Do you think I accidently killed my guinea pigs with "hay" I was buying?

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SpiritedAway

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I had two gorgeous guinea pigs at the start of the year, 4.5 years old. In February, when I got home from work one looked to have had a stroke after not having previously shown any symptoms of being ill, just curled up on one side, and falling over and she died a few hours later before I could get her to the vet.

Their breeder had a guinea pig she was retiring from breeding so offered me her as a cagemate. My second girl started to have cracking sounds so I took her to the vet who found no issues, and there were no other symptoms. Then in April she developed a head tilt and she kept falling to one side. There had been no other symptoms of illness. I got her to the vet but they said given they were from the same litter, it was likely an issue with the breeding leading to neurological issues and we made the sad decision to euthanise.

This left with my brand-new piggy who was only 2.5 years old. Again, she was fine and then about 4 days ago I noticed her sneezing but no other issues issues. She then stopped eating or drinking the next day, I took her to the vets who gave her an injection but it didn't work, and then she started sucking in her body when she was breathing, so I admitted her to the animal hospital who said she was showing signs of heart failure, and she sadly died last night.

I have been wracking my brain about how I could have lost three seemingly healthy piggies in such a short space of time and I just can't stop looking up things that could have led to it. Then I was clearing out the guinea pig stuff and I noticed the hay. We had a new independent pet shop open up in the village last summer. The hay from the new pet shop was a bit courser but the shop assistant assured me it was timothy hay and fine for guinea pigs. Upon clearing out the hay the light reflected on the sticker in a way that I could see there was writing underneath the sticker, so I peeled it back and it was printing on the packaging (otherwise plain bag, no brand) and it said it was straw. Do you think this likely caused their deaths? I'm absolutely devastated and feel so stupid for not noticing the difference.
 
SpiritedAway said:
I had two gorgeous guinea pigs at the start of the year, 4.5 years old. In February, when I got home from work one looked to have had a stroke after not having previously shown any symptoms of being ill, just curled up on one side, and falling over and she died a few hours later before I could get her to the vet.

Their breeder had a guinea pig she was retiring from breeding so offered me her as a cagemate. My second girl started to have cracking sounds so I took her to the vet who found no issues, and there were no other symptoms. Then in April she developed a head tilt and she kept falling to one side. There had been no other symptoms of illness. I got her to the vet but they said given they were from the same litter, it was likely an issue with the breeding leading to neurological issues and we made the sad decision to euthanise.

This left with my brand-new piggy who was only 2.5 years old. Again, she was fine and then about 4 days ago I noticed her sneezing but no other issues issues. She then stopped eating or drinking the next day, I took her to the vets who gave her an injection but it didn't work, and then she started sucking in her body when she was breathing, so I admitted her to the animal hospital who said she was showing signs of heart failure, and she sadly died last night.

I have been wracking my brain about how I could have lost three seemingly healthy piggies in such a short space of time and I just can't stop looking up things that could have led to it. Then I was clearing out the guinea pig stuff and I noticed the hay. We had a new independent pet shop open up in the village last summer. The hay from the new pet shop was a bit courser but the shop assistant assured me it was timothy hay and fine for guinea pigs. Upon clearing out the hay the light reflected on the sticker in a way that I could see there was writing underneath the sticker, so I peeled it back and it was printing on the packaging (otherwise plain bag, no brand) and it said it was straw. Do you think this likely caused their deaths? I'm absolutely devastated and feel so stupid for not noticing the difference.
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Hi

BIG HUGS

It is an integral part of the onset of the grieving process that any caring pet owner (or parent) is experiencing strong feelings of guilt, failure and soul-searching since we humans are wired to reflect everything back onto ourselves. This is what you are currently experiencing. It is of course a lot stronger if you lose several piggies in quick succession.
The desire to find answers where there are no easy ones or you will always be left guessing is accordingly much greater, too. The only thing that may give you an answer would be a post-mortem examination and if necessary a lab test of any affected tissues but that would be very expensive and any answers are not guaranteed.
It rather sounds to me more like some bug that has been passed on than anything coming with hay, to be honest.

You may also want to check your gas alarm/gas level on the very off chance that it could be that (environmental angle).

Do you also have rabbits or - more likely - did the breeder you got your piggies from have rabbits that could have passed on e.cuniculi? This is much rarer in the USA since there is not such a tradition of keeping rabbits and guinea pigs either together (no longer recommended) or in the same household compared to the UK. E.cuniculi can be passed on directly between rabbits (who are usually symptom-free) or indirectly (as we have seen by a case on here) by just food fragments from used rabbit dishes or bedding accidentally falling into a guinea pig dish/being transferred to a guinea pig feeding area but the germ will not survive for long in something like hay.

Another thing that is much more common in the USA compared to the UK is a respiratory infection that tracks into the ear and can cause neurological problems as well. Again, it is likely that whatever it is has come with your breeder piggies and is not anything you have caused or due to any neglect of yours.
You have done all the right things and there is no blame attached to you.

Neurological symptoms are hardly researched in guinea pigs and most vets - especially the vast majority that don't see them very regularly - won't be familiar with them; so please don't be too hard on the vet, either. The symptoms themselves are too vague to give you a clear pointer. You could also not have known after the first death that you were obviously rather dealing with an infectious issue. :(

You may find these links here helpful in order to help ease your mind somewhat as to your own perceived 'guilt' or shortcomings - I can personally not see anything that could be tracked back to you:
Neurological Issues (Seizures, Strokes, E.cuniculi etc.) - Symptoms and Care
CBS Syndrome (Calcified Bulla Syndrome/Walled-in Otitis Media - Symptoms and Care

Please try to be as kind with yourself as you can and to give yourself time to grieve and a lot more time to heal. It won't be a quick process. We are here for you to give you moral support for as long as you need. You may want to bookmark this thread so you can find it easily again whenever you feel like you may need some understanding support. This will allow both sides any lengthy explanations/questions but allow us to refresh our memories as well.
Here is the link to our grieving guide: Human Bereavement: Grieving, Processing and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children

PS: However, if you would like to give guinea pigs another go or get other pets, please deep clean anything in contact or nearby with F10 disinfectant and give it some time to allow any bugs to die off naturally, just to be on the safe side.
 
That you for that, that was the post and links I need right now.
We don't have rabbits and the breeder only bred guinea pigs, hamsters and rats although I did remember a couple of weeks ago we did go to a petting zoo where we went into a rabbit enclosure and fed the rabbits, but that is probably a stretch.
My heart really wants more guinea pigs but I'm done for now. I'm not sure I can go through all thar again just yet.
 
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