Losing any pet is hard especially when they are as cute and loving as guinea pigs can be.
After years of fun with your pet guinea pig, suddenly losing them can feel like there’s an emptiness that they leave behind.
This is a really unfortunate situation but giving your remaining guinea pigs and yourself some time to grieve is what you’ll have to do when one of your guinea pigs dies.
You’ll have to help your guinea pigs get through this while also making sure that you’re taking care of yourself as well.
That way when it’s time to start moving on it’ll be easier to decide on how you’re going to do it in a way that works best for you and your remaining guinea pigs.
So to help out fellow guinea pig owners, here are some helpful things to do and look out for when one of your guinea pigs has died.
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What To Do When Your Guinea Pig Dies
There are a number of things that you can and should do when one of your guinea pigs has died.
Even though it can be hard, one of the first things that you should do for your guinea pig that’s deceased is to try to figure out how you’re going to put them to rest.
The two main ways that pet guinea pig owners will usually do this is by either getting them cremated or burying them in a nice place.
Cremating Your Guinea Pig
So some owners would rather have their guinea pig cremated so that they can have their little friend’s ashes closer to them, while others might prefer giving them a burial in their yard.
Yes, it can be hard to decide, but this is one of those choices that you will have to personally make depending on your preferences.
So if you decide that you want to get your guinea pig cremated then the best way to go about that is to reach out to your local vet.
Veterinarians are very familiar with handling this type of unfortunate situation and will have more information on where to get the cremation done and they may be able to easily walk you through the process as well.
After your guinea pig has been cremated then you’ll want to store their ashes properly in a quality urn that you can get yourself or select one of the ones that they have available after the cremation.
Giving Your Guinea Pig A Home Burial
If cremating isn’t for you then that’s perfectly fine though, the next best option for putting your guinea pig to rest would be a home burial.
A home burial can be less expensive than getting them cremated and it can be a lot more intimate as well.
So for this, you would need to pick a great spot in your yard to bury your guinea pig and also have them in a small box or cloth.
With this option, you can take comfort in the fact that your little pet will be close to you while also helping give life back to the earth in a natural way.
So once you’ve decided on how you’re going to put your little pet to rest, the next thing to do after your guinea pig dies is to look after your remaining guinea pigs as well as yourself.
What Should You Do When Your Guinea Pigs Start To Grieve?
One of the next things that you should do after one of your guinea pigs has passed away is regularly check on and look after the remaining ones that you have.
They do have some emotions and will show them in their own way because guinea pigs can get sad when one of their little friends dies.
Guinea pigs can be very smart so it won’t take them long to realize that one of their friends is either not moving or not there anymore.
Once they figure out that something is wrong then they may start to become sad and that sadness can turn into a type of depression.
So if one of your guinea pigs gets depressed after the death of their cage mate then they will start their own grieving process.
Once that begins to happen the best thing for you to do is to smoothly help them when they start to grieve.
Helping Your Guinea Pigs Through The Grief Of Losing Their Cage Mate
Guinea pigs grieving after the death of one of their friends is natural and should actually be encouraged.
The reason why is that this process can really help them come to terms with the fact that one of their cage mates won’t be coming back.
So because this can help your remaining guinea pigs you should try your best to assist them through their grieving process.
Because if they don’t get the chance to properly grieve then they may actually start to become depressed.
So you’ll have to watch out for some of the signs that your guinea pig might be depressed like:
- A change in their behavior.
- Constantly looking for their cage mate that died.
- Sleep pattern changes.
- Eating habit changes.
- Acting lethargic.
- Not being interested in their normal activities.
Guinea pigs are great at hiding a lot of their emotions but when they start to become depressed then these are some of the more common things that you may see them do.
So you can try to prevent that from happening by helping your guinea pigs after they lose one of their little friends.
One of the ways that you can do that is by letting your remaining guinea pigs see and interact with the body of the one that passed away.
When you do this you might see your guinea pigs try to nip, push, and even lick the deceased guinea pig’s body.
What they’re trying to do here is interact with them in different ways in an attempt to wake them up and get them moving around again.
But after a while, they will start to realize that their friend is actually gone and then they can start to grieve over their loss instead of getting depressed.
Recovering From The Grief Of Losing A Pet Guinea Pig
Taking care of and watching out for your remaining guinea pigs is important, but what’s also important is taking care of yourself too.
You have to make sure that you’re taking care of your own mental health and also allow yourself to go through your own grieving process.
While you’re grieving you should also make sure to regularly eat, sleep, and manage your stress as well.
Losing any pet can be hard, so when one of your guinea pigs dies it’s natural to cry and even feel like you can’t stop crying over this unfortunate loss.
You should never feel bad about yourself if you cry over losing a pet guinea pig because sometimes you just have to let it all out so that you can start recovering.
When something terrible like this happens you won’t always be able to go through this alone, and you shouldn’t have to if you don’t want to.
Sharing your emotions and talking it out with someone else can really help you start to recover. Listening to other pet owners and their stories can help get you through these dark times as well.
So if it feels like you can’t stop crying when one of your guinea pigs dies, then joining a generic pet loss support group might really help you out.
Remember you don’t have to go through this alone if you don’t want to and relying on family, friends, and online support groups can help you quickly recover.
It’s true that sometimes it’s hard to fully get over the loss of a cute pet like a guinea pig, but the good thing is that it can and does get easier over time.
Moving On After The Loss Of A Pet Guinea Pig
After grieving over the loss of a pet guinea pig, moving on can definitely be hard to go through as well.
So when moving on, one of the things that you’ll have to think about is if your remaining guinea pig will be okay after the other has died.
Guinea pigs are very social animals so if you only had two of them and one of them has died leaving the remaining guinea pig alone, then you basically have two options.
You can either give your remaining guinea pig affection and attention a lot more than you usually would or think about getting them another cage mate.
This can be a really hard choice though because guinea pigs really need each other around and really thrive when they have company.
So they might not always be as happy while alone even if you constantly give them attention.
On the other hand, while getting your remaining guinea pig another friend can really help make them feel whole again, it can also create a situation where you’re constantly getting more guinea pigs as they individually start to pass away.
So it’s up to you to decide on what you want to do next when you and your guinea pig are trying to move on.
This can be a really hard choice but no matter which path you choose, you have to remember that life ultimately must go on for you and your remaining guinea pig.
So take some time to decide on what feels best for you and give yourself and your guinea pig some time to mourn. That way moving on can be a little easier for you and your guinea pig after this unfortunate loss.