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

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I shall continue to monitor things its good that all Guinea Pig people are pulling together over this issue,whatever your interest is.I have many good friends in all aspects of the cavie world.
Our rescue is fine at present although as Suzy we are monitoring activity.
Helen xx>>>
 
Guinea-pigGaga said:
Corn contaminated with Aflatoxin B1 produced by fungi Aspergillus species?!
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erm... ?/ ...my basic knowledge of that sort of stuff isn't great :D but I will pass it on...I know what aflatoxin's have been mentioned by people with a much greater understand then me :)
 
I have read several articles that suggest that aflatoxicosis has been the cause of mass deaths in a number of rodent species - Corn contaminated with Aflatoxin B1 produced by a fungi Aspergillus species appears to be the main route of transmission!

Therefore, considering the circumstances, and as guinea pigs are susceptible to fungi, I believe aflatoxicosis should be considered - Post-mortem examinations should concentrate largely on the liver!

However, personally, as my knowledge is limited on this subject, I can only convey what I have read, and understood! Likewise, I am not qualified to determine the cause of the number of guinea pig deaths currently occuring, but, personally, I do not believe that a virus, or bacteria is responsible!
 
ok...so the Aflatoxin stuff has been brought up and not entirely ruled out, although it would be causing issues with more animals and there would be more deaths...but it's still being considered.
 
If that is what the problem is how do you go about protecting your piggies?
 
Squidge said:
ok...so the Aflatoxin stuff has been brought up and not entirely ruled out, although it would be causing issues with more animals and there would be more deaths...but it's still being considered.
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I would imagine that due to the way crops are harvested and distributed there is a likely hood of other animals suffering with the same issues - again I am not and can not dismiss this.

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/toxicagents/aflatoxin/aflatoxin.html

For wheat there are two types of variety, animal feed and human feed (as in bread), a farm wont be growing wheat just to feed piggies, they will be growing one or the other type (the animal feed is easier to produce as not having to pass as many tests) which will go into a huge silo that then gets distributed to the purchaser of raw wheat, it would be this purchaser that would then distribute to the various animal food makers.

In maize (corn) there is not sub species but the process is much the same, sending the cobs off to be purchased and distributed.

Each farmer will transport their crop to these silos where the trailers are weighed and samples taken from different areas in the trailer, any faults found and the whole lot will be disposed of, it is then stored and dried before distributing to the purchasers.

surely there would be other animals suffering from symptoms if contaminated crops have made it into the food chain, or is this a fault in the storing before the processing of the food to make into animal feed?

Again I am not dismissing anything, but pointing out some discussion points to find out the cause. If this is a food related outreak, where has it come from, from what crop, has it been missed during processing, has the processing caused the issue, has the storing caused the issue, is there a batch number that is concurrent to finding the source or has this been random problems in different sources that is just unlucky?
 
Pepperdog said:
I would imagine that due to the way crops are harvested and distributed there is a likely hood of other animals suffering with the same issues - again I am not and can not dismiss this.

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/toxicagents/aflatoxin/aflatoxin.html

For wheat there are two types of variety, animal feed and human feed (as in bread), a farm wont be growing wheat just to feed piggies, they will be growing one or the other type (the animal feed is easier to produce as not having to pass as many tests) which will go into a huge silo that then gets distributed to the purchaser of raw wheat, it would be this purchaser that would then distribute to the various animal food makers.

In maize (corn) there is not sub species but the process is much the same, sending the cobs off to be purchased and distributed.

Each farmer will transport their crop to these silos where the trailers are weighed and samples taken from different areas in the trailer, any faults found and the whole lot will be disposed of, it is then stored and dried before distributing to the purchasers.

surely there would be other animals suffering from symptoms if contaminated crops have made it into the food chain, or is this a fault in the storing before the processing of the food to make into animal feed?

Again I am not dismissing anything, but pointing out some discussion points to find out the cause. If this is a food related outreak, where has it come from, from what crop, has it been missed during processing, has the processing caused the issue, has the storing caused the issue, is there a batch number that is concurrent to finding the source or has this been random problems in different sources that is just unlucky?
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I'm really not the best person to discuss this with :)

As I understand it, this is the main problem...the aflatoxin fits with the sudden deaths, however due to the fact that it would be more widespread and there would be more instances of illness, it is looking unlikely that this is the issue...however, it is still being considered.

