Hi iv just registered on the forum and was looking for some advice my wife and i had 4 guinea pigs for the last 3 years up until 3 months ago, We lost our first Ella to ill health went off her food and despite numerous trips to the vet had to be put to sleep, on Monday i had to take Billy to the vet after passing blood in his urine and squeaking in pain while passing urine, the vet took x rays and advised us he had a bladder stone and the only viable option was surgery. We agreed as she said anesthetic carries a risk but otherwise was optimistic, Bills heart stopped in recovery and we lost him. We now feel terrible as we managed to treat this with antibiotics and pain relief twice before and feel we made the wrong call and let him down. Sorry i realise this is a heavy topic for my first post but was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this? Ps we still have 2 piggies.
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Bladder Stones
- Thread starter Seanboy
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Hi and welcome!
I am very sorry that your vet couldn't find out what was wrong with Ella. Loss of appetite is most often caused by a pain issue (whatever that causes it), respiratory infection/peumonia (when breathing comes before drinking or eating) or dental issues (overgrown back teeth which can also be very painful). Did you syringe feed Ella when she lost her appetite?
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Please take comfort that the only way to deal with bladder stones (which are very painful) is indeed an operation; it won't go away and just continues to grow and cause even more pain.
I am very sorry that Billy didn't make it. I have lost a couple of piggies in ops when their heart stopped over the years, so I know how gutting it is. Your own heart can't help but wonder whether it would have been better to not risk it even when your head knows that it was the right decision. Feelings of guilt or failing are usually so much stronger if an operation goes wrong or a piggy dies unexpectedly, but we all have them in some form or other, as they are normal for the onset of the grieving process. It usually takes some time for the heart to catch up with your head and to come to the conclusion that you would make the same decision again to give Billy at least a fighting chance at a pain-free life instead of having to put him to sleep when the discomfort became too much for him.
You are most welcome to post tributes to Ella and Billy in our Rainbow Bridge section if or whenever it feels right for you.
Thanks very much for the reply, i may post tributes to them, il show my wife when i pick her up.Hi and welcome!
I am very sorry that your vet couldn't find out what was wrong with Ella. Loss of appetite is most often caused by a pain issue (whatever that causes it), respiratory infection/peumonia (when breathing comes before drinking or eating) or dental issues (overgrown back teeth which can also be very painful). Did you syringe feed Ella when she lost her appetite?
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Please take comfort that the only way to deal with bladder stones (which are very painful) is indeed an operation; it won't go away and just continues to grow and cause even more pain.
I am vewry sorry that Billy didn't make it. I have lost a couple of piggies in ops when their heart stopped over the years, so I know how gutting it is. Your own heart can't help but wonder whether it would have been better to not risk it even when your head knows that it was the right decision. Feelings of guilt or failing are usually so much stronger if an operation goes wrong or a piggy dies unexpectedly, but we all have them in some form or other, as they are normal for the onset of the grieving process. It usually takes some time for the heart to catch up with your head and to come to the conclusion that you would make the same decision again to give Billy at least a fighting chance at a pain-free life instead of having to put him to sleep when they discomfort became too much for him.
You are most welcome to post tributes to Ella and Billy in our Rainbow Bridge section if or whenever it feels right for you.
TAN
Adult Guinea Pig
You did all you could and were very unlucky with your piggy not coming through the anaesthetic.I have a pig who has had 5 operations since August last year ( 4 for bladder stones) I have a piggy specialist vet who has piggies herself - and she says that when a piggy doesn't make it through an anaesthetic it is because there is an undiagnosed underlying problem somewhere else that you and the vet were not aware of - as piggies are prey animals and are good at hiding their illnesses quite often until it is too late to help them.
TAN
Adult Guinea Pig
We have a vet locator on the forum so you should be able to find a piggy recommended vet near you - mine is in Dursley in Gloucestershire and her area of expertise is diagnosis and surgery - the piggy teeth specialist is in Northampton at The cat and rabbit clinic and is Simon Maddock and his wife Kim - Simon is famous on here and known as the piggy dentist.
I'm really sorry for your loss. We all do the best we can, and unfortunately sometimes it doesn't work out for the best. There are risks with anesthesia, but they are generally minimal and most pigs come through fine. Unfortunately your poor little guy was on the unlucky side of the statistic. You aren't to blame. I know it's hard not to beat yourself up, having lost a pet to vet mismanagement when I was too naive an owner to realize that he didn't know what he was doing, but ultimately we only do the best we can do and sometimes the results still aren't good.
Yeah i wish i knew there were guinea pigs specialist vets before we gave her the go ahead, you would like to think someone would not under take an operation they have no experience in or unsure how to correctly perform it but maybe cash is king to some people. Ps the thought "i hope she knows what shes doing did cross my mind" £300 down and didnt even get to take the wee guy home
flintstones
Senior Guinea Pig
I use Glenn at Apex vets in Denny it's a bit of trek from Glasgow but he's very good with guinea pigs.
Sorry for your loss
Sorry for your loss
I feel your pain on this. The vet who mismanaged the healthcare of one of my pigs was recommended to me by a family member (who had a dog... I'm sure he was totally fine with dogs and cats but had limited guinea pig experience.) It was urgent so I went with the recommendation without much shopping around. I asked him if he had treated this issue with guinea pigs before and he said yes and I took him at his word. In the end, things did not go well for Frenzy (the pig in question), and she never recovered well from surgery, never was put on appropriate antibiotics, and I was never given ANY instructions on aftercare, and in the end she didn't make it. In the wake of this experience, I did find this forum and my knowledge as an owner increased exponentially with the support and info I gained here, and I did find a wonderful vet who actually regularly treats exotics and has actual experience with guinea pigs clinically and surgically, and a couple years later we actually managed to nurse one of my current pigs, Sundae, through the exact same issue that cost Frenzy her life, so I'm thankful that through what I learned with Frenzy, I was able to help another ill piggie to recover and go on to live to a ripe old age of over 6 (and still doing well.) Anyways, I have a lot of empathy with what you are feeling and I have been there. I still feed bad about what happened with Frenzy. She was a sweet girl and didn't deserve to die like that. But at the same time, I know that I did everything I could for her at the time and I thought I was getting her competent care. When you know better, you do better... but I did the best I could with what I knew at the time, and now that I know more I can do more and ensure that the vets I trust my pets to also know more and do more. ((HUGS)) to you.Yeah i wish i knew there were guinea pigs specialist vets before we gave her the go ahead, you would like to think someone would not under take an operation they have no experience in or unsure how to correctly perform it but maybe cash is king to some people. Ps the thought "i hope she knows what shes doing did cross my mind" £300 down and didn't even get to take the wee guy home
If only id have thought to post on here earlier i could have possibly saved his life, still absolutely gutted but like you say we know better now even if we did learn the hard way. Thank you.
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