Possible signs of depression?

[Eric5765]

Our boy lost his best friend/uncle pig last week to illness, they have been bonded since he was just a few weeks old and loved each other.

We are looking into our options now for getting him a new friend, but the main concern is that the bonding service/rescue near us is not operating due to COVID, and we are worried about the risk of getting a pig, failing to bond them then having two pigs that need living spaces and friends (Which we currently don't have the space for)

He has been a little quieter over the last week, but been giving him lots of treats and interacting with him lots throughout the day as he is in the same room as me all day (WFH), but last night he went from being excited over his veg and treat sprinkles to looking quite lethargic in the evening and laying down on his side/not really being interested in veg (He'd eat it if I put it in his mouth, but without the normal enthusiasm) or excited for the evening poop scoop and fresh hay. He has a few pig-sized rat toy friends in spots where he sleeps so he can cuddle them as well, and they probably smell a bit like his cage mate still.

Been keeping an eye on him today and he's still quite lethargic - Lots of healthy looking poops in the cage and I have seen him eating hay but he's staying huddled away in the corner and he's not interested in veg or the rustle of the treat sprinkles bag which normally has him straight out and climbing up the bars/squeaking.

Since he has a clean bill of health and is 1.5 years old I'm thinking it might be a bit of depression kicking in as this is probably the longest he has ever been without pig company in his life, he's still eating a bit, pooping fine and he doesn't look physically discomforted at all when he's moving or still.

Looking into our options for a cage mate now but wondering what else we can do for him in the time being - I seem to find somewhat mixed info on this online, some place say to leave it and wait a bit as it might pass over and others say to get them a friend ASAP.

 

[Danielle Smith]

Sorry your boy lost his boarfriend, poor soul. He will have gotten through the acute grief stage and as you know now could really do with a friend. His behaviour in particular sounds like he needs one quickly. Letting us know your approximate location (or put it on your profile) would really help us help you with any slightly further away options.

How do you feel about doing boar bonding yourself? It might be an option to try him with a pig from the local rescue on the provisio they could take the other pig back if the bond didn't work out.

 

[Eric5765]

Sorry your boy lost his boarfriend, poor soul. He will have gotten through the acute grief stage and as you know now could really do with a friend. His behaviour in particular sounds like he needs one quickly. Letting us know your approximate location (or put it on your profile) would really help us help you with any slightly further away options.

How do you feel about doing boar bonding yourself? It might be an option to try him with a pig from the local rescue on the provisio they could take the other pig back if the bond didn't work out.

We have bonded pigs before no problem but using a bonding service with a rescue was just a nice option as we know they'll be a good fit and the other poor pig doesn't have to go through any stress of being moved around and returned after we get to know him, I'm just getting in touch with our local rescue where we originally picked him up now as they are still doing adoptions, just not bonding (Just realised that wasn't clear in my post)

The main concern was basically if they'd be able to take one back if the bonding didn't take so going to check this first, and if they have any other suggestions so going to check this.

 

[Wiebke]

Our boy lost his best friend/uncle pig last week to illness, they have been bonded since he was just a few weeks old and loved each other.

We are looking into our options now for getting him a new friend, but the main concern is that the bonding service/rescue near us is not operating due to COVID, and we are worried about the risk of getting a pig, failing to bond them then having two pigs that need living spaces and friends (Which we currently don't have the space for)

He has been a little quieter over the last week, but been giving him lots of treats and interacting with him lots throughout the day as he is in the same room as me all day (WFH), but last night he went from being excited over his veg and treat sprinkles to looking quite lethargic in the evening and laying down on his side/not really being interested in veg (He'd eat it if I put it in his mouth, but without the normal enthusiasm) or excited for the evening poop scoop and fresh hay. He has a few pig-sized rat toy friends in spots where he sleeps so he can cuddle them as well, and they probably smell a bit like his cage mate still.

Been keeping an eye on him today and he's still quite lethargic - Lots of healthy looking poops in the cage and I have seen him eating hay but he's staying huddled away in the corner and he's not interested in veg or the rustle of the treat sprinkles bag which normally has him straight out and climbing up the bars/squeaking.

Since he has a clean bill of health and is 1.5 years old I'm thinking it might be a bit of depression kicking in as this is probably the longest he has ever been without pig company in his life, he's still eating a bit, pooping fine and he doesn't look physically discomforted at all when he's moving or still.

Looking into our options for a cage mate now but wondering what else we can do for him in the time being - I seem to find somewhat mixed info on this online, some place say to leave it and wait a bit as it might pass over and others say to get them a friend ASAP.

Hi!

I am very sorry about your situation. This year is tough for bereaved piggies.

