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

Status
Not open for further replies.
Poppy'sMum said:
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.
Click to expand...

I too would be saying it was the cold if they were just in hutches but all my pigs are are insulated and heated sheds with min and max thermometers, it usually fluctuates between 10-15 degrees but on friday and saturday night it has gone down to about 8. Surely this change wouldnt be enough to cause death?
 
Poppy'sMum said:
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.
Click to expand...


Poppy'sMum said:
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.
Click to expand...

This was an original thought but I think most of the people have had them in fully insulated, heated sheds which although probably get colder din't get cold enough to cause any serious harm.

And I know a few people have mentioned the watermelon, could be a possibility. Think I'll avoid it just in case.
 
OMG! Ive only just read this thread and its terrifying! Could they all of eaten a bad batch of sumthin like pellets? As even though some come from diffrent brands they could be manufactured in the same factory and there could be sumthin in it? I was going to take my 3 piggys to a childrens piggy show at a local farm, I think I will be definetly avoidin it incase they catch sumthin! I hope what ever it is, is found soon!
 
Who owns/runs the page on facebook about this?

The page itself is becoming quite a concern with people just pressuming most deaths must be this. Even seen some posts where people dont tend to be seeking vetinary treatment because it seems they just think they have a guinea pig whose victim to this?

I'd hate the issue to become a scape goat.
 
I have to say I agree with Char-x, I've had a lot of discussions with my vet since losing my piggies and he does think that this is all a bit of a panic over nothing - there are so many reasons people can lose guinea pigs especially with this erratic weather.
 
I agree too, there is definitely something going on though - people don't just lose 88 pigs overnight, however, it's not good that people are assuming that their pigs have the same thing and jumping on the bandwagon.
 
I can't comment as to whether anything truely is going on (I do believe there is) or if its a huge mass coincidence for sure *but* I feel the page is not helping matters, even if the main aim was a good intention.

I might get jumped on for this as no doubt the owner of the page is on here but any concern raised on the page is swiftly deleted when frankly it has to be said as people are using it as a scape goat IMO and if the bottom of this is going to be got too, the way its being gone about right now on that page isn't going to lead to anything firm. I get the underlying aim, I get the good intentions but the page is really questionable because of some questionable points.

Also whilst I understand the page is *not* an advice page for health related matters, simply deleting peoples posts because they are seeking medical advice doesn't help any guinea pig, they should be directed to a place which can advise them/told to seek vetinary treatment; though the breeders on the page were very vocal in saying how apparently going to a vet isn't always the done thing in the breeding/showing world, they deal with it in their own ways - well that in itself isn't going to help this mass issue if a vet isn't even sought after but I'll bite my tongue. Unfortunatly telling someone to get their dying/suffering animal to the vet was met with hostility, something I can't condone as IMO it's an owners responsibility to get an animal in such a state to the vets.

I'm afraid whilst I was all for this to begin with, I feel the page as turned into one of only allowing on there what they want to hear, scape goating, rudeness etc with very little being done to really get to the bottom of this. Picky editing of what they want to hear, which really is not going unnoticed, is not the way this is going to get solved. Ego aside, all suggestions that hold reasonable ground, should be considered and not deleted/brushed under the carpet because it may question something breeders do.

Just my two cents :)
 
Char-x said:
I can't comment as to whether anything truely is going on (I do believe there is) or if its a huge mass coincidence for sure *but* I feel the page is not helping matters, even if the main aim was a good intention.

I might get jumped on for this as no doubt the owner of the page is on here but any concern raised on the page is swiftly deleted when frankly it has to be said as people are using it as a scape goat IMO and if the bottom of this is going to be got too, the way its being gone about right now on that page isn't going to lead to anything firm. I get the underlying aim, I get the good intentions but the page is really questionable because of some questionable points.

Also whilst I understand the page is *not* an advice page for health related matters, simply deleting peoples posts because they are seeking medical advice doesn't help any guinea pig, they should be directed to a place which can advise them/told to seek vetinary treatment; though the breeders on the page were very vocal in saying how apparently going to a vet isn't always the done thing in the breeding/showing world, they deal with it in their own ways - well that in itself isn't going to help this mass issue if a vet isn't even sought after but I'll bite my tongue. Unfortunatly telling someone to get their dying/suffering animal to the vet was met with hostility, something I can't condone as IMO it's an owners responsibility to get an animal in such a state to the vets.

I'm afraid whilst I was all for this to begin with, I feel the page as turned into one of only allowing on there what they want to hear, scape goating, rudeness etc with very little being done to really get to the bottom of this. Picky editing of what they want to hear, which really is not going unnoticed, is not the way this is going to get solved. Ego aside, all suggestions that hold reasonable ground, should be considered and not deleted/brushed under the carpet because it may question something breeders do.

Just my two cents :)
Click to expand...

