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Specialist mysterious number of guinea pigs dying

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helen higgins

New Born Pup
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hello everyone,

just hope for any advice/ information/ suggestions anyone might have. We are generally very experienced guinea pig owned. have always had a large group and the piggies have been overall fit and healthy. we have all of sudden lost 4 guinea pigs in the space of a month and another one is ill. all of them have been under 3 years old. youngest under one. the symptoms have been varied and we don't know if we are just being very unlucky or if we have a serious problem within the herd. we have two 6 year olds in the group who are currently very fit and well. all the rest seem fit and well but that seems to be the case for each that has then subsequently got ill very quickly.

they all stop eating that is the common symptom. we have taken each to the vets. they have prescribed various medication for each. giving them recovery food alongside it. one had an operation to try and deal with excess gas but didn't survive (she was quite sick by then, so last resort), the next had an x ray and there was a possible grow or blockage, the next had bad back teeth, then the next we never found anything in particular and this current sick one has started with what looks like a uri which we feel we caught very quickly as we have been ultra paranoid and watch for any issue. taken straight to vets but she herself has now stopped eating.

I'm just on here asking if anyone can think of any potential virus or bacterial guinea pig related illness that can go through herds that we have not thought about. the vet is now getting us to weigh all of the them and monitor all of them. and we might need to do tests on them.

any thoughts, suggestions very welcome. we are at our wits end and nursing one after the other for them all to pass is destroying me.
 
I’m sorry you’ve lost so many in such a short time. What were the other symptoms apart from stopping eating? Is there anything you’ve changed? Do you have any other pets in the household? It’s difficult to take a guess. I think the only way to find out the causes would be an autopsy.

With regards your ill piggy, are you syringe feeding her? And weighing her daily to help maintain through syringe feeding? You say a URI, what were her symptoms apart from not eating? Was she prescribed any meds at all?

Please can you also add your location to your profile. County/state or country is enough 😊
 
Firstly,I’m so sorry for the ones you have lost and the current nightmare you find yourself in. That is honestly devastating.

I can’t think of an illness/disease myself...is there anything you can think of that you’ve done differently? A new treat? Different batch of hay? New spray in the cage?
 
we haven't changed anything. same food, hay etc. we haven't changed the way we have looked after guineapigs for years and never had anything like this. had new piggies join the group but thats it.

current one. vet could hear rasping as she was breathing and I'm syringe feeding her and bayrill.
 
yes weighing her daily. she has lots about 10grams each day for last 3 days and poos very small and dry. also prescribed metacam
 
regarding other symptoms in the others. they were quick puffed up and sitting rather than lying down sleeping. as they got worse eyes looked sunken. not moving much. but barely any other outward symptom. one had crusty eyes but none of the others did.
 
helen higgins said:
hello everyone,

just hope for any advice/ information/ suggestions anyone might have. We are generally very experienced guinea pig owned. have always had a large group and the piggies have been overall fit and healthy. we have all of sudden lost 4 guinea pigs in the space of a month and another one is ill. all of them have been under 3 years old. youngest under one. the symptoms have been varied and we don't know if we are just being very unlucky or if we have a serious problem within the herd. we have two 6 year olds in the group who are currently very fit and well. all the rest seem fit and well but that seems to be the case for each that has then subsequently got ill very quickly.

they all stop eating that is the common symptom. we have taken each to the vets. they have prescribed various medication for each. giving them recovery food alongside it. one had an operation to try and deal with excess gas but didn't survive (she was quite sick by then, so last resort), the next had an x ray and there was a possible grow or blockage, the next had bad back teeth, then the next we never found anything in particular and this current sick one has started with what looks like a uri which we feel we caught very quickly as we have been ultra paranoid and watch for any issue. taken straight to vets but she herself has now stopped eating.

I'm just on here asking if anyone can think of any potential virus or bacterial guinea pig related illness that can go through herds that we have not thought about. the vet is now getting us to weigh all of the them and monitor all of them. and we might need to do tests on them.

any thoughts, suggestions very welcome. we are at our wits end and nursing one after the other for them all to pass is destroying me.
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome

I am very sorry that any loving owner's nightmare is coming true for you.

Are you support feeding any piggies losing their appetite? Small dry pellets reflect a reduced intake of food and water.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Could you please give a bit more background - just how many piggies are living together? Are they outdoors or indoors? Do you also have other pets or animals that could come into contact? Have you had a post-mortem examination done? Are quarantining any piggies with obvious symptoms as soon as they are showing any?

What have the various symptoms been exactly? So far, it is rather too vague to get the teeth into anything.

There is quite a range of real nasties that piggies can pick up from other rodents, for instance, or from rabbits. There are also other bugs around that can cause havoc. Please accept that none of us is a vet or can replace a vet.

@PigglePuggle
 
only have a dog, who has been around the piggies for year, but never gets too close to them. she avoids them.

I'm syringe feeding the current one, she has been fine with that until today and not very happy with it tonight. Still trying to eat food in her cage but not able to eat much and eating very slowly.

they all live in doors all year round in a dining room in a big c and c cage. we now have 10. had 14 just before Christmas. they were in 2 groups but now all in one as only have one neutered male left. we have realy separate. did with one of them but it has been so quick when they have down hill.

the only symptoms that have told us something is wrong. has been legathgy, slowing down of eating to stopping eating. puffed up. not getting comfortable to sleep. and then when we have noticed the first signs of this we have taken to vets. where each had something different wrong.

