Digital-Sneeze
Junior Guinea Pig
So this is my 5th guinea pig loss, sadly the 4th only 5 weeks ago, but it's my first that is a shock. All my other lost pigs I've had mental preparation time, and it's hard to know what to do or feel.
Beansprout had an acute case of bloat about 3 weeks ago, but thankfully recovered quite quickly after getting the appropriate medication. From that point on I completely stopped giving her lettuce and cucumber, and only very small amounts of green bean, as I suspected that might be a trigger. The following weeks she was doing well and I was getting ready to find her a friend (after she lost Cinnamon a few weeks prior), but one evening I stupidly gave her a treat (it was the Excel natural snacks), and her stomach started loudly gargling about half an hour later, which I knew was a bad sign.
The next day she followed the exact same symptoms as before: very uncomfortable, darting back and forth in the cage and not being able to rest comfortably. I immediately restarted the med course that was given to me a few weeks earlier, as I still had the meds (metaclopromide, loxicom and buprenorphine) . Anyway, the next day I realised that it was worse this time, she wasn't taking her syringe feed as well, she started making a grunting sound (which I realise now may have been backed up fluid) and her poos effectively stopped. She seemed in distinct pain this time around. After taking her back to the same vet as before, she said this time that it seemed like their was a blockage in her stomach and that she recommended an overnight stay and xrays, and possibly surgery.
It wasn't even two hours when I had a call, and the vet said it appeared she had a twisted gut. She said that this surgery would be a 10% chance of success, but as a last ditch attempt she suggested that a tube be passed through her to determine if there was a blockage and to try and push through what was there, which I agreed to. Less than an hour later she called back and said that she was unsuccessful with this, and that she was very much blocked from her twisted gut, so I opted at this point for PTSD.
I took her in expecting to bring her home with more meds. The idea of a twisted gut had occurred to me but it wasn't what I was expecting, all this in the space of a few hours. I wish I could have given her the chance of surgery, but it was financially impossible after Cinnamon's vet trips, but the 10% chance of success will always haunt me. After £1500 in 5 weeks I have financially crippled myself, and have had to borrow in order to get her an individual cremation.
I'm taking a hard line with my remaining 3 pigs: no more treats other than hay and their daily veg, this is the lesson I'm taking from this.
I'm sorry I'm such a lurker on this forum. I only come here for my own problems, but I find guinea pig pain so hard to deal with that even hearing about other pigs that are ill or mistreated upsets me, so I create a bubble for myself. I don't even look at other photos of guinea pigs because it makes me think about their mortality. I will try and contribute more in the future. Right now though I am going to do something I never do and drink by myself, because I can't figure anything at the moment.
Beansprout had an acute case of bloat about 3 weeks ago, but thankfully recovered quite quickly after getting the appropriate medication. From that point on I completely stopped giving her lettuce and cucumber, and only very small amounts of green bean, as I suspected that might be a trigger. The following weeks she was doing well and I was getting ready to find her a friend (after she lost Cinnamon a few weeks prior), but one evening I stupidly gave her a treat (it was the Excel natural snacks), and her stomach started loudly gargling about half an hour later, which I knew was a bad sign.
The next day she followed the exact same symptoms as before: very uncomfortable, darting back and forth in the cage and not being able to rest comfortably. I immediately restarted the med course that was given to me a few weeks earlier, as I still had the meds (metaclopromide, loxicom and buprenorphine) . Anyway, the next day I realised that it was worse this time, she wasn't taking her syringe feed as well, she started making a grunting sound (which I realise now may have been backed up fluid) and her poos effectively stopped. She seemed in distinct pain this time around. After taking her back to the same vet as before, she said this time that it seemed like their was a blockage in her stomach and that she recommended an overnight stay and xrays, and possibly surgery.
It wasn't even two hours when I had a call, and the vet said it appeared she had a twisted gut. She said that this surgery would be a 10% chance of success, but as a last ditch attempt she suggested that a tube be passed through her to determine if there was a blockage and to try and push through what was there, which I agreed to. Less than an hour later she called back and said that she was unsuccessful with this, and that she was very much blocked from her twisted gut, so I opted at this point for PTSD.
I took her in expecting to bring her home with more meds. The idea of a twisted gut had occurred to me but it wasn't what I was expecting, all this in the space of a few hours. I wish I could have given her the chance of surgery, but it was financially impossible after Cinnamon's vet trips, but the 10% chance of success will always haunt me. After £1500 in 5 weeks I have financially crippled myself, and have had to borrow in order to get her an individual cremation.
I'm taking a hard line with my remaining 3 pigs: no more treats other than hay and their daily veg, this is the lesson I'm taking from this.
I'm sorry I'm such a lurker on this forum. I only come here for my own problems, but I find guinea pig pain so hard to deal with that even hearing about other pigs that are ill or mistreated upsets me, so I create a bubble for myself. I don't even look at other photos of guinea pigs because it makes me think about their mortality. I will try and contribute more in the future. Right now though I am going to do something I never do and drink by myself, because I can't figure anything at the moment.