At the moment the main focus for what is going on, is to arrange a fund for pm's and various tests to be done, arrange transport to an exotic vets specialist in North-East England (one has been located), to ensure that he is willing to undertake the various tests required, and then to wait for another 'outbreak'.
There is currently talk on swabs/bloods being taken from surviving animals, however this may take a few days to organise...and therefore might be a bit late for the most recent 'outbreak'.
 
I was agreeing with your point, thats why I quoted you as what I was saying directly followed on from that. I was just giving you all some idea of the crop process and found an understandable explanation of the fungus mentioned.

Its great that a vet has been found, it might be too late but then again who is to say that something isnt discovered that will help should similar happen again, the best hope is that it becomes irrelevant as this kind of thing doesnt happen again but then I would rather there were people taking steps to find out what happened.

Whos is to say that some rogue batch hasnt slipped through the process, was sadly used for guinea pig food and has caused all these deaths, until theories and possabilities are tested and eliminated (or not) its just all a load of guess work
 
Hi, I am just reading through this thread now, this sounds very similar to what has happened to me - I have lost 3 guinea pigs in the past few weeks - one was elderly but 2 were fine on a morning and at about 9-10pm on night they suddenly collapsed, showed stroke-like/fit-like symptoms and passed away before we could get to an out of hours vet. This was within the space of a couple of a days.
 
At my work place we lost 9 young boars all in one day. They were fine at 10 am, all popcorning round and eating. We cleaned them out, went to do some office work, came back at about 2pm and all but one were dead. The survivor was taken to the vets who were really puzzled. They couldn't come to any conclusions. 45 minutes later, he was also dead.
All of the other pigs are fine. Very sad and strange :(
 
JayceeStar said:
At my work place we lost 9 young boars all in one day. They were fine at 10 am, all popcorning round and eating. We cleaned them out, went to do some office work, came back at about 2pm and all but one were dead. The survivor was taken to the vets who were really puzzled. They couldn't come to any conclusions. 45 minutes later, he was also dead.
All of the other pigs are fine. Very sad and strange :(
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It's strange why they died after the clean out, what stuff is used to disinfect their homes & what bedding was used for them? Not saying it is the reason but there has to be a common factor somewhere as to why so many are dying. Have they ordered a postmortem do you know?
 
Poppy'sMum said:
It's strange why they died after the clean out, what stuff is used to disinfect their homes & what bedding was used for them? Not saying it is the reason but there has to be a common factor somewhere as to why so many are dying. Have they ordered a postmortem do you know?
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They're bedded on dust extracted shavings & hay and we use "clean and safe" disinfectant. But all of the pens were cleaned in exactly the same way and the other 15 pigs are fine.
Nope we haven't ordered a post mortem.
 
JayceeStar said:
At my work place we lost 9 young boars all in one day. They were fine at 10 am, all popcorning round and eating. We cleaned them out, went to do some office work, came back at about 2pm and all but one were dead. The survivor was taken to the vets who were really puzzled. They couldn't come to any conclusions. 45 minutes later, he was also dead.
All of the other pigs are fine. Very sad and strange :(
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That must have been very disturbing to find - so sorry. Do you think there is a link to the bedding / hay since it happened after they were cleaned out? I know the vet was puzzled but did they have any theories?

Sorry you have answered similar question already up there!
 
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gplearner said:
That must have been very disturbing to find - so sorry. Do you think there is a link to the bedding / hay since it happened after they were cleaned out? I know the vet was puzzled but did they have any theories?
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It was very upsetting. It literally looked like they'd all just been sprinkled with sleeping dust and were sleeping :( I wasn't at the vets appointment so I don't know everything they said but as far as my manager has said, the vets didn't have any idea other than shock, as our sheepdog had been running around that morning - but never left unattended with the pigs and they don't normally bat an eyelid at him.
Like I said in my above post, our 15 other pigs are bedded on exactly the same and they are fine, it really is so strange :(
 
I don't think there's anyway this is a virus, from what's been said on here so far it would not explain why seemingly healthy animals would suddenly die like this :( They would be dying at different times not all at the same time.

I just hope they find out soon. I am sorry Jaycee it must have been horrible for you. Can you say what feed they get & whether any vegetables were also put in after they were cleaned out?
 
Poppy'sMum said:
I don't think there's anyway this is a virus, from what's been said on here so far it would not explain why seemingly healthy animals would suddenly die like this :( They would be dying at different times not all at the same time.

