I neglected my guinea pig and he passed away today.
He was showing signs of illness and I waited too long to take him to the vet. I kept my lunch date with my friend instead of taking him to the vet when I saw something was wrong. I didn’t think it would get worse so fast. I feel very guilty.
EDIT: Thank you everyone for your kind words, feedback, and advice. To give the full picture, I have an anxiety disorder and this day was a "frozen" type of day where the thought of talking to strangers was almost impossible. I couldn't bring myself to go to the vet at first, so I kept my prior plans and saw my friend for two hours, tried to calm down, got my mind off of it, and when I got home, I felt more capable of actually going out by myself to face strangers. I probably should not have a pet with my condition in the first place, but I did not want to give him up when I moved away from my dad. I deeply regret not powering through my agoraphobia and bringing him earlier.
I'm burying him at my dad's house this weekend. His name was Popcorn. He was a good friend, an anxious guy who hid in his house a lot, just like me. He rarely let me pet him, but got really excited when I cleaned his cage or gave him a new toy. He loved carrots more than anything. He was fat, even for a guinea pig. He was black and white, with a tiny brown spot around his eye. He hated getting his nails clipped. He was a sweetie pie, content to mull about in his habitat. He rarely complained about anything or asked for more food or anything like that, he was just inherently trusting. I'll miss him a lot and I'll carry the guilt of waiting too long with me for a while. I appreciate everyone who offered gentle words to me.