One of my Guinea pigs just died

[MsAwesomeDragon]

I've had my 2 Guinea pigs for 4.5 years, they're litter mates and are identical. Ginger has been plagued with health problems for a couple of years, with a cataract and lumps. She was given a couple of weeks to live last week as she has inoperable tumours. Ninja has always been healthy, nothing wrong with her.

Ninja died today. She ran across the cage, then sort of fell down and started twitching. 15 minutes later, while we were waiting to see the emergency vet, she died.

I don't really know what to do now. I'm heartbroken 😭. I've left her in the cage so her sister can say goodbye, but she's ignoring her completely.

I’m so sorry for your loss, it must have been awful waiting for the emergency vet only to lose her whilst waiting

@MsAwesomeDragon

I've had my 2 Guinea pigs for 4.5 years, they're litter mates and are identical. Ginger has been plagued with health problems for a couple of years, with a cataract and lumps. She was given a couple of weeks to live last week as she has inoperable tumours. Ninja has always been healthy, nothing wrong with her.

Ninja died today. She ran across the cage, then sort of fell down and started twitching. 15 minutes later, while we were waiting to see the emergency vet, she died.

I don't really know what to do now. I'm heartbroken 😭. I've left her in the cage so her sister can say goodbye, but she's ignoring her completely.

Her sister might well have been and said goodbye, they only go only and groom them for a short while and then they do ignore them. It's easy to miss but upsetting to see, I know I missed seeing it when one of our GPs died. Poor Ginger and Ninja. I love their names BTW.

I'm so sorry for your loss. They may be little but they certainly leave a big hole in your heart

Ah it's so hard. Guinea pigs really get under your skin don't they? I chose them as pets because they live longer than hamsters etc, only to lose our first one after only 6 months. We were able to bond the remaining pig with a new friend, so that might be something you want to think about. I cried all day when our pig died, I really didn't think it would affect me like that. Very sorry that she has gone

Thank you all for your kind words.

I'd only just got off the phone organising the emergency vet. She was going to meet us in 20 minutes, but we hadn't even left home before she died. I had to phone back and cancel the vet.

Ginger, the remaining Guinea pig, is already ill. She's got a maximum of 2 weeks according to the vet when she was in last week. We'd prepared ourselves for losing Ginger, and were trying to find a friend or two for Ninja. The wrong piggy died today. We expected her to live a while longer, as she's never given any indication of having any issues.

Dd2 is at her friend's house and doesn't know yet. We need to have a conversation about whether we get any more piggies, or whether we stop now as they are dying so close together.

Ah very to read this ( and I have also had pigs in my life called Ginger - homegrown little piglet who we got when her Mum was pg , and Ninja , DS pig that I stole from him )

The fitting is frightening to witness . Our GP3 fitted as he died with DD , it was over quickly and I 100% believe by that time they are out of it and don't know what's going on. If you speak to them they dont respond to you )

Spend the next few weeks with your remaining piggie and keep a close eye . If she goes downhill quick then have her PTS , she;s been through a stressful time .
My last three oldies died within 6 months , you do think "Seriously pigs?" but they are very unpredictable little rodents .

Personally I wouldn't introduce Ginger to new cagemates as you know she is so unwell.

I'd say exactly the same, the stress when ill is harder for them and it wouldn't be fair on the new pig. I've also seen them fitting when dying, it's horrible sadly I think there will be an influx of bonded pairs in rescues shortly as children go back to school and parents working from home can't cope with guinea pigs so maybe that would be an option for you.

We weren't planning on introducing Ginger to new cagemates, she's too ill for that, definitely. Although we were petsitting a couple of much younger Guinea pigs last week and Ginger kept rumble strutting at them through the bars of the cage. They were left in no doubt that she is the boss. But no, new cagemates for Ginger are not on the cards.

The decision is whether to have any new pigs once she's gone. I love them, but they do take a lot of time and space to look after them properly. We might decide to have a break from piggies for a while, which would be sad, but possibly the right thing for the moment.

I think it is a natural break in pig ownership - you can end up with a succession when you replace one to be a friend and then the original dies and you get another friend for the new one, etc. As you say you might well get them again in the future but I would take some time first. Poor wee souls, poor wee owner