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Two Pigs With Diarrhoea Dying Suddenly

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PixieBiscuit

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About five weeks ago I got my children got two gineau pigs. After about two weeks one of the pigs died very suddenly. It had been healthy and lively the night before. In the morning it had diarrhoea but still acting normally so we made an appt for the vet in the afternoon. By lunchtime it was dead. The vet said it was probably underlying causes and that it may have been a runt.

We waited two weeks to check it hadn't had anything contagious. When it was clear the remaining pig was still in good health, we went back to the pet shop to get her a friend. We came home with a beautiful white pig and the two seemed happy. That was three days ago. Last night we put the pigs to bed. They were happy and healthy. This morning the new pig was dead and covered in diarrhoea.

We feed them on gineau pig food, hay and veg. Everything they have is from the pet shop. They are inside in an approved cage. I can't think of any reason they have both died. The pet shop have offered to replace the pig but I'm terrified to take them up as we can't risk any more sick pigs.

Has anyone experienced this? What can be going on?
 
So sorry to hear this. To help answer a bit better, can I ask a few things.

- how old are the guinea pigs?
- have you introduced veg or just given them a large amount of a mix?
- do you have any other pets in the household?
- what guinea pig food have you been feeding? Pet shop muesli, pellets, etc?
- sorry to ask but what is the diarrhoea like? Is their large amounts just on the pig or all over the cage, what consistencies etc. sorry but ,it may help with my answers.

Again so sorry for your loss.

x
 
Ask vet to Test poo for geadea , a single-celled protozoa, it is organizam that is very contagious and reponsible for diarrhea

It can be controlled with a prolonged dose of panacur , but it has to be done right or the cysts (lave) will regenerate

NB not a poo float ! It needs to be a culture
 
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I'm so sorry for your loss - this must have been a terrible shock to you . I hope our experienced forum members can help you find answers.
 
Gizzy, thanks for your suggestion. That's helpful.

The pigs were babies. About 6/7 weeks old.
No they weren't fed any lettuce or tomatoes. Mainly carrots with their gineau food. But not excessive.
They were bought from a pet shop.
I have had gineau pigs twice before (2 pairs) without issue, hence being so shocked at what's happened with these ones.
There is a cat in the house but we keep the door closed so he can't get in. (The pigs are in my daughter's attic room.
The diarrhoea was just on the pigs. Very watery, brown to very dark brown.
They've been fed the pet shop gineau pig mix.

As for my description of the pig dying suddenly being covered in diarrhoea being highly unlikely, I'm not really sure what to say. It happened yesterday. It was the first thing my 9 year old daughter saw when she woke as the cage is right next to her bed. The first thing I did this morning was run up to her room to check the remaining pig. It was certainly shocking but not untrue.
 
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Hi, very sorry for your loss :(

People do give romaine and tomatoes to guinea's, but romaine can cause sludge in the kidney and tomato can cause mouth sores if you give them too much. Carrots are to be limited as well because of their contents.

I have linked two threads for you, a balanced diet one and a safe/not safe etc. list. Please have a look when you get a bit of spare time :)

Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet

Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading

@Wiebke might be able to help you further :) I think I tagged her in on your other post.

Also, could you add where you come from in your profile please? :) It makes it easier for people like Wiebke to advise.
 
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I'm so sorry for your loss again. (I've just seen another of your threads)

I can't help I'm afraid, only regarding the remaining piggie leave it a couple of weeks like you did the other and maybe another vet check and then take it to a rescue to find a friend not only will you get a good bond but also a piggie in good health!

There is a rescue locator at the top that will give you a list of recommended rescues near you.

Again I'm sorry for losing 2 piggies so close together. I hope the remaining piggie and your daughter are ok
 
I'm so sorry, please don't think it was anything you did. It is possible if the pigs were from the same place that there is an ongoing issue with their supplier. I agree with the advice given by Abi and Gizzi above. If you could get the remaining girl's poo tested by a vet that would help. In the meantime, I would also get her checked over just in case.
 
I would also speak to the pet shop to ask if any of their other animals have similar symptoms or other owners have reported the same happening.
 
I agree with the previous knowledgeable posters.

- please have the poo tested (cultured) in case there is a highly contagious element. The protozoa @gizzy mentions is called giardia.
- do not bond your bereaved piggy with a new one, in case it is the (unaffected) carrier of whatever is causing the deadly diarrhea. Some extreme forms of diarrhea can unfortunately literally kill in hours.
- ask in the pet shop whether they know of other cases with guinea pigs they have recently sold.
- do you have other pets in contact with your guinea pigs (including potentially wild ones if they live in an outdoors hutch)? You may want to bring your remaining guinea pig indoors anyway. Please practise good hygiene (thorough hand washing before and after handling, and thorough disinfection of any housing with F10 or virkon) when handling and cleaning your guinea pig and any housing.
 
I agree with all above but can't add much more from your description.

Certainly was not your fault at all. Rabbits can get something called mucouid enteropathy, which can be both fatal and sudden like in this case. I can be caused by babies not having enough/no milk from mum. I'm not saying this is definately the case but it may be something to consider, if the pet shop has acquired them too early or from vey poor conditions (which happens often win pet shops) then it may be up higher on my list of causes of death. Without a full post mortem I don't think anyone could say for sure what this is.

Please follow Wiebke's advice for now. And I strongly advice getting the remaining piggies faeces sent off for full analysis too, just incase.

So sorry for your loss. Thinking of you.

x
 
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