Do I let cage mates see their deceased guinea pig friend?

[aligibs0n]

Hello everyone. I sadly just lost my almost 3 year old girl guinea to upper respiratory infection. She has lived with her other piggy sisters up until this morning before the vet because I was originally let on to believe she had something with her spleen. My question is: with knowing it’s possible my other piggies have been exposed to her illness, do I let them see their deceased cage mate to know she passed away at the vet? Or would their already potentially impacted immune systems become weaker and bring upon illness if they are stressed by knowing she’s dead? Otherwise they will just wonder what happened…

 

[Merab]

So sorry for your loss.
I have always allowed any of my piggies to see a deceased cage mate before burial.
Sometimes they simply ignore the body, other times there might be a bit of nuzzling.
Be gentle with yourself as you grieve

 

[Eriathwen]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I always leave their friends body with them for at least an hour, the one time I removed them soon after passing their friend was bereft and kept trying to jump and climb out of the cage every time I went in it definitely prolonged the grieving process.

I have *touch wood* never had anything spread from a deceased cagemate after passing and have had a couple I was concerned were lost to URI due to sudden nasal discharge, only to find via post mortem this was fluid build up from cancer or undetected heart issues. So I am glad I held firm and allowed their friends to properly say goodbye in spite of my worry. (Not saying this is the case with your piggy, just that I can empathise with the concern)

Again, I'm so sorry for the loss of your piggy.

 

[Dindypig]

Ditto to the above comments.
It's important for them to have the opportunity to understand that their friend has died.