My guinea pig died today

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He was lovely, around 6 years old (he was adopted in 2006 do we don't know exactly how old, but he was about a year then) and the friendliest little chap in the world. He was good friends with my two staffies and they used to sit together on the sofa and play together. The dogs were in awe of him, it was so funny! They're really down now, they must sense it.

I took him to the vet for the first time in his life on Monday because I was worried about his eye being sore. The vet said he was in good health after a general checkup. He had a shiny coat after a bath and a groom at the weekend, and nice trimmed nails. I cuddled him a lot this week, I kind of knew this was coming despite there being no real signs.

Felt so sad when I found him today. Lots of crying. Burying him under the pond at sunset with roses and a clean, warm towel in a special box.

Soppy and pointless thread I know, just wanted to share. RIP little piggy.

i totally sympathise. Being a fellow gp owner. He sounds absolutely lovely and it is so upsetting when they die.

You did all you could. 6 is a good age for a male pig and it sounds like he had a lovely home and was well looked after

Thanks, we buried him earlier with my DS's lion toy - he did look a lot like a lion. Big piggy mane. :) Miss him a lot but have found his cage and other bits a new home as next door got rats yesterday.

Funny though, the space where his cage was, very empty. Ho him, that's life.

AW poor you! Sounds like he had a good life. We had our rabbit pts last week. It's all so sad!

I'm so sorry - no matter how small they are it's always really sad to lose a furry family member :(

I cried buckets when mine died - why wouldn't you?

Guinea pigs make fantastic pets. So friendly and sociable. I'm sorry your lovely pig died. Sounds like he was a very lucky pig indeed finding an owner like you.

I was lucky to find him - he really taught me that little furry critters can be just as loving and affectionate as dogs. I would never have considered one had it not been for DH being soft and I'm so glad he was - our piggy was a wonderful pet. I'll never forget being pregnant, every day coming home from work, getting the pig out then me, him and the dogs all falling asleep on the sofa together all snuggled up. :) Happy memories.

Sorry about your rabbit, ILT.

I can't believe your dogs!! How lovely, RIP little piggy

So sorry to hear about your piggie. We have lost two of ours in the last 18 months and we have all been distraught. 6 is a very good age for a piggie. A rodentologist told me 4 was the average.

I cannot believe what wonderful creatures they are - totally perfect animals.

Your piggie had a wonderful life with you and was so lucky that he was rescued by you. Unfortunately, when you love you get hurt but you gave him a lovely life and have some wonderful memories. Your dogs sounds absolutely wonderful too.

I had 12 guinea-pigs over a period of years when I was a child. Some were babies from an accidental mating (2 sows but one wasn't a sow. They were our first 2 pigs so we were surprised to say the least ). We rehomed the boys and kept the female piglets.( I also bought a saw- I checked she was female- who was already pg when we bought her).

Most of them got snuffly colds and went very quickly, within the space of 24 hours. They went all floppy, unable to support themselves and got little lumps behind their ears. We knew in those last hours just to cuddle them and be with them.

Except Evil Edna named after the Willow the Wisp TV witch. Edna was never a cuddly GP but would follow us round like a dog. She was a gingery colour with purple/grey ears and paws.
When she died during the night (she had been fine the day before) she wasn't huddled in a corner. No, for Edna it was stretched out in the middle of the dining room floor. Typical !
Our GPs life span was 6-7 years. Our original male (the one we bought as female) only lived 2 years. His mate bit him and sent him charging off, he hit a wall and got concussed.He died a few weeks later, the vet reckoned this was partly to blame.He also had eczema, again the vet reckoned stress related.