Any rescues / people experiencinga high mortality rate in their piggies at the moment

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could you break this number down.....ie: 200 in one rescue? or is it 9 as pets etc etc

this is very worrying, need to find a link between them

Its more like, 60-80% of the keepers piggys, 16 reported cases with more comming forward.
IE if someone had 100 pigs the lost amount would be 60-80 If someone had ten say 6-8 losses, with pet keepers who may have 2 or 3 pigs they may only loose one pig, BUT all deaths need to be reported and treated in the same way atm until it is found whats causing the deaths.
 
Thankfully, we have not experienced a high mortality rate here.
I dont know if this helps but, all of ours are kept indoors, with constant temperatures, on fleeces (yes, we finally made the crossover for everyone :)) ) , hay from a lovely farm source which is soft, dust and weed free (meant for their horses! The guinea pigs far prefer it), Burgess Excell nuggets, obviously clean water (we do put vit c solution in this) and veg.
Unless bonded, we do not keep large numbers together to try and prevent any cross contamination should any become ill. Any who do become ill are isolated immediately, along with their cage mate(s).
 
Can I Please have some info on this...?
Link etc...
I want to make an educated decision on what's best for my rescue with out breaking in to mass hysteria...
Thanks in advance...!
x
 
Very scary! Could it be something to do with a brand of hay or bedding?
 
http://www.facebook.com/groups/304812002890070/

link to a facebook group dedicated to what's going on at the moment.

One person has lost nearly 90 pigs in the last 48hrs, and another person lost 60 over the course of 3 weeks...there isn't currently anything connecting any of the people who have lost pigs, and no symptoms at the moment.
 
Does anyone know who is performing the PM's? Are they being done by a curious vet, or a veterinary pathologist?
 
PM's have been done by people's own vets, however a fund is being set up for microscopic pm's to be done for any pigs lost from now on to get to the bottom of this
 
What's the name of the facebook group so I can search on my phone? I can access the link at work.
 
Helping finding out the causes of cavy deaths - it is a closed group though, so you would need to request access, or have someone add you to it.
 
PM's have been done by people's own vets, however a fund is being set up for microscopic pm's to be done for any pigs lost from now on to get to the bottom of this

That was my concern :...

Vets aren't particularly qualified in PM's apart from looking at the gross structure of organs and in relative terms, simple histology and pathology so things could easily have been missed by them.

I heard that there was a large number of deaths in Bristol - they could easily have taken them to the pathologists at the vet school for a highly detailed PM :(
 
valid points amanda...however this has only recently come to light due to people speaking out about it...so we are only talking the last few weeks.

The people in Bristol who lost pigs overnight...literally fed them that evening, the next day they were dead...were so shocked due to the sheer number of pigs they lost that nothing was arranged...we're not talking 2 or 3 pigs overnight, we're talking 40-60 in one go.
Also they need to be taken to the vets asap, which depending on when they'd died, information might have already been lost.
A lot of vets don't know about this yet, and it's finding the correct people to send the pigs onto to get the correct information, and this is only just being organised. We are hoping that the lady who has lost over 80 over the last 48hrs will be able to get several pigs to her vets for the relevant tests.
 
valid points amanda...however this has only recently come to light due to people speaking out about it...so we are only talking the last few weeks.

The people in Bristol who lost pigs overnight...literally fed them that evening, the next day they were dead...were so shocked due to the sheer number of pigs they lost that nothing was arranged...we're not talking 2 or 3 pigs overnight, we're talking 40-60 in one go.
Also they need to be taken to the vets asap, which depending on when they'd died, information might have already been lost.
A lot of vets don't know about this yet, and it's finding the correct people to send the pigs onto to get the correct information, and this is only just being organised. We are hoping that the lady who has lost over 80 over the last 48hrs will be able to get several pigs to her vets for the relevant tests.

For future reference (I'm not sure where you're discussing it, but you can pass it on), any bodies for a full PM by a pathologist will need to be refridgerated in an air tight container at 4 degree centigrade (NOT FROZEN) and taken for tests ASAP.
 
This is very interesting (and rather frightening!) as I lost all but 2 of my herd over night a couple of years ago.
The temperature was stable, they were all in the same pens (pairs mostly) inside an old stable where they had been for months if not years. I noticed a couple of the oldies were a bit slow to their greens, and that a couple had drank more water than they usually do, but it was summer and I didnt think any more about it. The next day - around mid-day - my partner went into the stable to give everyone grass and found 10 of my 12 dead, just lay there, some with food in their mouths, some stretched towards thei water and some just 'asleep'. They were all in strong rigor, I called my vet who said to take the bodies in, which I did, but they were all too gone to do a PM.
Shane and Squirrel were the only 2 to survive, and at 5 were the oldest pigs other than Cookie who was also 5. All the others were 3 or under, and one little rescue girl was thought to be around 6 months.
We still have no idea what it was that killed them, but the vet put it down to a virus of some sort as Shane and Squirrel were absolutely fine, and have never shown any signs of problems.
Its rather odd how it seemed to skip those two.
I hope there are some answers soon, my heart goes out to everyone who has lost piggies xx
 
