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Strange Death

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tiffers

tiffers

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My boss' friend had a guinea pig, who passed away over the weekend. He was male, not neutered...a year or two old. He was fed hay, vegetables, and maybe pellets? I assume he did get pellets.

They've had him for a year; he was purchased at a pet store, we assume. He was a solitary pig. They noticed him stop eating, or rather...not get very excited about eating for a while.

When the doctor (my boss, who doesn't see exotics) asked if he had diarrhea, she said she didn't know. So, she went to look in the cage and couldn't find poop at all.

He started getting goopy eyes, and got very wobbly, and then within the day, they found him dead.

Do any of y'all have any ideas?
 
Had the same with my piggy. But he was eating and behaving normally the day beore he died. He was fine on Sunday evening and on Monday morning I found him all wobbly and not eating and very poorly. He was breathing very quickly as well. I am devastated.
RIP all sweet piggies.
 
I know they're sad to lose their little pig, he belonged to one of their sons. It seems so strange to me, he was taken care of well enough...and I know he was loved, we're just curious as to what may have happened.
 
I could be allergy, URI, inborn defect( weak heart, lungs) it could be anything really :(
 
Prey animals like guinea pigs are very good at concealing illnesses- an obviously sick animal will get eated by a predator so often by the time they show signs of illness they are quite sick indeed. From what you've said, it could be almost anything- a respiratory infection, dental issues leading to reduced food intake and general weakness, etc. Even with good care not all guinea pigs live to a ripe old age. I'm sorry about your friend's loss- it's hard to lose a pet, especially when they are young and it's unexpected!
 
He was probably unwell for a while, piggies are good at hiding illness. Sounds like a gut problem. Was he actually eating at all? Piggies need to eat all the time, so if they seem to eat less or arent pooing/peeing they need to see a vet asap. If piggies stop eating they rapidly go downhill, get gut stasis and pass away unfortunatly. Hard to tell exactly what happened as i dont know the full story, but if he wasnt passing poops he probably had gut stasis.

So sorry for your friends loss.
x.
 
the wobbliness could be related to a stroke.
 
Any piggy that stops eating normally needs to be seen by a vet as soon as possible; you also need to hand feed if necessary. The longer you wait, the smaller the chances that a piggy makes it.

Please weigh your piggies weekly to check on the weight and make sure that your piggy is eating properly.

There are quite a few reasons why a piggy can stop eating, but a common one is overgrowing teeth and/or problems with the digestion.

No poo means that the pig hasn't been eating for at least hours; once the guts stop going, that's usually it.

http://www.guinealynx.info/anorexia.html
 
@Wiebke, this was not my pig. :) It sounds from your post, that you think it is.

Thanks, everyone for the replies. I've no idea how long he wasn't eating well or anything like that. I'm like...the third person in down the line. Thanks for the ideas, most definitely. I'll pass them on. Y'all are awesome.
 
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