Bloat and Dried Banana's

[katie644]

Hi There. Over the weekend I was visiting my sister who's roommate has 2 guinea pigs. On Friday, they were weeking at me and I gave them each about 1/3 of a dried banana chip (they were the oxbow treat kinds). I just found out that today, one of the guinea pigs had severe bloat and had to be put down. could the banana chip I gave her have caused it?

I feel so guilty and stupid, I know guineas arent supposed to have a lot of sugar but it was just the tiniest piece i didnt think it would do anything...
Any insight would be helpful, thank you

 

[Wiebke]

Hi There. Over the weekend I was visiting my sister who's roommate has 2 guinea pigs. On Friday, they were weeking at me and I gave them each about 1/3 of a dried banana chip (they were the oxbow treat kinds). I just found out that today, one of the guinea pigs had severe bloat and had to be put down. could the banana chip I gave her have caused it?

I feel so guilty and stupid, I know guineas arent supposed to have a lot of sugar but it was just the tiniest piece i didnt think it would do anything...
Any insight would be helpful, thank you

Hi and welcome

Severe bloat or a twisted gut often happen out of the blue; but it can sadly be a killer disease. It is impossible to say what has triggered it but it is rather unlikely from a small piece of a piggy treat.

Killing bloat happens generally more commonly to piggies with an underlying frailty even if they are not showing any clear symptoms; a twisted gut can happen to anypig (or human).
Please do not feel guilty; your treat has been most likely just been a coincidence but it is normal for any caring human to always seek the fault with themselves first. That is how we are wired; feelings of guilt are very normal after a sudden and somewhat traumatic death.

Here is more information on severe bloat. I hope that this will help you: Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Here is our Grieving guide; it also explains the guilt loop at the onset, which is what you are experiencing: Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children

 

[Princess Dustmop]

When one of my piggies had bloat she hadn't had anything unusual. (Our best guess is that I didn't wash some lettuce well enough or something - she was eating normally, but some of it was left over, so it must have tasted off, and the next day she had full on bloat.) She fortunately survived with veterinary help (she got B2 injections at specific accupunction points and was put under so the vet could draw out the gas with a needle), but she had a very strong will to live and kept amazing the vet (she was given hay to snuggle in after the procedure and decided to eat it instead). If I hadn't been home to notice as soon as she was acting off or if she hadn't been such a little fighter, she may not have survived the ordeal (she was given survival odds of "greater than 0").

Don't beat yourself up over the treat. You gave the piggy some junk food; you didn't kill him/her.
Guinea pigs cannot throw up or burp, so anything and everything has to go through. If the gas can't escape and builds up in their tummy, that's bloat.

 

[katie644]

thank you for the comforting words and the helpful explanations. I feel better that it seems I'm not at fault, but still poor guinea pig Bloat seems like such a scary thing and its probably a good thing for people to be more educated about it and the signs to look for.