[janetangel]

First of all, sorry for your loss. I really know how painful it can be to lose a pet as well as family. It hurts.
2nd concern I have is why did you decide to purchase from a pet store?
If you are familiar with this site, there are many issues addressed on here why we prefer to adopt rather than purchase from a pet store. One is the overpopulation issue with piggies just like there is with cats and dogs. The other is something you have already experienced. Poor health with piggies in pet stores. Piggies in pet stores are purchased by the store from breeders. These breeders are breeding the piggies to make money, just like puppy mills do. It is so easy for them to make a buck off of selling the piggies to the pet stores. Because of this most breeders do not see it as cost effective to have these piggies checked by the vet or have their sow carefully watched by the vet. They are not even too concerned about what the sow goes through to reproduce. They just see their sow as a baby maker. This is very dangerous for the sow and also feeds into the over population of the piggies. In addition since health is not an issue with the breeders, the health is often over looked by them and the pet stores receive many with health issues. Since piggies hide their illnesses well, it is not always noticed before they are either sold or in contact with other piggies to be sold.
When someone needs to rehome their piggie or if they are in a shelter, it is a lot more likely they are better taken care of. I adopted my two piggies from a local shelter for 5.00 each with a free vet visit. They did have mites, but I was able to get that quickly resolved with the vet visit. They are healthy and happy now and I have a great vet. My other two I got from a friend who really needed to rehome. They were healthy, one still is and the other got an URI that I am treating her for right now. The two I got from the shelter, I saved their lives. They would have been put down if I did not adopt them. I cannot imagine that happening to them, since they are such wonderful little girls.
Adopting them not only saved their lives, I saved a ton of money on adoption and the vet visit. I have a lot more satisfaction with that than if I went to the pet store and purchased a piggy for 30.00. If people keep buying from pet stores, it creates a demand for the stores to buy from the breeders and the breeders continue the sick cycle of breeding.
Please if you consider getting another piggie, go adoption. There are a whole lot of resources on this site that will help you find a place to adopt from.