Behavior Could I ask for advice? Lone guinea pig making sad sounds

[bookwormbabe29]

Hi out there, thanks for reading.


I could use some advice. About 5 years ago, my wife and I rescued 3 adorable guinea pigs. We bought the biggest cage possible, read up on everything to feed them (and what not to feed them) and found a great vet that treats guinea pigs for checkups. And yet, we've lost two of little loves already. Our last piggy is named Phoebe, and lately she's been making some really sad/distressed sounds. If I pick her up, play with her a bit, she seems fine as could be. She's eating well, no trouble peeing/pooping, runs around her cage fine, and nothing looks off physically. Yet it I put her down in her cage, out come the sad sounds. I don't know for sure (obviously) but I fear she's lonely. I know guinea pigs are not supposed to be alone, but we're not planning to buy anymore guinea pigs (Long story short, I had an accident and I'm not in the best of health myself to be taking care of pets; we struggle to make it work at this point, and getting a young piggy at this point is not in the cards). Even if we did, unless they die at the exact same moment, eventually we'd have the same problem.


I honestly don't know what to do. If she is lonely, a new piggy is the answer and I don't know how to make that work. We could put her up for adoption, hope she's better off somewhere else... and yet that would just break my heart. Hell, I tear up just thinking about it. There doesn't seem to be a good answer, none that I can see at least. I don't know how to best help my little piggy, and it's killing me.



Any help/advice/suggestions/comments/etc would be most welcome. Thank you for your time.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I am in a somewhat similar situation myself at the moment.

How old is your remaining piggie? You did say that you rescued them 5 years ago, do you have any idea her approximate age before rescue? at 5 years, she's a senior and there's simply no telling at this point how much time she has left.

You are more than likely correct, Phoebe is lonely. If you simply can't get another piggie, the only other thing you can really do is spend absolutely as much time as you can with her. I have heard that some piggies take to a stuffed piggie or other stuffed animal for some sort of companionship (Scooter didn't, he's utterly terrified of it)

One other option would be to rescue another girl, a senior like your girl. That also comes with caring for a senior pig, and the good possibility of increased vet visits and treatments.

I also wonder if perhaps a video screen in the cage or recording of other piggie noises might help, though I really am on the fence about that one. I completely understand your emotional response to the thought of giving her up. I'm not sure I could give up Scooter unless I was absolutely, 100% convinced he'd be in at least as good or better place.

I had two boars before the current ones, Pooper and Sly. They were a year and a half apart in age. Obviously, Pooper passed away first of natural causes. I adopted two babies to keep Sly company, and Sly was also 5 at the time. Sly developed health issues shortly thereafter, but with exceptional vet care lived almost another two years.

I do hope this may help you make a decision. My best wishes for you and Phoebe.

 

[bpatters]

Another possibility might be to foster for a rescue. Many rescues have "sanctuary" pigs that aren't adoptable to families with children, for whatever reason. However, they might let you foster until something happens to Phoebe, then return the other pig. Some of them will cover medical expenses for fosters, but you'd be responsible for the food.