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Please Help

M

MJelly

New Born Pup
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My baby guinea pig was born recently and he was fine until this morning and i saw him laying in his side with his eyes kinda closed and breathing heavily. He falls over when stood up and i’ve tried giving him some water and putting him w the mom but I don’t know what to do, please help, I'm worried something is really wrong.
 
MJelly said:
My baby guinea pig was born recently and he was fine until this morning and i saw him laying in his side with his eyes kinda closed and breathing heavily. He falls over when stood up and i’ve tried giving him some water and putting him w the mom but I don’t know what to do, please help, I'm worried something is really wrong.
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Hi

BIG HUGS

Please contact your vet clinic asap for advice but I am very sorry that it may already be too late and that he is not going to make it there. It sounds like your piggy is dying from likely sudden acute heart failure. :(

This guide here talks you through the natural dying process step by step in a very practical way. It's not one I enjoy linking into any post but I feel strongly that it is the one that is helping you the most right now: A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs

PS: Please don't feel like it is your fault or anything you have done wrong. It isn't. Your boy has been born with a genetic defect and with a time bomb in his body that could go off without warning at any time - sadly, it has done so immediately.

I have lost a couple of younger piggies myself this way if that is any consolation to you. The worst is the shock and the helplessness you are feeling. Please take the time to read the chapter about multiple organ failure. It contains tips on what you can actually do along the way.
Keep your boy warm but not hot and try to mak sure that the head is slightly higher than the body. If he starts fitting towards the end, take him on your arm wrapped up well so he cannot jump off when the blood circulation breaks down and the limbs become oxygen deprived. We call this stage 'running to the Rainbow Bridge' since consciousness will be also dimmed. It is worse to be there and watch, so try to be kind with yourself. Dying is a much more physical process that you'd expect.

My thoughts are with you and your beloved little boy. Stumbling into life only to stumble out of it again is so hard and utterly heart-breaking. :(
 
Update: Baby guinea pig is alive but weak, mother pretty much ignores her (my bad she’s a girl not a boy) I am feeding her myself and she is doing a lot better but still worried. I hope she’ll get better.
 
I'm afraid I have no advice for you, just want to offer support for you and the baby ❤️
 
MJelly said:
Update: Baby guinea pig is alive but weak, mother pretty much ignores her (my bad she’s a girl not a boy) I am feeding her myself and she is doing a lot better but still worried. I hope she’ll get better.
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Hi

Great that the little girl is still there.

Here are our feeding tips for orphans/refused babies; anything that goes into the lungs is fatal. https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...pport-feeding-orphans-and-tiny-babies.159468/

Please be aware that you are very much up against it; babies are soo fragile and can go downhill so very quickly.

Any pregnancy takes a huge lot of the mother because of the length of it and the size of her pups, so wasting even more resources on a pup that is not right could make the difference between another pup surviving or not. Guinea pigs have much more acute senses than we humans so they notice before us. Biology is brutal for guinea pigs; especially female ones.

That is one of the reasons why we are a strictly no intentional breeding forum and why we run this section only as a courtesy for members faced with a pregnancy or surprise babies not of their own making.
 
Sending hugs and wheeks to you both and keeping fingers and paws crossed 💖
 
MJelly said:
Update: She died an hour ago. I feel horrible, I thought she was going to be ok. I hope she is happier now.

R.I.P Chicken Nugget
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HUGE HUGS

I am so very sorry. The live-born babies that are not making it are the always hardest deaths to cope with emotionally. :( :( :(

Please try to take comfort from the fact that Chicken Nuggets has known love and care in her short life and that you have truly done your best. There is nothing more you or your vet could have done in the face of a massive genetic birth defect. Her little life has meaning because of you. :(

Your current overwhelming feelings of failure and guilt are in fact an expression of your commitment and the depth of your love and are by no means a reflection of any actual mistakes. We all have them at the onset of the grieving process (only an owner who truly doesn't care won't) but they are so much stronger when you lose such an innocent, helpless little being in such traumtic circumstances. You were her true momma and you have given her the love she would have wanted. :(

You are welcome to post a tribute to beautiful little Chicken Nugget in our Rainbow Bridge section if you think it would help you to remember her formally and make her existence - and your desperate fight for it - count ; if or whenever it feels right for you. There is no obligation or time constraint. The section is simply there for all those who want to make use of it.

If you struggle for yourself and are unable to sleep properly, function or process, please seek help with a pet bereavement service in your country. Talking is the best thing you can do for yourself.
Our grieving guide will hopefully help you. It is sensitive but also very practical and contains more ways in which you can help yourself to absorb and process the traumatic events of the last 24 hours.
Human Bereavement: Grieving, Processing and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children

PS: Please try to enjoy the rest of the baby family and their antics. They are the best antidote. The life-affirming joy doesn't take away anything from the pain of your loss; it just balances things out a little. As I know myself from bringing my wedding forward to fulfill my terminally ill dad's biggest wish from me (seeing me finally happily married), it is not quite easy to live with the extremes of happiness and grief at the same time but it is possible. You can find and draw strength and a kind of solace from watching her live on in her siblings and in seeing them thrive.
 
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