How long should Guinea pigs live for?

we have just found out that 1 of ours has died this morning for some reason but its only about a year old which we cant understand why it has died at that young age.

It was running around last night with her mate and everything seem normal so has come as a shock to us.

our other one now looks lost so will it be ok on her own?

Its called sudden death syndrome and i'm afraid you'll probably never know what she died of. 1 year old is very young as they can live 5 years +.

Also i'd get a friend for the other one or it will live a very lonely life.

yep, some guineas just go for no apparent reason, i had one very healthy happy sow die just before the cold snap very unexpectedly, she was about 2 and a half and perfectly fine a few hours before i found her
she even came up and took some greens from me.

it could be a heart condition she was born with or any number of things, but you'll likely not know what it was. if your other pig is healthy and happy there probably wasn't any outside influence to her passing.
unless there could have been a loud sudden noise, or she saw what she thought was a predator and had a shock, brining on a heart attack. but these are only possibilities.

i would get your remaining pig a friend though, they do live fine on their own, but to be happy she needs company of her own kind.

try a rescue forum to find a little sow to pair her up with better than getting a pig from a pet shop, they certainly are happier when with their own kind

as kelly suggests, there are a lot of piggies waiting in rescue centres and foster homes waiting to be paired up with a friend

Really sorry your guinea pig died. I have one who is absolutely spoilt rotten and I am really attached to him.

Thankyou

We took her to the vet today and will be getting her ashes back next week to keep.

I don't cry but today had a right cry as loved her to bits.

Aww.. I'm sorry about your piggy x