Freela
Senior Guinea Pig
I'm gutted... we lost our elder pig, Hadley, tonight. She was 6 years and 8 months. I'm not sure what happened... she was fine for the majority of the day and then I found her lethargic and already cool to touch when I was on my way to bed... the kids and I sat with her for a couple of hours until she passed. She was elderly, so I guess it could have been a lot of things... at least it was peaceful for her.
This leaves our younger pig, 4.5-year-old Leela. We plan on continuing to keep pigs and we definitely want to get her a friend. The problem is, everything is on COVID lockdown now in our province. There is no guinea pig rescue in our vicinity and I scoured the local Humane Society pages because I can't sleep and could only find one bonded pair of sisters for adoption, and we do not have the room for three pigs. So our only option is, again, the pet store (our others have been pet store pigs for the same reason), but they won't open to customers for at least two more weeks.
So... this means Leela is stuck on her own until at least mid-June. And I worry that's too long a time period for her. We let her see Hadley after she passed and she was obviously a little upset... it took her some time to settle when we put her back in the cage alone. I just worry she won't be okay on her own for two weeks but I don't see any other option. I just am already really upset about Hadley and I feel awful for Leela and am getting myself even more worked up about everything.
For what it's worth, Leela is typically a really happy, bouncy, laid back piggie. I'm hoping she'll bounce back. But she has literally NEVER been alone, she went right from siblings to living with Hadley, and I'm not sure how she'll do without another piggie there, even for a short time.
This leaves our younger pig, 4.5-year-old Leela. We plan on continuing to keep pigs and we definitely want to get her a friend. The problem is, everything is on COVID lockdown now in our province. There is no guinea pig rescue in our vicinity and I scoured the local Humane Society pages because I can't sleep and could only find one bonded pair of sisters for adoption, and we do not have the room for three pigs. So our only option is, again, the pet store (our others have been pet store pigs for the same reason), but they won't open to customers for at least two more weeks.
So... this means Leela is stuck on her own until at least mid-June. And I worry that's too long a time period for her. We let her see Hadley after she passed and she was obviously a little upset... it took her some time to settle when we put her back in the cage alone. I just worry she won't be okay on her own for two weeks but I don't see any other option. I just am already really upset about Hadley and I feel awful for Leela and am getting myself even more worked up about everything.
For what it's worth, Leela is typically a really happy, bouncy, laid back piggie. I'm hoping she'll bounce back. But she has literally NEVER been alone, she went right from siblings to living with Hadley, and I'm not sure how she'll do without another piggie there, even for a short time.