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Curious to know why my guinea pig(s) passed

Strike

Strike

Junior Guinea Pig
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The reason I put pig(s) in the title is because I don't know if they are related.

So the first guinea pig, Izzy, we got her in 2015. It was summer, she was healthy, getting along fine with the other 5 piggies we had at the time. We noticed she was always asking for food, but we didn't think much of it as she was practically a baby herself at the time and was still growing.

The other guinea pig we got with her was Gizmo. We suspected she had ringworm, so we took her to the vets and got the cream for it etc. Fine. It cleared up. Then we suspected Strike, another guinea pig had it, and Izzy, so we brought them inside to monitor it. Thank god we did because on September 29 Izzy unexpectedly gave birth. Luckily the baby was a girl so we were able to keep them together.

Both mother and baby were completely fine and were healthy.

Flash forward to, I guess early December 2016? We noticed Izzy had dramatically lost a lot of weight. We went to the vets and they suspected a dental issue? I'm not a vet but I don't think a guinea pig could lose hundreds of grams in a matter of days because of a dental issue.

Anyway, she had surgery to correct her teeth or something, but suffered a seizure or a stroke after we brought her home due to the anaesthesia.

Now go to around May 2017. Our other guinea pig, BG, who was 3 at the time, had started losing weight. I picked her up and my immediate reaction was 'oh my god, she feels like izzy'. We took her to the vets and uh, long story short, they had no idea. We did a urine test and it didn't show anything out of the ordinary. She managed to survive another year and a bit, and died in August 2018. I think the reason she survived so long without gaining much weight (she used to be 1100 or so, and dropped to 600 and stayed there) was because we constantly gave her critical care. She also drank a lot and peed a lot.

They were pretty healthy, they had a large enclosure to live in with a warm insulated hutch, and went in the run often in summer.

Any ideas why my girls died? :/
 
Sorry for your loss it can be hard when you lose a beloved piggy and moreso when it's in quick succession.
Sadly it isn't possible to diagnose why these deaths have occurred, only a post mortem would establish why unfortunately. I spoke to my own vet at the time when I had an issue as we were confused and I got closure from having that but obviously it would need to happen fairly soon after.

Ringworm is highly contagious and can be transmitted via touch and all sorts really and onto wooden houses etc., and can cause all sorts of problems if not dealt with.

Sadly I can't bring any comfort to you with your loss but hope it helps a little.
 
I’m really sorry but it would be pure speculation on our part to say what caused the death of your piggies. Piggies are treated as exotics. They are complex little creatures and can have so many illnesses and ailments that are still being discovered by vets. In the over 20 years I’ve been keeping piggies diagnostic testing has improved dramatically, so have available treatments and the knowledge of vets is constantly developing. But even now, with all this knowledge and experience we still have unexplained deaths and piggies we can’t save.
I’m very sorry for your losses.
 
Agree with what has been said above in terms of speculation. I had a piggy go from 1200g to 600g which she maintained until passing. She had renal failure and was losing protein in her urine. That said I would have thought your vet would have picked that up through the urine test if that was the case
 
Oh, alright. Thanks anyways.

It's a shame not much can be done. I've done better with monitoring my guinea pigs weight since Izzy's passing. I don't want a repeat of BG's eventual death as it was pretty horrible to watch her become literally just skin and bones. She retained her energetic personality though <3

Thank you guys ^^
 
Strike said:
Oh, alright. Thanks anyways.

It's a shame not much can be done. I've done better with monitoring my guinea pigs weight since Izzy's passing. I don't want a repeat of BG's eventual death as it was pretty horrible to watch her become literally just skin and bones. She retained her energetic personality though <3

Thank you guys ^^
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The recommendation is a weekly weigh in along with checking them over including eyes, teeth, and ears. That way you spot any weight loss quickly. Weigh them at the same time each week (I always weigh after their veggies). Consistent gradual weight loss or sudden loss of 50g or more warrants further investigation
 
I do weekly weights and it does pick up subtle changes you can’t necessarily see with the naked eye or feel at first. But I’ve also had some dramatic weight losses in piggies in the past from kidney troubles or thryroid troubles
 
Yeah, I've been doing it weekly when it's time for their clean out. I also check teeth, ears, eyes, nails and give them a general feel for any lumps or anything.

Luckily no major changes in weight recently. Though I did spot something weird last week on one of my older guinea pigs, which is actually what brought me here, haha. I've spotted a few threads related to it though so if I find a relevant one I'll add it there instead of making a new thread altogether.
 
I’m glad you have come to the forum although we can’t give definite answers.
We can support you as you grieve and even though some of your girls died a while back you clearly still miss them.
So sorry for the loss of your girls
 
I’m so sorry for your loss. I can’t offer any answers, but it sounds like they had a lovely life with you. Hugs x
 
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