Unfortunately, my baby passed away this morning🪽I realized he was dead about an hour ago before I was getting ready to leave for work. I already have arrangements for getting him cremated and his brother has said goodbye to him already. Again, I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to properly and adequately care for a grieving, single guinea pig so that I can make sure he stays happy.
Thank you!
Okay so before I left for work today (12ish) guinea pig 1 was fine and active as usual but guinea pig 2 was in his hidey taking a nap (i assume) but instead of facing towards the opening he was backwards if that makes sense which was odd to me because he never sleeps that way so anyways i lift the hidey to make sure he's alright and he didn't move at all which usually he does he just runs around and stuff so I gave him a little tap and he wasn't moving his body (only his head) and then i tapped his butt (which he doesn't like) just to see if he'd run away and he didn't so I didn't think much of it I just thought maybe he was sleepy and I had just woken him up from a nap or something so fast forward to around 9pm i get back from work and I notice he's in the same spot, same position, same everything so I grew more worried. I did pretty much the same thing tapping him and stuff and he was only slightly moving his head so I figured if anything was gonna make him move it would be the sound of me putting in hay or food so that's what I did and he still didn't move. I decided to pick him up carefully and the minute I put my hands around him he started wheeking like crazy and not in the normal guinea pig wheek kind of way it was more like I was hurting him or making him uncomfortable. He had never made that sound before so I hurried up and put him in my lap so he could lay down and he stopped that wheeking. I checked his body to make sure he was free of any cuts or wounds or anything and everything was fine. I was feeling for his heart beat and everything seemed normal to me. I finally put him in the cage but I put him on the other side away from the hidey he was in and something I noticed when I placed him down was that he lost his balance a little bit I'm not sure if it was because of the way I put him down or what but it seemed like he tripped a little bit. He didn't move from his spot for five minutes and in that five mins I placed a bunch of hay in front of him so he could eat it (he LOVES hay) but he just was looking at it then his brother went next to him and started eating it but he was still looking at it. He eventually went back to his hidey but I noticed he was walking very slow. That's not like him at all my guinea pigs, like most, move pretty fast. Me observing him has led me to believe he may be dying. He's about 6 years old which I believe may be a normal age for guinea pigs to pass away (correct me if I'm wrong) While I don't want to lose him, I do have to accept that one day he will leave me physically. If anyone has any insight on what might be happening (if he's not dying) please share! Another reason I believe he may be dying is because this was similar behavior as my hamster when he died.
I would also love advice on how to care for a grieving, single guinea pig so that he can still get the best and adequate care if his brother passes on. Please respond if you have any advice/insight! Thank you! 🙏
A few hours ago, I noticed some redness on my guinea pig's fur, so I picked him up and I saw this lump with a scab. There was some puss-looking white stuff, but it looked like it hadn't bled in a while. He has been acting the same as usual; eating his food/hay and treats, drinking water, and being active. It started bleeding a teeny bit more about 15 mins ago but I cleaned it up and disinfected the area. He doesn't seem to be in any pain, like I said, he's still acting fine. I'm not able to get to a vet until tomorrow, but even then it might be too expensive for treatment and stuff like that. Please help, him or my other guinea pig have never gone through anything like this!