Guinea pig died, I'm heartbroken AIBU?

[2ManyChoices]

Yesterday evening our guinea pig, who we've had for a long time, overheated in the garden and passed away, I'm mortified, it was so traumatic for the kids, for me, for the poor guinea pig, and now I'm racked with guilt and what ifs, what if I'd just cleaned the cage faster, what if I'd brought her in before, what if I'd reacted faster and cooled her down quicker, I'm driving myself mad, can't stop crying, husband thinks I'm overreacting, I think it's all my fault.

Oh I’m so sorry x

@bridgetreilly I've mourned some pets more than I've mourned some people.

And I was definitely heartbroken last year when my cat died, partly because he was young and it was so unexpected.

My cat died last month and I felt worse than after my dad died. Some people feel the death of their pets very keenly and there is nothing wrong with that. Luckily for me my dh felt the same and we supported each other.

Sorry for your loss op, it sounds like you were a very caring owner and he must have had a good life. When we had our cat cremated there was a remembrance book of all the pets that had been cremated and looking through it I saw a few guinea pigs. Is this something you might consider or is it too late? We found it very helpful to our grieving to have her ashes and a memorial photo frame to keep them in.

Sorry for your loss OP.

My cat was hit by a car last year and a neighbour found him dead in the road. The person who hit him hadn’t even stopped so I have no idea whether we could have got him to the vet.

He was only 6 and it seemed such a sudden, violent way for his life to end. I found it really difficult to deal with - had lots of what ifs... but they aren’t helpful really to please try and stop those thoughts if you can.

As another lovely poster said, perhaps it was just her time? Perhaps she was a little under the weather anyway... guinea pigs often show no signs of illness until they are really poorly.

Don’t be too hard on yourself