Heartbroken new mommy

sesen

sesen

New Born Pup
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Hi all,

I have been scolling the forums for a while now looking for tips on caring for my guinea pig, unfortunately today was a bad day for me, I will try make this as short as possible.

I live in Turkey in an apartment complex, about a year and a half ago I noticed a dog carrier placed in the corner of the grounds in the soil (garden beds). A chicken wire fence was placed around the carrier with about 1 meter to spare. The top was left open. Curiosity got to me and I went to have a look, there were 2 adult guinea pigs running around in the soil, the carrier was the only shelter they had and it had a huge opening so it barely served as a shelter. I later learnt from the grounds keeper that they belonged to a resident. Time went by, I never saw anyone interacting with them, in out long hot dry summers they were fully in the sun, our heatwave last year was record temperatures 48 degrees, and in winter the muddy area became a deep pool and our winters are icy. The owners never cared for them and once every few months the groundsman would hose out the dog carrier. I began buying food for them and hay, my children would take them some salad. We had to be careful not to offend anyone.

One day when going to take them a treat I noticed one was missing, apparently some sort of large bird decapitated the one - I was horrified, the other one witnessed this.

I managed to persuade the groundsman to ask the owners if I can take the one remaining piggy, as they didn't really care, to my surprise they agreed.

Peppa had been with me for the past 2 months, she settled in well, slowly as she had a very terrible life but she got there, a month ago pixie (2 months old) joined pappa and they were happy.

I have been battling with peppas runny tummy for about 2 weeks, a trip to the vet resulted in a medicine in their water bottle which they hated and stopped drinking, I refreshed the water and a few days later the poop started to firm. 2 days ago the runny tummy suddenly started again and I noticed Peppa was looking very frail, her coat looked different and her face wasn't the same. The vet gave her an antibiotic this morning, when we returned home things just went down, her eyes sank in and she just stopped moving, I offered her food and water but she refused (this was not normal for her). Pixie came to greet her them went upstairs in the cage and did not come back down to where Peppa was. 5 long hours later things were no better, we went back to the vet, her condition was so bad that we had to say our goodbyes.

I have been in tears the whole day, I tried to give this baby a chance in life, one better than they one she was dealt and she dies in my care.

My kids were devastated and Pixie being alone was my concern luckily the farm where Pixie came from still had Pixies siblings available so Snowy has joined the family.

I am concerned that I have done this with the way I have fed them and I am posting here for guidence.

I was initially advised that Guinea pigs need dry alfaalfa and timothy hay at all times, which I provided. Later after reading the forums I found out that the Alfaalfa could have been the cause of the runny poo so completely stopped that. Timothy hay is available at all times as well as high quality pellets and fresh water.

With Pappa, I provided about 4 leaves of romaine/cos lettuce leaves daily (for 2 piggies) twice per day, next to that I would alternate a cherry tomato (no seeds) or sliced carrot, or a little bit of cucumber, green bell pepper, a tiny amout of apple maybe once per week as a treat, a basil leaf maybe once a week.

Please please please, can you tell me if I am doing wrong? What I need to change, or add to keep them healthy, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you - Sorry for the long story, its been a horrible day :o(
 
I’m so sorry about all you have been through. It sounds like you gave Peppa a better life than she had and tried all you could to keep her healthy! I think the diet you have them on sounds good. I know they advise to take them off fresh vegetables and fruit if they have runny poops.
 
Welcome to the forum.
So sorry for your loss, especially after all you did for her.
She had a rotten start with uncaring owners but you gave her a loving home. That’s a precious gift.

I can’t add the links on this device but there’s a lot of really good advice on feeding available here.
It would be lovely to see pictures of Pixie and Snowy.
 
So sorry for your loss. It sounds like you did everything right and gave that piggy a home crammed full of love in a short time. Don’t be hard on yourself, you did everything right by her. Big hugs
 
Thank you, you are all so sweet, shall I continue to feed my little girls the same way I was doing before.

I do wonder if she had an underlying problem from being outside, neglected for so long but then that would have been apparent sooner? I only had her for a short while but I miss her, in the mornings she would wait in the same place to see me walking to the kitchen to get my attention, tomorrow morning will be hard.
 
The poor treatment Peppa had would have caused all sorts of health issues and guinea pigs hide illness well because they are prey animals.
A good diet is 80% hay and the rest pellets and veggies.
Give a variety of vegetables and always have plenty of fresh water.
Will be thinking of you tomorrow morning.
Remember that grieving takes time so you and your children need to look after yourselves as well.
There is a Rainbow Bridge section on the forum so feel free to post a tribute to Pixie there.
 
Hi and welcome!

You have done for Peppa what you could, and you have made her feel good and loved. She was lucky to find you and to find safety with you. You were very courageous in asking to take her on after the attack. For Peppa you have made a real difference in her life. Please feel sad, but do not think that you have failed her; you have done everything that a good and caring owner should do, long before you became one for her.

It is much more likely that her runny poos have been caused by her previous neglect and malnourishment. My bet is on intestinal parasites from the time the piggies were just left that horrible, uncleaned carrier and tiny enclosure. It would have also left her with a lowered immune system, so she would have had less of a chance to fend off illness. :(
PS: Please always stop feeding any fresh food when you notice diarrhea and step in with syringing water and fibre.
Guinea Lynx :: Diarrhea

You are welcome to post a tribute to her and her mate in our Rainbow Bridge section if you wish to, so they are remembered.

You may find our new owners' guide collection helpful; we are addressing all the areas that we get the most questions about, from diet, heat and cold weather care to learning what is normal and not; sexing, behaviour and making friends with humans. It also contains tips for a first aid kit, especially when you live in a country where some things are harder to come by.
But you are of course always welcome to ask any questions you may have in our Care sections or look up more information on a very wide range of subjects via our guides shortcut on the top bar. We are a friendly forum and do our best to answer all questions in a good way. We have all started from scratch at some point in our lives... and we try to never forget that!
I am sure that your other guinea pigs are well loved and well looked after; we all keep learning all the time!
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

You may also find this section about safe and unsafe medication for guinea pigs helpful whenever you need to see a vet, as you are unlikely to find a vet who is familiar with guinea pigs and rodents. it would be good if you could take a link or a copy with you whenever you need to see a vet. It is especially useful if you do not have access to piggy savvy vets:
Safe medications for guinea pigs: Guinea Lynx :: Medications
Dangerous medications: Guinea Lynx :: Dangerous Medications

Since we have members from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country to your details so we can tailor any advice and recommendations in ways that are the most helpful for you and take your climate, access to medical care and brands etc. into consideration straight away to make sure that you and your guinea pigs can get the best of care that is possible for you. Please click on your username on the top bar, then go to account details and down to location to add your country. This makes it appear with every post you make and saves us all time.
thank you!
 
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