Guinea Pig Passed Away Suddenly & I'm Devastated

[Julezfm39]

Hi everyone, I am just absolutely devastated at the moment. I have lost 2 piggies in the space of 2 weeks and I'm heartbroken. One beloved piggy, Freddy, had to be euthanised whilst under anaesthetic, undergoing surgery on an abscess in his mouth. He was 3. There were complications and he would not have even survived the recovery due to the extent of the damage in his facial muscle caused by the abscess (which the vet actually missed a week earlier when I took Freddy to see them).

Then 4 days ago my darling Nugget (also 3 years old) passed away suddenly. He was not a very active piggy and was a real foodie. He shared a big cage with 2 of my other piggies, Fluff and Benjy, and they all got on fine. His diet consisted of a mix of Timothy/Meadow hay, piggy nuggets and muesli, and veg such as lettuce, bell peppers, spinach, carrots, celery, kale and cucumber. I now regret feeding him spinach regularly as I am terrified that the lack of exercise and perhaps a build-up of calcium contributed to his death. I do not know.. yet there were no warning signs of ill health at all. He seemed to be urinating normally and was always alert and munching on hay! The night before he died he was having a run around the lounge and seemed fine. When I picked him up after cleaning out the cage, there was kind of a slight vacant look in his eyes. It was as if he was slow to react... yet he didn't seem ill. He then seemed to perk up and I put him back in the cage.

I awoke in the night as something didn't feel right. When I checked the cage, Nugget had gone. His body was still a bit warm so he had passed not long before. I am absolutely crushed. We have lost 3 piggies since December as our beloved Caramel died suddenly in the night, having shown no outward symptoms of illness.

We still have 9 piggies whom I love with all my heart, yet I am beginning to wonder if I should even be a pet owner as I have lost 3 in 3 months. I know that this may just be the grief talking but I am absolutely heartbroken, even moreso that my children (13 and 12) who seem to be coping better than I am. Tomorrow I am taking Nugget to the pet crematorium to say goodbye... Freddy is already there as I took him last Monday. I have all my fur babies cremated.

Are these sudden deaths common in guinea pigs? What did I miss? Or was there nothing I could have done? I'm sorry for this long post but the grief I am feeling is immense.

Thank you xx

 

[Merab]

So very sorry for your losses.
Being prey animals guinea pigs can hide illness very well.
You are still in the guilt & shock stage of grief so be gentle and patient with yourself.
Allow yourself time to grieve.
Holding you in my heart

 

[Julezfm39]

Thank you.. you're so kind. Honestly I feel as if I've been punched in the chest, it hurts so much.
You're right... I am in this blame stage of grief where I am feeling as if it was my fault.
Losing 2 beloved fur babies in 2 weeks has hit me so hard. Like you say I must allow myself time to grieve.
I know that every baby is healed at the Rainbow Bridge
Bless you, thank you so much

 

[Wiebke]

BIG HUGS

I am ever so sorry about your losses.

Deaths out of the blue can sadly happen at any age; I've lost piggies that were just the tiniest bit off the evening before but in no way enough to really worry. Not your fault. If you have any concerns, then please ask for a post mortem examination; especially if a third one dies unexpected - two can be a coincidence but three need to be checked.

Unfortunately, abscesses and other lumps can come up with truly frightening speed when they suddenly turn runaway. You can quite literally watch them grow. I've had guinea pigs where a lump went from 1/2-1 cm to 5 cm over the course of 24 hours in just the time it took from noticing and booking an emergency vet appointment to them going under the knife at the soonest; whether that is an abscess, a tumour, a cyst or a fatty lump. If your vet didn't notice anything, then there was simply nothing to notice. Just very horrible bad luck about about the worst location for it to happen.

If you have a number of piggies, then deaths happen in clumps unfortunately. I call these phases 'stampedes to the Rainbow Bridge'. Tey are ultimately balanced out by times when everything goes your way. We just notice the bad times much more, naturally.

