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Unexplained Death

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Jeniva

Jeniva

Junior Guinea Pig
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Jul 3, 2013
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Hertfordshire, UK
Hello guys. Very upset right now and shocked.
I've had two boars for nearly three years, they live separately but side by side due to fighting and injuries. My most lovable one of the two who absolutely adores people, Chewie, died last night.
He had gone off his veg for a few days, but he was never a huge veg fan so I didn't think it was too much of a big deal. I thought he was still eating hay and drinking, I'm sure I did see him eating a bit of hay but I work pretty long hours so I can't be 100%. Yesterday he seemed more lethargic so I made an appointment with a gpig vet. I began syringing him recovery food and water when I saw he had done 0 poo's since I cleaned him out. Last night I woke up at 4:30 to check on him and found him lying on his side unable to stand. I rang the emergency vet and was about to leave with him when he died in my hands.
He was not bloated, he had no runny nose, no injuries, no lumps no bumps - nothing. The only symptom was lethargic and going off his food.
I'm so shocked and sad it felt so sudden. I only wish I hadn't gone into work yesterday and perhaps in the morning I would have realized he was not himself at all.
My first thought was perhaps it's the hay as I bought a new pack at the weekend, but my other gpig has been scoffing it down with no problems.
I'm so confused. I won't go through a post-mortem and I want his body left in peace.
 
HUGS

I am very sorry for your loss! Sadly, only a fairly expensive post mortem may give you an answer as to why Chewy died. Unfortunately, as prey animals, guinea pigs are very good at hiding any signs of illness until it is rather late, especially if you cannot see them all the time. :(

It can be frightening to witness just how quickly a guinea pig can go downhill; they are only small animals after all. Please see a vet sooner rather than later whenever you feel that something is not quite right.
Here are some guides that can help you spotting red flag symptoms and judging how quickly you need to see a vet.
Early Signs Of Illness
Should my piggie see a vet? - a quick guide

Please be aware that any change in the eating habit is a major alarm signal, especially if a whole food group is being dropped; it is very often caused by a pain issue, but there can be other causes.
Guinea Lynx :: Anorexia (not eating)

Switch to weighing daily at the same time (ideally before dinner or breakfast) instead of weekly, and step in with syringe feeding/watering asap as soon as the weight drops more than 30g/50g from one day to the next. this is the safest way of controlling the actual food intake, as even watching your piggy chew on crud or nibble on hay can be deceptive. The poo output tells how much your piggy has eaten over the last 1-2 days, depending on how fast/slow the guts are; giving the poos a daily look can also help in spotting a problem early in case they are getting smaller/thinner or large/formless/splodgy/fluid. The longer a piggy is not eating, the greater the risk of the guts closing down (gut stasis). This process starts about 24 hours after not eating at all as guinea pig rely on a steady and large input of a comparatively nutritionally poor diet.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

You are welcome to post a tribute to Chewy in our Rainbow Bridge section if or whenever it feels right for you - we all grieve at different times and in different ways.

Your companion boy is going to miss his friend, too. Here are tips on what you can do for him. Please keep a close eye on him over the next couple of weeks in case it was something transmittable that got his mate.
Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig
 
Thanks. I do feel terrible that I didn't just take him to the vets immediately. He was fine on Monday which was my last day off. and I work 9-6pm the rest of the days. It just seemed very sudden :/. I didn't expect him to have 0 symptoms of anything else. Just have no clue what was wrong with him to stop him wanting to eat. He didn't seem in pain when I picked him up etc. And he still seemed even fairly alert when I was holding him yesterday, looking at me if I stopped stroking him etc.

Funnily enough my other boar started going hyper after Chewie died...I do think he really hated him to be honest. I am going to take him to the vets and talk to a vets just to make sure he is healthy as well. Never know if it was something that could be passed between them.
 
That happened to my girl, Copper. But, she wasn't lethargic. What was his age? Maybe he was just passing away slowly, My pig started shedding more than she usually did, and became way less active. Did any of this happen to yours?

I am sorry for your loss
 
Jeniva said:
Thanks. I do feel terrible that I didn't just take him to the vets immediately. He was fine on Monday which was my last day off. and I work 9-6pm the rest of the days. It just seemed very sudden :/. I didn't expect him to have 0 symptoms of anything else. Just have no clue what was wrong with him to stop him wanting to eat. He didn't seem in pain when I picked him up etc. And he still seemed even fairly alert when I was holding him yesterday, looking at me if I stopped stroking him etc.

