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Help my guinea pig has died aged 7 months

  • Thread starter Thread starter cazzle
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cazzle

Hi everyone!

In January , we acquired two guinea pigs - both female called Millie and Poppy. Poppy sadly died two weeks later (we were not sure how old she was - she was an unwanted pet and we rehomed her ) - Millie seemed to be very upset (as Poppy was her sister).

For some company for Millie, we bought Sammy - a nice little fella and they got on really well and stayed together until Millie had babies (I posted on here when she was due - she had four babies but one died at birth) - We named the babies Cassandra, Del Boy and Rodney (Yes, I know we are Only fools and horses fans) - Sammy was moved to his own luxury apartment, Del Boy and Rodney live in a big house and Millie and Cassandra shared another big house. Everything was wonderful - they are spoilt - really spoilt . They have loads of fresh fruit and veggies daily, regular Vitamin C drops , water bottles scrubbed with a brush to get rid of every trace of any algae. The veg is washed . They eat a fruity dried guinea pig mix. I get the compacted dust free shavings , meadow hay , bedding hay all from the same pet store. The guinea pigs are cuddled frequently and seem very content and happy.

That was until Sunday morning - I went out and took the hutch covers off to find Cassandra had passed away in the night. I was absolutely gutted- I rang my mum as I always do in an emergency and she came to remove Cassies body and put her in a little coffin. There was no blood , no diarrhoea etc - in fact the day before she was really sprightly and eagerly awaiting her food !. My mum broke the news to the children and I rang my hubby at work and he was really upset too.

We have been wondering if millie had anything to do with both deaths as my hubby wants to get another female for company for her but, we are scared . We don't want to bring another guinea home and then find that she's passed away mysteriously too. We are dumbfounded and really confused. My mum thinks that we should bring the guineas in for the winter but the house is like a madhouse inside with 2 children, 2 dogs and lots of noise and I think this would stress them out.

We took all the guineas to the vets in the summer to have their nails clipped and the vet said they were all really healthy and no obvious heart problems etc.

Please will someone help - we don't know what to do next - do we get a companion for millie? We don't want her to be lonely.

thankyou

Carole xx

P.S we buried cassie later in the day next to poppy
 
R.I.P. Cassandra 0:)
I don't really know what to say except that I am sorry for your loss. If the cages are close together then I think she will have enough company just listening and speaking to the other piggies. I don't think I'd rush to get another pal for her just in case she has something that she is passing on to the others. I deffo would not bring them indoors - I think you're right that it would be overly stressful for them.
Unless there is a post mortem (quite pricey) you'll never know why she passed away. It could have been almost anything. Sorry I'm not much help.
Good luck! O0
 
I am very sorry for you and your family.To lose a piggy in any circumstance is heart breaking,but to find one dead is a shock as well.
This was almost certainly a heart attack and the piggy would have died instantly.This sadly does happen fairly often.It has happened to us several times over the years.
Heart defects are not always detectable so you cannot blame the vet for picking up on this,and there is not much you could have done anyway.
I would get a companion for Milliie asap because she will pine.Go to a rescue if you can and take Millie with you.A good rescue will let you try Millie with the sows they have there to see if she seems to take to one of them.Make sure you get a pig that is housed outside because putting a pig that is used to being indoors,out into a cold damp atmosphere could cause health problems.
By the way,if you give your pigs lots of veggies,there is no need to waste money on expensive vitimin supplements,they do not need them because they will get all they need from the diet.I never give supplements unless a piggy is poorly or is off the food because of dentals.Then I only give the supplement for a few days.Another thing,never put vits.or meds in the drinking water,this is dangerous because you do not know how much each pig has had,and some pigs drink a lot and some very little.This is expecially important with meds.as you need to give the exact dose at certain times.Vitimin also degrades very quickly so much better to give by syringe straight into the mouth.
I do hope you will all feel better soon,but it does take a while to get over the loss of a loved animal.
 
Welcome to the forum Cazzle, I'm sorry for your loss. I agree with everything Mary has said, and I too would be inclined to get a companion for Millie - there are some lovely piggies desperate for homes in rescues. Good luck and best wishes.
 
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