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Sudden Paralysis in Back Legs

Wheekallweek said:
There's no way this is a coincidence.

I'm so so sorry Shaun has passed away 😞 Him and Biscuit will be watching over Peanut and you from the bridge.

I hope that perhaps a specialist can give you some answers regarding Peanut... it's so good he's still eating!

You may have already mentioned this so sorry if you have, but could you report the boarder to trading standards? Maybe try Citizens advice to see if they can guide you?

I would be demanding some information regarding cleaning protocols from the boarder. Were any of the same tools used with the rabbit used with the pigs too? Rabbits can carry a lot of things which don't affect them, but can cause serious issues in pigs.

How horrible and difficult for you 😕

You are doing incredibly well - stay strong for Peanut - everything you are doing to find out what has gone on with this boarder must be difficult for you, but it could save other people and their pets going through the same thing ❤️
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I’m sorry I didn’t reply last night. I was so tired 😔. Thank you for your lovely words.. losing Shaun yesterday just broke my spirit. Then I took Biscuit to the crematorium and I lit candles for both my boys and said a prayer. I gave Biscuit some snacks for his journey 💙💙💙

I will definitely call Citizens Advice tomorrow, thank you. A friend also suggested I report it to the RSPCA for an animal welfare violation.

I agree, I should be asking for cleaning protocols from the boarder. She insisted that they are very strict but anyone can say that! I am still convinced this was e-cuniculi. She needs investigating, without a doubt. It’s just whether or not I’ll be able to prove the cause. I’ll have to find a specialist for Peanut but my costs are mounting and it will be a struggle to keep paying more and more. I’ll get some advice from the CAB tomorrow and go from there.

I just feel quite paralysed mentally by all of this. I’m grieving right now and struggling to function 💔💔😢🥺xx
 
Julezfm39 said:
I’m sorry I didn’t reply last night. I was so tired 😔. Thank you for your lovely words.. losing Shaun yesterday just broke my spirit. Then I took Biscuit to the crematorium and I lit candles for both my boys and said a prayer. I gave Biscuit some snacks for his journey 💙💙💙

I will definitely call Citizens Advice tomorrow, thank you. A friend also suggested I report it to the RSPCA for an animal welfare violation.

I agree, I should be asking for cleaning protocols from the boarder. She insisted that they are very strict but anyone can say that! I am still convinced this was e-cuniculi. She needs investigating, without a doubt. It’s just whether or not I’ll be able to prove the cause. I’ll have to find a specialist for Peanut but my costs are mounting and it will be a struggle to keep paying more and more. I’ll get some advice from the CAB tomorrow and go from there.

I just feel quite paralysed mentally by all of this. I’m grieving right now and struggling to function 💔💔😢🥺xx
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Don't worry about it, you've got an awful lot on.
I just hope you can find out the issue and get Peanut on the mend! Absolutely report her to the RSPCA too.
We always give our piggies a treat or a favourite toy on their last journey too ❤️

As @CTWC has said, I just wish there was more we could all do to help!
 
Wheekallweek said:
Don't worry about it, you've got an awful lot on.
I just hope you can find out the issue and get Peanut on the mend! Absolutely report her to the RSPCA too.
We always give our piggies a treat or a favourite toy on their last journey too ❤️

As @CTWC has said, I just wish there was more we could all do to help!
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Thank you.. I feel like I should have done more for my darling Shaun, and now he’s gone. He was only 3. He had a lovely life but he should still be here. I feel like I let him down 💔😢🥺
 
Julezfm39 said:
Thank you.. I feel like I should have done more for my darling Shaun, and now he’s gone. He was only 3. He had a lovely life but he should still be here. I feel like I let him down 💔😢🥺
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You absolutely did not let him down, or Biscuit for that matter. There was literally nothing more you could have done - and you did so much more than many would.
Guinea pigs live life in the moment, they simply enjoy happy todays until their time comes.
He will know how much you have done for him ❤️
 
Wheekallweek said:
You absolutely did not let him down, or Biscuit for that matter. There was literally nothing more you could have done - and you did so much more than many would.
Guinea pigs live life in the moment, they simply enjoy happy todays until their time comes.
He will know how much you have done for him ❤️
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Thank you for such comforting words 😢. I’m crying now … I miss my boys so much and wish they were here now 💔💔💔
 
