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My Pippa Passed Away Today :( Is There Anything I Need To Do To For The Other Four?

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jetman

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Hi,
I visit occasionally, but don't log in, I'm a lurker I guess.

Anyway, sadly I return today to ask about my four pigs, Barry, Belle, Gracie and Betsy (feels weird to write those four names only :( ). Two days ago Pippa had some trouble jumping up onto a platform in the cage, its not that high and she usually had no issues, I picked her up and put her on it. She moved about the cage as normal, even jumped up and down, so I didn't think too much of it. She seemed fine.

This morning I came downstairs to usual squeaks demanding hay, but only four of them were out, Pippa was nowhere to be seen. I have a three level cage and the others were on the top, its unusual for Pippa not to come out as she was always greedy. Sadly, I found her under a hiding place on the bottom level, back legs like a frog, she pushed her self forward as I lifted the hidey. Clearly one front leg did not work properly, back legs not strong either. I don't want to recount too much more of the day, suffice to say the vet thought it was neurological, possibly tumours, maybe spinal. She was not going to recover. :(

Anyway, as sad as I am right now, I need to turn my attention to the others, they are still on the top level, are they purposely avoiding going down? Are they avoiding where they last saw Pippa? What do I do to make sure that they are ok?

Thanks,
Jay
 
I am so very sorry. Yes I think they may well be avoiding this. Quite often when a pig dies it can be useful for the others to see the body, as cruel as it may sound, but I understand that circumstances do not always allow for this, as in when they are helped to pass over whilst at the vets. The reason it helps though is so they understand what has happened to their cage mate, and then when you remove her they tend to realise it's permanent. I have had piggies sniff and lick their friend's faces and feat, and a piggy who was spooked and ran away from her friend, but all seemed to accept it.
It is normal for a herd to miss a companion, whether they see the body or not. They must have known she was distressed. I have seen one of my piggies trying to comfort her dying friend, but avoidance of them is normal too, and if little Pippa was giving off vibes that she wanted her space then perhaps the others respected that.

I think now the best thing to do for your four would be to give the cage a good clean, rearrange it a little and place them all back on the bottom level with some food. After a while they should explore the rest of the cage and then hopefully will continue as before.

Huge hugs to you x :hug:
 
Critter said:
I am so very sorry. Yes I think they may well be avoiding this. Quite often when a pig dies it can be useful for the others to see the body, as cruel as it may sound, but I understand that circumstances do not always allow for this, as in when they are helped to pass over whilst at the vets. The reason it helps though is so they understand what has happened to their cage mate, and then when you remove her they tend to realise it's permanent. I have had piggies sniff and lick their friend's faces and feat, and a piggy who was spooked and ran away from her friend, but all seemed to accept it.
It is normal for a herd to miss a companion, whether they see the body or not. They must have known she was distressed. I have seen one of my piggies trying to comfort her dying friend, but avoidance of them is normal too, and if little Pippa was giving off vibes that she wanted her space then perhaps the others respected that.

I think now the best thing to do for your four would be to give the cage a good clean, rearrange it a little and place them all back on the bottom level with some food. After a while they should explore the rest of the cage and then hopefully will continue as before.

Huge hugs to you x :hug:
Click to expand...


Thanks for your reply. I am so sad right now, I knew I would be, but not this sad, I'm used to them being on the corner of my living room so they are always there. I was such a mess at the vets, it was hard to answer her questions.

I did choose to bring Pippa home, she is in the box I use for vet visits. Should I put her on the same level that they are on now?

Any other tips?

I am going to bury Pippa in my garden later.

Jay
 
It would be a good idea to let them see her I think, as horrible as it will be for you to do this. As for which level to place her in I am not sure. Perhaps just put her with the others, where they are now, and let them see and accept what has happened. No need to leave her in there for long, just long enough for each to see, but if any wish to wash Pippa I would be inclined to let them. They may wish to lick her face, and for some reason, the eyes (not sure why they do this). And then give the entire cage a good clean. Removing her scent and the reminder of a poorly cage-mate will hopefully help them to move on and resume happier comings and goings.
I don't know how long piggies memories are, but what I do know is a friend of mine had to down-size, she rehomed one of her piggies but a year later had to take her back. This piggy and the one she she used to live with, instantly recognised one another and the reunion, I have been told, was full of affection. I also can quote from my own experience that when I took on a friend's piggy (Snowball), a few months later my friend sent a stuffed toy that she had cuddled, for Snowball, and when I gave it her she spent a long time sniffing it and cuddled into it. This was a well-loved piggy by-the-way and whilst I can't say for absolute definite she remembered the scent of my friend, I really recon she did.
Another incidence of long term memory was when I homed a neutered boar to go with my lone sow. When the sow passed away I then homed another sow, from the same place the boar had come from. The two of them had lived together before (long story), anyhow when they were reunited after quite a few months apart it also looked like they knew each other, and that too was a happy reunion.

My point is this:
I believe they do have quite long memories for some things, so removing traces of Pippa may not erase her from their memories in the months to come, or even ever, but it should help them to accept that she is no longer with them, and for them to get on with normal living again. :hug:
 
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Please let the others see her body to say goodbye :( It's very hard for us humans to do this, but important for them. I lost my sweet girl 2 weeks ago & I put her body in with her friend to say goodbye; she walked up & sniffed her, kissed her ears then moved away :( They need to know their friend is not coming back. So sorry for your loss x
 
She's been in the cage a short time, on the middle level, they seem reluctant to go over to her, Belle did, then ran down to the bottom level. Gracie has just gone to the bottom, Barry and Betsy have had a little sniff.
 
Ive put some hay in, Gracie and Belle are in the bottom, Betsy and Gracie at the top. Pippa is still on the middle, I think I should probably remove her now.
 
Thanks to everyone.
Maybe I should return with a nicer post next time. Some pics or something.

Jay
 
I'm so sorry for your loss. I agree that letting them see the body was probably the best way to go. In my experience, upon seeing the body they do seem to understand that their friend has died and stop looking for it. Hopefully the fact that they still have each other will soften the blow a bit for them. ((HUGS)) to you, and again, so sorry for your loss.
 
Thanks again everyone.
Just an update. My four pigs seem to be getting along just fine, it'll be interesting to see how the dynamic changes as Pippa was the queen of the cage. We'll see.

Anyway, to bring some cheer after my bad news I thought Id take some pics, just took some now, where do I post them? Here or another location?
 
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