We lost two of our boys last week

[Jonttufantti]

We had 4 guinea pig boys and at sunday 17.12. two of them stopped eating and drinking. We started to syringe feed/drink them at the same day and did it every 3 hours around the clock. We got veterinarian appointment at tuesday 19.12.. At this time our boys were still relativly active, just not consuming anything. The veterinarian advertised herself to be speacialized at exotic Animals. She listened their hearth and lungs with stethoscope, touched their bellies and checked the teeth. She said everything sounded normal but Boom-Boom had discharge on the eyes and green snot on the nose. She concluded that he isnt eating because of infection and she prescribed antibiotics to him. EXOFLOX VET 25mg/ml, the dose was 0,18 ml twice a day. Boom-Boom weighted 900 grams, he was almost one year old. I guess the antibiotic is similiar than Baytril, both has main combonent in both seems to Be enrofloxacin. She said that Bob had spikes on his back molars and thats the reason that he is not eating, they were filed down. Bob was 1,01 kg and 2,5 years old. Both of our boys were prescribed metacam for cats and guinea pigs 0,5 mg/ml. Dosage was for Boom-Boom 0,36 ml a day and for Bob 0,4 ml a day. They gave us only 3 ml bottle of this stuff. They both were also prescribed Primperan 0,1ml to stimulate the gut. It was to be given to them twice a day. Additional instruction was to keep syringe feeding them until they could eat by themselves. After few days at friday 22.12. Boom-Booms condition crashed, he went floppy and died on My lap. Sunday at christmas eve same happened to Bob. It was very shocking how fast we lost them. My wife cryed the whole christmas. Both of them were completly healthy before this.

So why I am telling this is to get some kind of closure. I have been thinking that maybe I could have done something different to save them. Its only been couple of days since losing them but god I miss them so much. If anybody has any thoughts about this, please share with me. Could I have done something better? Did the vet take this serioysly enough? Were we just unlucky?

We still have two boys left, they are now very quiet compared to before, but seems to be healthy otherwise, eating and drinking. I cleaned and disinfected everything in their cage, so I hope they stay healthy.

 

[weepweeps]

I’m so sorry you have lost two of your piggies. It sounds like you did everything right. You noticed they were poorly and took them to the vets. That’s all you could do. The vet sounds like they knew what they were doing as well. Sometimes the call to the rainbow bridge is just too strong and no matter what you do you can’t fix everything. They had a wonderful life with you and they are together forever now. Popcorn high boys.

 

[Jonttufantti]

I’m so sorry you have lost two of your piggies. It sounds like you did everything right. You noticed they were poorly and took them to the vets. That’s all you could do. The vet sounds like they knew what they were doing as well. Sometimes the call to the rainbow bridge is just too strong and no matter what you do you can’t fix everything. They had a wonderful life with you and they are together forever now. Popcorn high boys.

Thank you so much! You don't know how much reading this means to us

 

[Merab]

So sorry that you lost two piggies despite you doing everything possible for them.
Be gentle with yourselves as you grieve.
Holding you both in my heart

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

BIG HUGS

I am so very sorry for you losses at such a diffcult time. There is nothing whatsoever you have done wrong; in fact you have done everything you could do and much more than most owners. We can only ever do our best and you have done that. The rest is out of your control. As humans we reflect everything back on ourselves so strong feelings of guilt are typical for the onset of the grieving process. They are not an expression of you having done anything wrong but are a reflection of how deeply you care.
You may find our grieving guide helpful: Human Bereavement: Grieving, Processing and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children

The medication is standard and what you would expect for an upper respiratory tract infection and loss of appetite. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat. Guinea pigs are not much in the way of mouth breathers so a blocked nose is a much more serious condition than in humans. The filing of the dental spurs may have additionally impacted on the appetite.

Exoflox is ofloxacin, which is related to baytril (enrofloxacin) and safe to give to guinea pig.
Primperan is metoclopramide, which is a common gut stimulant that works on the musculature of the gut to stimulate the gut movement.
Metacam for cats is the strength officially licensed for guinea pigs, but guinea pigs usually need much higher dosages than cats in real pain (they metabolise medication differently and there is currently some research going into that); but which was not the case with your boys and is therefore not of central importance. Metacam is also an anti-inflammatory to help with swelling from an inflammation.

Unfortunately, what only a post mortem examination and/or a lab test of the nasal mucus could tell (or not) what is the actual cause of death. I would not like to speculate since it won't help you any and may only send you on some wild hare chases that cause you further distress without proving anything.

What I would recommend is to give your two remaining boys a 3 weeks' booster course of vitamin C to strengthen their immune system. Please do not do this long term as the body will adjust to the higher level. It loses its impact and can in fact create further possible problems rather than solving them.
Probiotics Live Gut Microbiome Transfer ('Poo Soup'); Recovery Formula Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links and Transfer Recipe (please accept that product names are UK/US based and may not apply for your country).

I would also review your diet as to how much hay/fresh grass and how little pellets you are feeding in order to reduce the risk of potential dental overgrowth. There are other reasons, but a diet review may help and is something you can do constructively.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

The last issue you may want to double-check is whether your gas alarm is working. Guinea pigs are much more sensitive to carbon monoxide than humans. Symptoms are initially often very vague with being subdued and losing their appetie gradually but they can end in a sudden decline. Winter is the time of year when this should be taken into consideration with mysterious deaths; even if it is only to exclude it.

 

[Freela]

I'm really sorry for your losses. That's an awful thing to have to go through. I really don't think you or the vet did anything wrong here... you got them help as soon as your saw an issue, the things the vet did were pretty standard. Unfortunately, sometimes we can do things right and still have a sad outcome. ((HUGS)) to you and your wife and be gentle with yourselves as you grieve.