Death Of Guinea Pig - Loneliness?

[SophieCyde]

Hi everyone , haven't posted here for a long time but I come with sad news , yesterday my beautiful girl cocoa passed away she was about 7 so she was fairly old but I still wish I could have had more time with her , I already miss her a lot and am distraught

rip xx

I'm looking for some advice about ruby , my now lone guinea pig. I'm going to university in September (though planning to live at home which wouldn't affect the care of her) so my mum is not letting me get any more pets which means I have a horrible decision to make. I guess my question is it ever fair to keep a lone guinea pig or do you think it would be best for me to look for another home for her where she can have the company of other pigs? I feel absoloutely awful about this and I also feel like I'm trapped between a rock and a hard place , would keeping her on her own just be really selfish of me because I can't bear to part with her but I still feel like I'm failing her if I had to rehome her , I just hate this feeling of not knowing what is best for her.

She is around 4 years old (I think) if that makes any difference

any advice would be greatly appreciated , thanks

 

[madguinealady]

How much time could you spend with her? Ideally she should have a friend but the decision ultimately is yours.I have had lone piggies in the past before I knew better but seeing how my two quartets interact wouldn't do it again.So sorry if it's not the answer you want but just want to.be honest with you.Sorry you are having to make the decision, it is hard giving animals up.Have had to rehome 12 rabbits as broke my ankle then my arm and couldn't keep up with cleaning the hutches

 

[SophieCyde]

How much time could you spend with her? Ideally she should have a friend but the decision ultimately is yours.I have had lone piggies in the past before I knew better but seeing how my two quartets interact wouldn't do it again.So sorry if it's not the answer you want but just want to.be honest with you.Sorry you are having to make the decision, it is hard giving animals up.Have had to rehome 12 rabbits as broke my ankle then my arm and couldn't keep up with cleaning the hutches

thank you for your reply, I can spend probably an hour a day with her directly but when I'm doing schoolwork in my room she has free roam of my bedroom as long as I'm there to supervise her (a few hours on an average day)

no I'm really glad you were honest , my main priority is her happiness/wellbeing , I just want to do whats best for her

 

[Bekki]

Personally id have a look to see if anyone local has a herd she could join, this comes from personaly experience of having a lone female being left, spending months finding another lone female (or neutered boar) of simliar age only for one of them to pass leaving a lone female again and being unable to find any in the top half of the country, this caused me so much stress(and a guinea pig pining for company) as I will not buy animals and rescues did not have any, nor were there any on free ads other than young babies, which IMHO are not ideal companions for old piggies.

You may find that she is absolutely fine on her own, some pigs are some arent only time will tell :-)

 

[Dindypig]

I'm so sorry to hear that Cocoa has passed away. Your remaining piggy may well be grieving as you are too. If you could persuade your mum that a companion piggy would be best. Is there a local rescue that might have a similar aged piggy for adoption?

 

[Stewybus]

I'm so sorry to hear that Cocoa has passed away.

In reply to Bekki above, Minnie who was 4+ came from her to stay with me 10 months ago & has thrived living with other piggies. She's much tamer now & has just gone through an easy re-bonding with Mother & Mitch after the sudden death of Mousey last week. If you can't get a companion for Ruby, I would certainly consider re-homing her with a small group of piggies. But if you can't let her go then try to persuade your mother to let you get her a companion as it's no extra work looking after 2 piggies in the same cage.