Littlepig&co
Junior Guinea Pig
Dalila - 14/11/2015
I adopted Dalila on the 7th December 2014 from Cottontails Rescue, as a new companion for Daisy after Daisy lost her sister very suddenly. Daisy had the choice of two piggies that being Dalila (formerly Lily) and a coarse haired piggy. Daisy decided to chose Dalila. They were never really close as such, Daisy loved her; however Dalila would spend a lot of time barbering Daisy's hair! Dalila was extremely nervous when she came here, she would not allow you to touch her at all, as soon as she saw light; she would run and hide. I had to admire her from a distance for the first few months other than picking her up for health checks.
At the rescue:
It was clear a few months in to owning Dalila, that she was not a healthy piggy. Dalila started to lose weight so we took her in so she could undergo some tests to work out the root cause. It was found she had arthritis in her spine. Which came as quite a surprise for a supposedly 2 year old guinea pig. She was then put onto twice daily long term metacam. Dalila started to bond with me with the frequent twice daily handling for her metacam. At first the cheeky little piggy would refuse to swallow her metacam by clasping her teeth together or even dribbling it out! However she soon became accustomed to it and within a few months she was willingly taking it.
Dalila remained stable and relatively healthy throughout April-July. Daisy unfortunately had to be put to sleep in July leaving Dalila on her own. At first I was worried as Dalila had always had lots of company. However if anything, she did even better on her own and she was much easier to monitor. Then in August she was struck with the fatal bloat. I found her laying uncomfortably and refusing to eat, we rushed her into the vets where she was immediately x-rayed. The x-ray showed that she had gas compressing on her intestine and she was at risk of it going onto her lungs which inevitably would of killed her. We were told she had a 1 in 5 chance of surviving. JC whisked her into surgery where they inserted a tube down her throat to decompress all the gas buildup inside her.
Miraculously Dalila pulled through, she was inpatient at the vets for 3 days where she was syringe fed around the clock. A few days after coming home, Dalila then developed pneumonia which could of been as a result of a suppressed immune system or just coincidental. She was extremely wheezy and would squeak at every breath. I had to stay up 3 whole nights with her to comfort her, and to sit by her with steam to help with her breathing. Despite two major health problems in such a short space of time, my little fighter rallied on through.
Dalila had to be syringe fed for a whole month following her bloat ordeal and her pneumonia as she wasn't able to maintain her body weight and condition herself. At the middle of September, I was able to stop assisted feeding completely and she remained at a healthy and stable weight.
At the start of October, I introduced Dalila to Little-pig my neutered male as he was bereaved after his elderly companion Gino passed away on the 27th of September. It wasn't love at first such as such as both piggies wanted to be the boss, so there was quite a bit of mounting on Little-pigs behalf. They did however settle down and became very close companions, both preferred each other to their previous companions. It's a real shame that they only got about 6 weeks together.
Yesterday morning, I went out to find that Dalila was on her side slowly slipping away. I immediately picked her up and we rushed to the vets, however she was far too gone by this point to be able to save her. She had an appointment actually booked that morning as she had lost weight recently, although weight loss wasn't uncommon for Dalila and her health issues. We left her for a post mortem which gave us the conclusive cause of her death; which was a twisted stomach/gut. This could of been a relapse from her bloat which she suffered just 3 months ago. She had emergency surgery in August to decompress her, she had a very low chance of survival yet despite that rallied through it.
I am so sorry that you only had 11 months here Dalila. But you touched my heart and I will always remember you and your gentle nature. Sleep tight xx
I adopted Dalila on the 7th December 2014 from Cottontails Rescue, as a new companion for Daisy after Daisy lost her sister very suddenly. Daisy had the choice of two piggies that being Dalila (formerly Lily) and a coarse haired piggy. Daisy decided to chose Dalila. They were never really close as such, Daisy loved her; however Dalila would spend a lot of time barbering Daisy's hair! Dalila was extremely nervous when she came here, she would not allow you to touch her at all, as soon as she saw light; she would run and hide. I had to admire her from a distance for the first few months other than picking her up for health checks.
At the rescue:
It was clear a few months in to owning Dalila, that she was not a healthy piggy. Dalila started to lose weight so we took her in so she could undergo some tests to work out the root cause. It was found she had arthritis in her spine. Which came as quite a surprise for a supposedly 2 year old guinea pig. She was then put onto twice daily long term metacam. Dalila started to bond with me with the frequent twice daily handling for her metacam. At first the cheeky little piggy would refuse to swallow her metacam by clasping her teeth together or even dribbling it out! However she soon became accustomed to it and within a few months she was willingly taking it.
Dalila remained stable and relatively healthy throughout April-July. Daisy unfortunately had to be put to sleep in July leaving Dalila on her own. At first I was worried as Dalila had always had lots of company. However if anything, she did even better on her own and she was much easier to monitor. Then in August she was struck with the fatal bloat. I found her laying uncomfortably and refusing to eat, we rushed her into the vets where she was immediately x-rayed. The x-ray showed that she had gas compressing on her intestine and she was at risk of it going onto her lungs which inevitably would of killed her. We were told she had a 1 in 5 chance of surviving. JC whisked her into surgery where they inserted a tube down her throat to decompress all the gas buildup inside her.
Miraculously Dalila pulled through, she was inpatient at the vets for 3 days where she was syringe fed around the clock. A few days after coming home, Dalila then developed pneumonia which could of been as a result of a suppressed immune system or just coincidental. She was extremely wheezy and would squeak at every breath. I had to stay up 3 whole nights with her to comfort her, and to sit by her with steam to help with her breathing. Despite two major health problems in such a short space of time, my little fighter rallied on through.
Dalila had to be syringe fed for a whole month following her bloat ordeal and her pneumonia as she wasn't able to maintain her body weight and condition herself. At the middle of September, I was able to stop assisted feeding completely and she remained at a healthy and stable weight.
At the start of October, I introduced Dalila to Little-pig my neutered male as he was bereaved after his elderly companion Gino passed away on the 27th of September. It wasn't love at first such as such as both piggies wanted to be the boss, so there was quite a bit of mounting on Little-pigs behalf. They did however settle down and became very close companions, both preferred each other to their previous companions. It's a real shame that they only got about 6 weeks together.
Yesterday morning, I went out to find that Dalila was on her side slowly slipping away. I immediately picked her up and we rushed to the vets, however she was far too gone by this point to be able to save her. She had an appointment actually booked that morning as she had lost weight recently, although weight loss wasn't uncommon for Dalila and her health issues. We left her for a post mortem which gave us the conclusive cause of her death; which was a twisted stomach/gut. This could of been a relapse from her bloat which she suffered just 3 months ago. She had emergency surgery in August to decompress her, she had a very low chance of survival yet despite that rallied through it.
I am so sorry that you only had 11 months here Dalila. But you touched my heart and I will always remember you and your gentle nature. Sleep tight xx
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