It is totally normal that you question yourself in such a situation; every caring owner will inevitably do that. As humans, we are mostly wired to seek the fault in ourselves instead of accepting that is was just basic cosmic bad luck - totally random and beyond your control.

Would it help you to know that I lost 7 piggies last autumn in just over 3 months (which is basically a quarter) myself? Three of them in just a week, with two of those being just two days (or better, overnight vigils) apart. The causes were all unrelated. My Alan, who sadly passed away hours before he could be seen by a specialist vet at the soonest for an emergency op after the weekend, was also only 3 years old.
In my case, however, this did come right on the heels of an amazing 18 months' break in losses (the pandemic did coincide with a generational gap in my piggies), so it was basically just karma catching up again. And it was by no means the first time I was experiencing a stampede, so I could at least deal with most of the guilt a bit better. Dealing with the pain of the losses has still taken its due time...
Unfortunately I still have another 8 oldies, a few of which are very frail now and could go anytime; so the next stampede is going to happen sooner rather than later... It is the downside of having lots of piggies; especially when ending up with a very strong year.

Please be kind with yourself and give yourself time to grieve. A big new loss can also bring up older losses that haven't been fully digested yet (I call that 'grieving indigestion' - when there is more grieving on your plate than you can process at once). You haven't made any mistakes, and neither has your vet; it was just a big dollop of bad luck. You can't rush the grieving and it is not a situation where you can just walk away from.

Please take the time to read our grieving guide. You will hopefully find it helpful in making sense of your strong emotions and mood that can be very contradictory and take you to rather unexpected places. The guide will talk you through the most common phases and will give you suggestions on what you can do for yourself.
The guide also contains links to (free for the UK) pet bereavement support if you would like to talk it out of you; it is the best thing you can do for your own wellbeing.
Here is the link: Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children

 

[Wiebke]

BIG HUGS

I am ever so sorry about your losses.

Deaths out of the blue can sadly happen at any age; I've lost piggies that were just the tiniest bit off the evening before but in no way enough to really worry. Not your fault. If you have any concerns, then please ask for a post mortem examination; especially if a third one dies unexpected - two can be a coincidence but three need to be checked.

Unfortunately, abscesses and other lumps can come up with truly frightening speed when they suddenly turn runaway. You can quite literally watch them grow. I've had guinea pigs where a lump went from 1/2-1 cm to 5 cm over the course of 24 hours in just the time it took from noticing and booking an emergency vet appointment to them going under the knife at the soonest; whether that is an abscess, a tumour, a cyst or a fatty lump. If your vet didn't notice anything, then there was simply nothing to notice. Just very horrible bad luck about about the worst location for it to happen.

If you have a number of piggies, then deaths happen in clumps unfortunately. I call these phases 'stampedes to the Rainbow Bridge'. Tey are ultimately balanced out by times when everything goes your way. We just notice the bad times much more, naturally.

It is totally normal that you question yourself in such a situation; every caring owner will inevitably do that. As humans, we are mostly wired to seek the fault in ourselves instead of accepting that is was just basic cosmic bad luck - totally random and beyond your control.

Would it help you to know that I lost 7 piggies last autumn in just over 3 months (which is basically a quarter) myself? Three of them in just a week, with two of those being just two days (or better, overnight vigils) apart. The causes were all unrelated. My Alan, who sadly passed away hours before he could be seen by a specialist vet at the soonest for an emergency op after the weekend, was also only 3 years old.
In my case, however, this did come right on the heels of an amazing 18 months' break in losses (the pandemic did coincide with a generational gap in my piggies), so it was basically just karma catching up again. And it was by no means the first time I was experiencing a stampede, so I could at least deal with most of the guilt a bit better. Dealing with the pain of the losses has still taken its due time...
Unfortunately I still have another 8 oldies, a few of which are very frail now and could go anytime; so the next stampede is going to happen sooner rather than later... It is the downside of having lots of piggies; especially when ending up with a very strong year.

Please be kind with yourself and give yourself time to grieve. A big new loss can also bring up older losses that haven't been fully digested yet (I call that 'grieving indigestion' - when there is more grieving on your plate than you can process at once). You haven't made any mistakes, and neither has your vet; it was just a big dollop of bad luck. You can't rush the grieving and it is not a situation where you can just walk away from.

