helping a bereaved guinea pig

[cavyslave1024]

Hello - we haven't introduced ourselves, we were getting round to it, but we're now facing a very difficult issue.

We had 2 guinea pigs - a male and female, and our darling boy has died suddenly in tragic circumstances.

We are wondering if there is anything in particular we need to do for our female.
I presume she will go through a grieving process?

Also, we would like to get her a new friend, so probably we will post some more soon.

thanks

[C&K]

I am sorry to hear of your loss.
I really don't think there is too much a human can do to help with pig grief, other then maybe try and offer a few extra veggies and such. Are you considering adopting another?

Was one of them fixed?

[cavyslave1024]

Originally Posted by C&K

I am sorry to hear of your loss.
I really don't think there is too much a human can do to help with pig grief, other then maybe try and offer a few extra veggies and such. Are you considering adopting another?

Was one of them fixed?

The male was neutered, the female was not spayed and we're more or less definitely adopting another.

[C&K]

Well, that is good, definately no more baby piggies on the way! I did not want to assume and be obnoxious!

I think that getting a friend is probably going to be the best way to cheer up your pig. That said, make sure you do a proper quarantine and go through the right introductions between the two pigs. The quarantine is particularly important if adopting from a rescue or facility that is not extremely vigilant with preventing the spread of mites / lice / fleas, or bacterial infections...

Do you have a rescue or facility in mind to adopt from?

[cavyslave1024]

We found someone advertising on guineapigrehome.org.uk and we're getting two piggies from them. We've driven to their house and checked, the little piggies are fine and will hopefully make friends with Cinnamon (our female).

Thanks for your help.

[clotho]

You may be well aware of these things already, but I just thought I would mention them in case.

Did you sex the two piggies yourself so you are positive of their sexes??
Guinea Lynx :: Sexing Guinea Pigs

As C&K suggested, I would also highly encourage quarantining the two new piggies to make sure of their health and possibly treat for mites, etc before introducing them to your existing piggie.
Guinea Lynx :: Quarantine

Good luck with your new piggies! We would love to see pics please!!

[cavyslave1024]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Re the sexes of the piggies: we were wondering about this, since we are now thinking everything over carefully, reading lots, and working out the best way to introduce the piggies. No, we haven't checked the sex of the piggies ourselves, so this needs to be carefully done next visit.

They are coming from a private home, rather than a rescue, and were a grown-up daughter's piggies, but she's now living abroad. I've no reason to not believe the very nice woman who is parting with them, but obviously we will check for ourselves. (Being a nice person doesn't = checked piggies obviously). Also, the male is neutered. How might one check this too? I see on cavyspirit that the testicle area would obviously be a lot smaller and not donut shaped as with an 'intact' male. Any other tips for us regarding sexing?

I did think of booking them in with the vet to get a check up during their quarantine, but not sure if this is necessary. However, I do want to be extremely careful and would never want to introduce an unneutered male.

When thinking about quarantine, this is hard because our Cinnamon seems so lonely right now. Since the piggies are from a private home with no other piggies around, could we risk a shorter quarantine period?

I have a few more questions, if you don't mind answering:

1. Do we introduce them all at the same time, or just the boar to Cinnamon and then the sow (or the other way round).
2. The owners are suggesting we introduce them in a neutral area at their house, to get a sense of whether they are likely to get on or not, and then bring them home to us. But is this a bad idea? I want to avoid taking new piggies home and then they don't get on - it feels quite a big thing introducing 2 piggies anyway, although we love them already! - and the children would find it very difficult if they didn't get on, and what we might do next, although my son suggests giving them a bath together if they really don't get along.

Again, thanks for your help. (uploading pigtures soon)

[clotho]

I personally would not risk exposing your guinea pig to the other two until a quarantine period has been observed. You never know - it's not worth the risk to me. Guinea pigs hide their illnesses so well that they might seem fine - a vet might even say they are fine - but there could still be something.

I've read too about the male parts looking different on a neutered male, but I don't know enough to help more with that. I would think you would want a vet to say for certain a male was neutered before putting him with your girl.

