Guinea Pig Hiding Illness

[eileen]

hi,just some thoughts.I had a guinea pig whom was approx one year old.i had seen him eat vast amount of hay ,passed normal stools,no discharge anywhere seen.at 8am in morning.i had been cleaning out hutches during the day,ollie lived inside.i put his partner and his veg out at 5pm,noticed ollie had not gone to eat them,usually ate with gusto.that promptly made me check him,He was lerthargic,cool to touch,no discharge,no swollen abdomen,passed normal shaped size stools.i was preparing to ring vet,i thought i would give,0.2 mls of water via a one ml syringe ,ollie had slow breathing from his diaphragymn,but could not hear any sniffles,sneezing,discharge,unfortunatley his 0.2 mls of water aspirated into his lungs,i stopped syringe feeding immediatly,i placed the syringe between is insciors at the side.ollie passed away 15 mins afterwards.i feel very upset and guilty that i was not able to see his demise sooner and for giving 0.2mls ,to rehydrate him.please can anyone give any thoughts on this matter,to prevent in future.thanks Eileen

 

[Abi_nurse]

Please do not blame yourself for this. Piggies are very good at hiding illness so you cannot take the blame here. Sounds like he went downhill very quickly.

I guess the only take home message is that if your at all worried about your piggie to call the vet or book an appointment as soon as you can.

Thinking of you.

x

 

[MintyAndGarry (TEAS)]

I had a pig once who was perfectly fine, but who I then found gone a couple of hours later. Sometimes there is nothing we can do for them - it really is that quick.

I wouldn't recommend trying to syringe feed water to a weak or ill pig. If you are worried about dehydration, please take your pig to a vet for subcut fluids - they would need significantly more than 0.2ml. Otherwise, if they aren't too poorly, it is better to syringe in a thicker mix of syringe food/mushed up nuggets - it is thicker, so less chance of aspiration and will also give energy as well as fluid, should the pig be able to swallow.

 

[eileen]

hi,thankyou very much for the sound advice above,i should have known better than to attempt to syringe feed a weak pig,its the same as a weak human you would not give fluids orally if not sure if can swallow.thats why i was very cautious with the amount i gave to ollie.not sure i would have got to vets in time,i have a very good savvy cavie vet 30 minute drive away.i paniced slightly when i found him poorly,lovely piggie i rescued 8 weeks earlier.had been neutered 6 weeks prevoiusly,and lived with a sow for two weeks which he loved.he was just beginning to get to trust me.RIP ollie.

 

[Critter]

Poor little Ollie, that's so upsetting, but please don't blame yourself. It could be that Ollie had a heart condition that caused sudden heart failure, as in fine one minute and critical the next. It is one of many guesses and possibilities, but he may not have been ill prior to that, not in the way we normally think of as being ill anyhow. But as others say they do hide their illnesses very well.
RIP little Ollie x

 

[paulalovespiggies]

Take comfort knowing you gave your piggie a happy life while he was here. Sorry for your loss xx

 

[Freela]

I'm really sorry for your loss. Sometimes they go downhill very quickly. Don't blame yourself. The last pig that I lost I also tried to syringe-feed during the day (thick pellets mixed with water, but still by syringe), but she seemed unable to swallow. She passed later that evening. I felt really bad for trying to syringe food, as I was afraid that she had aspirated and that had hastened her demise, but my vet said that she was obviously in a bad way regardless and that it wouldn't have hastened her demise. I suspect the same is true for your little guy. Once they feel cool to the touch, the body has begun to shut down, especially given that guinea pigs normally have a higher body temperature than humans. It's so hard when they hide an illness up to the end and then worsen so quickly. The last pig we lost was similar, she was fine the day before, seemed slightly subdued the following morning, and passed in the evening.

 

[eileen]

thankyou very much for your kind words.nice to hear from others with similar experiences.