What Should You Do If You Don't Want Anymore Guineapigs/rabbits?

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Cute_Guineapigs

Cute_Guineapigs

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This is a hypothetical question for me personally as i have 3 boars and looking at getting another guinea pig, but if you had two piggies, and one sadly died. If you decide you don't want to get any more guinea pigs but love your remaining guinea pig, what should you do?

Should you rehome the single piggie so he/she gets a friend at the rescue? Should you keep him/her single because you can provide plenty of company and love and rescues are full? Or should you keep on getting guineapigs so they always have a friend after a death of a partner, even if you really don't want to continue getting guineapigs?

The same question applies to rabbits, would the answer be the same? Does it matter if they are indoor or outdoor?
 
Very difficult and personal question and probably depends on the pig and the family in question - sorry that does not sound hugely helpful but I think it is very much a 'it depends' situation!
I understand that quite a few piggies that come into rescue are the last one left in a group or pair and the owner does not want to continue. Indeed, I have a couple of those who I have been able to boar date to join my boys. They have been very loved but the owner did not want to have a single piggie. Do you have a rescue that you have a relationship with for such future issues?
 
:D Personally, I would think of the needs of my guinea pig and I would get a new companion for him. Although you may have a strong bond with your piggie, you can't be with him ALL the time. Every time I lose one, I get to thinking that I don't want any more. Bonnie lost her Clyde last April, and if she didn't have two neighbours close by, I would look into getting her a new friend.:tu:
 
7squeakers. said:
:D Personally, I would think of the needs of my guinea pig and I would get a new companion for him. Although you may have a strong bond with your piggie, you can't be with him ALL the time. Every time I lose one, I get to thinking that I don't want any more. Bonnie lost her Clyde last April, and if she didn't have two neighbours close by, I would look into getting her a new friend.:tu:
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Yes I would too but that is not what the OP was asking?
 
:DAfter reading CG's post again, I think I understand it a bit better now. If I was left with just one piggie, I think I would rather get him a new friend rather than give him up to a rescue. I would try to find a pig of a similar age. I think if gave him to a rescue, I would spend many months worrying about what sort of home he would end up in.
Right now, I cannot imagine NOT having any piggies in my life. But I can see how some people might find themselves in that situation.
 
It is always difficult when you come to the end of the seesaw, as everybody has to at some point.

North East Guinea Pig Rescue in the Newcastle area are running a pioneering companionship scheme whereas any rescue companion for a bereaved guinea pig will revert back to the rescue and will then be found a forever home with a new friend; they area. I am keeping my fingers crossed that more rescues will be amenable to a similar scheme over the coming years.
https://www.facebook.com/NegprNorthEastGuineaPigRescueAdoptionPage

However, it is certainly worth contacting a good rescue if you have one within your reach and see whether you can work out a solution with their help; ideally finding a similar aged companion or one that reverts to the rescue upon the death of your own piggy.

Similar schemes have sprung up first in Switzerland where is forbidden by law to sell, rehome or keep single guinea pigs, but in case of a bereavement, you can now legally "rent a companion guinea pig" which does not change ownership of the guinea pig and therefore doesn't touch the law; these schemes are now also increasingly popular in Germany, but they are mostly in breeder hand from what I have heard.
http://www.guineapigtoday.com/2011/09/20/rent-a-cavy-wins-in-switzerland/
 
Thank you for all your replies. I have rabbits and guinea pigs and at some point in the future I may have to stop ownership if my circumstances were to change, but I don't think I would have the heart to put any of them into rescue, even ones I originally got from a rescue.
 
It will come to us all one day.
My first port of call would be to try to rehome the lone piggy to someone of a guinea pig forum, and that way you will quite likely know the person who take the piggy for you and you will very likely know how he or she gets on. You can also be more confident that they will be well cared for if you know he/she has gone to a long-term piggy slave - you can be confident that pig-ownership is not just a phase. You can also be more confident that should a problem arise the new owner will seek help.

