Tylerspigs
New Born Pup
I warn you this will be long, but I would REALLY appreciate feedback.
I adopted two females 3 weeks ago. I brought them to the vet immediately the 2 month had a huge bald spot from ringworm and she gained more small ones even after I gave her the medicine my vet prescribed to both of them. He ringworm got better and her hair even started growing back. I got rid of all of the scabby crusty areas and put an anti fungal cream on her. I also gave her 2 baths in an anti fungal shampoo approved for pets. (Saskia from the LA guinea pig rescue recommended). I gave her a bath on Saturday afternoon and I believe this could’ve been the reason she passed. I gave her a warm bath and cleaned all her bald spots and let her dry on her own outside of her cage after I towel dried her the best I could. I had them on a plain cage liner with a blanket yo burrow and only a little bit of hay so they couldn’t get too dirty. I gave them veggies and a water bowl. I laid a heating pad with a blanket on it for them to stay warm. I contemplated using the blow drier like I had done the previous bath. Her sister who also had ringworm got a bath aswell but she is still healthy (fingers crossed).
My guinea pig Willow passed last night/this morning at 1am. Yesterday afternoon I heard her labored breathing but because I felt stupid for constantly bringing my guinea pigs to the vet I waited until she got worse. That night around 12:30am I called my nearby emergency vet and brought her in. I knew she had a URI and although in the back of my head I knew she wouldn’t make it I was thinking delusionally and thought she would make it. She died on the 15 minute drive to the vet which I have other regrets about like not letting her pass at home with her cagemates. I noticed on Sunday she had lost weight and I know how much of sign that is that there is something wrong and I needed to take her to the vet but I went against instincts. Why did I not take her Monday morning as soon as the vet open? She is only 2 and a half months and I just didn’t even think that her weight loss was that bad and didn’t even think that she was meant to be gaining weight. (Granted my vet said nothing at their first visit about how much weight they should gain each week). I noticed she was not gaining nearly as much weight as her sister who is 4 months (not same parents). I should’ve brought her in or called them when I notices she wasn’t even gaining enough weight.
On Sunday, she started acting strangely and I pushed it off to her getting comfortable to her new enviornment even though she wasn’t even running from my hand going to pick her up. That night I saw another sign of a URI. I saw dry discharge from her nose and thought nothing of it but I knew it was a sign of a uri. I just thought it was dry critical care but looking back I think it was discharge.
Monday morning she didn’t eat pellets much. At this point she was staying only in a small portion of the cage and not eating hay. That is when I heard her having trouble breathing. A few hours later I took her and her sister oit of the cage to do veggies and medicine. I placed some hemp gel on Willow’s ear since she doesn’t like me messing with all of her bald patches and it hurts a bit when I have to brush the hair and get rid of anything crusty. I spent 3 hours sitting at the table with them just holding her as she wasn’t eating her veggies either. At this point I decided I would bring her to the vet in the morning and skip my first class. My mom told me I needed to get to bed and just put her in the cage. (I am over 18 and in college btw). 2 hours later after watching She hadn’t eaten anything or consumed any water. She also didn’t move unless her cagemates tried to play with her and she just waddled away. When I was holding her I felt how skinny she was and started to cry.
I wrapped her up in a blanket to keep her warm and went into my basement to all the emergency vet. On our 15 min drive I told her that I officially decided her name was Willow. I told her I loved her. I told her that in 5 years if she was still with us she wouldn’t have regretted fighting for her life. I told her that her cagemates love her along with my cats. I told her how much happier my single male has been since I brought her and her sister home 3 weeks ago. I told her It would be okay. I told her I was sorry for letting her down. Over and over again. I love you and I’m sorry.
They told me to come in but she was already dead by the time I got there. This might sound stupid but I told her what her name was on the way to the vet For the first time. I had not decided on their names but I felt I needed to make my decision then. I spoke to her on the way there and held back my tears. I had some hope they could keep her alive on oxygen and mabye she would survive. I got to the vet and they took her to the back to put her on oxygen. Not even 2 minutes later the doctor came out and told me she was already gone. I don’t cry much but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t understand why I had let her get that bad before I did anything. I don’t know why I didn’t go that morning. The vet said that if I brought her in earlier that afternoon she didn’t think Willow would’ve made it anyways but I believe she would’ve made it if I brought her in that morning.
