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Guinea Pig Ashes

Esirev

Esirev

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Hello,

One of my guinea pigs passed away today. It was quite sudden (he was happy and chirpy yesterday) so it came as a shock. I'm still dealing with the grief, but the issue of his burial is still something my family and I have to deal with now, sadly.

We're intending to cremate and keep his ashes, but not sure in what size and type of urn to get. Is there a specific material best for ashes?
And for those of you who have also had guinea pigs cremated, do you know approximately the amount of ash there is?

Also, his guinea pig friend seems okay currently with his absence, but I'm worried (as they were quite close) that he'll become very unhappy. Are there any signs I should be looking out for?

This is the first pet death I've had, and it's hard, so thanks for any help!
 
Sorry for your loss :hug:
If you use a pet cremation service, they will probably be able to supply a range of suitable urns etc. When I had my piggy cremated, the ashes were returned to me in a cardboard tube about 15cm long and 3cm in diameter, so not big. (I planned to bury the ashes in a flower pot.) The company's website showed a variety of urns, boxes etc that I could have chosen from if I had wanted to keep them that way.

As regards your remaining piggy, if he starts seriously pining he will go off his food and therefore need supplementary feeding and a new companion as soon as possible. More information in this thread:
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
 
You can get an urn in whatever material you like. If it’s wicker or something like that, you should have the ashes in a bag inside so it doesn’t leak out (!)
This is the urn I got in December for one of my pigs. I’m not sure how much, weight or volume wise, is ashes as I didn’t feel the urn when it was empty, but I have quite small hands!
I had her cremated at Dignity Pet Crematorium in Hook, and the urn is from there too.
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Guineapigfeet said:
You can get an urn in whatever material you like. If it’s wicker or something like that, you should have the ashes in a bag inside so it doesn’t leak out (!)
This is the urn I got in December for one of my pigs. I’m not sure how much, weight or volume wise, is ashes as I didn’t feel the urn when it was empty, but I have quite small hands!
I had her cremated at Dignity Pet Crematorium in Hook, and the urn is from there too.
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Wow that urn is amazing I've never seen one like that It's lovely.
 
So so sorry for your loss 💔🌈 I have had three of my boys cremated now. Either the vet or the crematorium should be able to advise. When our piggies passed away at home we took them to our vet, who arranged the rest
 
I always get my piggies ashes back inside a plain cloth bag (they are in a sealed plastic bag inside the cloth bag though).

This allows us to remove them easily and scatter or bury them somewhere when we feel the time is right.
Sometimes it takes years, and if we had a closely bonded pair we always wait so their ashes can be together.

The photo below is Lucy's ashes.
When I am ready to do something with them I will keep the cloth bag, embroider her name on it, and use it to store a few small keepsakes.

And remember there is no right or wrong way to handle this - everyone's just doing what feels right to them at a very difficult time.
 

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Hi and welcome

I am very sorry for your sudden loss. Please bring the remaining boy inside unless they are indoors piggies.

Give your surviving boy time to grieve unless he stops eating and drinking (step in with syringe feeding support) before looking for a new companion. You generally have between a week or a month as the ideal time, depending on how well your boy is handling being on his own. Sadly this is not the best time for rescue dating to allow your boy to decide who he wants to be happy with for a personality match and a more stable bond that you bringing a new piggy home - which may or may not work out. If you can get on a rescue waiting list, then that would be best; even if the wait takes longer than the ideal time because what you lose now you gain in terms of a happy and enduring bond later.
You can find information on how to look after a bereaved companion in the short and medium term. The single guide has chapters on the specific challenges with bereaved piggies, tips on ho to go about companionship with various options and a chapter on what happens when single piggies transfer their social needs onto humans. Please take the time to read the links; you will hopefully find them very helpful, including our grieving guide.
Depending on the age of your remaining boy, having him neutered so he could live with a sow or two safely after the necessary 6 weeks' wait (the most stable of piggy bonds) might be another possible option to consider for you in terms of a happy long term relationship. Please take the time to do your research; you do have it! We are here for any questions you have.

Immediate concerns:
Looking After a Bereaved Guinea Pig
Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children

Looking after a piggy while they are single:
Single Guinea Pigs - Challenges and Responsibilities
Moody guinea pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour

For research on companionship options:
Boars, sows or mixed pairs; babies or adults?
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Neutered / De-sexed Boars And Neutering Operations: Myths, Facts and Post-op Care
Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics

The ashes from a guinea pig are a rather heartbreakingly small pile - about the volume of a brooch box. I still bury any ashes in the dedicated planters in my garden, in which the majority of my piggies are buried directly.
You usually have a choice of containers in which the ashes are returned. Vet clinics usually have a contract with a pet crematorium where you bring your piggy to the clinic and pick up the ashes again but if you have a pet crematorium within reasonable reach, it works out noticeably cheaper to use them directly. There are also some more ideas and options in the grieving guide link.

