I am new to the forum, and its sad that my first thread is regarding losing one of my girls. I had bubble and squeak from 8 weeks old, and to me and my family, they were our babies. I always kept them indoors in a lovely cage, and they were/are spoilt rotten. On Sunday night i noticed that Bubble looked quite fat, in fact she looked pregnant!. I cant say i had noticed before because she was always big, but it must have been the way she was laying that it stood out. I looked it up on the internet and read about a condition called 'bloat' which i thought could be the case.
I called the vets Monday and took her in to be looked at. She was showing no signs of being in pain, she was eating, drinking, and going to the toilet fine. The vet said that she didnt think it was bloat and suggested an ultrasound, which i said to do. The vet told me that it was a solid mass and could be operated on, but of course there are risks with it being a guinea. I told the vet to go ahead with the surgery, as thinking she was fine in herself other ways. The vet told me the operation lasted 1hr 20min and was more complicated than she first anticipated. The mass was attached to her spleen so she removed mass and her spleen, also her ovaries as they were cystic. She lost blood too, and after the op, she went into recovery, but only lasted an hour. The vet said she was surpised at how she didnt show any signs of illness with the mass the size that it was, and also that it could have burst at any time.
Although thinking rationally, i know that i did the right thing by getting her checked out, and having the op to see if we could save her, but i also question myself that should i have left it?, the mass may not have burst, and we would have had her longer, but then if i had done that, i would have been swearing and cursing at myself for not getting her operated on, thinking she could have had a chance and this would have been horrible painful death for her.
Then there is the issue with not showing Squeak the body. I thought it would be best not to show the body to her sister, but after burying her, i read several feeds saying that it is a good thing to show the body so they can acknowledge they're partner is gone and move on, so again feeling bad and thinking should i dig her up or not? We decided not after i spoke with a lady who has had many pigs, and said she did it once, but never again after it sent her surviving pig into immediate depression.
Squeak, my remaining guinea, seems to be ok. She is chortling and wheeking when i go in the room and still stuffs her face with romaine lettuce and cucumber, and she is getting lots of extra cuddles too, but wonder whether i should get another to keep her company. She is nearly 4, and quite a character. Again been told its easier with females to introduce new pigs than males, and also easier if they are babies. But i feel guilty (yet again) as seems that Bubble not been gone long, and already thinking of getting another one.
I would really appreciate advice, stories or your feelings on this, as at the moment i am feeling quite raw as cant believe my furry girl died this way xx
I called the vets Monday and took her in to be looked at. She was showing no signs of being in pain, she was eating, drinking, and going to the toilet fine. The vet said that she didnt think it was bloat and suggested an ultrasound, which i said to do. The vet told me that it was a solid mass and could be operated on, but of course there are risks with it being a guinea. I told the vet to go ahead with the surgery, as thinking she was fine in herself other ways. The vet told me the operation lasted 1hr 20min and was more complicated than she first anticipated. The mass was attached to her spleen so she removed mass and her spleen, also her ovaries as they were cystic. She lost blood too, and after the op, she went into recovery, but only lasted an hour. The vet said she was surpised at how she didnt show any signs of illness with the mass the size that it was, and also that it could have burst at any time.
Although thinking rationally, i know that i did the right thing by getting her checked out, and having the op to see if we could save her, but i also question myself that should i have left it?, the mass may not have burst, and we would have had her longer, but then if i had done that, i would have been swearing and cursing at myself for not getting her operated on, thinking she could have had a chance and this would have been horrible painful death for her.
Then there is the issue with not showing Squeak the body. I thought it would be best not to show the body to her sister, but after burying her, i read several feeds saying that it is a good thing to show the body so they can acknowledge they're partner is gone and move on, so again feeling bad and thinking should i dig her up or not? We decided not after i spoke with a lady who has had many pigs, and said she did it once, but never again after it sent her surviving pig into immediate depression.
Squeak, my remaining guinea, seems to be ok. She is chortling and wheeking when i go in the room and still stuffs her face with romaine lettuce and cucumber, and she is getting lots of extra cuddles too, but wonder whether i should get another to keep her company. She is nearly 4, and quite a character. Again been told its easier with females to introduce new pigs than males, and also easier if they are babies. But i feel guilty (yet again) as seems that Bubble not been gone long, and already thinking of getting another one.
I would really appreciate advice, stories or your feelings on this, as at the moment i am feeling quite raw as cant believe my furry girl died this way xx
So many people have had the opinion of ":o £300? But it's only a guinea pig!", they just don't understand! I think that if you hadn't have gone ahead with the op, and she had have had complications later on (that in all honesty, would likely cost her her life in a very painful way), then you'd feel 100x worse than you do now, for deciding not to operate. 
