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My guinea pig died yesterday

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louisdog

Hi all

My guinea pig Ginger died yesterday, he lost weight quite suddenly and I took him to the vet Mon and a different vet Tues and he had to be put down on Weds, they had X-rayed him and he had a tumour in is stomach/intestines. He was only 3.

Just wondered if anyone else's guinea pig had had a tumour like this, and what happened?

Cheers
Alex
 
I have never had something like this personally - but it does occasionally happen.

But I want to say how sorry I am for you and your piggy.
 
So sorry to hear your sad story. I had a very similar experience with my iggy recently, same symptoms and age. I took her to the vets and they could find nothing wrong, she was eating and seemed well, but lost more and more weight.

When she died she was so tiny, but comfortable. I wonder if she had something similar, I am sure many guineas with the same condition just may not get diagnosed if they are older, as so many piggies lose weight with age?
 
Thanks for all your lovely replies.

Tallulah, sorry to hear about Iggy, I wonder if it was a similar type of thing.

Ginger was still really active and perky even when he went to the second vet on the Tuesday, it was such a shame. Hopefully such tumours are rare. At first they thought the sudden weight loss might be a tooth issue and then they thought a blockage which could have been but then they realised.

His four wives are missing him and seem to be bickering today, I think they are trying to figure out who is boss now. At least they have each other and I don't have one left on his own.

Cheers
Alex
 
Oh bless them! It's so sad to see guineas left behind, but at least there're enough of them to distract each other. Hope the bickering stops soon :)
 
I am sorry you lost Ginger, what a shock to have such a thing discovered and to lose him so suddenly.

One of my past pigs had a kidney tumour. The vet advised he was PTS but we brought him home and lived another 9 months. By the time he died in March last year, the tumour was taking up around three quarters of his abdomen, and his tummy has swelled and became hard as the tumour grew and pressed on things more. However he was eating, pottering about and behaving normally, unlike your Ginger.

I wonder if a gastric torsion (specifically a twisted stomach/gut) was the cause of his symptoms and the 'mass' - athough I'm not sure how this would appear on x-ray. A growth in the intestines, leading to a complete blockage, is possible; I'm sure I have heard something along these lines before.

Whatever the problem was, I'm sorry you lost your Ginger to it. Big hugs to you.
 
Intestinal tumours are rare in guinea pigs, I often think that the diagnosis is one of convenience.
You would expect a gradual deterioration/weight loss.
Did you see the film for yourself?
 
Thanks for your replies.

I didn't see the film myself but I do trust the second vet. He successfully operated on a tiny bantam hen of mine in 2007. But if a tumour seems unlikely, what else springs to mind Alcesterpigs? just curious to know what else it could be.

Laura sorry about your pig. I hadnt thought of gastric torsion.

I guess I will never know for sure. :-/
 
A lot would depend on how much weight he had lost over what length of time etc.
I know it seems an odd question to ask but why exactly was he put down?
 
They admitted him on Tuesday lunchtime, did Xrays with contrast and then they gave him something to see if he could pass the lump (which they thought could be hairball/carrot etc at that point) then first thing the next day if he hadnt then they were going to operate. He did seem well in himself on Tuesday. But he had become poorly overnight and had two seizures which they tried to control with medication, and they said his condition had deteriorated to the point where he probably wouldn't survive an operation.

Thinking about it **** not a total blockage because on Monday he passed a few normal droppings in the clean carrier so something must have been getting through.

He had been at the vets in a big kennel with plenty of Timothy hay and with one of his wives so I think the deterioration must have been his illness rather than anything else (as far as I can tell anyway0

It's a puzzle though cos he was so young so seems odd.
 
Interesting, even though a sad outcome. Any idea what contrast medium they used?
 
I have seen a number of pigs over the years that did have a blockage in the gut but not caused by a tumour.
The pellets in the gut can occasionally clump together and get stuck. They can be easily felt and dealt with by massaging the lumps to break them down, then they can be passed as normal.
I wondered if the contrast medium was something like a barium meal.
 
Thanks for your reply alcesterpigs. It could have been a barium meal although they didnt mention the name, but they said they were feeding him something and would then have to wait several hours before the next Xray.

After he was euthanised they called it a tumourous mass, perhaps they opened him up to look, I didnt think at the time to ask.

I am trying to remember what the vet said to me when I asked if he dealt with a lot of small animals, I was told he specialises in them but he said something about rodentologists so maybe he has a special qualification.

alcesterpigs, just curious, do you work in the veterinary field or have you just kept a lot of pigs? :) Sorry just being nosy but you seem to know a lot about the medical side so suddenly wondered if you were a vet nurse or anything.
 
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By the way I have finally worked out how to do an avatar on here and how to resize a pic so now Ginger is on all my posts :)
 
I have kept pigs since 1988.
No connection with the vet. profession.
 
Wow LOADS of gp keeping experience though :)

I had a guinea pig as a young child in the 80s and I am so happy with how things have changed for rabbits and gps in the last 20 years, especially the availability of special gp foods and decent size housing. I am ashamed to say that ours was kept with a bunny back then :(
 
I have 15 pigs at the moment, that should increas by another one later today, I am taking in a 9 year old boar, yes, I did mean 9, from 80 miles away.
Numbers were upto 45 two years ago.
I don't go looking for pigs they just arrive, I never re-home them, they live out their time here.
For the past 2 years losses have exceeded gains. This happens if a lot are around the "critical age" of 4 years.
 
45 :o how lovely!

A shame that losses have exceeded gains (except maybe lack of needy arrivals is a good thing as maybe fewer people are getting gps on a whim and then changing their minds).

9 sounds a good age. Sad that he needs a new home at his age though. I don't think I could let such an old pet go, I'd be too attached!

Why is age 4 critical? Is that the age they can start to get ill or even die?

I am not really sure what age a typical guinea pig makes. Obviously poor Ginger was young to die at 3 :( His mate died at about 6 months old, he was fine and hale and hearty one morning and dead that afternoon, all I can think is he had a heart attack.
 
The "books" typcally quote an age range of 4-7 years. My records show an average of 4 years plus or minus 3 months ie 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 years of age. This is the average of all the pigs that I have owned. However, I once looked at the average life span of pigs that were "home produced", their average life span was just over 5 years.
The oldest pig lived to be 7 years 3 months. The last home litter was over 10 years ago, there are enough rescue pigs out there to be given a home!
I know that other long-term owners have found the same life expectancy of about 4 years.
If asked "how long do they live?" I give the answer that if they reach four years and have never been ill then they have had a good life, anything over four years is a bonus.
I appreciate this is a cautious answer but it avoids disappoinment if a pig doesn't reach 7 years. It is reasonable to attribute a sudden, unexpected, death, at any age, to heart failure. By definition, there is nothing you can do to prevent it.
 
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I am very sorry for your loss. Least he is now not suffering.

I've had experience with guinea pigs having a tumour or abcesses and I've had to have one or two of my guinea pigs put down in the past. Other's have just died due to the medication or stress when they were ill
 
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