1st stomach full of gas (we may have not caught her symptoms early enough) but nothing else

2nd possible blockage in intestine. vets through it could be a cancerous growth

3rd bad back teeth but then the symptoms of not eating enough with the gassy stomach

4th nothing obvious noticed by the vet in addition to the not eating

this current one. raspy when breathing. now showing the not eating and discomfort when I pick her up around her stomach

so notca great deal to go with.
 
helen higgins said:
only have a dog, who has been around the piggies for year, but never gets too close to them. she avoids them.

I'm syringe feeding the current one, she has been fine with that until today and not very happy with it tonight. Still trying to eat food in her cage but not able to eat much and eating very slowly.

they all live in doors all year round in a dining room in a big c and c cage. we now have 10. had 14 just before Christmas. they were in 2 groups but now all in one as only have one neutered male left. we have realy separate. did with one of them but it has been so quick when they have down hill.

the only symptoms that have told us something is wrong. has been legathgy, slowing down of eating to stopping eating. puffed up. not getting comfortable to sleep. and then when we have noticed the first signs of this we have taken to vets. where each had something different wrong.

1st stomach full of gas (we may have not caught her symptoms early enough) but nothing else

2nd possible blockage in intestine. vets through it could be a cancerous growth

3rd bad back teeth but then the symptoms of not eating enough with the gassy stomach

4th nothing obvious noticed by the vet in addition to the not eating

this current one. raspy when breathing. now showing the not eating and discomfort when I pick her up around her stomach

so notca great deal to go with.
Click to expand...

Thank you; that does help, as this means that we can largely exclude the zoonotic angle. it sounds like something impacting mainly on the digestive tract.

With indoors piggies in winter, it is always worth asking (if only to exclude it) - have you checked any potential gas build up? We see the occasional case on here and the onset is generally with similar symptoms - lethargy and loss of appetite.
 
yes. got a new boiler last year and working carbon monoxide alarm. they do live near a wood burning stove that we have had on a lot during winter
 
just check with my husband and realised our carbon monoxide alarm does need replacing. so just order 2 more alarms. thanks for the suggestion. I am currently being regularly tested for carbon monoxide poisoning dur to pregnancy and scoring 0 on the machine, so hoping that our central heating is ok
 
helen higgins said:
just check with my husband and realised our carbon monoxide alarm does need replacing. so just order 2 more alarms. thanks for the suggestion. I am currently being regularly tested for carbon monoxide poisoning dur to pregnancy and scoring 0 on the machine, so hoping that our central heating is ok
Click to expand...

The poisoning cases I have come so far across have generally been slower in terms of development, but it is a potential angle that needs to be looked at and hopefully excluded.

PS: As upsetting as another death will be for you, I would recommend to have a post mortem examination done and any lab tests your vet may recommend depending on his findings. There is nothing that has me sitting up and snapping my fingers thinking that I have come across exactly this on this forum before. The real nasties are rare but can be rather varied unfortunately. :(
 
In regards, to any new additions:

When did they join your herd?
Where did they come from?
Did you quarantine them?
Do they appear well?

Any chance that vermin have been visiting your guinea pigs?

In these circumstances, it is always advisable to replace any food, and perform a deep clean with suitable disinfectant.
 
hi,

New ones have been with us for 2 months so a month before first one got sick. they had been returned to the local pet shops as unwanted and they had quarantined them and health checked them before allowing us to take them home. so didn't do a further quarantine.

we have had mice in the past and our next door neighbour has had pest control in and we consider both them being infected by the mice or being affected by mice poison but there has been no sign in our house for about 4 or 5 months so have ruled that out.

we are going to do a full deep clean. that is a good idea.
 
Gave the new ones fallen ill? Or is it just your longstanding herd members?
 
Hi, I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. The wood burning stove/ carbon monoxide is a possible issue, but also possibly some infection that is spreading... the common symptoms you describe of lethargy, discimfort and appetite loss are all rather vague unfortunately- and it is also possible that this is just a run of bad luck, as you mention a possible tumour in one piggy and teeth problems in another :(
Checking the poops for parasite eggs, and a bacterial culture of the poops, may give some clues- though from what you say, and with them being indoor piggies, this is unlikely- however it is possible that one of your new piggies has brought some parasite or infection in, that they are more tolerant of themselves but your other piggies have never had to deal with before. A routine vet check wouldnt necessarily pick that sort of thing up.
So I would really be having a conversation with your vet about extra diagnostics, I'm sorry we cannot say anything more definitive- I hope things get resolved x
 
East Anglian Guinea Pig Rescue had an outbreak of something nasty in 2019. Sadly they lost a lot of their piggies. I can't remember what the disease was they had or the symptoms but I'm sure if you contact them via Facebook they will be able to tell you.
 
thats everything for comments so far. sadly Autumn also died this morning and in my arms. we are getting an autopsy done. so hopefully might get some answers there. Currently all of the rest seem OK at present so fingers crossed. Will keep you posted if some specific comes back from autopsy.
 
I’m so sorry for your loss. Hopefully an autopsy can give you some answers, and closure. 💕
 
Wow how worrying for you.
So sorry you lost some piggies. .
Wish i could help. . I heard of mulit deaths before . .
Hope it stops and you and piggie get some answers. :hmm:
 
I wanted to send love as what an awful time you’re going through.
So very sorry for your losses 🌈 hope you get some answers soon
 
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