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Sudden guinea pig death.

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larsond

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I would appreciate some help understanding a sudden guinea pig death. Have 2 happy , seemingly healthy your bones, just over a year old. Went to check on them this morning and rather than both of them squeeking at the cage bars one was cowering downstairs in the hutch and the other one hadn't come out of their bedroom. Opened bedroom and saw poor pig lying on back , legs sticking in air with blood all over nose. The house had been tipped over and there was hay everywhere. It looks to have been quite a violent death.

There are no bite marks on the body and the blood has come from the nose.

My only thoughts are some sort of seizure, has anyone experienced similar ?
 
Sorry I have no experience of this. I just wanted to offer my condolences and say I’m so sorry for your loss

rest in peace little one 🌈
 
I’m so sorry that you have lost one of our little piggies x
It sounds like he had a very sudden death and he would not have felt any pain or suffered. Your other little piggie is going to feel very sad and it might be a good idea to bring him inside for compan, so you can keep an eye on him and make sure he eats and doesn’t become depressed.
At some point you need to consider finding a new friend, perhaps boar dating at a rescue so he can choose a new friend ☺️
 
Thank you for your advice we'll do that. Spot seems absolutely fine and enjoying the extra attention.
 
I am very sorry. Unfortunately, we cannot enlighten you as to what has happened; it must have been rather traumatic for the companion as many sudden deaths are. A heart attack can cause a piggy to lunge uncontrolled and fall over, for example; and they can happen at any time of life if a piggy is living with genetic time bomb. This however must always remain speculation.

Please be aware that blood or other bodily fluids can be released in the dying moments or shortly after. Bleeding from nose or mouth is not quite uncommon in the newly died and doesn't mean that a fight or something nasty has happened.
Piggies can sometimes fall on their back and not be able to get up again. This position is very strenuous for breathing and can lead to severe heart strain and potential death if it goes on for hours.

I nearly lost a ca. 8 years old piggy of mine that way; she was very frail and suffered from regular mild bloating episodes, which got worse from her lying on the back and in turn made it impossible for her to twist around.
We were just about to decide to pts at the out of hours vets (as usual with these things, it happened on a Sunday morning) when she showed faint signs of recovery. Ffraid lived for another three weeks until a heat spike proved too much for her fragile heart/circulation to cope with.

You may find the information via this guide link here helpful, both in terms of what you can do practically for the companion now and in the coming weeks and for yourself. Intense soul-searching and the need to make sense of what has just happen in an unexpected sudden death are very typical for the onset of the grieving process.
Here is the link: Death, Dying, Terminal Illness, Grieving and Bereaved Companions: Information and Support for Owners and Their Children
 
Thank you for the replies, although it looked bad thinking about it he may have just passed peacefully and the blood / fluid has come out as a natural process. The companion pig may have got upset and upturned the house and hay trying to get a reaction out of his dead pal. Perhaps even pulling him into the unnatural position.

Your guides are incredibly useful and we will follow them where we can. We'll keep an eye on spot for a week before deciding if /how to introduce a new pig.
 
I'm so sorry for your loss. You have had so many useful suggestions already which might explain what you found.
The only thing I could add is that if your piggies are kept outside it might be worth double-checking that no intruders like rats/foxes/cats can break into/out of the cage. Piggies can die of shock… especially if they already have some sort of inherent weakness to the heart, and there are a lot of predators that can come sniffing round at night. If anything has been visiting there's a chance it could return so it will put your mind at rest to know your lone boy's cage is physically secure and he can hide away if he is scared on his own. A friend would be best as he might live another 5 years yet and that is a long time to be without a companion. Rescues can give you lots of good advice about pairing him up. So sorry once again x
 
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