I spent all night crying and looking at her two cagemates after I brought her home. I wanted to place her in the cage so they could figure out she was dead and wouldn’t return But my mom wouldn’t let me. I sat in my hallway for an hour just crying and petting her. My mom constantly told me to stop touching her because she was dead as if she was this disgusting thing. I just wanted her to wake up and be okay. I wrapped her up, out her in a box, and placed her in my garage bc it was cold. I couldn’t sleep until 6:30 am. I then woke up an hour later and called my vet to bring her in to get cremated. My mom didn‘t want me driving so she wouldn’t let me go alone. I unwrapped her one more time and her body felt dense, heavy, and cold. Her eyes had closed and she was frozen in that little box and blanket. I dropped her off at the vet and went home and cried. After an hour or so I finally fell asleep and stayed asleep until 5pm. I woke up and cried some more.
How did I let a guinea pig only 2.5 months old die from a preventable disease? How did she only survive in my care for 3 weeks? How did I not fight back and place her in teh cage so her friends could say goodbye instead of just wondering where she was? How did I do her so wrong? How did I make so many mistakes? Why did I feel too stupid to bring her into the vet for something so small as losing weight instead of gaining weight? Why was I paying so much attention to her ringworm but not her overall health? Why did I ignore the sign of her URI just becasue he ringworm was improving? Why does my family think this is a lame little loss and the other people in my life will think the same but to my it feels like my whole world is shutting down? How do I cope with the fact that everyone else is going to tell me it isn’t a big deal and I must’ve been a bad parent for letting this happen? How do I cope with feeling like a terrible parent? How am I supossed to get over letting my 2.5 month guinea pig die when I could’ve helped her. Why did I let her suffer in pain when something so obvious was wrong with her? I know so much about guinea pigs and anything to do with them so why did I ignore all my instincts and all the obvious signs she needed a doctor? How do I look at my two living guinea pig as and not feel like a horrible person? How do I get over that they don’t know for sure she passed and they could just be waiting for her to come back or they could just be thinking she must have gone to a new home?
I spoke to her body yesterday and promised I would never let anything like this happen again. I told her I would bring my pets to the vet for the silliest reason if I ever had a small thought something was off even if I had to bring my pet to the vet every other day. I apologized, told her I loved her and stroked her head placing her wacky hair back in place after every stroke. I placed her down and said goodnight. Goodbye Willow.
I adopted two females 3 weeks ago. I brought them to the vet immediately the 2 month had a huge bald spot from ringworm and she gained more small ones even after I gave her the medicine my vet prescribed to both of them. He ringworm got better and her hair even started growing back. I got rid of all of the scabby crusty areas and put an anti fungal cream on her. I also gave her 2 baths in an anti fungal shampoo approved for pets. (Saskia from the LA guinea pig rescue recommended). I gave her a bath on Saturday afternoon and I believe this could’ve been the reason she passed. I gave her a warm bath and cleaned all her bald spots and let her dry on her own outside of her cage after I towel dried her the best I could. I had them on a plain cage liner with a blanket yo burrow and only a little bit of hay so they couldn’t get too dirty. I gave them veggies and a water bowl. I laid a heating pad with a blanket on it for them to stay warm. I contemplated using the blow drier like I had done the previous bath. Her sister who also had ringworm got a bath aswell but she is still healthy (fingers crossed).
My guinea pig Willow passed last night/this morning at 1am. Yesterday afternoon I heard her labored breathing but because I felt stupid for constantly bringing my guinea pigs to the vet I waited until she got worse. That night around 12:30am I called my nearby emergency vet and brought her in. I knew she had a URI and although in the back of my head I knew she wouldn’t make it I was thinking delusionally and thought she would make it. She died on the 15 minute drive to the vet which I have other regrets about like not letting her pass at home with her cagemates. I noticed on Sunday she had lost weight and I know how much of sign that is that there is something wrong and I needed to take her to the vet but I went against instincts. Why did I not take her Monday morning as soon as the vet open? She is only 2 and a half months and I just didn’t even think that her weight loss was that bad and didn’t even think that she was meant to be gaining weight. (Granted my vet said nothing at their first visit about how much weight they should gain each week). I noticed she was not gaining nearly as much weight as her sister who is 4 months (not same parents). I should’ve brought her in or called them when I notices she wasn’t even gaining enough weight.
On Sunday, she started acting strangely and I pushed it off to her getting comfortable to her new enviornment even though she wasn’t even running from my hand going to pick her up. That night I saw another sign of a URI. I saw dry discharge from her nose and thought nothing of it but I knew it was a sign of a uri. I just thought it was dry critical care but looking back I think it was discharge.
