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Grieving for a piggie

Cymrupiggies

Cymrupiggies

New Born Pup
Joined
Feb 2, 2024
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Location
Wales
This is my first post and to be honest it's a hard one.
I've come on here to not feel so alone in this grieving process and sorry if I've posted in the the wrong thread.

December 2023 our piggies Maisie had blood in her urine. We only rescued her in June 2023 to add to our very small herd but she didn't get on with the others. She had her own run and her own space but could see and interact with out other 2 piggies. (They just didn't like the bars taken away..)

We think she had always been on her own as she was very much human orientated and didn't act like your average piggy!

We took her to the out of hours vets who gave her antibiotics etc.

We were told is it happened again, she would need a scan just to make sure there are no stones forming.

She had her scan on Thursday this week and there was a bladder stone. Too big for her to pass. The only option was surgery to remove it. We couldn't let it stay in there to grow as the inevitable would happen.

She went for surgery this tuesday and managed to survive the surgery and they managed to remove the stone which had attached itself to the bladder wall.

She came home with lots of meds but she would not eat. We had to syringe feed her that night.
The next day she still would not eat so she spent the day at vets being syringed fed, given fluids etc to help get things moving.

She was upbeat when we picked up that evening.

We had a care plan in place for round the clock feeding that night.

I was up most the night looking after her and I could tell it wasn't going to work.

She wasn't moving, she stopped chewing, she couldn't keep her body temperature and I ended up having her on the bed on my skin and wrapped in a dressing gown to keep warm. When her 9am pain killers came, nothing changed. I knew it had been too much for her.

We took her to the vet yesterday morning and her lips were turning white, there was no movement and even the sight of her fave veggies (Peppers and cucumbers) didn't do anything. I knew I had to let her go.

Her soul had already gone. I was devastated. I knew I did everything I could but she was just so little and it had all been too much.

We prepared ourselves for the fact that she might have passed I'm surgery with anesthesia being a risk. But not after surgery.

I have been a crying mess for the last 2 days and I have lost such an amazing girl. I had such a bond with her. We didn't even go into the rescue to get a piggy but we came straight out with her. She was such a character. Having the clean her pen and remove her house etc was excruciating painful. My heart is broken.

I know time is a great healer. But If she was going to go, I wish she went when she was still under anesthesia, so she didn't have to go through all of that pain afterwards!
 

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I’m so sorry gorgeous Maisie has had the call to the rainbow bridge.

The same thing happened to my Percy last summer. He was only 2 and a half years old. He was so young and fit I was sure he’d be okay. He survived the operation but couldn’t get over the anaesthetic. He passed 4 days later.

Sometimes no matter how hard we try the call to the bridge is just too strong. You did the right thing by giving Maisie a chance. It will get easier and you will remember the happy memories. Take care ❤️
 
I'm so sorry for your loss. She was a beautiful girl and obviously very much loved. I think everyone here can relate to how it feels to lose a very loved pet, particularly after fighting so hard to try to help them get through an urgent situation. Many ((HUGS)) to you as you grieve. You did absolutely everything possible for Maisie and she had you by her side through everything and knew she was loved and not alone. Take care of yourself and we're definitely here for support!
 
I am so sorry to read your post having to say goodbye under such sad circumstances. We all understand your pain and send hugs. She would have known how much you loved her and tried so hard for her to recover. Take care of yourself through the grieving days and treasure the happy memories.
Popcorn free over the rainbow bridge Maisie 🌈
 
Thank you all for your kind words!
It's lovely to be part of a group who fully understands ❤️
 
Cymrupiggies said:
This is my first post and to be honest it's a hard one.
I've come on here to not feel so alone in this grieving process and sorry if I've posted in the the wrong thread.

December 2023 our piggies Maisie had blood in her urine. We only rescued her in June 2023 to add to our very small herd but she didn't get on with the others. She had her own run and her own space but could see and interact with out other 2 piggies. (They just didn't like the bars taken away..)

We think she had always been on her own as she was very much human orientated and didn't act like your average piggy!

We took her to the out of hours vets who gave her antibiotics etc.

We were told is it happened again, she would need a scan just to make sure there are no stones forming.

She had her scan on Thursday this week and there was a bladder stone. Too big for her to pass. The only option was surgery to remove it. We couldn't let it stay in there to grow as the inevitable would happen.

She went for surgery this tuesday and managed to survive the surgery and they managed to remove the stone which had attached itself to the bladder wall.

She came home with lots of meds but she would not eat. We had to syringe feed her that night.
The next day she still would not eat so she spent the day at vets being syringed fed, given fluids etc to help get things moving.