Failing that I would have to make a choice between a good rescue and letting the pig live alone, and which ever I personally chose would depend on the pig. For example I could have let Snowball live her final months on her own, as she didn't seem too bothered about companionship. Turns out she appreciated her boar-friend, but she did fare well on her own too. Penny, Sunrise and Freddie however, they all clearly need company, I think Sunrise and Penny especially would pine heavily on their own. They NEED each other.
So it would depend on the piggy. x
 
I have taken on occasion taken in piggies whose owners didn't want or were not able to continue with guinea pigs but wanted to stay in touch with their pets.

You can try rehoming privately via the forum, but I want to make it very clear that membership on a guinea pig forum is no guarantee whatsoever of good ownership or care and that it is fully up to the rehomer to conduct the necessary safety measures and home check; the forum is in no way liable if things don't work out.
 
As I have a room full of 15 pigs, I would not automatically get another pig for one whose cage mate has died as they can still interact with the others. I agree however that it does depend upon the piggie.
I've only ever had two pigs who needed a new cagemate when their old one went to the Bridge - and they are both elderly boars with sight difficulties who relied on their cage mate as a guide pig. I have some single pigs who despite many attempts will not bond/share a space with anypig (boy or girl) and are quite happy to make rude noises at each other through the bars and join in the veggie chorus.
Many of my pigs are adopted from Rescue as pigs with long term medical conditions, so I would never rehome them to anyone else...but if needs be, the Rescues I adopt from have a policy that the piggie could be returned to them to become a permanent resident at the Rescue.
HTH
xx
 
Eventually it's bound to happen to many of us at some point. I think, for me, the age of the remaining pig would make a big difference, as well as how the pig adjusted to being alone. I can't see myself rehoming a beloved pet, I think it would break my heart! So I would be looking at adopting a similar-aged companion (to try to minimize the likelihood of adding years of pig ownership that I didn't want), or in the case of an elderly pig who seemed relatively content with human affection only, I might let them live out the rest of their days as an only with lots of love. We recently had a situation where we lost the older half of a pair (our 6-year-old pig, Linney, passed away, leaving 4.5-year-old sister Sundae), but since Sundae wasn't faring well alone and we were not ready to give up on pigs just yet, we got a baby, Hadley, to bond with Sundae, with the knowledge that there is quite an age difference and we will eventually have to match up Hadley with another friend. So I guess, with luck, we are in for another five or six years of pig ownership at least!
 
The 'rent a pig' option is such a neat one and I wish something similar was offered in Canada... unfortunately, guinea pig rights (and animal rights generally) are years behind so there are no laws in place requiring guinea pigs to have a friend. It seems like a good solution to someone who doesn't want to take on long-term animal ownership, but doesn't want their remaining pig to be alone. However, I know in my case I would have a very hard time giving my 'rent-a-pig' back when the time came! If you are furry, cute, and come into my house, I am not likely to ever let you leave! LOL!
 
Freela said:
The 'rent a pig' option is such a neat one and I wish something similar was offered in Canada... unfortunately, guinea pig rights (and animal rights generally) are years behind so there are no laws in place requiring guinea pigs to have a friend. It seems like a good solution to someone who doesn't want to take on long-term animal ownership, but doesn't want their remaining pig to be alone. However, I know in my case I would have a very hard time giving my 'rent-a-pig' back when the time came! If you are furry, cute, and come into my house, I am not likely to ever let you leave! LOL!
Click to expand...

It has been known to happen that bereaved owners have come back to find a companion for the rented companion... But at least by then they knew that they wanted to continue with guinea pigs on their own behalf...

It very much depends on the individual guinea pig. I would still make an effort to find another live-along single elderly, though, but perhaps I am more sensitive having grown up in the seventies when companionship was not such an issue and when I was overruled by my mum in offering to look after our neighbours' rather neglected bereaved boar to live with our own single one full time instead of sneaking the poor boy off for some lawn time with ours, which invariably ended up with both boars tightly snuggled up together in the smallest possible hidey. That was when I made a vow that if I ever had guinea pigs again, they would not be forced to live alone unless it was their very own choice.
 
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