Rapid loss of weight

[tabelmabel]

Yes i know exactly what you mean, not wanting to prolong things. I'm the same. I just cant believe how long benson keeps hanging on either! I'm just waiting for him to stop eating really, then i will be happy to have him pts but, right now, his little face is full of hope. I just cant do it. He seems to like his daily routine of his bath and going to eat his veg on his own away from his cagemate, mike.

His diet is totally unbalanced being all veg and some pellets but i didnt think that mattered too much as he was in his final days (i thought) he was even having carrots.

Benson's fuzzy coat hides a lot. He looks not too bad in the photos but he is skeletal under that. His coat is still nice and thick though.

The tablets will likely be more effective than the herb but it is difficult, knowing what to do for the best.

 

[Little Ones]

Been feeling very tearful today. Saturday Hoo’s weight was at 880, Wednesday it was 840, Friday 860. Haven’t weighed him since as I’m very busy and very stressed with my exams but I assume he’s lost some more.
Had a panic earlier as I thought I was witnessing him die, he stood for 15 minutes and his head was only moving a slightly to the side. He’s alright though and was behaving like himself.
Yesterday during floor time he was behaving out of character for the first 10 minutes so I was really worried but he ended up being normal.
I’m just so upset that this is happening to him and I’m so worried he’s going to die. Every time I look back at old photos I can’t help but cry, this guinea pig is nothing like he used to be.
Ever since I got him, he was a chunky and fuzzy boy, all he ever enjoyed in life was sleeping and eating and you couldn’t even tempt him into excerise. During floor time he’d sleep in the corner. He was so delicate and the submissive of the two boys, he wasn’t into anything that could cause conflict, he just wanted to sleep his life away.
Then he got sick and lost all his weight, he’s so tiny now, his fur thinned out completely, he’s incredibly hyperactive to the point it can really worry me. During floor time he never stops moving - it’s an obsessive hyper-activeness. He also breathes a lot faster. He does not care for the hierarchy and takes whatever he wants from Little whenever he wants (which little lets him as I think Little knows the hierarchy is not being threatened due to Hoo’s severe illness). He’s just not the same pig he used to be and it saddens me because his personality has done a 180 just as his health has.
I’m just, i suppose mourning the loss of the pig he was as well as coming to terms with losing him entirely. I’m just so sad about it all.
I’ll attach some photos of him, I just found the old ones on an iPad I no longer use.





He was such a fuzzy ball! Whenever he curled over to grab poos from his butt he literally looked like a Pom Pom. He was so beautiful - he still is but now there’s a hint of sadness in it. Hoo’s given name is Honey, as chosen by my mother, however at this time i called him Fat Honey which became Fat Hoo or the other variation of Fatty Hoo, lol very creative.
Then he lost all his weight.



And now he’s gone from being much larger than little to being so tiny and fragile. He’s so active so I know he won’t hurt himself but I’m very afraid he will, or that I will accidentally hurt him.
Of course when he got thin and changed entirely, in my head it automatically changed and he became Hoo Bean, and also Beanie. Just because he’s such a small, precious bean.

That’s all I wanted to share really... It’s just been a hard time which is to be expected. I’m just really worried about him but overall he’s doing fine - eating, drinking (excessively), running around. I make sure to feed him extra too but a lot of the time he has humongous poos, kind of like diarrhoea, on the times they’re not like this they’re really soft - they always stink horrible though like human poos, gross. They don’t cause him pain so there’s nothing really we can do, it’ll just be a byproduct of his liver problem.
I feel like I’m just waiting for him to die, I’m giving him all the attention and stuff, but I feel like all I’m doing is waiting because I know it’s going to happen and I know it’ll be in the next few months or so.
Anyway, that’s all

 

[Little Ones]

Update :
Last night he must have had a stroke or some sort. This morning he couldn’t really walk, drink or eat no matter how much he tried. Took him to vets to be PTS , perked up - ate and walked. Vet said probably his adrenaline and to go back to the car and think it over. In the car he got comfortable again & couldn’t walk or eat once more.
So he’s been PTS. I’m distraught. Been home about half an hour, other pig has cleaned his body a bit so so upset I miss him already

 

[Wiebke]

Update :
Last night he must have had a stroke or some sort. This morning he couldn’t really walk, drink or eat no matter how much he tried. Took him to vets to be PTS , perked up - ate and walked. Vet said probably his adrenaline and to go back to the car and think it over. In the car he got comfortable again & couldn’t walk or eat once more.
So he’s been PTS. I’m distraught. Been home about half an hour, other pig has cleaned his body a bit so so upset I miss him already

BIG HUGS!