I just hope they find out soon. I am sorry Jaycee it must have been horrible for you. Can you say what feed they get & whether any vegetables were also put in after they were cleaned out?
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They're fed on Wagg Guinea Pig Crunch muesli and they had carrots & cabbage from our local farm, which have also been fed to the other guineas, rabbits, and ponies.
It is worth noting that these babies had a mild case of mites too and were due for treatment today, as the treatment only arrived yesterday.
 
D:
I'm really paranoid now. Is this happening with indoor or outdoor piggies?
Or is it both.
I really hope we can find what is causing this.
 
D:
I'm really paranoid now. Is this happening with indoor or outdoor piggies?
Or is it both.
I really hope we can find what is causing this.
 
I lost my Posy pig yesterday i went down in the morning and she was fine checked them again at lunchtime and she was dead :-( so signs of illness at all she seemed so healthy and was only three. Even though it was -6 last night the piggies are in insulated and heated sheds so its nice and warm usually (between 10-15 degrees but last night it went down to so was slightly colder) I wish I knew what caused it as I'm now really worried about the others :(
 
DizzyDinosaur said:
D:
I'm really paranoid now. Is this happening with indoor or outdoor piggies?
Or is it both.
I really hope we can find what is causing this.
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It seems to mostly be outdoor pigs and pigs that are in insulated sheds but I think a few indoor pigs have as well.
 
JayceeStar said:
At my work place we lost 9 young boars all in one day. They were fine at 10 am, all popcorning round and eating. We cleaned them out, went to do some office work, came back at about 2pm and all but one were dead. The survivor was taken to the vets who were really puzzled. They couldn't come to any conclusions. 45 minutes later, he was also dead.
All of the other pigs are fine. Very sad and strange :(
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tanya1 said:
I lost my Posy pig yesterday i went down in the morning and she was fine checked them again at lunchtime and she was dead :-( so signs of illness at all she seemed so healthy and was only three. Even though it was -6 last night the piggies are in insulated and heated sheds so its nice and warm usually (between 10-15 degrees but last night it went down to so was slightly colder) I wish I knew what caused it as I'm now really worried about the others :(
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Very sorry to both of you, poor little piggies 8.... Not a very nice question but did rigermortous set in quickly? That seems to happen with the pigs who have been struck with this mystery illness. May be worth writing about it on the Facebook group.
 
I lost my Sylvia on Christmas Eve, she was a little sluggish the night before, but that wasn't uncommon for her as she was nearly 5, but the next morning she wasn't moving, died in my arms shortly after. I don't know if rigor mortis set in quickly, as I buried her once her cagemates had accepted the death as I was too upset.

She lived with two others, indoors on megazorb/fleece mix, ate Burgess Excel, she didn't have hay the evening before as we'd run out. My other 6 pigs were all fine, still are (touch wood!). :...
 
Hi Everyone. I havent been on here for a while and have just caught up with this thread. God! I am really worried about my piggies now. They are indoor piggies and I will be keeping a really close eye on them.

I have just bought them a new bag of readigrass today and have already fed them some. A bit worried about this now. I know people have said that there is no evidence of what it is but it makes you paranoid doesnt it!!

Fingers crossed for everyones piggies xxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
Coconut said:
Very sorry to both of you, poor little piggies 8.... Not a very nice question but did rigermortous set in quickly? That seems to happen with the pigs who have been struck with this mystery illness. May be worth writing about it on the Facebook group.
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yes it did very quickly, within a few hours she was completely stiff :(
 
tanya1 said:
I lost my Posy pig yesterday i went down in the morning and she was fine checked them again at lunchtime and she was dead :-( so signs of illness at all she seemed so healthy and was only three. Even though it was -6 last night the piggies are in insulated and heated sheds so its nice and warm usually (between 10-15 degrees but last night it went down to so was slightly colder) I wish I knew what caused it as I'm now really worried about the others :(
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I am really sorry to hear about your piggy, unfortunately it could have been down to the sudden drop in temperature, especially if she had decided to stay in the part of the hutch that is open to the elements, rather than the enclosed bit. The weather has varied so greatly it is possible that all these piggies are dying due to the sudden drop at night, rather than some virus.
 
I also read in the paper recently that there have been cases of humans getting salmonella from Watermelons. Personally I would steer clear of Watermelons for the time being, just a thought.
 
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