Guinea Pig Suddenly Passed Away :(

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guineasandferb

New Born Pup
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It happened earlier today. I still can’t believe it. A friend surrendered her guinea pigs to me about three months ago, a boar (initially thought to be female) and a sow. The sow turned out to be pregnant and gave birth to 3 pups, two males and one female.

The female was born last but I’m not sure if it matters. They turned 3 weeks old on Christmas eve so we named them. Her name was Fudge Brownie. She was fully weaned, active and very vocal - seemingly no health problems. Her and mama lived together to avoid any pregnancies, the two were attached at the hip.

This morning between 6-7am piggies were checked on with no issues. Then fed at around 8:30am as usual, with all piggies including Fudge coming out to wheek and eat their salads. Fast forward to 12 noon I go to check on them and see mama standing alone at the front of their cage. I look under the blanket and find no Fudge, very odd for her. I ended up finding her tucked deep in a hidden fold at the corner of the bedding closest to the bottom of the cage. At that point she was not stiff but cold to the touch. I knew as soon as I picked her up she was gone. I have no idea what happened. I don’t really know what to do with myself. I’ve had a vet appointment booked for them since their first week. It’s tomorrow. I wish she could’ve waited but I’m not even sure it would’ve made a difference. I swear she was okay, I checked on them every day. Is there such thing as SIDS but for guinea pigs? I’m devastated. I just want to know why. My poor babygirl
 
Welcome to the forum, I'm sorry it's in such sad circumstances. Please try not to blame yourself. Unfortunately irresponsible breeding has led to far too many of our little friends having life limiting genetic conditions that either show no symptoms or can't be treated. All we can do is give them happy todays as they live in the here and now.
Popcorn high over the rainbow bridge little Fudge 🌈 💔
 
fluffysal said:
Welcome to the forum, I'm sorry it's in such sad circumstances. Please try not to blame yourself. Unfortunately irresponsible breeding has led to far too many of our little friends having life limiting genetic conditions that either show no symptoms or can't be treated. All we can do is give them happy todays as they live in the here and now.
Popcorn high over the rainbow bridge little Fudge 🌈 💔
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Thank you for your kind words🩷
I am grateful she got to spend her days with me, and take solace in knowing she was so loved
 
Welcome to the forum. I’m so very sorry. You haven’t done anything wrong. Please don’t blame yourself. You gave her three wonderful weeks of love.

Unfortunately she has had the call back to the rainbow bridge. Like @fluffysal has said it could be a number of things. None of which could be fixed. Take care ❤️
 
weepweeps said:
Welcome to the forum. I’m so very sorry. You haven’t done anything wrong. Please don’t blame yourself. You gave her three wonderful weeks of love.

Unfortunately she has had the call back to the rainbow bridge. Like @fluffysal has said it could be a number of things. None of which could be fixed. Take care ❤️
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Thank you ❤️‍🩹
 
Very sorry to hear your piggy has left you. It's lovely that you have given this little family a great, loving home and that she got to stay with her mum. Sleep softly at the bridge little one 🌈
 
guineasandferb said:
It happened earlier today. I still can’t believe it. A friend surrendered her guinea pigs to me about three months ago, a boar (initially thought to be female) and a sow. The sow turned out to be pregnant and gave birth to 3 pups, two males and one female.

The female was born last but I’m not sure if it matters. They turned 3 weeks old on Christmas eve so we named them. Her name was Fudge Brownie. She was fully weaned, active and very vocal - seemingly no health problems. Her and mama lived together to avoid any pregnancies, the two were attached at the hip.

This morning between 6-7am piggies were checked on with no issues. Then fed at around 8:30am as usual, with all piggies including Fudge coming out to wheek and eat their salads. Fast forward to 12 noon I go to check on them and see mama standing alone at the front of their cage. I look under the blanket and find no Fudge, very odd for her. I ended up finding her tucked deep in a hidden fold at the corner of the bedding closest to the bottom of the cage. At that point she was not stiff but cold to the touch. I knew as soon as I picked her up she was gone. I have no idea what happened. I don’t really know what to do with myself. I’ve had a vet appointment booked for them since their first week. It’s tomorrow. I wish she could’ve waited but I’m not even sure it would’ve made a difference. I swear she was okay, I checked on them every day. Is there such thing as SIDS but for guinea pigs? I’m devastated. I just want to know why. My poor babygirl
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Hi and welcome

BIG HUGS
A sudden death out of the blue, which can happen without warning at any age, is always shaking you to the core and is leaving you with usually unanswerable questions. Unfortunately, only a post mortem examination at the vet's may or may not give you the answers you crave.

Please take consolation in that it is not something you have done wrong or any failure of yours. In younger guinea pigs it is usually caused by a genetic time bomb in their body which can go off at any moment. Sometimes, the shadow of long term neglect in rescued piggies is sadly long and can reach into the sunny part...
In the older piggies, it is generally just their day when the much faster metabolism is turning against them and a crucial organ is giving way.

Try to be kind with yourself in the coming days and try to take consolation that in terms of suffering, this was one of the gentler natural deaths so your beloved baby cannot have suffered much or for long.

Wiebke

Thread 'Human Bereavement: Grieving, Processing and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children'

1 The grieving process
- Loss and the start of the grieving process
- Grieving with a terminally ill guinea pig
- Going through the grieving process
2 Ways of coping
- Expressing and processing your feelings
- Regaining your guinea pig
- Burial and marking the passing
- Dealing with special days
3 How do I tell my children?
- Finding local support lines and charities...
  • Like


Guinea pigs don't have a concept for average life spans; what they measure a fulfilled life by is happy todays in good care. As long as you give them those, you are ahead of the game because as owners we don't have any control over when and in which form the end comes. We only ever have our pets on a lease that can sadly be cancelled at any time without any warning.
It's the quality of care we provide, not the quantity of life that makes all the difference - and you have quite obviously done that in full measure. You have made your girl's life count and you have validated it. Don't underestimate this huge gift you have given her; even if it was not for all that long!
 
So very sorry for the sudden loss of Fudge.
Sadly unexpected sudden death happens and leaves us badly shaken.
You filled Fudge’s life with love while she was with you.
Be gentle with yourself as you grieve
 
I am so very sorry for the loss of Fudge Brownie 💔. As the others have said it is difficult to accept as we always want answers and want to know if we could have done anything to save our precious guineas unfortunately it's not generally possible. Be kind to yourself as you grieve her loss.
Popcorn happily over the Rainbow Bridge little Fudge Brownie 🌈🙏💕
 
Merab said:
So very sorry for the sudden loss of Fudge.
Sadly unexpected sudden death happens and leaves us badly shaken.
You filled Fudge’s life with love while she was with you.
Be gentle with yourself as you grieve
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Thank you, she will always have a home in my heart❤️‍🩹
 
CTWC said:
I am so very sorry for the loss of Fudge Brownie 💔. As the others have said it is difficult to accept as we always want answers and want to know if we could have done anything to save our precious guineas unfortunately it's not generally possible. Be kind to yourself as you grieve her loss.
Popcorn happily over the Rainbow Bridge little Fudge Brownie 🌈🙏💕
Click to expand...
Thank you so much, everyone’s messages have really helped me. At the moment I am doing my best to remember her as she was in life and taking care of her two brothers. It soothes my pain to know there is not much I could’ve done to prevent her departure, and that she had the best care while she was with us❤️
 
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