I am very sorry that you have had to let Hoo go. It was the right decision, though. Piggies have such huge personalities that we often forget that the bodies they inhabit are so small and frail, and can take only so much.

It hits you hard when you give so much to looking after a very fragile piggy. Give yourself time to grieve in the coming days; you cannot hurry that on. We all react differently to our loss, depending on the circumstances and the nature of the bond.
The emptiness and the pain of the hole in your life are never getting any less, no matter how many piggies you have and how long your have had them for. Every piggy is special, and every special presence gone hurts.

You can remove the body once the companion has taken leave. Licking is a normal reaction.

 

[alpacasqueak]

I’m so sorry, he was a gorgeous boy and such a fighter right to the end. You’ve been amazing looking after him and giving him a brilliant life. Sleep tight Hoo xx

 

[Qualcast&Flymo]

So sorry for your loss of your handsome fuzzball. Sleep tight Hoo xx

 

[Lady Kelly]

So sorry for your loss

 

[Little Ones]

BIG HUGS!

I am very sorry that you have had to let Hoo go. It was the right decision, though. Piggies have such huge personalities that we often forget that the bodies they inhabit are so small and frail, and can take only so much.

It hits you hard when you give so much to looking after a very fragile piggy. Give yourself time to grieve in the coming days; you cannot hurry that on. We all react differently to our loss, depending on the circumstances and the nature of the bond.
The emptiness and the pain of the hole in your life are never getting any less, no matter how many piggies you have and how long your have had them for. Every piggy is special, and every special presence gone hurts.

You can remove the body once the companion has taken leave. Licking is a normal reaction.

Thank you. I’ve been crying just about all day. Last night around 2am I woke up and knew he was going to die, I was so relieved when I woke up and he hadn’t. About an hour later, I put on my glasses and saw him stumbling around and being unable to eat no matter the effort. I honestly have no idea what happened but he just couldn’t control his face or mouth in order to eat the food or his legs to walk properly, it was so upsetting to see
We’ve called up cavy corner earlier to arrange dating for the other male and Sue said to ring again Monday so hopefully she will be able to fit him in that evening, Little is eating & drinking fine and he is acting like nothing has happened however he looks lonely and bored like he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself so I feel like I'm counting down the hours until he can get himself a friend.
I feel like getting another will help me a bit too, because Hoo was always hungry, every time I moved my leg (the cage is beside my bed), he’d be jumping up on the cage and asking for food bless him, so it’s strange and so wrong that he isn’t there. The cage just looks empty now, I feel like I’m going to open my bedroom door and he’ll be back there begging for food. So perhaps having another guinea pig in there will help me in that sense. It’s honestly so heartbreaking
Hoo is now buried in the back garden, it upsets me that he is out there in the cold even though ‘he’ isn’t in there anymore

 

[Little Ones]

I’m so sorry, he was a gorgeous boy and such a fighter right to the end. You’ve been amazing looking after him and giving him a brilliant life. Sleep tight Hoo xx

So sorry for your loss of your handsome fuzzball. Sleep tight Hoo xx

So sorry for your loss

Thank you all, I miss him so much already it’s upsetting for sure, he still wanted to live and was eager to try and eat & such but his body just wasn’t letting it happen, poor angel

 

[Gem789]

I'm so sorry to hear this xx

 

[Little Ones]

I'm so sorry to hear this xx

It was so unexpected. I had had an idea in my head of how he would die, like from his liver causing him to lose so much weight & him eventually stopping eating which I then would’ve had him PTS. So it was such a shock, the night before he was running around during floor time and causing trouble like usual then in the morning he just couldn’t control his mobility. I suppose no matter how it happens, it’s always so upsetting but I definitely hadn’t prepared myself for this to happen in the slightest

