From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2001-07-12 18:44:00 UTC
Subject: Re: question on grieving
>I lost my good friend Jonesy last Friday. He was one of 5 cage mates, so I
>let them all see Jonesy's body so that they would have closure and not wonder
>where he disappeared to. His brother Fiesty appears to have handled him
>being gone just fine. My problem is now with my 4 year old Gidget. She
>seems to be grieving for Jonesy even though they had never really appeared to
>be that close. She is not eating (at least that I can see), she wants to
>sleep all the time, when out to play she runs to where Jonesy used to sleep
>and curls up there and sleeps. Today she started grinding her teeth and has
>developed really bad smelling breath so I started her on Pepcid. She does not
>want to be held and refuses to look at me when I do hold her.
>Can anyone give me advise on how to help my grieving little girl? I would be
>devastated if I lose another of my little ones.
>Thanks,
>Sue
To be safest get to the vet. Bad breath combined with grinding could
indicate ulcers and stress can worsen those. If that is the case she
needs a routine better suited to fixing those.
Lots of love and having things that smell like Jonesy will help over
time, esp. the lots of love and attention.