My 4 Month Piggie Died

[Deelite67]

hi I'm a newbie here, I'm searching for answers as to why my healthy little Piggie died.
I have 2 sets of sisters, Lucy was the smallest but the boss so when my son brought her in looking really quiet I was immediately concerned.
She was quiet, felt cold and sporadic shaking ( like a fit). I cuddled her and kept her warm but the fitting got worse and her head was jerking up, I could tell she was dying. She died an hour later... My little boy was / is devastated.
Has anyone got any insight as to what happened? There have an outside hit with a free range run, eat grass, hay, proper diet... Daily green foods etc. She was fine in the morning.

 

[artcasper]

I am afraid i have no answers as to why, just wanted to say sorry for your loss x

 

[Deelite67]

I am afraid i have no answers as to why, just wanted to say sorry for your loss x

Thank you

 

[VickiA]

I'm so sorry for your sudden loss. I hope one of the health and illness team will be on later and may offer more answers, however it doesn't sound to me like there was anything more you could have done for your piggy. Piggies are prey creatures so often hide signs of illness. If she was small it is possible she had an underlying problem that stopped her growing to full size and caused her untimely death.
Here is a link to how to look after the surviving piggy during this period of grieving Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

 

[Jeniva]

I'm sorry for your loss my piggie who was seemingly healthy just went quiet and died a couple of days later suddenly, didn't make it to his vet appointment. I had no idea he was so seriously ill. He showed 0 signs of illness other than going quiet and eventually off his food.
I'm afraid you may not know unless you take the body to a vets, but I wouldn't do that to Chewie.
Keep a close eye on your other piggies, perhaps get them health checked - I did for Han just in case it was something catching.

 

[Deelite67]

I m sorry you lost Chewie too... I keep going outside and checking the others but they seem fine. Lucy was running around being her boisterous self only a day ago so it's such a shock!

 

[madguinealady]

So sorry for your loss

 

[helen105281]

I'm so sorry, what a horrible shock for you all. My first thought would be heart issues or a respiratory infection that struck out of the blue. Atypical Pneumonia, known as walking Pneumonia can strike very suddenly. The other possibility is that she ate something she shouldn't or a neurological issue. As Vicki has said there could have been an underlying issue that had affected her all her life.

Was it a hot day, heatstroke would also be a possibility if so, but I would think the others would be affected if that was the case.

 

[Wiebke]

hi I'm a newbie here, I'm searching for answers as to why my healthy little Piggie died.
I have 2 sets of sisters, Lucy was the smallest but the boss so when my son brought her in looking really quiet I was immediately concerned.
She was quiet, felt cold and sporadic shaking ( like a fit). I cuddled her and kept her warm but the fitting got worse and her head was jerking up, I could tell she was dying. She died an hour later... My little boy was / is devastated.
Has anyone got any insight as to what happened? There have an outside hit with a free range run, eat grass, hay, proper diet... Daily green foods etc. She was fine in the morning.

Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry for your sad shock; it sounds like acute heart failure, which can sadly happen at any age. Some piggies live with a genetic timebomb in their bodies that can go off at any time. The jerking and low temperature are caused by lack of circulation/oxygen when the body is going into multi-organ failure and closing down; thankfully by then your little girl would have been mostly out of it. Symptoms can vary depending on the order of which the organs go into failure and how strong they are. The dying process is usually a lot more physical than we expect.

Please do not blame yourself. There is nothing you could have done. It is just one of those things. A sudden, unexpected death leaves you naturally with the need to make sense of it! I have lost two of my own younger piggies to sudden acute heart failure so far and despite rushing them to the vet asap.

By the sound of it, your Lucy had a very happy, if short, life and has made the most of the time she has been given. We can sadly not control how long our piggies live. We can only concentrate on giving them a happy life. You are doing that!

 

[Deelite67]

Thank you so much for your reply, what you say makes sense and I have contacted the breeder who was quite shocked.
She has offered another Piggie or my money back ( not what I called her for as wanted some advice) .
we shall be burying her today

 

[Wiebke]

HUGS