Dilly's Piggies
Teenage Guinea Pig
I'm sorry this is a long post...
My girl Lottie was about to turn 6 years old this month on the 22nd, but sadly passed away on the 10th April unexpectedly. She was fine one moment, but when I went in 30 minutes later to give her medication, I found her lethargic with clear/greenish fluid and mucus literally nonstop pouring and bubbling from her nose, sneezing and doing a heaving movement repeatedly, her lungs sounded crackly too as I think she aspirated some of the fluid. I honestly don't know what happened to cause it, it was a horrible sight and I knew in that moment she was passing away, but I still don't know why or how.
It was 10.30pm on Sunday night, none of the emergency vets here were answering the phone, I was losing my mind. I ended up having to phone my regular vets inpatient unit and beg the poor nurse on night duty to help us, she tried for 30 minutes to get hold of a vet but there weren't any, it was an absolute nightmare.
The nurse basically told me they couldn't do anything and I had to watch poor Lottie suffer until 8am, if she even made it to then. I broke down and begged the nurse to see her, they don't normally but she did let us go in, it wasn't her job to do that. Lottie was a mess, flopped on her side, she said her heart was going too fast and her breathing was slow and Lottie might have had a stroke, but we have no idea what happened to her.
Lottie was already struggling with other health issues for 4 months now, she was emaciated and not eating, weighing only 680g, factoring this into the decision and seeing Lottie needing emergency help, I decided to have her put to sleep. The nurse wasn't qualified to do a proper euthanasia, but she gave Lottie an injection in her abdomen that helped her cross the rainbow bridge, it was as peaceful as it could've been, Lottie passed within a few minutes quietly in my arms, like she fell asleep. In hindsight I wonder if she choked on food or got something lodged in her nose, when I found her there was a piece of hay hanging from her mouth, it wasn't stuck and I pulled it out, but it makes me wonder if there was more stuck behind her cheek pads that I couldn't see. I've never seen fluid literally non stop pour from a piggies nose like that before, and the heaving, I've seen 20+ piggies pass and I've never seen this happen, what could have caused that?
I feel like a failure, like I should've asked the nurse to check her nose and mouth to see if there was something stuck before putting her to sleep, I keep thinking maybe it was just that and we could've saved her, or maybe she could've cleared it herself or something. Even so, it probably would've been impossible for her to recover due to her being so weak and aspirating which would've led to pneumonia or something, she was in such a bad state. I just don't know what it was and there was no vet to tell us. Lottie had been on antibiotics already for months and had no symptoms of a URI even 30 minutes before so I know it wasn't that, it's just so odd and sudden. Does anyone have any idea what might have happened? I know nobody knows for sure, the only way to know would be a post mortem, but I can't afford that and I wondered if anyone else here has had this happen.
Lottie's backstory:
In January 2022 Lottie suddenly became paralysed, she couldn't stand and would drag her back legs. It was initially a mystery but xrays confirmed she had severe arthritis in both stifle joints. Since then she had periods of recovering, regaining full use of her legs and then losing it again, normally she would be back on her feet within a few days, sometimes taking over a week.
Lottie also developed anorexia, presumably due to pain, her appetite slowly declined from January up until the day she died (April 10th). There were days where she would eat really well, others not great and others not at all, but overall it gradually got worse. I adjusted syringe feed depending on her appetite, but she absolutely hated it the whole time, she would fight me so hard, so I could never get enough in consistently to maintain her weight. Because of this Lottie went from 950g in Jan before getting ill, to just 680g the day she passed.
Because of the arthritis and anorexia, Lottie was on a large amount of medication, at her most recent vet appointment 2 weeks ago the vet felt her abdomen and said her liver was enlarged. The vet said it's most likely liver disease/failure from not eating and medications, but due to Lottie needing the medication, we couldn't lower or stop them. It was a really hard moment for me as they said there's nothing they can do for her now and to treat Lottie as palliative care. The liver disease was not confirmed with tests as to do so they would need to put her under anesthetic and draw blood, as Lottie wasn't well I didn't want to risk it, so we don't know for sure she had it, but it was likely and her liver was much larger than normal.
Lottie was on 0.17ml cat loxicom x2 daily, 0.04ml gabapentin every 8 hours, 0.48ml emeprid x2 daily, 0.15ml sulfatrim x2 daily, 1x nutramed liver supplement and fibreplex x3 daily for the past couple of months. So quite a lot of medication which probably caused the liver issues, possible ketosis too due to weighing only 680g and not eating. I also think she was developing dental issues as she wanted to eat but seemed to struggle with chewing, another reason why I'm worried she choked. She had been struggling but fighting for a while and I knew the time was coming for me to say goodbye, I just didn't think it would happen so suddenly or in the way it did.
