My guinea pig has died

[MrsL123]

This easter sucks, we've just buried DH's granny on Thursday and now this. She was five years old this month, and was a lovely little thing, always wheeking and squeaking away. Went out to feed her this morning and she didn't come out of her bed, so I knew something was wrong. She was fine when I checked at about 9pm last night so she's obviously gone in her sleep during the night. She was curled up with her eyes closed and looked very peaceful. She still had some spinach clutched in her paws

We've just buried her alongside her sister who died a couple of years ago. She had a nice life and spent the last couple of days sunbathing and munching her veggies, so at least she got to enjoy the sunshine and didn't go during the horrible weather

Time for chocolate me thinks.

awww bless her...

i'm thinking of getting a gp...we have rabbits,but the lady who we get straw/food etc from breeds gp's and has a little white one born with one eye,which she cant sell!! she says she's really sweet....and i can have her free....so thinking of just taking her

would you get another??

"She still had some spinach clutched in her paws" At least she was happy and well fed during her last hours.

So sorry for your loss.

Thanks amazingbouncingferret, she was pretty spoiled

The rabbits are traitors and have already moved into the piggy's bed - not even a respectable period of mourning!

Threeblondeboys, I wouldn't get another because I now have dogs and cats which take up most of my time (piggy was pre big-pets!) but they make lovely pets and I highly recommend them (get two if you can - girls). Ours was an outdoor piggy because she lived with our two rabbits in their big hutch and run, but if I just had her I would have kept her as an indoor pet. She really did enjoy company and liked to chatter away when she saw us, so I think having them in a busy area is good for them. It also means they're easier to clean out - no standing out in the rain and wind! There are no vaccines, you won't need flea or worm treatments if they're kept indoors, and you genrally don't need to have them spayed. Grooming is limited to occasional nail clipping, unless you get the long haired kind which need brushed. They do need a larger cage than most people realise and should be left out every day to have a run around (kitchen floor is fine), but other than that they're very easy to keep. A layer of wood shavings on the bottom of the cage, a big plastic igloo bed stuffed with soft hay (not straw, it's too pointy), and they're happy! Most of their diet should be made up of good quality hay (or even better, dried grass - available cheaply from any pet shop) with a few fresh veggies every day. You'll find lists of what's ok online - ours liked cucumber and carrots the best, but they can have lots of stuff that you have left over. Only about 20% of their diet should be made up of actual GP food, and it's best to use the nuggets as they can get a bit selective with the muesli kind. You can get various other things to keep them entertained - tubes to run through, dried corn cobs to nibble at etc, but again those things are not expensive. They make good pets for children as long as they're gentle - they hate being picked up but once you've got them they love getting stroked and cuddled, and the range of noises they make is amazing - they purr like cats when you stroke them. They really are lovely animals