This is very interesting (and rather frightening!) as I lost all but 2 of my herd over night a couple of years ago.
The temperature was stable, they were all in the same pens (pairs mostly) inside an old stable where they had been for months if not years. I noticed a couple of the oldies were a bit slow to their greens, and that a couple had drank more water than they usually do, but it was summer and I didnt think any more about it. The next day - around mid-day - my partner went into the stable to give everyone grass and found 10 of my 12 dead, just lay there, some with food in their mouths, some stretched towards thei water and some just 'asleep'. They were all in strong rigor, I called my vet who said to take the bodies in, which I did, but they were all too gone to do a PM.
Shane and Squirrel were the only 2 to survive, and at 5 were the oldest pigs other than Cookie who was also 5. All the others were 3 or under, and one little rescue girl was thought to be around 6 months.
We still have no idea what it was that killed them, but the vet put it down to a virus of some sort as Shane and Squirrel were absolutely fine, and have never shown any signs of problems.
Its rather odd how it seemed to skip those two.
I hope there are some answers soon, my heart goes out to everyone who has lost piggies xx

Thats a thing also, its younger piggys that are being affected, oldies are being uninfected.
 
This is very worrying. If the losses are as huge as being reported then something is very wrong, I know we are not supposed to discuss the other site or link to it but on this occasion surely it would be beneficial to all piggie owners and especially rescues to share this information between both communities.

Breeding and rescues are interlinked and what happens within the breeding community has an effect on rescues.

Perhaps a thread can be made in Health and Illness as a sticky to report any losses within our community so that information can be easily collated and passed on to help with investigations?

The most important thing to us all is the welfare of piggies everywhere...
 
For future reference (I'm not sure where you're discussing it, but you can pass it on), any bodies for a full PM by a pathologist will need to be refridgerated in an air tight container at 4 degree centigrade (NOT FROZEN) and taken for tests ASAP.

Thank you...I will pass this on.
 
Any symptoms? Things the public should watch out for, and ask for a most mortem of etc?
 
This is very worrying. If the losses are as huge as being reported then something is very wrong, I know we are not supposed to discuss the other site or link to it but on this occasion surely it would be beneficial to all piggie owners and especially rescues to share this information between both communities.

Breeding and rescues are interlinked and what happens within the breeding community has an effect on rescues.

Perhaps a thread can be made in Health and Illness as a sticky to report any losses within our community so that information can be easily collated and passed on to help with investigations?

The most important thing to us all is the welfare of piggies everywhere...

This is why this post is here, it was felt that it was necessary to get the news as public as possible.

The main thoughts at the moment is that it is either a very very serious virus, the source of which hasn't yet been pin-pointed. Or a toxin which isn't feed specific (ie. lots of different feed companies use a product from the same place).

any information, no matter how small, would be greatly appreciated so that investigations can continue.
 
This is indeed very scary and I hope that somehow someone manages to pinpoint what/where it's being caused by. Can't believe the number of pigs lost! So sad.

Sarah x
 
Thats a thing also, its younger piggys that are being affected, oldies are being uninfected.

It sounds very much like whatever wiped out my piggies has resurfaced.... I asked my vet if they had heard of any other cases of sudden deaths in the area and they hadnt, when I took my remaining 2 back a week later to check them over again they still had no other cases.
We really need to find a link or something, do we know if any PM's have been carried out and shown anything yet? I know that previous PM's have shown nothing, but surely bloods/tissue samples and bodily fluids should be showing something? Perhaps the only commonality in these caases is that there are no commonalities?!
 
If the mods allow it I will go through the posts on the other forum and copy and paste anything relevant with regards to pm's/results, symptoms, number of animals..etc...which I can find.

It may take a while though, as there are about 3 large threads, all of which are 20+ pages long...and growing by the day.
 
Well we have been so busy at our rescue i have not seen this thread very very disconcerting ! How awful to lose multiple piggies at the same time.I shall be reviewing our rescue operation at the moment in light of this.
Helen
 
I've been reading though what info. i can get my hands on... and i've spoke to a couple people...
its a very concerning time... but i'm worried about this turning in to a mass hysteria type situation...

Although my rescue seems to be at low risk... contacted the vets that treat my pigs and as far as they are aware no one has brough sudden deaths to their attention and no breeders or other rescues use them...

I'm hesitant to close... but instead of jumping to a decision... I'm limiting my intake to emergencies who will be kept in quarantine for a minimum of 6 weeks... at my parents house (shhhh.. though they dont know yet!)
And i wont be doing any bonding services... I'm sitting back and watching this unfold as the facts are so sparse... I'll make more decisons as mroe info. comes in...

I feel so sorry for all the losses and i hope this will be resolved soon...
I'll say a little prayer for them all...

remember people... KEEP CALM AND CAVY ON....!

x
 
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This is worrying :( I hope for the best for everyones piggies and that this doesn't become worse. x
 
I love the Keep calm and Cavy on!

I think many people are deciding no piggies in our out until this all becomes clear. Mass panic does no-one any good but if a reason for all these sad passings could be found it would at least give people closure and at best find preventative measures. It does seem very radnom geographically tho maybe things will become clearer in time until then I am not giong to take in any new piggies.
 
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