Please don't make assumptions...if vets are needed then pigs will be taken, breeders do not leave pigs to suffer in pain. The main things which are dealt with by breeders include, mites/fungal/diahorrea/SOME pregnancy related issues...anything beyond that depends entirely on what is in your store cupboard, eg..if you have a pig with a snotty nose and some baytril left over, then it will be self-medicated. Anything more serious is dealt with by a vet. The person in question has taken the pig to the vets, however, the odd case of diahorrea in a stud of 30+ pigs, whilst not common, is something easily dealt with and won't always necessitate a trip to the vets...arguing with people who know their animals better than you do, and someone who is able to evaluate the situation better than you would be able to, does not help anyone. She knew the pig needed the vets, she took it, end of story.

As for deleting comments...yes, it helps no one and I do not agree with it, I have raised this concern as I am under the impression that some comments are being deleted in a biased fashion.
 
Please remember that this is a public forum and everyone can see your comments. They have already been reported back to the facebook page. Whether it personally bothers you or not that this has happened, it makes it harder for rescues who are trying to maintain civilised conversation in order to keep the pathways of information open.

You are absolutely entitled to your opinion and I may agree on some points but many in both communties are biting their tongues for the benefit of the bigger picture.

I have actually left the fb page tonight as it no longer is something I can do.
 
flips said:
Please remember that this is a public forum and everyone can see your comments. They have already been reported back to the facebook page. Whether it personally bothers you or not that this has happened, it makes it harder for rescues who are trying to maintain civilised conversation in order to keep the pathways of information open.

You are absolutely entitled to your opinion and I may agree on some points but many in both communties are biting their tongues for the benefit of the bigger picture.

I have actually left the fb page tonight as it no longer is something I can do.
Click to expand...

I think I'm gonna do that soon, starting to feel a little prejudice towards rescues :(.
 
This will be my first and only post on this thread. I think it is unhelpful to view members of this forum or any other as one homegenous group - neither are. In this particular situation we are all guinea pig lovers who are concerned. If you see a post here or on facebook that you don't like or don't agree with, please remeber that that only represents the view of one individual, not all tgpf members or all cbf members. Sweeping statements that all pro rescue or all breeders are so and so is not only totally incorrrect and judgemental it is also counter-productive and unhelpful. I haven't come across a single person who doesn't care about what is happening to their animals on any site and I think some people (on both sides) should focus on that and not percieved differences.
 
Message from Admin

Please can we keep this thread on topic. The health and welfare of guinea pigs is paramount to most people, regardless of whether they breed, show, rescue or are just general pet owners.

Making these type of assumptions isn't helpful and it's not acceptable that the forum be used for this purpose.
 
My concerns were already put on the page, but it was deleted on the threads so hence the post on here. You can delete it if you feel it causes trouble but its nothing I've not already said over there contrary to belief.

Squidge said:
Please don't make assumptions...if vets are needed then pigs will be taken, breeders do not leave pigs to suffer in pain. The main things which are dealt with by breeders include, mites/fungal/diahorrea/SOME pregnancy related issues...anything beyond that depends entirely on what is in your store cupboard, eg..if you have a pig with a snotty nose and some baytril left over, then it will be self-medicated. Anything more serious is dealt with by a vet. The person in question has taken the pig to the vets, however, the odd case of diahorrea in a stud of 30+ pigs, whilst not common, is something easily dealt with and won't always necessitate a trip to the vets...arguing with people who know their animals better than you do, and someone who is able to evaluate the situation better than you would be able to, does not help anyone. She knew the pig needed the vets, she took it, end of story.

As for deleting comments...yes, it helps no one and I do not agree with it, I have raised this concern as I am under the impression that some comments are being deleted in a biased fashion.
Click to expand...

I simply said the guinea pig should see the vet, I then answered a non related post on the same thread which was not heated in the slightest and then the guinea pig was on its way to the vets and I said "good luck :) x"... so indeed, end of story, I can't fathem out what the issue was/is about that.

It wasn't just the public posts that caused me to take it in that context also, it was the private mails I was sent also which were full of abuse and explicits because I recommend a vet was sought. I may have taken the original post wrong but I got four PMs telling me to mind my own business/they're their animals so will choose if they dont go to vets and one asking me if I thought guinea pigs pooped money out their backside because people aren't made of money etc. But yeah more colourful language with that. In fact one was like eff you try having over 20 getting ill and paying for that, all four PMs were very anti vet - so more impression giving than assuming going on. None the less facebook can deal with the abuse, I really don't see how thats helped anyone or any pig, so report + delete 8:)

Of course I don't know their animal better than them, but people advise on here without seeing each animal in the physical sense :{ I (as did others) advised as I/we read it...just like on here for example...

I also did not mean to assume it was all breeders, that really would be ironic seeings as the people to raise serious concerns with the page are all well respected breeders I have regular contact with :)
 
I left the fb group today after trying to report an incident twice but each time it ended in carnage and my posts were ignored. I had hoped to find as much info as possible for the safety off my pigs and others but instead just found a lot of squabbling. After realising it was pointless i left and the incident is still unreported due to no one listening or wanting to listen. I will keep checking back here and hope someone finds some answers in the mean time i hope everyones piggies stay safe and well. My thoughts are with anyone who has lost pigs i know it must be heartbreaking x
 
Sally you can report it directly, without posting on the FB group. If you would like the link I can sort that for you in the morning, send me a friend request on FB and I will send you the details. I'm Suzy Gpr on there.

Suzy x
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top