Loss of a companion can lower the immune system, so you always need to exclude the medical angle first and foremost. Any sudden loss of appetite is worrying. Illness can come on very quickly at any age.
Please switch from the normal life long weekly weigh-in to weighing daily at the same time and step in with syringe feeding support and a vet trip as soon as necessary. Keep in mind that the poo output is always running 1-2 days behind; this is why weight monitoring with the scales is crucial as you do not have that time lag.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Weight - Monitoring and Management

If there is really nothing medically wrong and your boy is pining, then he will be generally very accepting of any company. The crucial time comes during any baby boy's teenage obviously. You can ask any rescue within your reach whether they have got a suitable companion for an acutely pining piggy first before hitting the shops.
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Moody guinea pigs: Depression, Bullying, Aggression, Stress, Fear and Antisocial Behaviour

Without a country and ideally a state/province or UK county in location in your account details (which makes it appera with every post you make) we can unfortunately not help you more. You access the acount details via clicking on your username. We have members and enquiries from literally all over the world, so being able to roughly place you does help us to tailor an recommendations to what is practically available and relevant for you. Please keep the location to a county or larger city; googling for smaller places is taking up extra time since we all do this for free in our free time.

 

[Eric5765]

Hi!

I am very sorry about your situation. This year is tough for bereaved piggies.

Loss of a companion can lower the immune system, so you always need to exclude the medical angle first and foremost. Any sudden loss of appetite is worrying. Illness can come on very quickly at any age.
Please switch from the normal life long weekly weigh-in to weighing daily at the same time and step in with syringe feeding support and a vet trip as soon as necessary. Keep in mind that the poo output is always running 1-2 days behind; this is why weight monitoring with the scales is crucial as you do not have that time lag.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Weight - Monitoring and Management

If there is really nothing wrong and your boy is pining, then he will be generally very accepting of any company. The crucial time comes during any baby boy's teenage obviously.
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

Thanks for the reply - we do keep a spreadsheet for weigh-ins so yeah I think keeping an eye on his weight is a good idea. We still have a bag of critical care picked up last weekend in the fridge so we can have that ready if he needs it.

We live right next to the vets and our exotic is in tomorrow so we can look at booking a consultation with her to give him a check over just in case, and I have emailed the rescue to see what our options are

 

[Danielle Smith]

Sounds like you have everything in hand @Eric5765, best of luck for your chap finding a pal.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for the reply - we do keep a spreadsheet for weigh-ins so yeah I think keeping an eye on his weight is a good idea. We still have a bag of critical care picked up last weekend in the fridge so we can have that ready if he needs it.

We live right next to the vets and our exotic is in tomorrow so we can look at booking a consultation with her to give him a check over just in case, and I have emailed the rescue to see what our options are

All the best!

 

[Eric5765]

Update, last night I tried out a bit of piggy role play using one of the ratties for 45 mins, mimicking pig behaviour as best I could, and he seemed to perk up a little bit and was at least cautiously interested. He ate loads of veggies and hay as well.

Been a bit better spirits this morning, out and about eating nuggets and hay and he looks a lot tidier as I think he's had a good clean. Begging for his treats as well.

Did a little bit more ratty role play today and had him popcorning and running around the cage so I think that might have been a good shout.

Still taking in to the vets for a check, weight is fine but I think he'll be fine and maybe was just grieving. Hopefully getting him lined up for bonding with a pig from some expected litters at our rescue.

 

[Wiebke]

Update, last night I tried out a bit of piggy role play using one of the ratties for 45 mins, mimicking pig behaviour as best I could, and he seemed to perk up a little bit and was at least cautiously interested. He ate loads of veggies and hay as well.

Been a bit better spirits this morning, out and about eating nuggets and hay and he looks a lot tidier as I think he's had a good clean. Begging for his treats as well.

Did a little bit more ratty role play today and had him popcorning and running around the cage so I think that might have been a good shout.

Still taking in to the vets for a check, weight is fine but I think he'll be fine and maybe was just grieving. Hopefully getting him lined up for bonding with a pig from some expected litters at our rescue.

Glad that he enjoys ratty and the attention.
Have you considered playing piggy videos within his hearing?

 

[Eric5765]

Sorry for super late reply, but I thought I should at least provide an update for posterity/if anyone stumbles upon this through Google, been meaning to for a long time but kept forgetting. He didn't seem very reactive to piggy wheeks/noises unfortunately.

He recovered a bit as I said before but still wasn't the same, just he was moving around instead of laying in a pile on his side all day.

Just before the restrictions increased at Christmas we managed to adopt a 4 week old rescue boy to pair with him at home, he was looking at us squealing with excitement when we put his new friend in. He recently had a health checkup and zero issues found and nearly 6 months on they are the absolute best of buds and get on with little to no dominating behaviour.

So must have just been a bit of intensive grieving/loneliness as he had never lived without having friends nearby.

 

[Wiebke]

Sorry for super late reply, but I thought I should at least provide an update for posterity/if anyone stumbles upon this through Google, been meaning to for a long time but kept forgetting. He didn't seem very reactive to piggy wheeks/noises unfortunately.

He recovered a bit as I said before but still wasn't the same, just he was moving around instead of laying in a pile on his side all day.

Just before the restrictions increased at Christmas we managed to adopt a 4 week old rescue boy to pair with him at home, he was looking at us squealing with excitement when we put his new friend in. He recently had a health checkup and zero issues found and nearly 6 months on they are the absolute best of buds and get on with little to no dominating behaviour.

So must have just been a bit of intensive grieving/loneliness as he had never lived without having friends nearby.

Like some humans, some piggies are really not good at all with handling being single. I am ever so happy that your boy is happy again and very glad that you could adopt a little friend for him. The last year has been so tough for bereaved companion piggies with all the Lockdown restrictions