Wheekallweek said:
I promise it gets easier in time ❤️
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I’ve lost a lot of babies over the past 5 years for different reasons. Heart problems, strokes, tumours.. I’ve also lost 4 rats and 4 hamsters in that time. This year I’ve lost Toffee (4), Max (6), Biscuit (4) and Shaun (3). I’ve devoted so much love and time to my fur babies and I just feel like I’ve been a terrible mum to them all. It’s my personality trait - I always blame myself (and depression doesn’t help). I’ve now got just one hamster, Simon, who’s almost 18 months, Peanut who is 4 and my baby girl piggy Nevaeh who is just over a year old. I just pray that my departed babies are with my darling Mum in heaven 🕊️🕊️ xx
 
Julezfm39 said:
I’ve lost a lot of babies over the past 5 years for different reasons. Heart problems, strokes, tumours.. I’ve also lost 4 rats and 4 hamsters in that time. This year I’ve lost Toffee (4), Max (6), Biscuit (4) and Shaun (3). I’ve devoted so much love and time to my fur babies and I just feel like I’ve been a terrible mum to them all. It’s my personality trait - I always blame myself (and depression doesn’t help). I’ve now got just one hamster, Simon, who’s almost 18 months, Peanut who is 4 and my baby girl piggy Nevaeh who is just over a year old. I just pray that my departed babies are with my darling Mum in heaven 🕊️🕊️ xx
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They absolutely are, I know it 🌈❤️
 
Julezfm39 said:
I’ve lost a lot of babies over the past 5 years for different reasons. Heart problems, strokes, tumours.. I’ve also lost 4 rats and 4 hamsters in that time. This year I’ve lost Toffee (4), Max (6), Biscuit (4) and Shaun (3). I’ve devoted so much love and time to my fur babies and I just feel like I’ve been a terrible mum to them all. It’s my personality trait - I always blame myself (and depression doesn’t help). I’ve now got just one hamster, Simon, who’s almost 18 months, Peanut who is 4 and my baby girl piggy Nevaeh who is just over a year old. I just pray that my departed babies are with my darling Mum in heaven 🕊️🕊️ xx
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Please hold onto the fact that pet keeping is about quality over quantity. The first is what you have control over whereas for the second, pets you only ever have on loan from above, which can be cancelled at any point without warning. As long as your give your pets the happy todays in good care they measure their lives by, you'll come out of it ahead.

I know only too well how it feels losing lots of pets at once. It is very tough when you haven't got time to digest the first death before the next happens and you start doubting yourself. But please believe me, you'll come out of it eventually. Time is the big healer.

Your heart is big and there is place for many more to share your life with over the years. Because we can love our pets unreservedly, losing them is tough - and it is always too soon; no matter how long they live.

Please give yourself that time to not be OK for a little while. What has just happened has been horrendous but it has not been your fault. How could you have known? It's one of these lessons you cannot anticipate and therefore not prevent. :(

If you feel that you get trapped in one of those weird mind loops that can come with the grieving process or if you feel you'd love to speak to a trained volunteer confidentially, then I would recommend that you make use of the free Blue Cross platforms.
Talking is best but something energetic like dancing, running or something where you do have to hold back can help to work some very physical anger out of your body, especially of you struggle to sleep. I hope that your kids are OK.

We continue to still be there for you and your last boy. If you wish, you are also welcome to open a thread in our End of Life and Bereavement section where we offer ongoing understanding community support .
 
Wiebke said:
Please hold onto the fact that pet keeping is about quality over quantity. The first is what you have control over whereas for the second, pets you only ever have on loan from above, which can be cancelled at any point without warning. As long as your give your pets the happy todays in good care they measure their lives by, you'll come out of it ahead.

I know only too well how it feels losing lots of pets at once. It is very tough when you haven't got time to digest the first death before the next happens and you start doubting yourself. But please believe me, you'll come out of it eventually. Time is the big healer.

Your heart is big and there is place for many more to share your life with over the years. Because we can love our pets unreservedly, losing them is tough - and it is always too soon; no matter how long they live.

Please give yourself that time to not be OK for a little while. What has just happened has been horrendous but it has not been your fault. How could you have known? It's one of these lessons you cannot anticipate and therefore not prevent. :(

If you feel that you get trapped in one of those weird mind loops that can come with the grieving process or if you feel you'd love to speak to a trained volunteer confidentially, then I would recommend that you make use of the free Blue Cross platforms.
Talking is best but something energetic like dancing, running or something where you do have to hold back can help to work some very physical anger out of your body, especially of you struggle to sleep. I hope that your kids are OK.