Funnily enough my other boar started going hyper after Chewie died...I do think he really hated him to be honest. I am going to take him to the vets and talk to a vets just to make sure he is healthy as well. Never know if it was something that could be passed between them.
Click to expand...
That happened to my other girl Callie. She started going hyper too!
 
He was just under 3 years old so not very old at all :( He was so healthy other wise, never had any problems. Gave him veg every day, fresh hay, water, lived indoors, cleaned out regularly, was fed decent gpig food.
 
Jeniva said:
He was just under 3 years old so not very old at all :( He was so healthy other wise, never had any problems. Gave him veg every day, fresh hay, water, lived indoors, cleaned out regularly, was fed decent gpig food.
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Oh then I don't know. Sleep well, Chewie.
 
I still have Han but he was never that people friendly. Chewie just had the best character. I'll probably need to get Han a friend, but struggling to find some where nearby that offers boar bonding.
 
Sorry, as I live in Canada, I wouldn't really know. I do know it is pretty slim pickings over here. The nearest rescue is 2 hours away!
 
Jeniva said:
Thanks. I do feel terrible that I didn't just take him to the vets immediately. He was fine on Monday which was my last day off. and I work 9-6pm the rest of the days. It just seemed very sudden :/. I didn't expect him to have 0 symptoms of anything else. Just have no clue what was wrong with him to stop him wanting to eat. He didn't seem in pain when I picked him up etc. And he still seemed even fairly alert when I was holding him yesterday, looking at me if I stopped stroking him etc.

Funnily enough my other boar started going hyper after Chewie died...I do think he really hated him to be honest. I am going to take him to the vets and talk to a vets just to make sure he is healthy as well. Never know if it was something that could be passed between them.
Click to expand...

Acute heart failure can happen at all times; I have lost two young piggies to what, in one case within 12 hours of noticing the first sign (apathy) and despite rushing her to the vets asap as an emergency. I have also had a guinea pig who just went downhill and passed away withing two days of having been given a comprehensive health check by an experienced vet, who could find nothing wrong apart from the very beginnings of kidney failure, which would not have been fatal in itself at that stage... :(

Lethargy is usually a sign that the body is already closing down and that you are really up against it. Sadly, sometimes, whatever you do is not working as quickly as the illness/infection/organ failure. All you can do is to try to the best of your knowledge, which you have done - and if your vet hasn't found anything, how can you?

Please don't beat yourself up! Feelings of guilt and questions as to the why are very normal for the beginning of the grieving process, but especially if a death has come unexpectedly and you have been left with lots of questions to try and make sense of what has happened!

You are not a bad owner - you have had your boy seen as soon as you realised that something was seriously wrong; that is all you are required to do. We all have learned some things only after a loss; it is in the nature of pet ownership that you start somewhere and never stop learning. You just keep trying and try to avoid being tripped up again by a similar scenario; that is why I have added the links.

The important thing is that you have done your best to give Chewy a happy life; that is much more important than giving him a long life (which is often not in your control anyway).

A "can't live together, but can't live apart" pair of boars is still very much bonded and will go through the same grieving process as a living together pair. :(
 
Jeniva said:
I just feel awful. I can't explain how close I was to that piggie :(
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I'm very sorry for your loss, we all know how u feel, we've all had pigs that we've had a strong bond with and it's heartbreaking when they pass away, especially if it was sudden and unexpected.You did your best for him and gave him a happy life for 3 years so please don't blame yourself.
Huge hugs to u xx
 
I booked the gpig vet as soon as I could see he really wasn't himself, before that I just thought he was just acting a little off but nothing major - sometimes he had days where he just chilled out rather than his usual insane self. But I didn't get to the vets in time. Last night I was just going to rush him through today as the appointment wasn't early enough anyway as I didn't think he was that bad, but he just deteriorated through the night. I rang the emergency but he died before I got him out the door. I'm just clueless as to what it was, he wasn't head tilting or anything to indicate ear infection, I checked his teeth and they looked fine as well. I'm not even sure what a vet could have done for him. I think by yesterday they probably would have put him to sleep anyway. At least I got to say goodbye to him.
Han seems OK so far. I am on the lookout for a new cage-mate for him, but not finding much luck as of yet. Would love for him to be able to actually live with another piggie, it was Chewie who was not very nice to him. Han is quite a placid boy but he's really quite greedy with his food and quite large, can imagine he might get a bit funny sharing things.
 
