Hi, thank you for taking the time to read my post.
In October 2019, we adopted 2 incredible guinea pigs. One of them was called Timmie and she was always so energetic, she was so so so adorable, always happy and very very excited for food.
Around april 11, I noticed that Tim's butt was very dirty. At that time, I was convinced that she was had just a little accident and was only dirty because of that. At that time, we didn't really noticed a change in behavior. Only after her death, we realised that she was eating less pellets and was hiding a bit more often than usually, but we didn't notice it at that time, only after her death. On april 15, Tim was still very dirty and the cage was really smelly. We haven't linked this with her being dirty. We also cleaned Tim that day and that's when I realized (way way way too late, I feel really really bad for noticing it that late) that she had diarrhea. We didn't see any soft stools in the cage, only around her butt. On April 15, her appetite didn't seem to be less than usual. On the 16, I really began worrying, I did some research but was really occupied with school. From what we remember, she was still walking normally and eating (but less than usually, we believe she was in fact not eating pellets and only ate a bit of vegetables). Things went downhill from April 17. She was eating way less, even refusing to eat lettuce. She was still eating some things like hay and a bit of parsley. We really thought that she was still eating, but after thinking about it, she might have been eating a lot less than we thought at that time. We also noticed that there was blood around her butt. On the 18, she was still eating, but very very very little. I started (wayy to late, i know) to force feed her on april 18 in the late afternoon. We were not equipped adequately, it was the first time we were dealing with a very sick guinea pig. The slury I made was very liquid since we didn't have the proper syringes. The morning of that day, she seemed able to walk normally, we began to saw that she had cloudy/crusty eyes. We called the vet, but they were fully booked until april 20. On april 18, in the evening, she was having a lot of difficulties to walk. I was so painful to see her and I was still hoping we could help her by force feeding her. She had not pooped a lot in the past days. On the 19, I took the day off to nurse her. I woke up, on the 19, to her having difficulties to breath, she passed few minutes after that.
I feel so so so much guilt. Our lack of knowledge and our very very late response was fatal for her. I knew guinea pigs were fragile, but I was not prepared for that drastic of a change. After her death, we really noticed her change in behavior (eating less pellets, hiding a lot, she was also not laying down as much maybe her belly was hurting). We really neglected her and that's what is killing me. A lot of sings were there, but we only noticed it when it was way way too late. It was a busy week for me and I prioritized other things, I don't think I will ever forgive myself. I am really wondering what got her to that stage. Only two weeks before, she seemed in perfect health. I really hope it was really her time to pass and that her death is not because of us. We did what we thought was right but we were so far off. She was about 5 (we didn't know exactly her birth date). At least, she can now rest peacefully. She was my ray of sunshine.
Thank you
In October 2019, we adopted 2 incredible guinea pigs. One of them was called Timmie and she was always so energetic, she was so so so adorable, always happy and very very excited for food.
Around april 11, I noticed that Tim's butt was very dirty. At that time, I was convinced that she was had just a little accident and was only dirty because of that. At that time, we didn't really noticed a change in behavior. Only after her death, we realised that she was eating less pellets and was hiding a bit more often than usually, but we didn't notice it at that time, only after her death. On april 15, Tim was still very dirty and the cage was really smelly. We haven't linked this with her being dirty. We also cleaned Tim that day and that's when I realized (way way way too late, I feel really really bad for noticing it that late) that she had diarrhea. We didn't see any soft stools in the cage, only around her butt. On April 15, her appetite didn't seem to be less than usual. On the 16, I really began worrying, I did some research but was really occupied with school. From what we remember, she was still walking normally and eating (but less than usually, we believe she was in fact not eating pellets and only ate a bit of vegetables). Things went downhill from April 17. She was eating way less, even refusing to eat lettuce. She was still eating some things like hay and a bit of parsley. We really thought that she was still eating, but after thinking about it, she might have been eating a lot less than we thought at that time. We also noticed that there was blood around her butt. On the 18, she was still eating, but very very very little. I started (wayy to late, i know) to force feed her on april 18 in the late afternoon. We were not equipped adequately, it was the first time we were dealing with a very sick guinea pig. The slury I made was very liquid since we didn't have the proper syringes. The morning of that day, she seemed able to walk normally, we began to saw that she had cloudy/crusty eyes. We called the vet, but they were fully booked until april 20. On april 18, in the evening, she was having a lot of difficulties to walk. I was so painful to see her and I was still hoping we could help her by force feeding her. She had not pooped a lot in the past days. On the 19, I took the day off to nurse her. I woke up, on the 19, to her having difficulties to breath, she passed few minutes after that.
I feel so so so much guilt. Our lack of knowledge and our very very late response was fatal for her. I knew guinea pigs were fragile, but I was not prepared for that drastic of a change. After her death, we really noticed her change in behavior (eating less pellets, hiding a lot, she was also not laying down as much maybe her belly was hurting). We really neglected her and that's what is killing me. A lot of sings were there, but we only noticed it when it was way way too late. It was a busy week for me and I prioritized other things, I don't think I will ever forgive myself. I am really wondering what got her to that stage. Only two weeks before, she seemed in perfect health. I really hope it was really her time to pass and that her death is not because of us. We did what we thought was right but we were so far off. She was about 5 (we didn't know exactly her birth date). At least, she can now rest peacefully. She was my ray of sunshine.
Thank you