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you. I’ve been crying just about all day. Last night around 2am I woke up and knew he was going to die, I was so relieved when I woke up and he hadn’t. About an hour later, I put on my glasses and saw him stumbling around and being unable to eat no matter the effort. I honestly have no idea what happened but he just couldn’t control his face or mouth in order to eat the food or his legs to walk properly, it was so upsetting to see
We’ve called up cavy corner earlier to arrange dating for the other male and Sue said to ring again Monday so hopefully she will be able to fit him in that evening, Little is eating & drinking fine and he is acting like nothing has happened however he looks lonely and bored like he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself so I feel like I'm counting down the hours until he can get himself a friend.
I feel like getting another will help me a bit too, because Hoo was always hungry, every time I moved my leg (the cage is beside my bed), he’d be jumping up on the cage and asking for food bless him, so it’s strange and so wrong that he isn’t there. The cage just looks empty now, I feel like I’m going to open my bedroom door and he’ll be back there begging for food. So perhaps having another guinea pig in there will help me in that sense. It’s honestly so heartbreaking
Hoo is now buried in the back garden, it upsets me that he is out there in the cold even though ‘he’ isn’t in there anymore

HUGS!

Saying goodbye is always hard! Leaving your piggy outside is heart-breaking as I know myself.
The days after the death and the burial are the hardest because that is when the absence is felt most acutely in the all the many little ways that have connected you on the automatic level. Their is nothing as bitter and as hard as having to retrain yourself in your daily routine to stop reacting and have the scab on your still open wound in your heart ripped off by an unconscious check or act...

All the best for tomorrow! Seeing Little happy and busy with a new relationship will hopefully help to ease your own pain and void, as long as you prepare yourself that any newbie won't be like Hoo - they will be entirely their own selves and make their presence felt in their own way. You don't have to pressure yourself that you have to love them immediately and have a bond straight away. That will come in its own time in the degree you become open again for a new bond. You can't hurry these things on.
You and Little are in very good hands with Sue!

I am in the process of losing my old lady Heulwen, so I am where you have just been myself right now. She is the fifth piggy to leave me this year...

 

[Lady Kelly]

In all honesty, I think however much you think you have prepared for losing a loved one you never are ready. It's tough whether it happens as planned or not. Be kind to yourself

 

[Little Ones]

HUGS!

Saying goodbye is always hard! Leaving your piggy outside is heart-breaking as I know myself.
The days after the death and the burial are the hardest because that is when the absence is felt most acutely in the all the many little ways that have connected you on the automatic level. Their is nothing as bitter and as hard as having to retrain yourself in your daily routine to stop reacting and have the scab on your still open wound in your heart ripped off by an unconscious check or act...

All the best for tomorrow! Seeing Little happy and busy with a new relationship will hopefully help to ease your own pain and void, as long as you prepare yourself that any newbie won't be like Hoo - they will be entirely their own selves and make their presence felt in their own way. You don't have to pressure yourself that you have to love them immediately and have a bond straight away. That will come in its own time in the degree you become open again for a new bond. You can't hurry these things on.
You and Little are in very good hands with Sue!

I am in the process of losing my old lady Heulwen, so I am where you have just been myself right now. She is the fifth piggy to leave me this year...

It is definitely very hard, I thought today would be better but I haven’t stopped sobbing.
Yes hopefully tomorrow goes well and Sue can fit us in. I’ve been worrying so much about little today, he’s eaten some pellets but no hay at all, took him outside earlier where he’s eaten some grass but the poor thing just looks lonely so he’s been getting lots of love. Quickly popped out to buy some more hay just in case the reason he wasn’t eating it is because he didn’t like it. I’m hoping the friend he picks tomorrow will be very different from Hoo but I will love him no matter what he’s like! It can’t come soon enough for us both!
So sorry about Heulwen, it’s so difficult especially with how many you’ve lost in a short amount of time. I’m trying to think about how good of a life i gave to Hoo and I’m sure that thought will bring you comfort with your piggies too. They are here for such a brief moment in time yet bring us infinite love and joy

 

[Little Ones]

In all honesty, I think however much you think you have prepared for losing a loved one you never are ready. It's tough whether it happens as planned or not. Be kind to yourself

Definitely, it’s an upsetting time regardless. Where there is love there will always come pain however the love we give and get in return is always worth it

 

[Wiebke]