We continue to still be there for you and your last boy. If you wish, you are also welcome to open a thread in our End of Life and Bereavement section where we offer ongoing understanding community support .
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Thus means so much to me, thank you. Everyone here has been wonderful during what has been a very dark time. I’m hugely grateful to this community. My kids are coping.. though they are trying to bury their emotions as they’re genuinely heartbroken 💔💔.

Peanut is the last of my boys and I feel like a part of me has died with all the babies I’ve lost. I really don’t know how to move on from the losses - especially the heartache I’ve suffered in this past week 💔💔. Perhaps it would be best to have some pet bereavement counselling. Talking is always the best thing.

Thank you for being here for me ❤️
 
Julezfm39 said:
Thus means so much to me, thank you. Everyone here has been wonderful during what has been a very dark time. I’m hugely grateful to this community. My kids are coping.. though they are trying to bury their emotions as they’re genuinely heartbroken 💔💔.

Peanut is the last of my boys and I feel like a part of me has died with all the babies I’ve lost. I really don’t know how to move on from the losses - especially the heartache I’ve suffered in this past week 💔💔. Perhaps it would be best to have some pet bereavement counselling. Talking is always the best thing.

Thank you for being here for me ❤️
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The Blue Cross (UK only) offers free pet bereavement services for adults: Pet Loss Support

But they also have a platform dedicated to children and young people where they can talk freely and confidentially if they wish to: Pet loss support for children - missing my friend | Blue Cross

I hope that this can help you. It's been such a nightmare for you all. :(

Thank you for finding our forum such a help. We have grown to be a friendly community that is there for each other as much as we look after all the piggies - with a wide range of practical information, personal and collective experiences and moral support. None of us has to be perfect but everybody is welcome to chip in and as a total we surpass what we could do alone. The world needs more kindness.
Ours starts right here... and every adult who accepts our rules is welcome to join in. Especially seeing the way social media has sadly been going.
 
Julezfm39 said:
Thank you, that would be amazing. If it had been just one of my piggies then it wouldn’t have seemed suspicious. The fact that all 3 of my boys were boarding in the same hutch, and after 6 days one suddenly died and within 12 hours the other 2 were partially paralysed, is not a coincidence. Now my darling Shaun passed away today 💔💔. I’m convinced they contracted something at the boarders, especially as there were rabbits in neighbouring hutches 😢xx
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I've had a chat with my vet, Simon, this evening and he said it would be very hard to ascertain or prove what has happened here. He said it could be e cuniculi, although he hasn't seen many cases in guinea pigs. He said Bordetella is another illness that rabbits can carry and guinea pigs can catch from them. He said with regard to post-morten, a regular vet would be unlikely to find a cause from PM, as it sounds like this is a neurological problem and in these type of cases, a lab would be better to carry out PM, but this would need to be done while the body is still very fresh.

How close were the rabbits to the guinea pigs?
 
I think there must be a link to the hutch they were kept in, especially if your female pig is OK.
I think you mentioned the three boys were kept together in the same hutch?
Could something have been left behind by a previous resident? Could they have accessed something toxic in there? Was something used to clean the hutch that's not safe for pigs? Did rabbits inhabit the hutch before the pigs? Lots of questions...
 
Julezfm39 said:
Peanut is the last of my boys and I feel like a part of me has died with all the babies I’ve lost. I really don’t know how to move on from the losses - especially the heartache I’ve suffered in this past week 💔💔.
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I remember when one of my guineas, who I was particularly attached to, died it felt as if my heart had been ripped out. So I totally understand the heartache you are feeling.
Sending care and best wishes. 💐❤️‍🩹
 
