Gazzdw
Junior Guinea Pig
Turned 3yo on xmas eve....noticed she looked bloated and walking uncomfortably on xmas day.
She was tiny, fiesty and would bully her sister who is 500-600g heavier than her!
We lost her this afternoon. In all my years looking after pigs (over 20 of them) I have never known one to go from looking so optimistic to complete lamness, fitting then the end.
Fed her dose of CC this morning at 11am and she seemed on the mend but not fully herself, at 1:15 we came back from a dog walk and she couldn't move. We were on the way to the vets and she started fitting and that continued until we handed her over to help her on her way.
We had a post mortem and they had never seen what had happened before. They admitted in cases of bloat they dont tend to visibly see the tract as they did with Janet. She basically developed what looked like a fibrous muscle around the bit before the secum (spelling) and the stomach itself was fine but there was a huge build up and distension stopping it passing through. The vet said he expected upon death that the muscle would loosen but it hasnt and he has been unable to pass any food through the system.
Even if this was caught at an earlier stage it would not have been operable as their digestive system does not take well to surgical intervention.
I am hoping this sort of information will be on her file and we can access read it so it makes more sense but what I have learnt is that at the first instance of a suspected GI issue get the most thorough evaluation possible.
I would love to know if anyone else has experienced something similar or can better understand what the vet was explaining. Hope this helps other piggy owners down the road!
She was tiny, fiesty and would bully her sister who is 500-600g heavier than her!
We lost her this afternoon. In all my years looking after pigs (over 20 of them) I have never known one to go from looking so optimistic to complete lamness, fitting then the end.
Fed her dose of CC this morning at 11am and she seemed on the mend but not fully herself, at 1:15 we came back from a dog walk and she couldn't move. We were on the way to the vets and she started fitting and that continued until we handed her over to help her on her way.
We had a post mortem and they had never seen what had happened before. They admitted in cases of bloat they dont tend to visibly see the tract as they did with Janet. She basically developed what looked like a fibrous muscle around the bit before the secum (spelling) and the stomach itself was fine but there was a huge build up and distension stopping it passing through. The vet said he expected upon death that the muscle would loosen but it hasnt and he has been unable to pass any food through the system.
Even if this was caught at an earlier stage it would not have been operable as their digestive system does not take well to surgical intervention.
I am hoping this sort of information will be on her file and we can access read it so it makes more sense but what I have learnt is that at the first instance of a suspected GI issue get the most thorough evaluation possible.
I would love to know if anyone else has experienced something similar or can better understand what the vet was explaining. Hope this helps other piggy owners down the road!