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What caused his death?

AVTech3

AVTech3

New Born Pup
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My Guinea pig recently died overnight and I was really devastated. But I’m confused on what could’ve caused his death. Few days before he looked perfect healthy and he was eating his food and water. He also didn’t seem to have respiratory problems since that’s one of the most common deaths among Guinea pigs. Can anyone tell me what may have caused him to cross the bridge? I greatly appreciate it. :,(
 
The only way to find out would be for a vet to do a necropsy. Guinea pigs are really good at hiding their ailments, so it's often difficult to see anything wrong before a piggy passes.

I'm sorry for your loss.


Also, you may want to be a bit less specific with your location ...
 
His diet was natural hay that has rich in fiber and dental support, pellets and sometimes fruits and vegetables.
 
Hannah_xx said:
I’m sorry for your loss. Unfortunately none of us can know what caused his death.
What was his daily diet?
Click to expand...
His diet was natural hay that has rich in fiber and dental support, pellets and sometimes fruits and vegetables.
 
A guinea pig's diet should be mostly hay, but leafy greens and veggies should be an always, not a sometimes, and then pellets are a small part of the diet.
Lettuces, such as romaine, are an everyday thing; you can mix it up with different varieties (butter lettuce, romaine, green leaf, red leaf, anything but iceberg). Sweet pepper, such as red bell pepper, are a great addition to a piggy's regular diet, as they have a fair bit of vitamin C. Some veggies are more occasional, such as carrots, which have a lot of sugar, or kale, which has a fair amount of calcium. There are some diet examples and tips in a food forum.
 
I’m so sorry for your loss.

As the others have said, I’m afraid there is no way for us to know what caused his death. Only a vet carrying out a post mortem can determine that.

Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children

As above, the daily diet for any other piggies you may have needs to be unlimited hay, one cup of a variety of veg per pig per day (ensuring high calcium veg and high sugar items such as carrots and fruit are not fed regularly) and one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day, filtered drinking water.
 
I'm really sorry for your loss. How old was your piggie? Unfortunately, there's really no way to know for sure what happened. A lot of us here have had the experience of a guinea pig being seemingly fine and then passing away suddenly, even pigs who weren't that old. My experience is that most of the pigs I've lost were seemingly fine up to a few hours before passing away and passed within hours even with vet assessment, so having a sudden loss with no noticeable changes leading up is unfortunately an experience you can have as a guinea pig owner. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer, I sometimes wonder what happened to some of my pigs who passed abruptly as well. :(
 
If he was eating OK, peeing and pooping OK and appearing OK in himself there's not much to pick up on. Sometimes they will start to gradually lose weight which is why the forum recommends weekly weigh-ins to try and pick up on this. But they can have heart attacks out of the blue just like anything else. One of my girls passed in the night age between 4 and 5 (we think). I found her sprawled out the next morning... she still had a long piece of hay sticking out of her mouth so she must have literally gone mid-chew! It's not a bad way to go x
 
I'm so very sorry for your loss. They are such fragile creatures, and can unfortunately leave us for the bridge unexpectedly (despite our best efforts).
Thinking of you at this difficult time.
Sleep tight little one 🌈
 
AVTech3 said:
My Guinea pig recently died overnight and I was really devastated. But I’m confused on what could’ve caused his death. Few days before he looked perfect healthy and he was eating his food and water. He also didn’t seem to have respiratory problems since that’s one of the most common deaths among Guinea pigs. Can anyone tell me what may have caused him to cross the bridge? I greatly appreciate it. :,(
Click to expand...
I have also had a guinea pig pass away very quickly even when he was young and very healthy from what i could see, I got home from work and he could hardly breath and his whole stomach was soft and he was lethargic. By the time we got to the vets he had passed away. It was put down as a infection/disease, he could have been struggling with it for ages but as said above guinea pigs are very good at hiding illness. I am very sorry for your loss, please keep in mind the chances are there was nothing you could have done, I hope you take comfort in knowing hes hanging out with all the other lovely piggies across the bridge. Take care of yourself xx
 
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