Monday morning she didn’t eat pellets much. At this point she was staying only in a small portion of the cage and not eating hay. That is when I heard her having trouble breathing. A few hours later I took her and her sister oit of the cage to do veggies and medicine. I placed some hemp gel on Willow’s ear since she doesn’t like me messing with all of her bald patches and it hurts a bit when I have to brush the hair and get rid of anything crusty. I spent 3 hours sitting at the table with them just holding her as she wasn’t eating her veggies either. At this point I decided I would bring her to the vet in the morning and skip my first class. My mom told me I needed to get to bed and just put her in the cage. (I am over 18 and in college btw). 2 hours later after watching She hadn’t eaten anything or consumed any water. She also didn’t move unless her cagemates tried to play with her and she just waddled away. When I was holding her I felt how skinny she was and started to cry.
I wrapped her up in a blanket to keep her warm and went into my basement to all the emergency vet. On our 15 min drive I told her that I officially decided her name was Willow. I told her I loved her. I told her that in 5 years if she was still with us she wouldn’t have regretted fighting for her life. I told her that her cagemates love her along with my cats. I told her how much happier my single male has been since I brought her and her sister home 3 weeks ago. I told her It would be okay. I told her I was sorry for letting her down. Over and over again. I love you and I’m sorry.
They told me to come in but she was already dead by the time I got there. This might sound stupid but I told her what her name was on the way to the vet For the first time. I had not decided on their names but I felt I needed to make my decision then. I spoke to her on the way there and held back my tears. I had some hope they could keep her alive on oxygen and mabye she would survive. I got to the vet and they took her to the back to put her on oxygen. Not even 2 minutes later the doctor came out and told me she was already gone. I don’t cry much but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t understand why I had let her get that bad before I did anything. I don’t know why I didn’t go that morning. The vet said that if I brought her in earlier that afternoon she didn’t think Willow would’ve made it anyways but I believe she would’ve made it if I brought her in that morning.
I spent all night crying and looking at her two cagemates after I brought her home. I wanted to place her in the cage so they could figure out she was dead and wouldn’t return But my mom wouldn’t let me. I sat in my hallway for an hour just crying and petting her. My mom constantly told me to stop touching her because she was dead as if she was this disgusting thing. I just wanted her to wake up and be okay. I wrapped her up, out her in a box, and placed her in my garage bc it was cold. I couldn’t sleep until 6:30 am. I then woke up an hour later and called my vet to bring her in to get cremated. My mom didn‘t want me driving so she wouldn’t let me go alone. I unwrapped her one more time and her body felt dense, heavy, and cold. Her eyes had closed and she was frozen in that little box and blanket. I dropped her off at the vet and went home and cried. After an hour or so I finally fell asleep and stayed asleep until 5pm. I woke up and cried some more.
How did I let a guinea pig only 2.5 months old die from a preventable disease? How did she only survive in my care for 3 weeks? How did I not fight back and place her in teh cage so her friends could say goodbye instead of just wondering where she was? How did I do her so wrong? How did I make so many mistakes? Why did I feel too stupid to bring her into the vet for something so small as losing weight instead of gaining weight? Why was I paying so much attention to her ringworm but not her overall health? Why did I ignore the sign of her URI just becasue he ringworm was improving? Why does my family think this is a lame little loss and the other people in my life will think the same but to my it feels like my whole world is shutting down? How do I cope with the fact that everyone else is going to tell me it isn’t a big deal and I must’ve been a bad parent for letting this happen? How do I cope with feeling like a terrible parent? How am I supossed to get over letting my 2.5 month guinea pig die when I could’ve helped her. Why did I let her suffer in pain when something so obvious was wrong with her? I know so much about guinea pigs and anything to do with them so why did I ignore all my instincts and all the obvious signs she needed a doctor? How do I look at my two living guinea pig as and not feel like a horrible person? How do I get over that they don’t know for sure she passed and they could just be waiting for her to come back or they could just be thinking she must have gone to a new home?
I spoke to her body yesterday and promised I would never let anything like this happen again. I told her I would bring my pets to the vet for the silliest reason if I ever had a small thought something was off even if I had to bring my pet to the vet every other day. I apologized, told her I loved her and stroked her head placing her wacky hair back in place after every stroke. I placed her down and said goodnight. Goodbye Willow.