It is definitely very hard, I thought today would be better but I haven’t stopped sobbing.
Yes hopefully tomorrow goes well and Sue can fit us in. I’ve been worrying so much about little today, he’s eaten some pellets but no hay at all, took him outside earlier where he’s eaten some grass but the poor thing just looks lonely so he’s been getting lots of love. Quickly popped out to buy some more hay just in case the reason he wasn’t eating it is because he didn’t like it. I’m hoping the friend he picks tomorrow will be very different from Hoo but I will love him no matter what he’s like! It can’t come soon enough for us both!
So sorry about Heulwen, it’s so difficult especially with how many you’ve lost in a short amount of time. I’m trying to think about how good of a life i gave to Hoo and I’m sure that thought will bring you comfort with your piggies too. They are here for such a brief moment in time yet bring us infinite love and joy

Sometimes feeding a bit of mushed up pellets can restart the appetite, but at this stage and with the bonding tomorrow, I would not yet panic.

You have to grieve as much as you have loved. Even when you are braced for it, the loss can still hit much worse than expected. Don't feel embarrassed or upset about your strength of feeling. Accept it as an expression of how much you care and how deeply you are feeling.
A sudden unexpected death is always harder to cope with as you have to deal additionally with the shock.

Thank you! Heulwen is the second expected loss from my five strong remaining 2011 class, seeing that she is celebrating her 8th birthday this month. But that doesn't make the pain of her loss any easier, just that I don't have any feelings of guilt!
I still have her sister from the following litter (September), their childhood playmate Tegan (born October) and Tegan's auntie Ffwlbri, who has already turned 8 years in February. I try my best to cherish having them for so long. It is the younger and unexpected losses that I am struggling with more.

 

[Gem789]

It was so unexpected. I had had an idea in my head of how he would die, like from his liver causing him to lose so much weight & him eventually stopping eating which I then would’ve had him PTS. So it was such a shock, the night before he was running around during floor time and causing trouble like usual then in the morning he just couldn’t control his mobility. I suppose no matter how it happens, it’s always so upsetting but I definitely hadn’t prepared myself for this to happen in the slightest

It's horrible when they go downhill literally overnight.Its a big shock xx

 

[Little Ones]

Sometimes feeding a bit of mushed up pellets can restart the appetite, but at this stage and with the bonding tomorrow, I would not yet panic.

You have to grieve as much as you have loved. Even when you are braced for it, the loss can still hit much worse than expected. Don't feel embarrassed or upset about your strength of feeling. Accept it as an expression of how much you care and how deeply you are feeling.
A sudden unexpected death is always harder to cope with as you have to deal additionally with the shock.

Thank you! Heulwen is the second expected loss from my five strong remaining 2011 class, seeing that she is celebrating her 8th birthday this month. But that doesn't make the pain of her loss any easier, just that I don't have any feelings of guilt!
I still have her sister from the following litter (September), their childhood playmate Tegan (born October) and Tegan's auntie Ffwlbri, who has already turned 8 years in February. I try my best to cherish having them for so long. It is the younger and unexpected losses that I am struggling with more.

Wow, those are some old piggies, it’s truly a reflection of your devotion and love to them. Whilst the younger losses hit harder, it’s important to remember that illnesses can appear (or be disguised) so easily and it has no correlation to what you did or didn’t do. Just having 8 year old piggies shows that you go above and beyond for them, and if they would have flourished anywhere it would have been in your care.
Losing a pet is so devasting, no matter the type of animal - sometimes it hurts no less than losing a person would. I got Hoo and Little when I was 14 and now I’m 19 so I’ve really grown up with them and they’ve been my best friends through hard situations. We owe so much to the pets we keep

 

[Little Ones]

It's horrible when they go downhill literally overnight.Its a big shock xx

Definitely. Friday I asked my mum how long she thought he had left and she said at least six months, try 16 hours! Very unexpected and devastating, but I did my best for him in all aspects, it’s just a shame he couldn’t hang on a bit sooner, I don’t think he nor I was quite ready for him to leave yet. Hopefully tomorrow Little will be leaving to have a few boar dates, I’m intrigued to see who he will bring back, I think it will help fill the silence in the room

 

[Wiebke]

Definitely. Friday I asked my mum how long she thought he had left and she said at least six months, try 16 hours! Very unexpected and devastating, but I did my best for him in all aspects, it’s just a shame he couldn’t hang on a bit sooner, I don’t think he nor I was quite ready for him to leave yet. Hopefully tomorrow Little will be leaving to have a few boar dates, I’m intrigued to see who he will bring back, I think it will help fill the silence in the room

I am sure that there are more happy pets for you in the future! I have learned to see my piggies as a loan from God - I can give them as a good a life as possible while they are with me, but I haven't got any control what from and when they die; their time with me can be cancelled at any time. It is never the quantity but the quality of their pet life that counts and that also enriches your life.

