I left on a trip to another state and left my brother to take care of my guinea pigs. Before leaving my guinea was losing her hair at a drastic rate and i thought it was barbering so i set an appointment with the vet for when i come back. I come back around 1:20 am and my guinea pig is laying on her side and like breathing oddly while brown stuff was coming out of her mouth. So i put gloves on picked her up gently and layed her on a blanket and i tried to help but i didnt know what was going on. She sadly died at 1:47 am and i am confused and don’t understand what happened to her. Can someone please try to tell me what happened, and what to do if this situation (hopefully not) occurs again.
Hi
BIG HUGS
I am very sorry for your nasty shock.
It sounds like your piggy was likely already ill with a developing problem when you left her. Self-barbering is generally very much a sign that something serious is not right; but it could of course have had other reasons. Only a vet examination coould have told you.
Unfortunately, guinea pigs are prey animals so they instinctively suppress any signs of illness until they are already pretty badly ill. And as they are very small animals, they can also go downhill terrifyingly quickly; especially towards the end.
Please always switch from weighing your remaining guinea pig once weekly together with a body check to weighing daily at the same time if you suspect that something is not right. Weight loss is generally a good indicator for health since we cannot judge the actual food intake by eye (especially not the hay, which makes the bulk of what a piggy eats in a day).
Here is more in-depth information that can hopefully help towards answering your questions:
Barbering ( Eating Hair)
Guinea Lynx :: Hair Loss
Health monitoring and our illness information collection to help you in the future:
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Unfortunately, when you returned home your piggy was already well along in the dying process (multi-organ failure) with any food stuck in her mouth running out because she was no longer able to swallow and process it. Like all rodents, guinea pigs don't have a vomiting reflex.
We can't tell you want your piggy has died from; only a post-mortem examination at the vet's will give you that answer.
But you may find the information via this link here helpful in understanding more about the natural dying process and be able to make sense of the last moments with your girl (which is much more physical than our sanitised concept of peacefully drifting away behind closed doors and which can come as a nasty shock for people who have never encountered death before). The link also contains our tips for what you can do for bereaved companions instantly and in the longer term as well as a grieving guide for owners to help them make sense of of their often overwhelming and unexpected emotions. Strong feelings of guilt and the need to make sense (which is what you are currently experiencing) are very typical for the onset of the grieving process. They are usually worse when a death has happened unexpectedly and under somewhat traumatic circumstances. The grieving guide also contains links to support places for several countries should you need them.
Here is the link:
Death, Dying, Terminal Illness, Grieving and Bereaved Companions: Information and Support for Owners and Their Children
Sorry about all the links but they will hopefully help you to make sense of what has happened and answer at least some of your questions, show what you can do in the future in terms of health monitoring and emergencies and how you can look after your remaining piggy and yourself in the coming days.