Please take the time to read our grieving guide. You will hopefully find it helpful in making sense of your strong emotions and mood that can be very contradictory and take you to rather unexpected places. The guide will talk you through the most common phases and will give you suggestions on what you can do for yourself.
The guide also contains links to (free for the UK) pet bereavement support if you would like to talk it out of you; it is the best thing you can do for your own wellbeing.
Here is the link: Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children

PS: The calcium won't have played any role but you may want to review your diet for the benefit of your remaining piggies. Being able to do something constructive towards good health and longevity will help you.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[Julezfm39]

THANK YOU SO MUCH

That is what happened with Nugget. He just seemed a bit "off" but nothing to sound the alarm. When we lost Caramel back in early December, there was nothing at all to indicate that he was about to pass away. It's just the absolute shock of losing 3 piggies in 3-4 months.

Thank you for your reassurance about Freddy's abscess. In my grief of losing him I was looking for someone to blame and that seemed to be the vet... but you are right, these abscesses can develop quickly. It was such a shock when the surgeon called me and said that the abscess was embedded in the facial muscle and nerves, and removing it would probably have paralysed Freddy - he would never have recovered.

I'm so sorry that you lost so many piggies in just 3 months . That's just absolutely heartbreaking for you. I like that phrase, "Stampedes to the Rainbow Bridge." There's something quite comforting knowing that our babies are all going to be healed when they get to the other side... I have this vision of all these happy piggies popcorning in the fields.

"Grieving indigestion" is a good way of putting it... I am still trying to process previous losses and I feel quite exhausted from grief.. it really helps to know that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

I will read the grieving guide, thank you so much. Your words and advice have really helped me and I think that pet bereavement support would be a very good idea.

 

[Julezfm39]

PS: The calcium won't have played any role but you may want to review your diet for the benefit of your remaining piggies. Being able to do something constructive towards good health and longevity will help you.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Thank you. Yes, I definitely will do

 

[Bill & Ted]

Sending you big hugs, I’m so sorry you’ve lost Freddie, Nugget and Caramel in such a short space of time. I can only imagine how sad you must be feeling. I lost a piggie out of the blue like that, my Bill had no signs of illness and I found he had passed overnight. Piggies hide there illnesses very well and can have heart attacks and strokes just like humans, so sudden death like this is not unusual
Please never think it’s anything you have missed, you are a caring and loving owner x

 

[Julezfm39]

Sending you big hugs, I’m so sorry you’ve lost Freddie, Nugget and Caramel in such a short space of time. I can only imagine how sad you must be feeling. I lost a piggie out of the blue like that, my Bill had no signs of illness and I found he had passed overnight. Piggies hide there illnesses very well and can have heart attacks and strokes just like humans, so sudden death like this is not unusual
Please never think it’s anything you have missed, you are a caring and loving owner x

Thank you so much for your kind words and hugs . It has been such an awful time and honestly I just want to stay in bed all day and cry. I'm so sorry about your boy Bill. They just break our hearts when they leave us . I guess we automatically blame ourselves when, like you say, piggies can have strokes and heart attacks out of the blue, just like we can.
Thank you for your reassurance, it really means a lot to me xx

 

[Wiebke]

THANK YOU SO MUCH

That is what happened with Nugget. He just seemed a bit "off" but nothing to sound the alarm. When we lost Caramel back in early December, there was nothing at all to indicate that he was about to pass away. It's just the absolute shock of losing 3 piggies in 3-4 months.

Thank you for your reassurance about Freddy's abscess. In my grief of losing him I was looking for someone to blame and that seemed to be the vet... but you are right, these abscesses can develop quickly. It was such a shock when the surgeon called me and said that the abscess was embedded in the facial muscle and nerves, and removing it would probably have paralysed Freddy - he would never have recovered.