I'm amazed that she went for as long as she did, she fought so incredibly hard through so many unfair issues, 5 years old is too young to go for me, I hoped somehow I could nurse her back to health, but that day never came. I had her on a strict schedule, I devoted 100% of my time and energy to her since she got poorly, waking up at 7am, spacing out her meds to make it a little easier on her liver, she got meds at 8am, 9, 10, 11, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12am, syringe feed every 4 hours, I've been so busy with her, functioning on just a few hours of sleep every day for months, I put my absolute all into her but I couldn't save her, I am devastated. Knowing she isn't there anymore, needing me, waiting for meds, feed and cuddles, it's breaking me.
I was there when she was born, she has been my baby from day 1, she's extremely special. I've owned and lost many piggies, but this one really hurts, the pain is unlike anything I've ever felt, there's a huge hole in my heart and I feel empty without her, like part of me went with her. From the day she was born we've been inseparable, she was never flighty or afraid of anything, never spooking and running like piggies do, she would always willingly climb onto my hands from her cage, she was so trusting, tame and fearless. She could jump over 1ft walls and bounce up the stairs with ease, she was so talented, there are videos of her jumping online, so many others loved her too. She was always my go to cuddler when I had a bad day, she never failed to make me smile, she was my best friend.
She is a once in a lifetime kind of piggie, I'll never love one more than I do her, and I know I'll never get over losing her like this. She was a rare pig that loved attention and actually showed affection to people, I know with certainty she loved me as much as I love her, it makes this hurt so much more, I feel like I betrayed her. That I selfishly let her go on for longer than I probably should've due to me not wanting to let go, and me being too quick to put her to sleep without waiting to see if she could improve or asking the nurse to check her mouth/nose for a simple blockage. I just feel so much guilt, questioning if I made the right choices. She was already struggling in general before this event, but that day she had improved, she wanted to eat veggies and hay by herself and was drinking from her bottle etc, I felt a little bit of positivity, then it got crushed probably by something silly like choking, I just can't believe it.
I'm glad I managed to get a few more months with her when I almost lost her back in January, but you know what I mean, I wish I had more time. She was a perfect angel, it makes sense why heaven wanted her back. I'm just glad she isn't suffering now, she can eat, run, popcorn as much as she wants without pain. Her Mum passed a few years ago and her sister Harriet in 2020, they were a super close and bonded family, Lottie started getting depressed and going downhill after Harriet passed to be honest, it broke her heart. It brings a little comfort knowing they are together again.
But wow it hurts, piggies are such heart breakers, she straight up stole mine and flew off with it! Little monkey, she's probably sitting next to me right now making this face to make me laugh, like she always did, god I miss her, I'll need lifetime therapy for this.
❤
My girl Lottie was about to turn 6 years old this month on the 22nd, but sadly passed away on the 10th April unexpectedly. She was fine one moment, but when I went in 30 minutes later to give her medication, I found her lethargic with clear/greenish fluid and mucus literally nonstop pouring and bubbling from her nose, sneezing and doing a heaving movement repeatedly, her lungs sounded crackly too as I think she aspirated some of the fluid. I honestly don't know what happened to cause it, it was a horrible sight and I knew in that moment she was passing away, but I still don't know why or how.
It was 10.30pm on Sunday night, none of the emergency vets here were answering the phone, I was losing my mind. I ended up having to phone my regular vets inpatient unit and beg the poor nurse on night duty to help us, she tried for 30 minutes to get hold of a vet but there weren't any, it was an absolute nightmare.
The nurse basically told me they couldn't do anything and I had to watch poor Lottie suffer until 8am, if she even made it to then. I broke down and begged the nurse to see her, they don't normally but she did let us go in, it wasn't her job to do that. Lottie was a mess, flopped on her side, she said her heart was going too fast and her breathing was slow and Lottie might have had a stroke, but we have no idea what happened to her.
Lottie was already struggling with other health issues for 4 months now, she was emaciated and not eating, weighing only 680g, factoring this into the decision and seeing Lottie needing emergency help, I decided to have her put to sleep. The nurse wasn't qualified to do a proper euthanasia, but she gave Lottie an injection in her abdomen that helped her cross the rainbow bridge, it was as peaceful as it could've been, Lottie passed within a few minutes quietly in my arms, like she fell asleep. In hindsight I wonder if she choked on food or got something lodged in her nose, when I found her there was a piece of hay hanging from her mouth, it wasn't stuck and I pulled it out, but it makes me wonder if there was more stuck behind her cheek pads that I couldn't see. I've never seen fluid literally non stop pour from a piggies nose like that before, and the heaving, I've seen 20+ piggies pass and I've never seen this happen, what could have caused that?
I feel like a failure, like I should've asked the nurse to check her nose and mouth to see if there was something stuck before putting her to sleep, I keep thinking maybe it was just that and we could've saved her, or maybe she could've cleared it herself or something. Even so, it probably would've been impossible for her to recover due to her being so weak and aspirating which would've led to pneumonia or something, she was in such a bad state. I just don't know what it was and there was no vet to tell us. Lottie had been on antibiotics already for months and had no symptoms of a URI even 30 minutes before so I know it wasn't that, it's just so odd and sudden. Does anyone have any idea what might have happened? I know nobody knows for sure, the only way to know would be a post mortem, but I can't afford that and I wondered if anyone else here has had this happen.
