What Went Wrong?

[Lorettab]

Just wondering do u no what happened. My Guinea pig had a cyst in her ovary, her she had a hysterectomy, all was good she was gaining the weight she lost. Vet was happy. Then yesterday, found her on her side with diarrhoea, not moving but breathing, brought her to a nearby vet, temperature soo low it was showing, gave her antibiotic, glucose and injection for her intestines, we got hot water bottle and got her temperature up a bit, later we went to our vet who treats her to see if we could fluids or something. Fluid was coming out her nose and anus. Skin was going pale and barely breathing, so for her we put her down because we were told there wasn’t anything to be done, she wouldn’t survive being put under for surgery or xray. The vet advised it was the best decision to make. Have you come across this before? I just wanna no where it went wrong

 

[Wiebke]

Just wondering do you no what happened. My Guinea pig had a cyst in her ovary, her she had a hysterectomy, all was good she was gaining the weight she lost. Vet was happy. Then yesterday, found her on her side with diarrhoea, not moving but breathing, brought her to a nearby vet, temperature soo low it was showing, gave her antibiotic, glucose and injection for her intestines, we got hot water bottle and got her temperature up a bit, later we went to our vet who treats her to see if we could fluids or something. Fluid was coming out her nose and anus. Skin was going pale and barely breathing, so for her we put her down because we were told there wasn’t anything to be done, she wouldn’t survive being put under for surgery or xray. The vet advised it was the best decision to make. Have you come across this before? I just wanna no where it went wrong

I am very sorry for your big shock; it is always a frightening experience when you see a seemingly well piggy go downhill so very quickly.

Without a post-mortem examination at the vet's it is unfortunatel impossible to tell exactly what has cause her death, whether it is an internal rupture, a heart attack or something else. All we can do is guess as much as you do.

The later symptoms are those of multi-organ failure (low temperature, heaving breathing, discharge from orifices; symptoms vary as to the order the organs break down). There is nothing you can do at this stage apart from keeping her as comfy as possible and to pts/euthanise if she is any discomfort; which you have done.

There is nothing wrong you have done as a good owner and there is nothing you could have prevented. Please don't feel guilty; you have not failed your girl. Sadly, death during or in the wake of an operation can and does happen. It is generally getting more rarely as vets are becoming more practised with operating on small furries, but you can never completely eliminate the risk.

In the decades I have been a guinea pig owner I have lost several of my own piggies during ops or recovery. It has always been a very upsetting experience. Please remind yourself that you have many any decisions with your girl's wellbeing in mind, as you should as a caring owner.