1 Year old Guinea Pig Died

[Livvv]

I have 3 guinea pigs. I got 2 of them from someone online a few years ago, and I kept one of their babies. (how they unexpectedly had babies is a long story). For the week of Christmas my family and I went to Florida and we left all of our animals (the guinea pigs and our dog) with someone on Rover.com who is in school to be a veterinarian and has owned guinea pigs before. My mom just told me that their baby (the youngest one) died a few days ago on Christmas Eve while we were gone and the person taking care of them said she just stopped moving and died. She was going to turn 2 years old in 4 months (April 25th). I feel responsible because recently I have been slacking on giving them their proper nutrients with lettuce and veggies and cleaning the cage often enough, but it could also be the stress of moving to the person’s house for the week. I want to get a necropsy and take the other 2 to the vet to make sure they’re okay but I don’t have the money. I was just wondering if anyone has any other theories on what could have happened, it’s killing me to not know for sure what happened since she was only a year old.

 

[hrsrdr]

Was she acting normally before you left? And did you notice anything like missing patches of fur, or bumps? And on average, how much hay did she get while you were gone?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I am sorry for your loss.
There could be many reasons as to why she passed away, most of which could be dependent on the situation at the time and none of which we would know. It’s natural to wonder why, but it would be better for you to focus on the good times with her rather than worry yourself over what happened.
It would definitely be a good idea to have a vet check the others over though

 

[Bill & Ted]

So sorry you lost your little piggie x

 

[Livvv]

Thanks everyone. I didn’t notice anything weird before I left, but I didn’t get to see her right before since my mom took them to the person’s house the day before we left while I was at work. Several months ago I was worried about diabetes since she was constantly drinking water and the others weren’t but I stopped noticing it a few days after. My mom just brought the other 2 home and one of them has a soiled butt which scared me. A few minutes after we put them on the bed with me they were squeaking and eating lettuce and celery, they also pooped and peed on my bed :/ but that was the last thing I was worried about. They seem perfectly normal, one of them kept popcorning even though they’re 2 years old, the only thing they haven’t done is drink the water I’ve been trying to give them but they’ve been cleaning themselves, including the one with the soiled butt. I’m definitely giving them extra play time and attention to keep their minds off of the loss. I’m debating taking them to the vet because the last time I took the mom to the vet to make sure she was okay after the pregnancies, I paid $60 and all they did was weight her and feel her stomach, although I’m sure there’s not much else they can do.

 

[Livvv]

Was she acting normally before you left? And did you notice anything like missing patches of fur, or bumps? And on average, how much hay did she get while you were gone?

I’m not sure how she was acting right before, but she seemed fine the last time I saw her, no bumps or anything. We gave the pet sitter a full bag of hay and now it’s almost gone so they did give them plenty of hay. I am a little bit worried about how them and our dog smell like smoke. I’m sure they wouldn’t smoke in the house because they have other animals and small children, but I have to wonder how else would all of our animals that we left with them smell like smoke?

 

[Merab]

So sorry for your loss.
Sadly this does happen sometimes.
Guinea pigs hide illness well and can die for no apparent reason.
Be gentle with yourself and allow time to grieve