Guinea Pig died. Do I need another?

[Howmanysleepsnow]

One of DD’s guinea pigs has died. He was only 3ish.
His friend is now alone. His friend was one of a bonded pair and when his first companion died he was really depressed, refusing to eat and not purring until we introduced him to a second guinea pig (the one that died tonight).
The remaining one was quite distressed tonight. They’d both been fine an hour earlier, but I was alerted by very loud squeaking and went in to find him running around his dead friend in a panic (basically shouting for help).
What do I do now? Do I need to try to introduce my remaining Guinea pig to a new friend? At the moment he’s still happy to eat etc, and I’m aware introductions can go wrong, but I don’t want him to feel lonely or be distressed.

I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s heartbreaking when they go.
is the remaining piggy neutered?

Are they in a busy part of the house? Immediately I would move the remaining pig somewhere warm and busy and give lots of extra cuddles.

He’s in DD’s room. I’ve been in there with him the last 2 hours (didn’t realise it’d been so long!) and normally DD is always in there, but she’s at a friend’s tonight. I don’t want to bring him downstairs as we have 2 dogs (who he’s seen before in passing, but I don’t think he’d appreciate being near them right now). I’ve just got a purr from him, and he seems to have taken himself off to bed.

And no, he isn’t neutered. Because both his friends have been boys there didn’t seem a need.

I always got another cage mate as they are very sociable naturally

Did you have boys? There’d be quite an age gap now if I got a young one (he’s 5 and big!). Does that matter? Would he bully it? Do I get another 1, or 2 so he doesn’t lose everything at once if it happens again?

My advice is my experience, general rule is they should live with friends however bonding two boys is tricky, so he’d really need to be neutered to go with a girl. Spayed girls are rare as it’s a bigger operation
They do not do well with anaesthetic (I’ve lost two to anaesthetic), that said I’ve got one who is neutered now.
It also takes 6 weeks to take affect.
so I wouldn’t rush things. Take the next week or so, give him loads of extra attention- I have had some that have got on really well with dogs. See how he does, I have had lone pigs live for years, happily because of the sheer amount of attention they’ve had.

it is a tricky one and you need a crystal ball to know what’s right.

I'd try a rescue centre and see if he can be bonded to a similar age or even older piggy. Some rescues offer fostering, so you could opt to do that perhaps?

I'd recommend checking out www.theguineapigforum.co.uk

They are brilliant and have some very knowledgeable members and good information on rescue centres that may be local to you.

If you were to get him neutered then he could be matched with 1 or more sows too.😊

Absolutely you MUST bond your pig with another. They are highly social animals, that will suffer from depression if left alone. People often make the mistake of "humanising" pig behaviour and saying "My pig was ok alone" because "he looked alright". The piggie very much is not ok, in the same way as humans left in solitary would not be.

As suggested above, contact your local rescue as your first port of call, they often have solo piggies in need of friends and they can advise also advise on bonding. Thank you for seeking advise on this and for wanting the best for your pig.

Howmanysleepsnow, sorry about your piggy.

I must say I disagree with SilentHedges. My last piggy was absolutely happier by herself - her mate had been the dominant one and a bit of a bully. Nothing concerning but she was generally overbearing and the second piggy was always quite timid. After a day or two of being subdued, the surviving piggy spent the next 4 years of her life happily chirping away at everything that moved. She was so much more confident and animated since she became a lone piggy. She did get lots and lots of attention though. DD was distraught when she died at 7 years old.

I know several guinea pig owners with similar stories. So I guess it depends on the pig.

I disagree with silent hedges as well. i had one that was definitely happier on his own.
I also lost one due to anaesthetic and one of the rescues I help have said the same, they don’t rush to neuter due to risk. I will never get over the grief of not waiting to see if mine would have been ok on his own. Instead I immediately rushed it thinking it was the right thing to do.

The ones we had, the second one was quite happy on his own when the other one died... he must have lived another year at least...

When we were in this situation, I took our bereaved guinea pig along to a local rescue who offered an "introduction service". My guinea pig was put in a run with various others (one at a time) to see how they got on. When we found one that she snuggled up with, that was the one we took home with us, and they lived together very happily.

Rescues will often match up with a borrowed friend for the lifespan of your pet if you don't plan on keeping Guinea pigs forever.

@stickygotstuck and @VegetablesFightingToReclaimTheAubergieneEmoji Your posts are exactly the incorrect humanising of guinea pig behaviour I was talking about. Please stop spreading misinformation about animal welfare. It may appease your guilt, but your pigs were not ok on their own. Of course they were better away from a "bully" in the same way we would be, but that doesn't excuse solitary confinement thereafter. There's a reason why it's actually illegal, in law, to own only a single guinea pig in Switzerland.

It’s not misinformation. You’re not me. You know nothing about me or my animals. What behaviour courses I’ve done or what experience I have. i deeply regret taking advice like yours and wish I had listened to my gut.

my lived experience is not your lived experience. One size does not fit all.

All I said was don’t rush it. Neutering comes with its own risk that should be weighed up against the benefits. Of course, ideally they could be living with someone they can talk to.

@VegetablesFightingToReclaimTheAubergieneEmoji unfortunately I've heard this said many times by people that contact animal my organisation, that they know better than established professional research, my animals are different, you don't know me etc. Your sweeping statement is reaching a wide audience, some of which may now think solitary confinement is ok, and consigning other animals to the same fate. We've evolved so much in our understanding of pets, Mumsnet is a great resource, so let's share good information, not bad.

OP and anyone else unsure what to do about single guinea pigs, please contact your local rescue and make sure they are happy with a partner. Guinea pigs are proven to be highly social and are not designed for solitary confinement. The same applies to other highly social rodents, i.e. rats, mice, gerbils.

Ideally another piggy would be good. But are you going to be keeping them long term because you're always going to end up with a single pig..?
I had a little gang but didn't want to keep GP's indefinitely - turns out I am very allergic to them.
They didn't all get on but their housing allowed a degree of seperation without them being isolated.
Two were particularly attached to each other and when the best friend died the other animal really changed in personality - she was very subdued. They were all pretty elderly at this point (about,6 years old) and I still had 2 so didn't introduce another. My last one made it to nearly 7 as an only but I didn't want to risk introducing another and I wasn't willing to give her up. She was a sweetie, very friendly and was perky and alert until the day we sadly had her PTS as she seemed off and the vet suspected a tumour and it wasn't wise to try any treatment at her age.