Guinea Pig Home

Americanpiggy · 02-21-2008, 07:29 PM

This has been a horrible and disappointing day. I had to make a terrible decision about our new Guinea pig which I have only had for four weeks. I wrote about her in the introduction section, "Another new owner".

When we came home this evening, we were loving on her when I noticed that she didn't look right and her breathing was shallow. I also noticed that she smelled bad. We immediately rushed her to the vet who said she was bloated and her gums were grayish-blue. She took an xray and discovered that her belly was fully of fluid. While we waited on the vet to get back with us, it was obvious that Guinea was pain. She was making soft "wheek" sounds and then periodically would cry out loudly. It was so sad to watch. The vet wanted to draw some of the fluid out to see what type of problem we were dealing with. What she drew out was not good. It was obvious that there was somekind of severe infection. Guinea also peed while being examined and it had blood in it. The vet tested the urine and it came back with a low pH. Even if I had had all of the money it would cost to try to fix her, the vet said if she made it another day she would be surprised. I didn't know what to do. She said it would cost several hundred dollars and there was no guarantee and Guinea was in terrible pain. I had to make the decision to let her go. I am crushed.

I had worked so hard to nurse this little girl back to health from a URI. She was eating well until today, gaining weight and she was active. I thought things were going well. I even watched her take a big poop right after I cleaned her cage out yesterday. How did everything go so wrong so quickly?

I am so very sad right now. I feel like I have somehow let her down.

Foggycreek · 02-21-2008, 09:42 PM

I'm sorry she's gone. Did you ever get her to a vet that would prescribe oral antibiotics?

Americanpiggy · 02-23-2008, 08:25 AM

I actually responded to your post yesterday, Foggycreek, but I do not see it here. That has happened to me twice. Anyway.....

I did speak with my vet about the oral antibiotics and the reason she went with the eye drops was because Guinea was so young (the vet put her at 4 months or less) that oral antibiotics ran the risk of wiping out all of the good bacteria in the bowls - a very dangerous thing for GPs. Like I said before, Guinea made remarkable improvements. She was eating very well, drinking, playing and was gaining weight. There was no resaon to suspect that something was wrong.

The xrays that were taken the other night also showed that her lungs were clear. What she died of and the URI are not related. She died of some major complication that occured in her gut. Without an autoposy, we can't know for sure what happened. All we do know is that she had a belly full of fluid. When the fluid, which looked like coconut milk, was examined it indicated that there was a high white blood cell count. The vet also tapped into the bowl and it was full of stringy, yellow goo. It could have been a twisting of the bowl, a rupture, who knows. Knowing all this still doesn't bring her back. I just can't get over how quickly everthing went so wrong.

I think I did everything right (except the pet store part). She had a great cage, Oxbow food and hay, lots of attention and play time and most importantly, lots of love. I do feel bad that I didn't have the money to go to extremes to try to save her, but the almost non-existant odds of recovery didn't justify a bill equal to a house payment and utilities. Although it was heart breaking, common sense had to prevail. Plus I could not stand seeing her in so much pain. I know I did the right thing.......but the right thing sometimes stinks! (I am using the polite word here)

Foggycreek · 02-23-2008, 08:47 AM

I understand that the URI and what she passed from were unrelated, although you are right about not knowing for sure without a necropsy.

However, 4 month old guinea pigs (and younger) can tolerate oral antibiotics just fine. Bactrim is often prescribed for young pigs, although a 4 month pig is actually an adult (around 90 days is when a guinea pig goes through puberty and is termed adult). I'm not saying that your vet made a wrong call, but wanted other readers to be aware that oral antibiotics can be used in young pigs.

Love pigs · 02-23-2008, 07:10 PM

I am so sorry. But you didn't let her down. You would have let her down if you didn't let go. I know this must be hard. But is wasn't your falt.