pal for your existing boar. Boys can be harder to pair than girls though, so if you need any advice then please ask on a piggie forum as they can walk you through the introduction. I have only had one male, and he was neutered (rescue), so haven't got experience of introducing males myself. As they are now in the house, this will be fine, but the smaller the baby boy the better I'd think as higher chance of acceptance.

I'd get a separate run and pal for your rabbit too, as again, they prefer to have company. I really hate seeing these two animals living on there own, piggies in particular really enjoy chatting with pals and it is important for them to have a pal. I got two babies for my adult as it was only a tenner more for another, so had the two. More than a pair in boars is quite unlikely to work for long though, I've heard.

Anyway, hope you can sort something out, and I'm the same re. crying over loosing a piggie or any pet. It's awful, but it is the nature of these little creatures unfortunately

pug_in_a_bed

So sorry to hear about your pig. I have three indoor pigs; last year my oldest boar died the morning we were moving house. I was devastated, so I totally sympathise.

Yesterday one of my rats was put to sleep and I've sobbed like a mad woman!

mammyof7

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

I am no rabbit expert but would it also be better for it in its own cage? maybe it would be more sociable then, perhaps it likes it's space, I hope you love the rabbit as much as the guinea, sorry don't mean to offend

No of course you haven't offended me! After much thinking about things last night, once the worst of the bad weather is over I am going to be putting the rabbit back outdoors in her cage and leaving the guinea pig indoors. I've moved his little house into the indoor cage now, so at least he has some sanctuary.