As a guinea pig owner, I know very well how hard the death of your furry friend can be for you. No matter you did everything you could, provided the best possible care, and eventually prepared yourself as guinea pigs live on average 5-7 years, this will hit you like a tsunami.
Death is never a pleasant subject but it’s better to be prepared and to know what to do once it happens. When your guinea pig dies, you may want to allow his/her cage mates to say goodbye.
Next, you should think about how to dispose of the body. You have two main options – burial or cremation. Both of them have certain costs as well as pros and cons.
Last but not least you need to cope with grief. And not only you, remember that the cage mates of the deceased are also in grief, your kids are sad as well.
Table of Contents
Have Your Guinea Pig Really Died ?
Unless your guinea pig died at the vet hospital you should check if your pet is really dead.
Guinea pigs can go into a very deep sleep during which they look like they are dead. They don’t wake easily, as usual, they need more time to wake up.
So if you just have found your furry friend lying down and not looking very much alive, do try to wake him up. Push him gently or make some noise to see if there will be any reaction.
Some guinea pigs may look dead out of shock they suffered but in reality, they are not dead. For example, if some predator pet such as a dog or cat starts to chase him, your guinea pig may stiffen up and look pretty much dead.
If you assume that his tensed body is the result of a shock, move him to some secure and relaxing environment, the best would be in his cage and give him some time to recover.
What To Do If Your Guinea Pig Has Really Died ?
It’s devastating but you are sure now that your pet has really passed away. What is your first step?
Cage Mates Grief and How To Help Them
If your pet didn’t die in the cage, put him back inside and allow his cage mates to say good buy.
You don’t know how other piggies will react to their cage mate’s death. Some of them could completely ignore his body and behave like nothing happened while others may groom the body of their deceased friends and grief the next couple of days. Grooming of deceased is their way to say good buy.
After you remove the body from the cage, the next day or in the next couple of days you can do the full cage cleaning. After the cleaning you can reorganize the cage a bit, maybe to move things inside or even to change the place of the cage.
This is not meant to erase your other piggies’ memories but to give them something to focus on instead of sitting and grieving.
Almost all animal species that have social aspects will feel the loss of their cages mates, it’s quite normal and expected.
Some of them will carry on easily while others may become depressed. You might notice that the piggy that is in grief is less vocal, less active, spends more time hiding.
Some guinea pigs may fall even deeper in their sorrow and to stop eating and drinking. This is rather dangerous, that is why you should keep a close eye on your furry friends to prevent any disaster that might happen.
Some guinea pigs’ owners experienced totally different piggies’ behavior. Cage mates of the deceased were running around, looking for their friend, or even were very loud, screaming. It’s very sad and might be quite disturbing watching your piggy in grief for his deceased friend.
As you know, for every grief you need a time. Time heals everything but there still some things that you can do to help your piggies that are left and at the same time, you will help yourself as well.
Spend more time with your piggies. You all are sad, you need each other. If you keep your piggies outside, now is the right moment to let them inside, to be with you more time.
Give them treats more often. This doesn’t mean to give them more treats than usual, no at all. It means that if you give them a pile of green leaves in the evening spread out the amount on the whole day and give them a small piece of treat several times a day.
Change the routine a bit. They will be focused on the treats and fast realize that they have something to be happy about.
Practice hand feeding. When give them treats, let them eat from your hand. This makes you closer to them which is very comforting, especially when someone grieves.
When some times passes, get a new friend to your pet(s). If you had a pair of piggies, it is absolutely necessary to get a new companion to your piggy as she/he cannot live alone. If you have 3 or more piggies it’s up to you whether you will adopt a new one to replace their deceased friend.
When you decide to get a new piggy I strongly advise you to visit a local guinea pigs rescue center.
- First, you can be sure that you will get a healthy cavy that will not transmit any disease or bacteria or parasites to your furry pals.
- Second, rescue centers usually allow ”piggy dating” which means that you can bring your piggy to the rescue center, and together with volunteers who take care of piggies there, try to find a perfect match for your pet.
Don’t forget to closely monitor your piggy behavior, especially its eating habits after he/she lost a cage mate. Some piggies suffer from appetite loss which can be very dangerous.
I have read good advice – if your piggy spends more time hiding than usual, put the hay inside or put the whole hiding spot on the top of the hay pile. Your piggy will most probably start nibbling hay if it’s available.
How To Dispose of Dead Guinea Pig?
There couple of options but two of them are most popular.
- Bury your guinea pig in your garden/backyard. – This is a less expensive and less complicated option. You can put your deceased guinea pig in some bag or wrap it in some kind of cloth, an old towel or blanket, and put him in the hole you dug.
- Just make sure that the hole should be large and at least 20 or more inches deep. The problem with this could be that the neighbor’s cat or some wild animal could dig up your deceased friend and eat it.
- This is quite disturbing and to prevent that I advise you to purchase a small pet memory casket. You can find these online. It could be great protection from any type of vultures. If you like, you can get a pet memorial grave marker cross or stone. There are plenty of shapes/types online.
- Cremation – is the option that requires some budget. You can either ask your vet to help you as vets usually know all about crematorium services in the area. You can also search for cremation services online. There is communal and private cremation.
- The private one is, as expected, a more expensive option as your pet will be cremated alone without other animals. After 24-48 hours the ashes will be available for you to take it. The average cost is around 80$ for this kind of service.
- Another option is family attended private cremation during which you and members of your family can be present and say final good buy to your pet before the cremation process begins. This type of cremation cost around 300$ or more. Communal cremations are more affordable options, your piggy will be cremated with other pets and his/her ashes won’t be returned to you. The average price is about 50$
Another option is to simply put your dead guinea pig in the bag and then to garbage. This is a rather undignified option but some people do that. Just bear in mind that you should check if local regulations allow you to dispose of the guinea pig’s body this way.
If you cannot just throw away the body of your furry friend in the garbage but you also cannot arrange a cremation and burial ceremony, maybe you can add your dead guinea pig to a compost pile where it will naturally decompose.
Conclusion
The death of a beloved pet is inevitable but still a devastating moment in our lives. It’s OK to be sad, to cry but your other piggies need you and your full attention. They are sad too. If you have kids, they can be also very affected by what happened.
I am sure at the first moment you cannot see light in this gloomy atmosphere but let the time passes. Meanwhile take care of you, your other piggies and when the right moment comes bring another joyful Cavy to your life.
Good luck!
