neetinnagap
New Born Pup
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2018
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 40
Heyy,
I am from India and a proud owner of two guinea pigs. On Sunday I lost one of them. A healthy and fun male. The female is still healthy and alive. This post is on behalf of my entire family (Mom, Dad and Younger Sister).
We bought them from a pet store in June 2016. We were keeping them separate after an unwanted pregnancy (first mistake, not to appropriately sex them and neuter in time). She gave birth to 4 babies ( 2 dead in delivery). 2 were very healthy and fun. They were soon adopted by a family.
We always fed them healthy veggies and their favorite packaged food from Vitapol.
The male was diagnosed with bacterial infection last year. Lost more than half his weight. We had taken him to an experienced vet (not in exotics, hard to find in India). The pet gave an injection and also gave us some oral medicine prescriptions. We took care of him and fed him medicines on time. He recovered fine. Gained his original weight in less than 2 weeks. He was very strong and made us feel even more proud and confident.
After that there were few occasions of infections. Nothing severe like the first one. He recovered fine again.
This time he fell ill again. We noticed it few hours before his death on Sunday (no docs available). This time his weight was fine, but he was not able to move. He could not carry his weight. We had his prescribed antibiotics. We decided to give him that. Labored breathing was too serious. One dose and we kept him for rest. We took him out for second dose. Still the condition was very serious. I started searching for an emergency hospital. Found one near my area. Decided to take him. But it was too late. We tried feeding him the second dose, he gave up in our laps. I saw it coming. Few more seconds and then he did not move. We tried gently moving him. He was not moving. I carried him in a basket to the hospital. They declared him dead. I paid for the cremation, came back home, totally devastated and crying.
It's been a couple of days. The guilt of failure was too heavy. I started counting out mistakes. I have listed them down.
1. Buying a guinea pig instead of adopting. Promotes more towards this market. Thankfully now the laws are strict and no more illegal breeders.
2. Taking a huge responsibility of a living being without inquiring for an exotic pet vet availability in area
3. Not neutering them in time (I could find any trust worthy vet)
4. Not doing my research. It is stated everywhere that guinea pigs do not sow signs of illness early after getting a disease.
5. Keeping them separate.
6. Taking decisions of feeding him anti biotics instead of consulting to a vet.
Few advices from me:
1. Do your research (vets, food, illnesses, behavior, partners, sexing, etc) before adopting an exotic pet like guinea pig.
2. Read point one again. Very important.
3. Spend as much time as possible with them. They like our company.
4. Don't ignore any signs of illness. Keep a vet and a backup vet ready.
5. Weigh them from time to time. Keep a chart.
6. Feed them fresh veggies rich in Vitamin C (Mine loved bell peppers a lot, Timothy hay also, luckily i could find a salesman)
7. Keep their living environment clean. Buy good quality bedding. I read dirty bedding can be a source of infections.
All being said, two years that I spent with him were too much fun (cant even say how much, words are not enough). He had a different character. Would come to us while we were having lunch. Would sit on our laps. Would play around us. Losing him brought me back to reality. Things are not permanent. Everything you love is eventually going to leave you. Make the most of the moments you spend with them. Laugh and play with them. Enjoy their company.
Thank you for reading.
Feel free to add anything that you find is important and I might have missed.
Will post pictures soon.
I am from India and a proud owner of two guinea pigs. On Sunday I lost one of them. A healthy and fun male. The female is still healthy and alive. This post is on behalf of my entire family (Mom, Dad and Younger Sister).
We bought them from a pet store in June 2016. We were keeping them separate after an unwanted pregnancy (first mistake, not to appropriately sex them and neuter in time). She gave birth to 4 babies ( 2 dead in delivery). 2 were very healthy and fun. They were soon adopted by a family.
We always fed them healthy veggies and their favorite packaged food from Vitapol.
The male was diagnosed with bacterial infection last year. Lost more than half his weight. We had taken him to an experienced vet (not in exotics, hard to find in India). The pet gave an injection and also gave us some oral medicine prescriptions. We took care of him and fed him medicines on time. He recovered fine. Gained his original weight in less than 2 weeks. He was very strong and made us feel even more proud and confident.
After that there were few occasions of infections. Nothing severe like the first one. He recovered fine again.
This time he fell ill again. We noticed it few hours before his death on Sunday (no docs available). This time his weight was fine, but he was not able to move. He could not carry his weight. We had his prescribed antibiotics. We decided to give him that. Labored breathing was too serious. One dose and we kept him for rest. We took him out for second dose. Still the condition was very serious. I started searching for an emergency hospital. Found one near my area. Decided to take him. But it was too late. We tried feeding him the second dose, he gave up in our laps. I saw it coming. Few more seconds and then he did not move. We tried gently moving him. He was not moving. I carried him in a basket to the hospital. They declared him dead. I paid for the cremation, came back home, totally devastated and crying.
It's been a couple of days. The guilt of failure was too heavy. I started counting out mistakes. I have listed them down.
1. Buying a guinea pig instead of adopting. Promotes more towards this market. Thankfully now the laws are strict and no more illegal breeders.
2. Taking a huge responsibility of a living being without inquiring for an exotic pet vet availability in area
3. Not neutering them in time (I could find any trust worthy vet)
4. Not doing my research. It is stated everywhere that guinea pigs do not sow signs of illness early after getting a disease.
5. Keeping them separate.
6. Taking decisions of feeding him anti biotics instead of consulting to a vet.
Few advices from me:
1. Do your research (vets, food, illnesses, behavior, partners, sexing, etc) before adopting an exotic pet like guinea pig.
2. Read point one again. Very important.
3. Spend as much time as possible with them. They like our company.
4. Don't ignore any signs of illness. Keep a vet and a backup vet ready.
5. Weigh them from time to time. Keep a chart.
6. Feed them fresh veggies rich in Vitamin C (Mine loved bell peppers a lot, Timothy hay also, luckily i could find a salesman)
7. Keep their living environment clean. Buy good quality bedding. I read dirty bedding can be a source of infections.
All being said, two years that I spent with him were too much fun (cant even say how much, words are not enough). He had a different character. Would come to us while we were having lunch. Would sit on our laps. Would play around us. Losing him brought me back to reality. Things are not permanent. Everything you love is eventually going to leave you. Make the most of the moments you spend with them. Laugh and play with them. Enjoy their company.
Thank you for reading.
Feel free to add anything that you find is important and I might have missed.
Will post pictures soon.
He sounds like a wonderful little pig! Try not to blame yourself. These things happen, and there's not always anything we can do! You did your very best by him and I'm 100% sure he appreciated it very much 
