Pig_mum
New Born Pup
Hi all,
I’m writing this post because I sadly lost my eldest guinea pig, aged 8, on Thursday 25th July. The grief has only just really hit and I suppose I’m seeking some advice and support as I’m feeling very angry, guilty and resentful.
As you can probably recall, we had temperatures of 35oc degrees on Thursday. I was at work and my mum was at home watching the guinea pigs. They were in the living room with my mum and we had two fans facing into their C&C cage.
At 2pm my mum noticed that Jemima’s breathing was laboured. She syringe fed her some cold water and bathed her in some tepid water. At 6pm, once my dad returned home from work, Jemima hadn’t made any improvement, so they booked an emergency appointment at our vets and phoned me to let me know. I drove straight there to meet them.
She was given oxygen but this didn’t really help as the Vet said she had fluid in her lungs. Assessing her other ailments (arthritis in her back legs, teeth issues, reoccurring mites, bulging in her eyes, etc) the Vet hinted that euthanising her might be the kindest thing to do as we’d be prolonging her suffering and ‘the inevitable’. She said they could take an X-ray, but that it wouldn’t necessarily be conclusive. And she also said they that could give her medication to clear up her lungs, but that it might affect her kidneys. So we had to make the hard decision to have her euthanised.
Earlier that day, I had text my mum in the early afternoon for an update on how the guinea pigs were coping with the heat. I found out that she didn’t reply because she ‘didn’t want to worry me’. I can’t help but feel a little resentful, because, had she replied, I would have left work and gone straight home to look after Jemima. I also found out my mum went to the hairdressers knowing my guinea pig wasn’t breathing well.
Although the Vet said she couldn’t say for certain what had caused the laboured breathing/fluid in the lungs, from what I’ve read online, it seems to me that she was suffering from heat stroke. l feel like I’ve failed my guinea pig as I wasn’t there to look after her. I knew her life was coming to an end because of her age, but I still feel this all could have been prevented.
My other two guinea pigs are also really quiet and withdrawn and I feel terrible for them as they’re clearly missing Jemima. They don’t seem to be getting along very well and keep nipping each other. Not sure if this is to do with them establishing the new hierarchy?
Any insight or words of wisdom would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
I’m writing this post because I sadly lost my eldest guinea pig, aged 8, on Thursday 25th July. The grief has only just really hit and I suppose I’m seeking some advice and support as I’m feeling very angry, guilty and resentful.
As you can probably recall, we had temperatures of 35oc degrees on Thursday. I was at work and my mum was at home watching the guinea pigs. They were in the living room with my mum and we had two fans facing into their C&C cage.
At 2pm my mum noticed that Jemima’s breathing was laboured. She syringe fed her some cold water and bathed her in some tepid water. At 6pm, once my dad returned home from work, Jemima hadn’t made any improvement, so they booked an emergency appointment at our vets and phoned me to let me know. I drove straight there to meet them.
She was given oxygen but this didn’t really help as the Vet said she had fluid in her lungs. Assessing her other ailments (arthritis in her back legs, teeth issues, reoccurring mites, bulging in her eyes, etc) the Vet hinted that euthanising her might be the kindest thing to do as we’d be prolonging her suffering and ‘the inevitable’. She said they could take an X-ray, but that it wouldn’t necessarily be conclusive. And she also said they that could give her medication to clear up her lungs, but that it might affect her kidneys. So we had to make the hard decision to have her euthanised.
Earlier that day, I had text my mum in the early afternoon for an update on how the guinea pigs were coping with the heat. I found out that she didn’t reply because she ‘didn’t want to worry me’. I can’t help but feel a little resentful, because, had she replied, I would have left work and gone straight home to look after Jemima. I also found out my mum went to the hairdressers knowing my guinea pig wasn’t breathing well.
Although the Vet said she couldn’t say for certain what had caused the laboured breathing/fluid in the lungs, from what I’ve read online, it seems to me that she was suffering from heat stroke. l feel like I’ve failed my guinea pig as I wasn’t there to look after her. I knew her life was coming to an end because of her age, but I still feel this all could have been prevented.
My other two guinea pigs are also really quiet and withdrawn and I feel terrible for them as they’re clearly missing Jemima. They don’t seem to be getting along very well and keep nipping each other. Not sure if this is to do with them establishing the new hierarchy?
Any insight or words of wisdom would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
