One of my guinea pigs has died - will the other be ok?

[Fluffeh]

On his own? They are 8 years old so I'm very reluctant to introduce a new pig. They have been together since birth.
He is still eating and squealing and popcorning as usual this morning. His brother died early last night. I know he's an old pig now but I worry how he's going to do on his own. Will he be ok or will he get really lonely?
He's always been the friendly, quiet one. His brother was the dominant.
Would he accept a new pig? Or a new pair? Is he better off left on his own?

Hi very sorry to hear about your guinea, he must have had a happy and much loved life, 8 is a fab age.

I guess it depends on whether you want a new guinea pair to start another commitment, or whether you want him to be the last boy your family will have...in which case lavish him with love and attention and delicious food which i am sure you do any way!!!

There is no doubt that they grieve for their companions so he will be a bit sad and will need cheering up.

Hi very sorry to hear about your guinea, he must have had a happy and much loved life, 8 is a fab age.

I guess it depends on whether you want a new guinea pair to start another commitment, or whether you want him to be the last boy your family will have...in which case lavish him with love and attention and delicious food which i am sure you do any way!!!

There is no doubt that they grieve for their companions so he will be a bit sad and will need cheering up.

Wow - 8 is a great piggie age. As guineapiglet says it depends upon whether you want to 'chain pig' or not. If you want to have him as your last pig then lots of attention and treats etc and he should be fine.

PS. Is it weird that 'guineapiglet' is a word in my predictive text now?

We have just one elderly (5.5) female guinea pig now, we had 3 sisters, but the 2nd of the others died a month or two ago. We thought about rehoming her but my dds were not keen to give up a pet, and we didn't want to add new younger pigs and start again.

She seems fine so far, it's a bit hard to tell as she's quite old and less lively than previously. We put extra effort into her. She gets taken outdoors to graze most days, then back inside in the evenings, and she's getting lots of cuddling. She seems fairly happy. If the dds get bored of pampering her I've got a neighbour who would take her so we'll do that if she starts pining visibly.

Condolences Fluffeh . What a magnificent age your old boys have reached!

I hope you don't mind me hitching a ride on your thread to ask the same question about my girl Peggy. We have been incredibly unlucky and lost both of Peggy's sisters at a young age (Nibbles was only 18 months, Cookie coming up to 3). Peggy is now 3 and a half. Would she like a companion, do you think? I'll confess that I am not that keen to carry on having guinea pigs because it is just so heartbreaking to lose them. At the same time I don't want Peggy to be lonely .

Minty your piggy is still young/middleaged - it's a weigh-up situation . Sows sometimes don't tolerate other sows.
Could you find her a middle-aged batchelor (neutered) maybe from a Rescue.
Rescues do often neuter their singleton boars to make them easier to bond.
My DD boar GP1 is 3-and-a-bit and I wouldn't like him to be alone TBH. (Though him and his piglet stepson were conspicuously hiding in the Pighouse today. Usually they are in the haybox
. Today GP1 was grumbling under a pile of bedding in the main part. No fights, but maybe he'd had enough of GP3 non stop whittering )

Fluffeh - 8 is a good age, but difficult t make any major changes to his life after he's gone through the stress of losing his brother.
Does he live in? Might be worth considering to give him extra noise and involvement day to day.
If he's already an indoor pig , you could give him a radio on a talk channel for the background noise.
If he was the friendly one that's good, he's a 'people pig.
I would think carefully about introducing new pigs. He's too old vunerable to be neutered. And if you got a piglet boar, it would go through the Terrible Teens (even more so if you got two ).
Our older boy was subject to the piglets affections, but he was a very boary boar so could tell him off. (Though since GP3 got into his mature phase, GP1 is less boary)

for your piggie that died.

And yes, it is heartbreaking to lose them, but I think every day our GP2 was with us (and with GP2) he was loved and spoiled.
The sadness we felt when he died was a small price compared to the happy life he had.

He is spoilt, they both were. He lives indoors and goes out to play on dry days.
I don't want to upset him by introducing younger pigs that might bully or aggrevate him so I guess I'll just keep giving him lots of cuddles and attention.
He still seems ok today, not sad but he is very clingy. He's spent most of yesterday following me around and squealing whenever the fridge opened. He never used to squeal at the fridge it was always his brother so he must know :(.

Oh dear, poor piggy. Sorry to hear you lost a guin :-(

My mum's grey pig had to be put down and a month later her black piggy died too. He seemed very depressed in the week or so before apparently. He always was quite sensitive and attached to his friend (always nibbling his ears and seeking him out) and I did sort of expect that he wouldn't cope well.

Fluffeh sorry for your loss .

8 is an amazing age for a guinea pig. I think he is too old to match up with a new friend. If it was me, I'd give him lots of attention and let him free range the house, so he can follow you to the fridge constantly and he will be a happy boy.

That's pretty much what I did with my 'OldBoy' except he also had girlfriends to talk to in a separate hutch.

RIP Fluffeh Guinea Pig