Julezfm39 said:
Good morning,
I desperately need some guidance please. I’m away in Somerset with my kids, returning home today. My 4 piggies (3 bonded boys and 1 girl who lives separately from them) and 1 hamster are at a highly reputable boarding ‘hotel’ for small animals. 1 of my boys, Biscuit, suddenly died last night and the owner called me as she had found him in his cage literally 2 hours after he had been happily walking around the large hutch they’re in. That in itself was devastating for me but I attributed it to his heart, maybe, as the vet had heard a slight murmur 3 weeks before and Biscuit was on a diuretic for 2 weeks.
This morning the owner called me. Both Shaun and Peanut have suddenly got paralysis in their back legs. She is mystified as they have all been fine for the whole week. She’s going to take them to the vet as soon as they open and call me when she is in with the vet.
I’ve seen where all the animals are kept. Their hutches are spacious and incredibly well kept. The owner is highly experienced and knowledgeable about guinea pigs. The piggies have plenty of space to run around.
Shaun is 3, Peanut is 4, same as Biscuit (P & B were brothers). My 4th piggy, Nevaeh, is only 1 and is a rescue piggy. 3 months ago I lost Toffee who was Peanut and Biscuit’s brother. He had a severe heart condition (no paralysis, I had to have him euthanised as he stopped eating). But this doesn’t explain why Shaun has this paralysis as well. I’m completely confused and in a mess.
Couid this be some kind of parasitic infection? I am absolutely heartbroken. Now I’m waiting until the owner calls me from the vet.
Thank you and sorry for the long post X
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How are they doing
 
CTWC said:
How is Peanut today? 💙
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Thank you, Peanut is eating and pooping well but he doesn’t move all day. He just lies in one place. I have to clean his bottom and clear away the poop. I feel so sad for him. I feel like this is no life for my last remaining baby boy 😢🥺💔
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I've had a chat with my vet, Simon, this evening and he said it would be very hard to ascertain or prove what has happened here. He said it could be e cuniculi, although he hasn't seen many cases in guinea pigs. He said Bordetella is another illness that rabbits can carry and guinea pigs can catch from them. He said with regard to post-morten, a regular vet would be unlikely to find a cause from PM, as it sounds like this is a neurological problem and in these type of cases, a lab would be better to carry out PM, but this would need to be done while the body is still very fresh.

How close were the rabbits to the guinea pigs?
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Thank you SO MUCH for chatting with your vet. I’m really sorry for my late reply. Last night I had dinner and fell asleep early as I’m so exhausted at the moment.

I could get a PM done by the RVC (in North London) or Surrey University which is local to me and has a lab. However it’s £250 and even then I might not get an answer. Shaun’s little body is in cold storage at the vets at the moment. Biscuit is at the crematorium 💔💔. I’ll probably take Shaun to be cremated on Saturday when I collect Biscuit’s ashes 😢

The rabbits were housed in the same place as the guinea pigs; separate hutches but all within the same confined area. I think that she is responsible for what’s happened.. but I won’t be able to prove it without a PM or having a blood test done on Peanut. I think this would be too traumatic for him.
 
Wheekallweek said:
I think there must be a link to the hutch they were kept in, especially if your female pig is OK.
I think you mentioned the three boys were kept together in the same hutch?
Could something have been left behind by a previous resident? Could they have accessed something toxic in there? Was something used to clean the hutch that's not safe for pigs? Did rabbits inhabit the hutch before the pigs? Lots of questions...
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Thank you.. I agree. There’s definitely a link to that hutch that my 3 boys were in. Perhaps a rabbit infected with something was living in that hutch before my boys were there. I asked the boarder this but she didn’t give me a clear answer. In fact she’s given me no explanation since this happened. It’s disgraceful tbh 😤
 
Mrs Tiggy Winkle said:
I remember when one of my guineas, who I was particularly attached to, died it felt as if my heart had been ripped out. So I totally understand the heartache you are feeling.
Sending care and best wishes. 💐❤️‍🩹
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I’m so sorry you went through the grief of losing your beloved piggy 🥺😢. I loved all mine but Shaun was such a little character. The minute he heard my voice he would put his little feet up on the food bowl, lifted his head up and wheeked so loudly! He was a vocal boy and I miss him so much 💔💔💔
 
Wheekallweek said:
Perhaps you could ask for this information clearly, in writing, or you will be "taking things further officially"? Might push her to give clear answers to your questions?
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Yes, I could do that.. tbh I feel pretty useless right now.. my heart has been so heavy and I’m still in a state of disbelief about what’s happened. On top of that I’m coping with my intense full time job (I work in a women’s prison) and also managing my teenagers’ ups and downs - my daughter is 15 and doing her GCSEs next May, and my son is 17 and in Upper Sixth Form, so he’s doing his A-Levels next year. I’m juggling so much whilst battling grief and depression. So I need to get my head focused on a clear plan of action to get justice for my boys 💙. That boarder, Katie’s Bunny Boarding, has torn my life apart 😢😢
 
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