I'm so sorry that you lost so many piggies in just 3 months . That's just absolutely heartbreaking for you. I like that phrase, "Stampedes to the Rainbow Bridge." There's something quite comforting knowing that our babies are all going to be healed when they get to the other side... I have this vision of all these happy piggies popcorning in the fields.

"Grieving indigestion" is a good way of putting it... I am still trying to process previous losses and I feel quite exhausted from grief.. it really helps to know that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

I will read the grieving guide, thank you so much. Your words and advice have really helped me and I think that pet bereavement support would be a very good idea.

It helps me to visualise my RIP piggies as my little furry guardian angels who help me looking out for my current lot. Each piggy has taught me something, and this growing legacy of experience helps me to be a better owner and deal better with some of repeating stuff (like the mechanical part of the grieving process). In their teachings they are still very present; and they are always in my heart, whether that is 50 years or 5 weeks back (when I lost yet another one). I just can't touch them, feed or cuddle them anymore.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Thank you so much for your kind words and hugs . It has been such an awful time and honestly I just want to stay in bed all day and cry. I'm so sorry about your boy Bill. They just break our hearts when they leave us . I guess we automatically blame ourselves when, like you say, piggies can have strokes and heart attacks out of the blue, just like we can.
Thank you for your reassurance, it really means a lot to me xx

Take the time to grieve, you have lost three little family members so you will be heartbroken. Take care, time will help and happiness in your life will return and you’ll be able to remember them with joy and without pain x

 

[Julezfm39]

It helps me to visualise my RIP piggies as my little furry guardian angels who help me looking out for my current lot. Each piggy has taught me something, and this growing legacy of experience helps me to be a better owner and deal better with some of repeating stuff (like the mechanical part of the grieving process). In their teachings they are still very present; and they are always in my heart, whether that is 50 years or 5 weeks back (when I lost yet another one). I just can't touch them, feed or cuddle them anymore.

I'm sorry you lost another piggy 5 weeks ago . That's a beautiful way to deal with the loss... to visualise them as your little furry guardian angels. I must do that before I go to sleep tonight. I do miss the cuddles though, so much... and every morning, the first thing I do after I get out of bed is check that each piggy is still with us. It's really hard.

 

[Julezfm39]

Take the time to grieve, you have lost three little family members so you will be heartbroken. Take care, time will help and happiness in your life will return and you’ll be able to remember them with joy and without pain x

Thank you.. the pain is very raw at the moment and I feel absolutely lost, I must say. But I know that the pain will ease with time.. the grieving process can't be rushed and I have to come to terms with it and give myself time to heal.. I miss my babies like crazy right now xx

 

[Wiebke]

I'm sorry you lost another piggy 5 weeks ago . That's a beautiful way to deal with the loss... to visualise them as your little furry guardian angels. I must do that before I go to sleep tonight. I do miss the cuddles though, so much... and every morning, the first thing I do after I get out of bed is check that each piggy is still with us. It's really hard.

I know... But you'll never lose them completely because they were part of your life and they will always remain part of your life and part of who you are. The pain of the loss is the part that never gets any easier because each bond is unique. Only time can heal that.

At least Mererid passed away just short of her 8th birthday and her sister Morwenna has actually made it and is still going - which in view of their background and Morwenna just being 40g when born is rescue is a real miracle! It doesn't mean that I miss her less (rather the opposite after nearly 8 years) but there are no feelings of guilt or anger; just a feeling of blessing that I have had her in my life for so long.

Give yourself the time to process and to heal at your own pace and in your own way. Look at which of the Blue Cross platforms would suit your own needs best. The deaths you cannot brace for and start processing before the end are the hardest to cope with in my own experience because you have to deal with both the shock and the loss at once.

 

[The Law Pigs]

Hi everyone, I am just absolutely devastated at the moment. I have lost 2 piggies in the space of 2 weeks and I'm heartbroken. One beloved piggy, Freddy, had to be euthanised whilst under anaesthetic, undergoing surgery on an abscess in his mouth. He was 3. There were complications and he would not have even survived the recovery due to the extent of the damage in his facial muscle caused by the abscess (which the vet actually missed a week earlier when I took Freddy to see them).

