Hello,
Please forgive me for what is likely to be quite a rambling post, but I would just like to share some of my feelings to help me get out of my own head and get advice too.
Between Jan and December this year I lost 3 guinea pigs:
- Post spay surgery complications (died at home while I went to the shop)
- Untreatable bladder stones (had to be PTS at vets after two weeks of meds/battling)
- Post abscess removal complications (went into shock overnight while I was asleep, rushed to vets first thing when I awoke but had to be PTS)
The whole experience was pretty traumatising, especially due to how I ended up finding my Guinea pigs- passed away/in a fit like state and felt awful because it had happened while I was out or asleep just a day or so after their surgeries.
(If anyone has experienced similar please do reach out, I find talking and sharing helps to deal with it so if you do too then it'd be good to talk xx)
I still have 3 guinea pigs (one boar 2 sows) who are touchwood happy and healthy currently, living in a 2x6 with a 2x2 loft. They all get on fine.
6 months on from all the trauma and I'm starting to see piggies in rescues and feel the temptation to want to adopt some more piggies. Currently my partner and I have seen a group of 3 pigs who are all gorgeous... However after some initial feelings of excitement the worry starts to set in ..
- Bonding: what if they bite eachother and cause abscesses and then I lose them again? It would be all my fault for introducing new piggies!
-What if I lose some close together again, will I actually have more resilience because of what I've been through or will I just be set even further back and not be able to get more piggies again...
-Should I really have 6 or just stick with a smaller group (is 2x6 with 2x2 loft good enough/big enough), will it encourage more activity or just increase chance of piggies getting on eachothers way leading to more abcesses or chances they will catch things off eachother if one gets Ill ever..?
Trying to sift through what in my brain is just the trauma talking and what is actually of genuine concern is a bit difficult... Any help/advice/comments would be appreciated!
Thank you for reading!
Please forgive me for what is likely to be quite a rambling post, but I would just like to share some of my feelings to help me get out of my own head and get advice too.
Between Jan and December this year I lost 3 guinea pigs:
- Post spay surgery complications (died at home while I went to the shop)
- Untreatable bladder stones (had to be PTS at vets after two weeks of meds/battling)
- Post abscess removal complications (went into shock overnight while I was asleep, rushed to vets first thing when I awoke but had to be PTS)
The whole experience was pretty traumatising, especially due to how I ended up finding my Guinea pigs- passed away/in a fit like state and felt awful because it had happened while I was out or asleep just a day or so after their surgeries.
(If anyone has experienced similar please do reach out, I find talking and sharing helps to deal with it so if you do too then it'd be good to talk xx)
I still have 3 guinea pigs (one boar 2 sows) who are touchwood happy and healthy currently, living in a 2x6 with a 2x2 loft. They all get on fine.
6 months on from all the trauma and I'm starting to see piggies in rescues and feel the temptation to want to adopt some more piggies. Currently my partner and I have seen a group of 3 pigs who are all gorgeous... However after some initial feelings of excitement the worry starts to set in ..
- Bonding: what if they bite eachother and cause abscesses and then I lose them again? It would be all my fault for introducing new piggies!
-What if I lose some close together again, will I actually have more resilience because of what I've been through or will I just be set even further back and not be able to get more piggies again...
-Should I really have 6 or just stick with a smaller group (is 2x6 with 2x2 loft good enough/big enough), will it encourage more activity or just increase chance of piggies getting on eachothers way leading to more abcesses or chances they will catch things off eachother if one gets Ill ever..?
Trying to sift through what in my brain is just the trauma talking and what is actually of genuine concern is a bit difficult... Any help/advice/comments would be appreciated!
Thank you for reading!