Intestinal Abscesses

[sophiem92]

Hello,
We unfortunately lost one of our guinea pigs yesterday, his name is Dave
He’s not been himself for a few days and after a couple of vets trips he started to loose his appetite completely and stop drinking which lead to us having to syringe feed him.
At first the vets decided to prescribe paracetamol and a probiotic as he’d had runny poo’s. However the poo’s then started to stop completely and he stopped eating.

The vets kept him in all day yesterday to try and get better and get his fluids up.
They did one X-ray from above him which showed no issues so the only other option was to put him under anaesthetic so they could do an X-ray from the side and take bloods. Unfortunately this was too much for Dave and he never woke up

The vet (for her own knowledge benefit aswell as ours) wanted to do a post mortem which we said they could and it turns out he had multiple abscesses along his intestine and on his liver. She said it wouldn’t have been treatable and had she of known that’s what was wrong she would’ve put him to sleep that morning.
We asked what could’ve caused this and she said possibly a blood infection, but he had no cuts on him , lived indoors, and his brother and him got on no problem so it’s not like he would’ve been bitten.
The vet has sent the post mortem photos off to an exotic vet specialist to see if they can identify the issue any further.

my question is has anyone been through this before or have any idea on these kinds of abscesses / blood infections?
just anything at all that could possibly shed some light on to why this happened?
because he was such a healthy happy piggy and this has happened to rapidly quick it’s such a shock!

 

[Merab's Slave]

So sorry for your loss.
I wish I had answers. My Merab had multiple cysts which were only found when she went in for a spay. Sadly there were too many and too spread out that she couldn’t survive surgery, given her age (6).
My vet had no answers as to why either.
Be gentle with yourself as you grieve.

 

[Swissgreys]

I am so sorry for your loss.
It is clear Dave was a very loved and well cared for piggy and I hope you are able to get some answers to your questions.

But the reality is that many piggies never actually receive veterinary care, and an even smaller number have a post mortem, so many things about them are still unknown. Even a specialist may not have clear answers as to why Dave died.
Please try to take comfort form knowing that he had a wonderful life with you and his brotehr.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello,
We unfortunately lost one of our guinea pigs yesterday, his name is Dave
He’s not been himself for a few days and after a couple of vets trips he started to loose his appetite completely and stop drinking which lead to us having to syringe feed him.
At first the vets decided to prescribe paracetamol and a probiotic as he’d had runny poo’s. However the poo’s then started to stop completely and he stopped eating.

The vets kept him in all day yesterday to try and get better and get his fluids up.
They did one X-ray from above him which showed no issues so the only other option was to put him under anaesthetic so they could do an X-ray from the side and take bloods. Unfortunately this was too much for Dave and he never woke up

The vet (for her own knowledge benefit aswell as ours) wanted to do a post mortem which we said they could and it turns out he had multiple abscesses along his intestine and on his liver. She said it wouldn’t have been treatable and had she of known that’s what was wrong she would’ve put him to sleep that morning.
We asked what could’ve caused this and she said possibly a blood infection, but he had no cuts on him , lived indoors, and his brother and him got on no problem so it’s not like he would’ve been bitten.
The vet has sent the post mortem photos off to an exotic vet specialist to see if they can identify the issue any further.

my question is has anyone been through this before or have any idea on these kinds of abscesses / blood infections?
just anything at all that could possibly shed some light on to why this happened?
because he was such a healthy happy piggy and this has happened to rapidly quick it’s such a shock!

Hi!

I am very sorry for your loss and the way it happened. Dave was very lucky to have found such a loving home; please never lose sight of that!

Intestinal abscesses are not quite common (especially as a fair number will go undiagnosed) but they can unfortunately happen. It is not sadly not something that you can control or prevent.

If you are lucky, you can get on top of one by using very strong unlicensed last ditch antibiotics, like zithromax (azithromycin) or it gets caught in a scan and can be operated on before it bursts.
@furryfriends (TEAS) had a piggy with an internal abscess that was found in time and could be treated.

Please be aware that the need to find answers and feelings of guilt/soul searching are very normal for the onset of the grieving process. Sadly all too often there are no answers and you have just put it down to what I call 'cosmic bad luck' beyond your control and outside of your vet's experience; especially in cases when symptoms are pretty vague and so many different things can be behind them.
You may find the guides via this access link here helpful to make sense of your own overwhelming feelings now and in the coming days: Death, Dying, Terminal Illness, Grieving and Bereaved Companions: Information and Support for Owners and Their Children