Lottie's backstory:
In January 2022 Lottie suddenly became paralysed, she couldn't stand and would drag her back legs. It was initially a mystery but xrays confirmed she had severe arthritis in both stifle joints. Since then she had periods of recovering, regaining full use of her legs and then losing it again, normally she would be back on her feet within a few days, sometimes taking over a week.
Lottie also developed anorexia, presumably due to pain, her appetite slowly declined from January up until the day she died (April 10th). There were days where she would eat really well, others not great and others not at all, but overall it gradually got worse. I adjusted syringe feed depending on her appetite, but she absolutely hated it the whole time, she would fight me so hard, so I could never get enough in consistently to maintain her weight. Because of this Lottie went from 950g in Jan before getting ill, to just 680g the day she passed.
Because of the arthritis and anorexia, Lottie was on a large amount of medication, at her most recent vet appointment 2 weeks ago the vet felt her abdomen and said her liver was enlarged. The vet said it's most likely liver disease/failure from not eating and medications, but due to Lottie needing the medication, we couldn't lower or stop them. It was a really hard moment for me as they said there's nothing they can do for her now and to treat Lottie as palliative care. The liver disease was not confirmed with tests as to do so they would need to put her under anesthetic and draw blood, as Lottie wasn't well I didn't want to risk it, so we don't know for sure she had it, but it was likely and her liver was much larger than normal.
Lottie was on 0.17ml cat loxicom x2 daily, 0.04ml gabapentin every 8 hours, 0.48ml emeprid x2 daily, 0.15ml sulfatrim x2 daily, 1x nutramed liver supplement and fibreplex x3 daily for the past couple of months. So quite a lot of medication which probably caused the liver issues, possible ketosis too due to weighing only 680g and not eating. I also think she was developing dental issues as she wanted to eat but seemed to struggle with chewing, another reason why I'm worried she choked. She had been struggling but fighting for a while and I knew the time was coming for me to say goodbye, I just didn't think it would happen so suddenly or in the way it did.
I'm amazed that she went for as long as she did, she fought so incredibly hard through so many unfair issues, 5 years old is too young to go for me, I hoped somehow I could nurse her back to health, but that day never came. I had her on a strict schedule, I devoted 100% of my time and energy to her since she got poorly, waking up at 7am, spacing out her meds to make it a little easier on her liver, she got meds at 8am, 9, 10, 11, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12am, syringe feed every 4 hours, I've been so busy with her, functioning on just a few hours of sleep every day for months, I put my absolute all into her but I couldn't save her, I am devastated. Knowing she isn't there anymore, needing me, waiting for meds, feed and cuddles, it's breaking me.
I was there when she was born, she has been my baby from day 1, she's extremely special. I've owned and lost many piggies, but this one really hurts, the pain is unlike anything I've ever felt, there's a huge hole in my heart and I feel empty without her, like part of me went with her. From the day she was born we've been inseparable, she was never flighty or afraid of anything, never spooking and running like piggies do, she would always willingly climb onto my hands from her cage, she was so trusting, tame and fearless. She could jump over 1ft walls and bounce up the stairs with ease, she was so talented, there are videos of her jumping online, so many others loved her too. She was always my go to cuddler when I had a bad day, she never failed to make me smile, she was my best friend.
She is a once in a lifetime kind of piggie, I'll never love one more than I do her, and I know I'll never get over losing her like this. She was a rare pig that loved attention and actually showed affection to people, I know with certainty she loved me as much as I love her, it makes this hurt so much more, I feel like I betrayed her. That I selfishly let her go on for longer than I probably should've due to me not wanting to let go, and me being too quick to put her to sleep without waiting to see if she could improve or asking the nurse to check her mouth/nose for a simple blockage. I just feel so much guilt, questioning if I made the right choices. She was already struggling in general before this event, but that day she had improved, she wanted to eat veggies and hay by herself and was drinking from her bottle etc, I felt a little bit of positivity, then it got crushed probably by something silly like choking, I just can't believe it.
I'm glad I managed to get a few more months with her when I almost lost her back in January, but you know what I mean, I wish I had more time. She was a perfect angel, it makes sense why heaven wanted her back. I'm just glad she isn't suffering now, she can eat, run, popcorn as much as she wants without pain. Her Mum passed a few years ago and her sister Harriet in 2020, they were a super close and bonded family, Lottie started getting depressed and going downhill after Harriet passed to be honest, it broke her heart. It brings a little comfort knowing they are together again.
But wow it hurts, piggies are such heart breakers, she straight up stole mine and flew off with it! Little monkey, she's probably sitting next to me right now making this face to make me laugh, like she always did, god I miss her, I'll need lifetime therapy for this.
❤
Please don't feel guilty, you did everything you could for her and gave her a loving home, you could do no more. (((hugs))) x