I hope that this helps you? Please take your time and don't rush into anything that doesn't feel right.
 
Thank you for all the lovely help and information. I will read the links and share this with my family!
 
Really sorry for your loss, how sad. :( thi k it's always worse when it's sudden. :(

I have had three male guinea pigs die, 2 of their ashes came back at 41g, the biggest pig's ashes came back at 69g. They are the exact weights and fit easily in 100ml glass jars. In life two were 1.5kg pigs, one was substantially less, so not sure that size in life has too much impact on ashes weights.

When my guinea pigs were cremated they came back in the most ugly things I've ever seen... one in a hideous scatter tube, one in a big box, and the worst one was a coffin shaped thing with his name on top which was actually incredibly creepy. I scatter my dogs' ashes on their favourite walks but obviously can't do that with the pigs so I wanted to keep their ashes but I couldn't stand the boxes. I looked at ashes containers online but they all were very 'deathy' to me and I didn't like them so I decided to do my own thing and put them into glass containers with ribbon around the tops in their colours, and hand stamped tags with their names. You can see the ashes which some people won't like but I actually think they look quite pretty.

But your guinea pig may come back in a lovely receptacle from the vet... when my Old English Sheepdog died she came back from the vet in the most beautiful red felty scatter tube with gold embossing and it was lovely. My Jack Russell came back in basically a sandwich bag, and my other JRT X came back in a generic box so its a bit hit and miss!

But my point is that it's a totally personal decision... if you are arty or have any ideas of what you'd like to keep the ashes in, feel free!

Really sorry again for your loss. My favourite guinea pig died in September after 4 and a half years together and his friend got very depressed and withdrawn alone and looked like he was on his last legs, but happily we found him a new friend and he's very happy again, I hope your remaining pig will find happiness again if he's struggling. Just a note... mine was okay for a few days but himself and then seemed to suddenly realise he was alone and started struggling.

All the best. :)
 
Firstly I’m so sorry for your loss. But thank you for asking the question. This is such an interesting thread with helpful responses.
Up to now we have buried all our piggies in our garden but with the number of piggies, birds, hamsters (and our bun) we’ve lost over the years we are running out of space so may need to look at cremations in the future. And this thread is really helpful even for an old hand like me.
 
Sorry for your loss.

We get our girls cremated at our local pet crematorium, we buried pitch and putt but realised space would be an issue so switched to cremation. At ours you can pay extra for different types of urns or they provide these scatter tubes. The idea for us is to plant the tubes in the garden but we’ve never actually got round to it so now they live in the cupboard. Most of the tubes are 9cm tall and 3 cm diameter. However Vimto and Maggie’s tubes are 12 cm reflecting the fact they were BIG piggies.

When Lee‘s dad died in our sick sense of humour we picked the matching scatter tube for his ashes. He now lives in the cupboard too.

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When my Christian and Dennis went to The Rainbow Bridge, it didn't feel right to have them cremated (personal choice) and I buried them in the garden under a Velvet plant (Velvet is buried under there too). Christian and Dennis are reunited with their Mum Velvet now.
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I always opt for the cheapest "no frills" option for ashes as all mine are place in the garden with various plants so the packaging doesn't matter to me as it won't be kept in the long term. If you want to keep your piggies ashes though there are some lovely receptacles you can get. You can also opt to have jewellery made with ashes placed in glass. I have a charm bracelet bead on my pandora bracelet with my dads ashes in
 
We've buried piggies in the past so we could visit them, but then when I had to move it did not make sense to bury the last girl who died. My son REALLY wanted her with him so we opted for cremation.

The vet who helped her over the rainbow bridge returned her with a tiny jar of fur clippings, a print of one of her feet and a beautifully carved wooden 7rn with her name on a gold plaque. I could not have asked for a more beautiful goodbye to our girl.
 
I am really sorry for your loss, it is hard, but you should give yourself plenty of time to grieve.

I used dignity Pet Crematorium in Hook, same as @Guineapigfeet and have the same urn for my boy! They were wonderful, I absolutely cannot fault them. Due to Covid they were not picking up from private individuals, only vets, so I had to take my Higgins there myself and pick him up. I'm not sure if that situation has changed or not (I suspect not). If they are not too out of the way for you I would highly recommend them.

I'm not sure how 'much' there is in terms of size/weight. Not a great deal I imagine, I haven't opened the urn but it doesn't sound like a lot.

Take your time and think about how you would like things done. We kept our boy in the Porch during the day and in the utility room at night, but it was colder (December), so sadly that will need to be a consideration, too. We had him at home with us 2 nights, I wouldn't have liked to have kept him too much longer unless I was able to freeze him (I couldn't bring myself to do that).

Remember your own wellbeing, sending love x
 
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