She was upbeat when we picked up that evening.

We had a care plan in place for round the clock feeding that night.

I was up most the night looking after her and I could tell it wasn't going to work.

She wasn't moving, she stopped chewing, she couldn't keep her body temperature and I ended up having her on the bed on my skin and wrapped in a dressing gown to keep warm. When her 9am pain killers came, nothing changed. I knew it had been too much for her.

We took her to the vet yesterday morning and her lips were turning white, there was no movement and even the sight of her fave veggies (Peppers and cucumbers) didn't do anything. I knew I had to let her go.

Her soul had already gone. I was devastated. I knew I did everything I could but she was just so little and it had all been too much.

We prepared ourselves for the fact that she might have passed I'm surgery with anesthesia being a risk. But not after surgery.

I have been a crying mess for the last 2 days and I have lost such an amazing girl. I had such a bond with her. We didn't even go into the rescue to get a piggy but we came straight out with her. She was such a character. Having the clean her pen and remove her house etc was excruciating painful. My heart is broken.

I know time is a great healer. But If she was going to go, I wish she went when she was still under anesthesia, so she didn't have to go through all of that pain afterwards!
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome

BIG HUGS

I am so very sorry that the operation has not come off. When piggies make it through the op themselves that is only half the battle; recovery is the other half of the battle, and it is often the much harder part of it that doesn't always come off.

It is impossible to say whether it is due to a bad reaction to GA or not. The longer an operation takes, the higher the risk of complications. The fact that the stone was embedded in the bladder wall posed a major complication and made for a much higher risk op. It is not something that could have been anticipated; just very much simple bad luck.
The failure could however also have come from bladder trauma (i.e. a reaction to the damage of the bladder wall); it does happen. I lost a piggy of mine after her second bladder op to the trauma/damage inside the bladder and had to put her to sleep when the pain got too bad; that was nearly 20 years ago - but I would think that the outcome would be the same today seeing the amount of damage Minx had sustained. :(
It could of course most likely have been the combination of the two which has tipped the balance to the wrong side.

Please be kind with yourself. We can only ever opt to give our piggies a chance at a longer life that they would have otherwise not had (the stone would have meant that the rest of Maisie's life would have been short and spent in constant pain); what we cn never get a guarantee for is a happy outcome. You have done your best for your beloved girl and have put her interests before your own fears to buy her that chance of having a life; please take comfort from that - you have not failed her. The rest was not in yours or your vet's control. It is just one of those things that can and sadly do happen. Unforeseen complications are unfortunately not all that rare.
Had the stone been sat loose in the bladder, the prognosis would actually have been pretty good and that was what your vet was expecting. Apart from Minx, all my other bladder stone piggies have made a full recovery.

Here is our grieving guide which will hopefully help you make more sense of the intense feelings you are experiencing: Human Bereavement: Grieving, Processing and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children

If you are unable to function or to move on, please contact the free Blue Cross pet bereavement services (UK charity). Talking is the best thing you can do for yourself. All forum members who have made use of them and who have come back with feedback have done so saying that they were feeling better in themselves.
Here is the link: Pet bereavement and pet loss
 
I'm so sorry for the loss of your piggy Maisie... RIP beautiful girl.
 
I'm very sorry.
We all feel for you because everyone of us probably has been in this situation. I have been there a few times myself.
As @Wiebke wrote any operation has got 2 risky phases: the operation itself and the time after. With an experienced vet, the operation itself often isn't the bigger problem though some piggies do react bad to GA immediately and of course it depends on how difficult the op is. But the days and weeks after an operation can be incredibly hard.

You gave Maisie the chance to have a painfee life and you gave her your love until the very end. That's all you could have done.
Take care! 🌈💔
 
So very sorry for your loss.
As @Viennese Furbabies said, we’ve all been in similar situations.
Grieving can’t be rushed, it takes time to work through.
Asking ‘why’ and ‘what if’ are normal questions in grieving.
Time does make the pain ease but there will always be a Maisie shaped hole in your heart.
Be gentle with yourself as you grieve
 
I'm so so sorry you've lost gorgeous Maisie 😔
You absolutely made the right decision to go for surgery
My boy Eric had a stone removed from his urethra and made it through the surgery, but he passed away on my lap the next morning.
Sometimes it's just all too much for them.
RIP little Maisie, over the Rainbow Bridge 🌈❤️
 
I am so sorry you lost Maisie, sending big hugs. Maisie was a beauty and she will have known just how much you cared and loved her. Life can be so cruel at times, take care x

Popcorn high little lady 🌈
 
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