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Aspiration Pneumonia

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JuliaKK

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Hello, sadly, our Guinea Pig died this weekend, following an aspiration pneumonia she contracted after having an anaesthetic at the Vets. We can't find a lot of information about aspiration pneumonia in guinea pigs. Is it fatal? Or are there success stories? The vet discharged her home and when she started getting worse at home and we took her back, her notes clearly said ASPIRATION PNEUMONIA post anaesthetic. We felt really cross as the word Pneumonia hasn't been mentioned to us and we were surprised they sent her home. The only thing we can think of is that the Vets knew she was dying and they couldn't help her. So, does anybody know if aspiration pneumonia in guinea pigs is fatal? She was taking antibiotics and pain-killers and when we brought her back, she was put on oxygen, but nothing helped. We are devastated and need to talk through what happened, as not much information specific to guinea pigs can be found on the web. Thanks for your help.
 
I didn't want to read and run. I'm so sorry for your loss. It sounds odd that they didn't mention it to you on collection. I hope someone has some answers for you X
 
JuliaKK said:
Hello, sadly, our Guinea Pig died this weekend, following an aspiration pneumonia she contracted after having an anaesthetic at the Vets. We can't find a lot of information about aspiration pneumonia in guinea pigs. Is it fatal? Or are there success stories? The vet discharged her home and when she started getting worse at home and we took her back, her notes clearly said ASPIRATION PNEUMONIA post anaesthetic. We felt really cross as the word Pneumonia hasn't been mentioned to us and we were surprised they sent her home. The only thing we can think of is that the Vets knew she was dying and they couldn't help her. So, does anybody know if aspiration pneumonia in guinea pigs is fatal? She was taking antibiotics and pain-killers and when we brought her back, she was put on oxygen, but nothing helped. We are devastated and need to talk through what happened, as not much information specific to guinea pigs can be found on the web. Thanks for your help.
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Hi and welcome

I am ever so sorry for your loss. What a tragedy! :(

Aspiration pneumonia in guinea pigs is usually associated with syringe feeding new-born orphans quicker and more in one go than they can swallow. This is why you should never syringe feed a baby.
If they breathe during that, the excess food is inhaled (aspiration) and ends up in the lungs where it causes an infection in there (pneumonia). It can occasionally happen in ill guinea pigs that are inexperty force fed, but post-mortems are rarely done and it is usually just booked under "my guinea pig took a turn for the worst and died".
We have a warning in our syringe feeding guide and also warn members specifically when we recommend to step in with syringe feed to not give more than one mouthful at any time and always make sure that it has gone down safely before giving more.

In babies, aspiration pneumonia is nearly always fatal, and depending on how bad the damage to the lungs is and how quickly the pneumonia develops or how far advanced it is when it is diagnosed, it can be untreatable even with the best prompt care. Pneumonia in whatever form can sadly develop in a matter of hours and kill faster than any meds can kick in; often right out of the blue. :(
 
I'm so sorry about your piggy, what a shock,for you,
Sleep tight little one,
Run free to all the others that left before you.
 
I'm really sorry to hear of your experience. I lost a 2 year old piggy recently due to pneumonia (alongside other health problems). I went to one of the top vets in the country for treatment and can confirm that it isn't always fatal (at this point the pneumonia could have just been an infection or could have been caused by aspiration following me syringe feeding after dental work but it wasn't obvious what caused it). I was given antibiotics and she also had a stint in the oxygen tent and the main focus was to try and get through the pneumonia as it is such a severe condition. Sadly, like you experienced, my Isobel didn't make it to the next day but I believe in my case that's just the way it went and not down to anything the vets did or didn't do.

If you are concerned then perhaps put a few questions together and ask your vet to answer them. Things like, what did they believe the prognosis was? What did they feel the chances or recovery were? etc as this might put your mind at ease. I was told it was very much touch and go but there was enough of a possibility of recovery not to warrant putting her to sleep.
 
Dear All, thank you all so much for the information and all your support; we really appreciate it. Pets become part of one's family and we got so attached to ours, that's it's hard to come to terms with the loss.

As it's my first post on the forum, I am not sure how but I posted it under 'new born pup'. Many apologies - I didn't deliberately want to mislead anybody. Our Guinea Pig was 3.5 years old when she had the treatment and died having contracted aspiration pneumonia. I have asked the Vet to call us to talk through what happened, as I think it will help us cope with our loss. With best wishes to all, Julia
 
JuliaKK said:
Dear All, thank you all so much for the information and all your support; we really appreciate it. Pets become part of one's family and we got so attached to ours, that's it's hard to come to terms with the loss.

As it's my first post on the forum, I am not sure how but I posted it under 'new born pup'. Many apologies - I didn't deliberately want to mislead anybody. Our Guinea Pig was 3.5 years old when she had the treatment and died having contracted aspiration pneumonia. I have asked the Vet to call us to talk through what happened, as I think it will help us cope with our loss. With best wishes to all, Julia
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I am so sorry for your loss xx
New born pup refers to how many posts you have made so as it was your 1st post, you are a new born pup but if you make some more posts your status will change to junior guinea pig and so on x
 
Thank you for clarifying the term 'new born pup'!

And thank you for your sympathy. X
 
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