my 3 year old piggy died on dec 14th and I'm still wondering why & memorial

[koma]

so ive been having two male guinea pigs for three years and they grew up together since they were one month old.
recently ive been kinda busy with stuff and went between home and my parents', but food and water in cage was provided. I spent the night on 13th in my parents' and went back on 14th morning, didint check because i didnt sleep well so i went ahead to sleep again. after i woke up i went to clean the cage and realize one of the guinea pigs was laying there, almost cold, but with mouth slowly open and close. I rushed out to buy glucose liquid but when i rushed back he was already dead. I wiped his butt i think he had diarrhea and blood in it, when he died he laid to one side. I dont know what caused it since they looked ok before. Maybe i didnt check carefully because i didnt clean for some days and didnt check their poop condition.
Years before there was one time he was dragging his legs and fell to one side i believed it was lack of vitamin c, and he was cured later. But even after he was energetic he still walks differently from another piggy, i thought he was born that way since he had been like that for years. I'm now wondering if he has always carried coccidiosis?
Another piggy is still all ok and active, he has always been the most active and dominant, but well hes always silent unless hes accidentally hurt. So basically the piggy who died was the one who used to talk a lot, he would make a lot of noise when i bring tomatoes to them, and every time i got back home, opened door he would yell so loud. when i would get out to get out of my room to get some water he would be excited and noisy too. Now hes gone and the whole room feels so so silent since another piggy never talks, it feels so weird.
I would do post mortem but i live in a third world country and its a small city, it doesnt even have vets for piggies so its impossible. I really want to know what happened since they were so good in past three years. And also i wanna know if my alive piggy will be in trauma because his friend is gone? I'm in a very terrible status so i dont think ill get a new piggy, but i really wanna know what happened to the piggy so maybe i can prevent it in the future

 

[Merab]

So sorry for your loss.
Sorry that I don’t have answers for you, but please know that you are held in my heart as you grieve.

 

[koma]

So sorry for your loss.
Sorry that I don’t have answers for you, but please know that you are held in my heart as you grieve.

Thank you. I really hope i can know what caused it

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m so sorry for your loss.
I’m afraid the only way to know cause of death is to have a post mortem. We cannot know what caused his death.

Your remaining piggy will be grieving but as long as he is eating then he will be ok. The guide below details how to look after a grieving piggy.
I appreciate it is very difficult to think about the future while you are grieving yourself but having a new friend for your piggy to live with is important particularly as your remaining piggy isn’t particularly old and could have several more years of life left. It’s important not to rush into anything while you are grieving though.

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

 

[weepweeps]

I’m so sorry you lost your piggy. Take care.

 

[koma]

I've seen him weeping but he is eating normally. I gave him a plushie toy and am trying to be with him as long as possible because i work from home.

 

[Free Ranger]

I'm really sorry for your loss. It will be almost impossible to know what has caused poor piggy's illness and death. Sometimes things like heart attacks or strokes can happen, also stones can form in the urinary tract which causes pain, blood and prevents the body excreting urine properly. Although they can get gut infections which cause runny diarrhoea (and yes, can be fatal) any blood in the pee might look as if it is coming out of the same place. Piggies produce normal poops as waste but also soft, squishy poops which they normally eat so we very rarely see these. So it is impossible to know and although we all search our hearts for answers when things like this happen most people even here in the UK do not go for post-mortem of their pet. It is only really important for the future if it is something contagious and there are other piggies that might catch it and suffer the same fate, but just monitor your remaining boy carefully and he can see a vet if he needs to.

You mention food and water but 80% of a piggy diet should be nice quality hay. The food pellets should only make up a tiny amount of what they eat. This is important for two reasons: the teeth should be chewing a lot to keep them the correct length and pellets contain a lot of calcium which contributes to bladder stone formation. We try to keep this low - this is why a lot of us filter our water here in the UK where 'hard' tap water with high calcium levels is common.

Your remaining boy will miss his friend very much. Life expectancy is typically 5 years although many forum members have piggies of 7 or 8. That's a long time to be alone with no other pig to talk to. People do get toys, but in my experience piggies don't really relate to them. In the UK we have the option of contacting Animal Rescues which often have older pigs available for bonding with a single pig. You can't get a female because you will end up with a million pigs but the difficulty with boys is that if they don't like each other they might fight. Even if you get a baby from a shop (double and triple check it is male!) and things are great at first they might fall out after 4 or 5 months - or they might be best friends! However, even if they fall out you can have 2 piggies living in cages next door to each other where they can see and smell and talk to each other and that is just fine for company. One other route I have followed in the past is to put out a local plea on social media. I have found people who are also down to one piggy and after we have met they were happy for me to take the pig into my home as a new friend. They usually offer the cage and any hay as well! So it is one way to try and find a new friend and even if they live as neighbours it is better than being alone. But no females! He will break his teeth trying to chew his way out of the cage to get to her!

But do not rush. You are feeling sad yourself and you need a little time to make sure you are making the right decision for your remaining boy. Take care x