Sad Piggie :-(

[RubyGates]

Yesterday evening I found one of my two girl piggies had passed away. she was lying in her big cardboard tube and looked as if she was sleeping.

She was fine earlier in the afternoon and was fighting for baby carrots with her evil nemesis sister, I have no idea why she died . They are only about 4years old and despite barbering each other's fur off in grooming competitions and not really liking to be held, they seemed to have a happy, hay-filled life.

But now the remaining sister is curled up asleep in the top of my sleeve making typing rather difficult and housework impossible. She spent the night in a cardboard box full of hay and treats in our bed but obviously co-sleeping with a piggie is not sustainable and she needs a new friend.

I wonder if she would be happier with a girl piggie of her own sort of age or a pair of babies to keep her amused or possibly a neutered boy?

Does anyone have any experience of making a bereaved piggie happy again?

[guineapiglet]

Hi Ruby very sorry to hear about your little girl -sometimes they do just pass with no indication or idea why - At four she was a good age for a guinea, it might have been the cold/damp/something internal - very sorry for you anyway. Your remaining girl will be very sad and lonely, as they really do pine especially if she has been one of an established pair for so many years.

THere are other threads on there about what happens when you lose one and are left with a lonely one, but basically your choice is to keep her as a spoilt and loved singleton, much the same as you are doing now, lots of attention and treats etc, and make her feel as loved as you can - otherwise you make the choice to get another/others and then you are in the spiral of keeping more, for the forseeable future - I guess you and your family will have to decide whether you want to go down the route of getting more..... local rescues will advise you on whether they have any suitable singleton girls of a similar sort of age, and you can integrate them slowly, but will need lots of space/spare hutch etc as they will have to be kept separate to start with - guineas are like us - they don't always get on with another, and this process will take time. The advantage of getting two baby girls is that they will have each other for company, and it may give your lonely girl a new lease of life. It is very hard for the one being left alone, so sending you kind thoughts, :)

[RubyGates]

Thanks guineapiglet, no cold or damp here, they were indoor piggies :-)
We're used to the ever-increasing rodent family.... we went down that route with our ratties. There's always room for another one in our house.

But yes, I can't find a rescue locally (North/East London) and I'm without a car so they would have to be accessible by public transport.

I need to cook dinner and she's still down my sleeve. I'm used to ratties doing this sort of thing, but until now Pigwiggen has shown no interest in us mere humans at all. I suppose I should feel honoured