Hi all,

This morning my husband found that one of our guinea pigs had died and we have no idea what to do. Out other guinea pig is going fine, we cleaned the cage thoroughly and he seems to be doing fine .
We were told by some Swiss friends that we could either bury it or call the vet and have it incinerated. I am thinking we want to do the latter but with no car, me being ill and today being Sunday we were thinking of calling :
Tierärztlicher Notfalldienst, der Kleintierärzte Basel und Umgebung but not completely sure if they can come and pick up the body?

Any ideas will be highly appreciated...

Ooh, I am sorry to hear that
Unfortunately I don't know what needs to be done in that case. I wish you find out soon..

Aaahh, sorry to hear that, that's very sad.

If you wrap it carefully, and perhaps put it in an airtight food bag, you could either wait another day or so to take it to the place to be cremated (or pet equivalent) or do like we did and bury it in the garden. I double wrapped ours in a couple of airtight bags, then dug a VERY deep hole due to all the cats that wander through our garden. I then place a few large rocks on top of his little burial site and touch wood he has stayed there safely and no animals have tried to dig him up. Hope the other one is ok.

Cheers

cath

Thanks guys, the problem is that we only have a shared garden so I am not sure the neighbors would appreciate a burial site
He is not on a double bag in a corner (poor little thing)...I guess we will have to wait until tomorrow :S

Angela, I'm sorry to hear about your guinea pig.

You could call your vet - on the weekend you will likely get the answering service, but they should be able to tell you what to do.

Or, many Gemeinden have a Tierkadaver collection point; this (sorry to be insensitive or blunt) is a public incinerator. Check your Gemeinde website - the collection point is usually listed.

You can arrange for a cremation at a Tierkrematorium, if you so choose. There is one in Duggingen:

http://www.kleintier-krematorium.ch/sofindensieuns.html

Or, there is a pet cemetery in Läufelfingen:

http://www.tier-friedhof.ch/48/Dienstleistungen.html

Both these options may be expensive. (I think both of these are out Baselland way - my geography is not what is should be...)

And yes, you may bury a small animal; often one does so and then plants something to remember your pet by - perhaps a rose bush, or a tree - above the grave. Obviously if the garden is shared you'd need to ask the neighbor first.

Again, I'm very sorry to hear your sad news.

Thanks Mellancollie, I will call the vet but first check the gemeinde webpage. Thanks!
An incinerator would be OK, all I want now is to protect the other kids. Thanks!

Thanks to all people who responded, we found the "collecting" point from our Gemeinde and we will leave poor Lou there tomorrow morning before going to work.

Thanks!