Sudden loss

ruthie1982 said:
I have put tango out in her run for some fresh air
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Hi

Please only put her out shortly if she is coming from a warm indoors location. Indoors piggies need a kind of gentle hardening off and should be treated like tender plants.

We recommend to put piggies on the lawn for no longer than max. a quarter of an hour first time round, provided the lawn area is warm and dry to your bare feet for 5 minutes. Keep in mind that piggies are much closer to the ground!
This because urinary tract infections (classic bacterial UTI) and respiratory bacterial infections can result from the exposure to cold, damp grass ground.

You should also have made sure that your piggy's gut is used to fresh grass, otherwise you may be facing diarrhea or potentially killing bloat.

Here is our guide for getting piggies used to the lawn and grass season:
Fresh Grass and Lawn Time - Tips for Avoiding Spring Time Deaths
How to Introduce New or Reintroduce Regular Fresh Food Safely - The Rules
 
She stays outside In a hutch and it’s not the first time she has been out on grass . She has been out on grass since after winter ok the warmer days
 
As she is an outdoor piggy then as long as the ground is dry, and you are able to stand on it with bare feet without feeling cold, then she can go out.
But as I said to you earlier in the thread, you have to build time up on grass slowly.
 
She seems fine I have put one of her plastic igloo hides in the run for shelter
 
ruthie1982 said:
She seems fine I have put one of her plastic igloo hides in the run for shelter
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She will seem fine.
And she will be fine as long as you have Have you built access to grass up slowly by handpicking small amounts grass for her to eat in her hutch; or only by giving 5-10 minutes of run access at a time, building it up over many weeks (ie being out 10 minutes a day and increasing by 10-15 minutes a day ie it’ll be a week before she can stay out for a 1 hour ).
 
Yeah I don’t think she is showing any signs of bloat so far . I’ll probs go and put her back in her hutch shortly before the temp drops
 
ruthie1982 said:
I don’t think she is showing any signs of bloat so far
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Since bloat is a digestive problem, I don't think you'd notice bloat in a guinea until it's too late!

I understand wanting to put Tango out in the fresh air. When one of my guineas was out in the warm fresh air under some wooden structure at a friend's place, I could see her little nose sniffing away, though it took her ages to come out from under her hiding space. My friend wondered if it had been worth while putting her out, and I knew it had! That's why I remember. There was no grass, just hay and dry soil.

But still it's important not to overdo it, especially if your guinea is on grass for the first or second time this year.
 
No she has been out plenty of other times on the grass this year in warm weather
 
She’s been out for about a couple of hours I’ve just been out to put her back in her hutch
 
Should a guinea pigs body be more rounded near there backend and would they refuse to eat most things If they had bloat
 
Most piggies are rounded at the back end.
Your piggy would have always had this shape so you would know whether it was normal for her.

If however she has been given too much access to grass too quickly then bloat is a risk.
This is why we have impressed the importance of a very slow introduction to grass - they simply cannot be on the lawn for a couple of hours with having built up to that length of time by slowing increasing the amount of time every day over several weeks.

Bloat is very painful. It will cause loss of or lack of appetite, lethargy, pooping will stop a short time after they stop eating, a piggy may be hunched or puffed up in pain.
If bloat is ever suspected then you need an emergency vet immediately, along with syringe feeding and other emergency care steps

Wiebke's Guide to Tummy Trouble
 
I guess I have a feeling of anxiety and paranoia that she is going to die on me suddenly like salsa did. I know it’s probably not going to happen but I feel me having to check on her alot to make sure she is ok probably a lot more then I used to .
 
ruthie1982 said:
Is it normal to feel that way
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It can be for some people, after particular circumstances e.g. if your other pet or even a loved human died without (much) warning.

If you look around the Bereavement section on this forum, you should find contact details for The Blue Cross with whom you can speak by phone or contact via email if you're having emotional difficulties after a pet death.
 
Tried to get tango out for my niece as she loves seeing her but she didn’t want to come out kept running away and just burrowing herself in her hay x
 
Don’t know if it’s cause she’s on her own and had become a wee bit more timid but she is very squirmy anyway and dosent like being handled much
 
ruthie1982 said:
Don’t know if it’s cause she’s on her own and had become a wee bit more timid but she is very squirmy anyway and dosent like being handled much
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Could be a bit of all of that then

Don’t forget they don’t like being picked up with bare hands - it’s akin to being eaten
Herd her into a box and then pick her up from the box
 
She may be feeling lonely but you are trying to get her a friend. Unless rescues have piggies available or if you any other shops you can get to then there isn’t much more you can do

Keep weighing her regularly to ensure she is eating enough hay.
 
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