If you agree with me about quarantine, then obviously you can't take your piggie to their house and let them meet. You just have to adopt them and hope for the best when you intro them. But one neutered male with two females really should work out just fine. There's always that chance they might not get along though and you need to be prepared for that possibility.

I would introduce them (after quarantine) all at the same time. Why prolong the process? If you intro two of them - then add a third - they have to work the hierarchy out all over again - so I think it's better to intro all of them at once and let them sort it out. I once introduced my two girls to two other females and 6 babies - all at once! It was kind of crazy but it all worked out. There were a couple tussles but then everything settled down once they worked out who was in charge LOL.

Can't wait to see pictures!

[cavyslave1024]

Thanks again for answering our queries. You know, I think I will go with my intuition about getting the guineas checked out with a vet - particularly with regard to the boar. That then makes complete sense with the quarantine because then they are not together *at all* until they've been checked.

Also, it gives us a good chance to check them over ourselves, see if they are ok before introducing. (They've got really long nails which need prompt attention for one thing). It means we can observe them really well. I can imagine it is difficult, if not impossible to do all the checking one might need to do in someone else's home when you're just there for a short visit. And as you say, piggies hide illness.

Also our girl is a rescue piggie who had been put with rabbits who were giving her a hard time, so it is doubly, triply important that the male is neutered and ok before introducing him. (There is no way we would ever want to risk pregnancy - it could be fatal).

Also, although she is quiet and hiding away quite a bit, and eating less (although definitely eating!), it is worth the wait so that it goes as well as possible for her. (We are giving her plenty of cuddles and all her favourite foods).

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Now I just have to work out how to keep the piggies apart properly (ie not introducing smells to each other etc), with a 4 year old in the house and 2 other children who can't wait to hold them all, LOL. Still, they can play with the new ones, and our one can't they - just separately! I also found some lovely info and piccies about introducing on Introducing your new piggy to your existing herd

[clotho]

I would get an old shirt for you and the kids - and put it on every time you handle the new piggies. Then when you are done, remove the shirt and wash your hands really well. That should stop anything from being passed from the new piggies to yours.

I would hope this woman is being honest about the piggies you are taking from her and that the male is actually neutered, but keep in mind if it wasn't true, and he's not neutered, the female you are taking from her could be pregnant, and you would also be faced with the prospect of babies and perhaps still needing to neuter the male. I'd want to be positive about the neuter before taking them home if it were me.

Could you maybe ask for something from her vet stating the piggie is neutered? Tell her you're a stickler for keeping records on your piggies and want it documented (the date, what vet did it, etc). If she has no documentation, maybe you can contact her vet and get the information. If she gets defensive at all when you ask, I'd be suspicious. I hate to say it, but there have been cases where people have pawned off sick or pregnant guinea pigs knowingly. It's sad but it happens.

Your other option is to find a reputable rescue where the piggie(s) you get have already been quarantined - then you could introduce to your piggie right away.

Guinea Lynx :: Quarantine

[cavyslave1024]

Originally Posted by clotho

and that the male is actually neutered...

They apparently originally came from a rescue, so there should be documentation. WE've got a vet appointment on Monday, while they're still in quarantine.

[fourboys4now]

Clotho's suggestion about saying you like to keep records is a good excuse to get the documentation of the neutering. Hope all goes well when introductions are done. Every intro I've done always has a big pile of veggies between everyone. I don't know about piggies, but I always feel better when eating food I love!

[cavyslave1024]

Well we've got them home now.... (so exciting). Before we took them we had a good look at the male, and to be honest it looked completely obvious that he is a neutered male. Similarly that she is female. (We printed out pictures from cavy spirit).
They already had the girl piggie (who is now nearly a year old) and when mum realised that piggies need company (her daughter had got the piggie), they got the neutered male from a rescue that had taken on Peter Gurney's guinea pigs. They were introduced at the rescue, and hit it off straight away.

We are now having a period of quarantine, which feels hard because Cinnamon seems so lonely.....

Thanks again for all your thoughts.

[Char-x]

Good to know he is neutered etc etc. Keep going with the qurantine...better you're pig is lonely, than ill.