The first few deaths are the hardest to cope. I did bawl my eyes out at a similar age when I lost my first piggies...
And ended up singing lullabies and Christmas carols (running out of material) to my boy when he went into acute pining after the death of his wife.

It is never going to be any less painful to lose one, but you get better with dealing with the mechanics of the whole process and working out the ethics of where you stand when it comes to difficult decisions so you do not have to do everything from scratch each time after a few dozen piggies down the line or so.

Fingers firmly crossed for Little and you for tomorrow!

 

[Little Ones]

I am sure that there are more happy pets for you in the future! I have learned to see my piggies as a loan from God - I can give them as a good a life as possible while they are with me, but I haven't got any control what from and when they die; their time with me can be cancelled at any time. It is never the quantity but the quality of their pet life that counts and that also enriches your life.

The first few deaths are the hardest to cope. I did bawl my eyes out at a similar age when I lost my first piggies...
And ended up singing lullabies and Christmas carols (running out of material) to my boy when he went into acute pining after the death of his wife.

It is never going to be any less painful to lose one, but you get better with dealing with the mechanics of the whole process and working out the ethics of where you stand when it comes to difficult decisions so you do not have to do everything from scratch each time after a few dozen piggies down the line or so.

Fingers firmly crossed for Little and you for tomorrow!

That’s a really nice way to look at it and honestly so so true! I know that I constantly did my best for Hoo and just knowing that doesn’t bring me guilt as it did when my first pig died.
I hope I have lots more piggies down the line, it’s a horrible feeling to lose them but as you say, the process of coping and such becomes easier even if the pain does not.
Little went to Cavy Corner yesterday and since then I’ve been even less able to focus on anything except stalking their Facebook page lol. Been back from picking *them* up for about half an hour. Just going to Cavy Corner yesterday eased so much of my sadness, seeing all the pigs so full of life and happiness. The new pig, Peanut, is adorable and lovely and he and Little seem to get on well. Peanut observed the cage for a little while before retreating into the little hidey bed I made and giving himself a good clean! Sue was unfortunately at the hospital so her husband sorted us out however he didn’t really know anything at all about Peanut and said Sue deals with all that. So I think in a few days I’ll call her up and find out about his age, his life before coming to Cavy Corner, and his favourite vegetables. Until then, he is such a cutie pie though he’s a little shy which is to be expected!

 

[Wiebke]

That’s a really nice way to look at it and honestly so so true! I know that I constantly did my best for Hoo and just knowing that doesn’t bring me guilt as it did when my first pig died.
I hope I have lots more piggies down the line, it’s a horrible feeling to lose them but as you say, the process of coping and such becomes easier even if the pain does not.
Little went to Cavy Corner yesterday and since then I’ve been even less able to focus on anything except stalking their Facebook page lol. Been back from picking *them* up for about half an hour. Just going to Cavy Corner yesterday eased so much of my sadness, seeing all the pigs so full of life and happiness. The new pig, Peanut, is adorable and lovely and he and Little seem to get on well. Peanut observed the cage for a little while before retreating into the little hidey bed I made and giving himself a good clean! Sue was unfortunately at the hospital so her husband sorted us out however he didn’t really know anything at all about Peanut and said Sue deals with all that. So I think in a few days I’ll call her up and find out about his age, his life before coming to Cavy Corner, and his favourite vegetables. Until then, he is such a cutie pie though he’s a little shy which is to be expected!
View attachment 117557

AWWW - what a cutie boy!

Give Peanut time to find his bearings, but it is great that Little and you are both feeling happier again!
A new piggy is never a replacement, but it can help to cheer you up without taking anything away from Hoo...

The ability to love is not an exhaustible well with a firm bottom; it is like a river that continues to flow on through your life. Each new piggy takes you a bit further along the shore through rapids, splits, bends and fords and through a different part of your life, adding more experience and understanding. Like water, you can never go back upstream but you can hand on that legacy of love to the next piggy... It is the best memorial you can set any pet.

PS: Very sorry to hear about Sue!