Question about unexpected Guinea pig death.

[J@mes]

So I have a question. Can someone tell me why my guinea pig was doing perfectly fine And then I put her in the shower to take a bath because she had buildup on her and she got out was perfectly fine and then died within the next five hours

 

[weepweeps]

I’m so sorry you have lost your piggy. That must of been an awful shock for you. The only real way to find out would be for a vet to do a post-mortem. This is quite expensive and may not give you a reason anyway. I suppose the stress of having the wash or breathing water into the lungs could both be reasons. Was she an older piggy? Was she showing any signs of illness before the wash? They hide their illnesses so well that she may have been ill. I’m so sorry.

 

[J@mes]

I’m so sorry you have lost your piggy. That must of been an awful shock for you. The only real way to find out would be for a vet to do a post-mortem. This is quite expensive and may not give you a reason anyway. I suppose the stress of having the wash or breathing water into the lungs could both be reasons. Was she an older piggy? Was she showing any signs of illness before the wash? They hide their illnesses so well that she may have been ill. I’m so sorry.

She was a little over a year and she was acting the same as she usually do but when I had her in the water she was laying down and the water was just enough to wet her legs

 

[weepweeps]

Bless her. I’m sure you gave her a wonderful life. I’m so sorry.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

HUGS

I am so sorry!

The urge to make sense of what has happened and to get a handle of your inevitable feelings of guilt is very strong when something traumatic like this happens. Unfortunately, we cannot tell you what has gone wrong; only a post-mortem examination at the vet's can

What I can however say is guinea pigs don't die just like that after a bath; the stress of it may have provided the spark to an already primed problem to go off - more likely a genetic fault at that young age. But if that was the case, then it would have happened anyway sooner rather than later at the next suitable occasion or simply out of the blue if there wasn't any trigger. But you have certainly not caused it!

Sudden deaths out of the blue can happen at any age - I have just come from a quick shopping trip on Wednesday to find my 6 years old Teggy quite literally taking her last breath without any warning; but I have lost piggies as young as 1 year old to sudden acute heart failure myself and dealt with owners losing even younger piggies on this forum.

You may find the supportive, practical but sensitive information via this link here helpful as will help you to make sense of the strong and often unexpected emotions you are experiencing now and in the coming days. The guide link will also help you to look after any bereaved piggy companions.
Death, Dying, Terminal Illness; Human Grieving and Bereaved Companions: Information and Support for Owners and Their Children

 

[Seven7]

Sorry to hear it!

My Finn, a long haired piggy always had his bum baths then a haircut afterwards and he is 5 years old now. I have had him since he was a little baby of 3 months old.

I doubt a bath would have caused the death of a piggy. I am not an expert though. However, I do cut his nail on a separate day to cut down his stress.

 

[Merab]

So sorry for your loss

 

[Freela]

I'm really sorry for your loss. That must have been an awful shock! Unfortunately, there's no way to say for sure. It's possible that she aspirated water, even if the water wasn't deep. It's also possible that stress triggered an underlying condition (there are seeminly fine piggies out there who have inherited heart conditions that can be triggered by minor illnesses or stressful events.) Unfortunately there's no way to know for sure, even though that's a tough pill to swallow when you want answers. Again, so sorry that this happened to your piggie.