Jeniva said:
I booked the gpig vet as soon as I could see he really wasn't himself, before that I just thought he was just acting a little off but nothing major - sometimes he had days where he just chilled out rather than his usual insane self. But I didn't get to the vets in time. Last night I was just going to rush him through today as the appointment wasn't early enough anyway as I didn't think he was that bad, but he just deteriorated through the night. I rang the emergency but he died before I got him out the door. I'm just clueless as to what it was, he wasn't head tilting or anything to indicate ear infection, I checked his teeth and they looked fine as well. I'm not even sure what a vet could have done for him. I think by yesterday they probably would have put him to sleep anyway. At least I got to say goodbye to him.
Han seems OK so far. I am on the lookout for a new cage-mate for him, but not finding much luck as of yet. Would love for him to be able to actually live with another piggie, it was Chewie who was not very nice to him. Han is quite a placid boy but he's really quite greedy with his food and quite large, can imagine he might get a bit funny sharing things.
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Sometimes, you are left with more questions than answers. Chewie being more quiet in the last days could point towards heart failure. Heart problems can be very hard to diagnose by any vet that doesn't specialise unless they are heart rhythm issues or there is a scan. I have met a fair number of vet who wouldn't even think that guinea pigs could get heart problems!

Have you tried our rescue locator on the top bar? There has been a large rescue action in the Southeast over the last couple of weeks with over 300 piggies; pretty much all sows being pregnant, so there will be lots of boars and boar babies looking for homes in a few weeks or months in several rescues all over the country, especially if you don't mind going a bit further afield for rescue bonding.
We have got tips on how to avoid food hogging. :)

Guinea Pig Rescue Centre Locator
 
I'm surprised he didn't break his teeth, he used to love rattling the bars every morning to wake me up for food. Then he'd turn his nose up at the food anyway and just start running around - he was really hyper all his life. The gpig specialist I use doesn't really believe in a lot of heart problems, I thought one of mine had heart problems before and he brushed it off not really wanting to investigate, luckily he didn't have heart problems.

Have you a link to the rescue locator? I looked at nearby rescues and messaged some but can't find any boar bonding service.
 
Jeniva said:
I'm surprised he didn't break his teeth, he used to love rattling the bars every morning to wake me up for food. Then he'd turn his nose up at the food anyway and just start running around - he was really hyper all his life. The gpig specialist I use doesn't really believe in a lot of heart problems, I thought one of mine had heart problems before and he brushed it off not really wanting to investigate, luckily he didn't have heart problems.

Have you a link to the rescue locator? I looked at nearby rescues and messaged some but can't find any boar bonding service.
Click to expand...

I have added the link to my last post. ;)

Once you are dealing with acute heart failure there is not much you can do, as I have found out myself with piggies of mine. However, piggies that didn't exhibit any signs were found to have heart issues and those I had checked out for potential heart problems didn't have any... so there you are! Please don't beat yourself up over it! You are not supermum, but you have done what any normal piggy mum can and has to do. Initial symptoms are often very subtle and easy to miss; you only notice them in hindsight.
 
Wiebke said:
I have added the link to my last post. ;)

Once you are dealing with acute heart failure there is not much you can do, as I have found out myself with piggies of mine. However, piggies that didn't exhibit any signs were found to have heart issues and those I had checked out for potential heart problems didn't have any... so there you are! Please don't beat yourself up over it! You are not supermum, but you have done what any normal piggy mum can and has to do. Initial symptoms are often very subtle and easy to miss; you only notice them in hindsight.
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Guess there is no point with wondering what if etc...Just really did not expect this at all! Han was the one who was on the brink of death when he was a baby from abscesses, Chewie was always so healthy!
I've just had a look and Wood Green is about an hour away and offers boar bonding so I've emailed them.
 
Jeniva said:
Guess there is no point with wondering what if etc...Just really did not expect this at all! Han was the one who was on the brink of death when he was a baby from abscesses, Chewie was always so healthy!
I've just had a look and Wood Green is about an hour away and offers boar bonding so I've emailed them.
Click to expand...

They are a good rescue and have been going for a number of years.

Sadly, piggy deaths can come right out of the blue, and you are left to pick up the pieces of your heart... :(
 
I'm so sorry to hear of your loss, it sounds ds like you did everything you could at the time & as wiebke said they hide there illness rather to well for there own good, hope your doing OK x
 
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