Why Did My Guinea Pigs Die?

[Ijustdontknow]

Yesterday I had two guinea pigs and today I don't have any. They lived in our conservatory which gets very hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter, I didn't want guinea pigs and I knew that we couldn't give them the care that they needed, but my parents bought the guinea pigs for my seven year old brother. Pretty soon after getting the guinea pigs it had become my responsibility to look after them, give them water and food, clean up the poops, my brother wasn't interested in them.
Yesterday morning I went into the conservatory and they seemed fine, they don't like to be touched or held, my parents have picked them up maybe three times in the year that we had them, and they were just their usually selves, running away when I tried to stroke them. I gave them some hay and they ate that and I gave them pellets. I noticed that their water bottles didn't have much water in but my dog was jumping up at me wanting me to feed her and I thought it would be okay to fill up the water later, but I forgot (my dog didn't seem like herself yesterday and I was just trying to look after her). When my family came home later in the day, they were saying that the conservatory was very hot, but I'm not sure if they did anything about it. My dad went in a few hours later to clean up poops and saw that one of the guinea pigs had sadly passed away. I immediately blamed myself and I knew that I had to do everything that I could to help the other one to be okay. I thought that the cause of death was most likely heat stroke, or dehydration. The other guinea pig was totally out of it, my dad picked him up and he didn't make any noise or struggle, I'm not sure if that was because he was suffering from the same thing as the other guinea pig or if he was just upset. We wrapped him in a cold wet towel, put water on his ears and dipped his feet in cold water, we tried to get him to drink from the water bottle but he wouldn't do it. We put him back in the cage after cooling the conservatory down and he walked into his little piglu and turned his head away (he usually liked to be looking out of the piglu) we put the cold towel in there with an ice block and a little tray of water, we tried to feed him lettuce but he wouldn't eat. I told my parents over and over that it was important that we take him to a vet but they just wanted to leave him and assumed that he was just upset. In the night at about 4am, I had to get up with my dog, she didn't want to sleep, I went in to see the guinea pig and I'm pretty certain that he was breathing, he had came out of the piglu and he was laying on his side, there was some kind of white/clear liquid coming from his eye which made me very worried but I didn't think there was anything that I could do. A few hours later he had passed away. If the other guinea pig had died of heatstroke (not sure if that's what it was, I'm just assuming) why did this guinea pig die too even after everything we did to make it better? Could it be depression/a broken heart, or could it be something else?
And yes, I know that I should have given them water sooner and made the room cooler, but I didn't and I can't change that and I hate myself for it.
Thank you if you can help

 

[Wiebke]

I am very sorry; it is very likely that your piggies have died from heat stroke. Guinea pigs don't deal well with temperatures over 25 C, and it will have been much hotter inside a closed conservatory. It is very easy to underestimate it. I don't think that lack of fresh water would have made much of a difference, so don't beat yourself up too badly about it.

I am sure that you (or your family) will never make that mistake again with any current or future pets of yours, so something good may come out of it!

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/hot-weather-management-and-heat-strokes.105317/

 

[madguinealady]

to a certain extent your hands were tied.The water was an oversight . You tried to help him and there was only so much you could do. When you are old enough and have your own home and animals I'm sure you will be a fantastic owner.

 

[helen105281]

It sounds like heatstroke to me too for both of them. He would most likely have needed diuretic from the vets to get him through it together with rehydration therapy. I am sorry your hands were tied.

 

[theoretikos]

I would not blame you as you ultimately had no control over the guinea pigs welfare. I am sorry that they have passed away but please do not blame yourself. Hopefully your parents will consider researching before getting pets again. As madguinealady says you will be a great owner if you ever have your own pets in the future.

 

[Ijustdontknow]

Thanks everyone, hopefully my parents won't decide to get anymore guinea pigs or any other pets, I knew that having the piggies wasn't a good idea because the only place big enough for them to live is the conservatory which like I said is very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter and I know that it's very bad for guinea pigs, and my family forced me to be responsible for the piggies so I'm very upset about it all, I just hope that they will realise that it was a bad idea and they won't get any more. Thank you for all of your replies, I guess the guinea pigs are having a nicer life wherever they are now

 

[biscandmatt]

this is really sad. sleep tight sweet piggies x

 

[Freela]

It sounds as though they both died of heat stroke. Guinea pigs don't do well with hot temperatures. For some it can take longer to pass than others. Even though it cooled down, without immediate veterinary care it may have been too late for the remaining pig to pull through. It sounds like you did all you could under the circumstances. Hopefully your parents won't take on more pets that they aren't prepared to provide a good quality of life for. You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders as far as understanding what pets need and whether you can provide that for them, so try not to beat yourself up.

 

[Goth Mummy]

Oh that was a horrible experience for you. That does soundd like heat stroke to me too. They would have needed vet treatment to survive. I hope your parents dont get any more guinea pigs, it was not fair to you to put you in a position where you could not care for them properly. X

 

[Amanda1801]

A conservatory in summer is far too hot for any animal - mine is even too hot for my tortoise currently who needs tropical temperatures!

 

[Goth Mummy]

@Amanda1801 One of the mums i chat to at the school gate told me that their gerbils died yesterday in the conservatory. She was very upset. Its got to be comparable to the "dogs die in hot cars" message. Maybe we need to get a "pets die in hot conservatories" campaign going

 

[Julie M]

Aww poor piggies. So sorry for your loss. I wouldn't blame yourself. Like you say your hands were tied. Rip little piggies.