Ebony has gone🥲

tabelmabel

tabelmabel

Adult Guinea Pig
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Sadly, on Wednesday this week, I found Ebony in the outdoor hutch very poorly indeed. I took her straight to the vet's and she was pts. It looked as if she hadn't eaten for many hours and I can beat myself up but all too late now and unfortunately we will never know why she stopped eating.

She was perfectly fine on Sunday, out in the garden run no problems.

Monday and Tuesday were rainy days so it is very hard to recall whether she was active in the hutch Monday - i would have gone out, changed water bottle, put veg in etc but she might have been i the sleeping compartment.

She was keen to take water from a syringe when i found her weds, but refused critical care so i guess she was probably ok mon and fell ill tues.

She was only 4½ yrs old and now her cagemate, Belle, is bereaved for a second time. Belle is the oldest, at 6.5 yrs and she is well. Both pigs had plenty of hay, water and exactly the same veg so something must have happened to stop Ebony eating.


Ebony had a rocky start to life with breathing problems as a baby. She was on meds and a nebuliser but, as she reached adulthood, her nostrils must've got bigger as she got off all meds, nebuliser and was perfectly fine.


She was a great pal for Belle. Belle was bereaved at age 2yrs initially and we took her to Ayr guinea pig rescue - spent all day trying to bond her to another adult female but Belle wasn't having any of it!

We ended up getting Ebony as a baby from a breeder and Belle accepted her much better! They were a cuddly pair!


We have brought Belle back indoors and she's eating but definitely subdued - for the first time, she is going inside her cozi. Normally she sleeps on top.


Sad times.
 
tabelmabel said:
Sadly, on Wednesday this week, I found Ebony in the outdoor hutch very poorly indeed. I took her straight to the vet's and she was pts. It looked as if she hadn't eaten for many hours and I can beat myself up but all too late now and unfortunately we will never know why she stopped eating.

She was perfectly fine on Sunday, out in the garden run no problems.

Monday and Tuesday were rainy days so it is very hard to recall whether she was active in the hutch Monday - i would have gone out, changed water bottle, put veg in etc but she might have been i the sleeping compartment.

She was keen to take water from a syringe when i found her weds, but refused critical care so i guess she was probably ok mon and fell ill tues.

She was only 4½ yrs old and now her cagemate, Belle, is bereaved for a second time. Belle is the oldest, at 6.5 yrs and she is well. Both pigs had plenty of hay, water and exactly the same veg so something must have happened to stop Ebony eating.


Ebony had a rocky start to life with breathing problems as a baby. She was on meds and a nebuliser but, as she reached adulthood, her nostrils must've got bigger as she got off all meds, nebuliser and was perfectly fine.


She was a great pal for Belle. Belle was bereaved at age 2yrs initially and we took her to Ayr guinea pig rescue - spent all day trying to bond her to another adult female but Belle wasn't having any of it!

We ended up getting Ebony as a baby from a breeder and Belle accepted her much better! They were a cuddly pair!


We have brought Belle back indoors and she's eating but definitely subdued - for the first time, she is going inside her cozi. Normally she sleeps on top.


Sad times.
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BIG HUGS

I am very sorry for your loss. If it is any consolation to you, I lost my Melangell (who had just turned 4) the day before you. I'd hoped that she was going to be the wife to grow older with my Brangwyn, who is turning 3 years in autumn, but it was unfortunately not to be. :(

Anyway, I hope that Belle is going to come out of deep mourning in a few days, if without her usual sparkle. As long as she is eating and drinking, you need not worry.
Please leave her be if she is withdrawn, as hard as that is and as much as you would like to instinctively cuddle her. Guinea pigs don't feel any less deeply but they cannot afford to grieve as long as us.

But as long as she is looking after herself, you have 1-4 weeks (or even a bit longer for a special piggy) to find new companionship once you are over the very roughest bit of your own grieving.
 
So sorry for your loss @Wiebke and many thanks for your advice. Belle seems to be ok. I did weigh her today - 860g - and i will keep an eye. She has thinned out with age (6½yrs) but she is eating and pooping well so seems to be ok just now.
 
This is a pic of Belle and Ebony when we first got Ebony. She was just a tiny baby in this pic but grew almost as big as Belle.

I'm going down memory lane now to read about the thread i did on all her breathing problems as a young piggie. She did have a lovely life really apart from her last day or two - and even though i hadn't noticed she was ill, Belle was with her til the very end so i can take comfort in that.
 

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tabelmabel said:
So sorry for your loss @Wiebke and many thanks for your advice. Belle seems to be ok. I did weigh her today - 860g - and i will keep an eye. She has thinned out with age (6½yrs) but she is eating and pooping well so seems to be ok just now.
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Those oldies can surprise you and hang on in there for a long time. What you never have control about is when, in which form und which circumstances the end comes.

Once a major organ gives, or more frequently these days there is an internal growth, you have generally had it. Sometimes piggies go into organ failure right out of the blue. It can happen at any age. Be proud of your long lived ones and mourn those that have made their journey to the Bridge sooner. But please don't feel like you have failed your shorter lived piggies.

They don't have a concept for average lifespans (but one for old age when they meet oldies). Instead they measure their lives in happy todays - as long as you give them plenty of those, numbers don't matter. They have had a good and fulfilled life, no matter for how long and as a caring owner you cannot fail them, looking at their way. ;)
 
Thanks @Wiebke - back in 2019, i had a very long running thread on here about my big, grey rex - Benson!

He had liver failure and arthritis plus he couldn't poop in the end but he was still twittering away and i just could not call his final day! He went on for many, many weeks as they can with a failing liver and every day i was bathing him, manually clearing his bowel (bleurrgh!)syringe feeding him, weighing him. It was a full time care regime.

Eventually, i did take him to be pts but i think he might have gone on a week or two longer. He was my all time favourite pig. I do love a rex!

Belle is a teddy - not quite as big as the rex but just as fuzzy😍


I have just read my old thread about Ebony's noisy breathing - it is a wonder she made it to 4½yrs, given the amount of vet trips at the start!

Yes - she was in organ failure when i found her. Or very close to it. It definitely was not a chest infection - no breathing issues, eyes clear, nose clear. She had not lost weight and was over 1000g on her final day. She did look large when i first saw her and i thought bloat but she was still soft round her abdomen. Her coat was excellent, glossy condition. There must have been something wrong for her to stop eating though. Where she was, in the hutch, it was brim packed with hay so, had she been able to eat, she would have.
 
tabelmabel said:
This is a pic of Belle and Ebony when we first got Ebony. She was just a tiny baby in this pic but grew almost as big as Belle.

I'm going down memory lane now to read about the thread i did on all her breathing problems as a young piggie. She did have a lovely life really apart from her last day or two - and even though i hadn't noticed she was ill, Belle was with her til the very end so i can take comfort in that.
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So very sweet 🥰
 
I am sorry you have had to say goodbye to beautiful Ebony. She would have known she was loved. Sending hugs
Popcorn free at the rainbow bridge Ebony 🌈
 
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