Then 4 days ago my darling Nugget (also 3 years old) passed away suddenly. He was not a very active piggy and was a real foodie. He shared a big cage with 2 of my other piggies, Fluff and Benjy, and they all got on fine. His diet consisted of a mix of Timothy/Meadow hay, piggy nuggets and muesli, and veg such as lettuce, bell peppers, spinach, carrots, celery, kale and cucumber. I now regret feeding him spinach regularly as I am terrified that the lack of exercise and perhaps a build-up of calcium contributed to his death. I do not know.. yet there were no warning signs of ill health at all. He seemed to be urinating normally and was always alert and munching on hay! The night before he died he was having a run around the lounge and seemed fine. When I picked him up after cleaning out the cage, there was kind of a slight vacant look in his eyes. It was as if he was slow to react... yet he didn't seem ill. He then seemed to perk up and I put him back in the cage.

I awoke in the night as something didn't feel right. When I checked the cage, Nugget had gone. His body was still a bit warm so he had passed not long before. I am absolutely crushed. We have lost 3 piggies since December as our beloved Caramel died suddenly in the night, having shown no outward symptoms of illness.

We still have 9 piggies whom I love with all my heart, yet I am beginning to wonder if I should even be a pet owner as I have lost 3 in 3 months. I know that this may just be the grief talking but I am absolutely heartbroken, even moreso that my children (13 and 12) who seem to be coping better than I am. Tomorrow I am taking Nugget to the pet crematorium to say goodbye... Freddy is already there as I took him last Monday. I have all my fur babies cremated.

Are these sudden deaths common in guinea pigs? What did I miss? Or was there nothing I could have done? I'm sorry for this long post but the grief I am feeling is immense.

Thank you xx

I’m really sorry for your loss

 

[Wiebke]

I’m really sorry for your loss

Thank you.

It was much harder with Alan and the other younger ones I lost so unexpectedly last Autumn because I couldn't really brace and really hate losing younger piggies! All you can do is give yourself as much time as you need and don't push yourself. Try to imagine your three together at the Rainbow Bridge.

 

[Julezfm39]

I’m really sorry for your loss

Thank you I'm struggling to come to terms with losing 3 piggies since December. My heart is

 

[Julezfm39]

Thank you.

It was much harder with Alan and the other younger ones I lost so unexpectedly last Autumn because I couldn't really brace and really hate losing younger piggies! All you can do is give yourself as much time as you need and don't push yourself. Try to imagine your three together at the Rainbow Bridge.

Yes, losing younger piggies unexpectedly is devastating. I have only been a piggy mama since May 2019 and I just pray that my remaining piggies will have longer lives. Freddy was Max's cage buddy and so I need to consider finding an older friend for Max. He's quite feisty and Freddy used to keep him calm..

 

[Julezfm39]

I know... But you'll never lose them completely because they were part of your life and they will always remain part of your life and part of who you are. The pain of the loss is the part that never gets any easier because each bond is unique. Only time can heal that.

At least Mererid passed away just short of her 8th birthday and her sister Morwenna has actually made it and is still going - which in view of their background and Morwenna just being 40g when born is rescue is a real miracle! It doesn't mean that I miss her less (rather the opposite after nearly 8 years) but there are no feelings of guilt or anger; just a feeling of blessing that I have had her in my life for so long.

Give yourself the time to process and to heal at your own pace and in your own way. Look at which of the Blue Cross platforms would suit your own needs best. The deaths you cannot brace for and start processing before the end are the hardest to cope with in my own experience because you have to deal with both the shock and the loss at once.

I know.. it just feels like the grief is overwhelming but I know that this is the process I have to go through. I just wish I didn't have to confront the sadness.
Such a blessing that you had Mererid in your life for so long... and Morwenna is still going, bless her! How amazing .
I'm going to get some sleep and I'll look at those platforms in the morning. I'm sure it will be really helpful, thank you..
My daughter made albums on her phone for all the piggies so when the time is right I will get some little photos framed.