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Help needed! Dead pig! :(

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Birdybrainy

Birdybrainy

Junior Guinea Pig
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One of my guineas has just died! It all happened so quick, he has been fine as far as I know, all of a sudden he flopped down on his side & my other boar started circling him in a panic. By the time I got him out & wrapped him up he was gone! :( this pairs cage is in the living room so I saw the whole thing happen. There were no signs ? He hadn't had diarrhoea at all before but when he flopped down, I rushed to pick him up & he was in a puddle of it.
Does anyone have any idea what caused it? He was a young boar, under 1year old. I took him in from a friend of a friend who obviously had no clue about guineas as he had a bad case of mites. I've treated him for this & his fur had grown back nicely. He was well over the mites, so it can't be that can it?
I recently paired him up with my skinny boar, the skinny is quite new I've had him 2 weeks. & the 2 of them spent a week getting to know each other & got on so well they've been living together for a week now with no problems.
Now I'm really worried about the skinny, it's sad it was too late to save max but could Alfie (skinny) be ill too? He's eating & drinking fine, seems fine.
Sorry for the long post I just really needs some advice. Thanks.
 
Oh no I am so sorry to hear this. How awful for you. Did you quarantine him for two weeks before you put them together? This is done to avoid transmitting any illnesses from piggy to piggy. I have no idea what could have caused him to pass away. I am really sorry for your loss. :(
 
oh no, I'm so sorry how awful for you.

I would definately get the skinny checked out. I cant give any advice, but is it possible they could have eaten anything contaminated? inside or outside?

Rip max x
 
Thank you. It's really confused me? I only had Alfie skinny for 11 days before putting him in with max. Was that not long enough? I didn't even think about quarantining him :/ Alfie seems really healthy in the 18 days I've had him his weight has gone from 320gram to 410gram. & hes 13 weeks old now. Do you think I should take him to the vet anyway for advice& a check up?
Max was always small but I assumed it was from not being looked after very well by his previous owners. His last weigh in on the 16th of this month he was 529gram which to me seems small compared to other boars? I'm thinking maybe was this a sign? Should I have worried sooner :(
 
Oh and I haven't put them outdoors at all, they've only been in the indoor playpen & I'm sure they haven't eaten anything. & I haven't changed anything I'd normally give them..
 
Out of curiosity, do you guys ever recommend necropsies? That way if it was some kind of illness, you could treat your surviving piggy. I belong to a sugar glider forum and we always recommend necropsies when a death is questionable. And do you do a quarantine? I mean like have the new piggy vet checked and quarantine it from the other for 30 days and recheck after the quarantine to be sure it isn't carrying parasites or any other illness. Just a question.
 
Birdybrainy said:
Thank you. It's really confused me? I only had Alfie skinny for 11 days before putting him in with max. Was that not long enough? I didn't even think about quarantining him :/ Alfie seems really healthy in the 18 days I've had him his weight has gone from 320gram to 410gram. & hes 13 weeks old now. Do you think I should take him to the vet anyway for advice& a check up?
Max was always small but I assumed it was from not being looked after very well by his previous owners. His last weigh in on the 16th of this month he was 529gram which to me seems small compared to other boars? I'm thinking maybe was this a sign? Should I have worried sooner :(
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I haven't been here long at all but I personally would vet check Alfie ASAP. Also, so sorry for your lose.
 
how very sad :(

Ifyou can afford it, it may well be worth having a post mortem on max, just to make sure it was nothing transmissable
And have alfie checked over for peace of mind

I've taken on a lot of piggies from poor backgrounds, mite infested and of questionable breeding (fur and feather market auctions - the most i everpaid for one was 50p :( )
Many died young, i assume, to congnital defects, two sisters passed away in the same manner within a month of each other with no outward signs of illness, weight loss or change of character. they just laid down one day and passed away.
The diarrhoea is a bit puzzling in your case if he hadn't expelled any previously

Very sorry for your loss, fingers crossed alfie comtinueson in good health xx
 
I'm really sorry, what a horrible shock for you and little Alfie. I would definitely get him checked out in case. Do you have a more exact age for Max as that weight was very small, which to me indicates that there may have been something going on with him healthwise.

Sweet dreams little Max.
 
So sorry to hear of this.

All i can think of is something like a heart attack as it was so quick. The fact that he has some diarrhoea after may suggest that there was something brewing that piggies can so easily hide.

x.
 
For it to be so shudden i would say stroke/heartattack which no one can see coming.
 
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