My poor GP died today but no idea why --

[feelinghopeful]

:(
He was only 2 years old and a gorgeous guinea pig, living with his brother. I noticed a few weeks ago he seemed off colour and went to the vet. She gave him a check and couldn't find any problems and asked me to keep an eye on him.

He was eating, drinking, pooing, weeing. But just not himself. Normally he was the dominant one of the 2, but now his brother was getting the chance to assert himself.

Scoodles just seemed a bit downcast.

Then last Thursday he suddenly deteriorated. In the run he just stood motionless. I rang the vets again and got an emergency appointment.

Again she couldn't find anything specific - checked teeth, body etc, but prescribed me anti-biotics and anti-inflammatories. Gave these Friday and yesterday but could see not making much impact.

This morning when I opened his cage I could see he'd gone downhill further. Was planning to go to the out of hours vets. Told my son who wanted to hold him. Went back to the cage and he must have just died. Body still warm and soft.

Both me and my son had a cuddle with him and cried.

So frustrating not knowing what the problem was and that we weren't able to help him.

Two years old is so young isn't it. Poor Scoodles and poor my son.

Anyone experienced anything similar or can help shed light on this?

I don't want the same thing happening to my other GP.

Thanks so much.

[Bluestocking]

I don't have any advice, but just wanted to say how sorry I am. It's so sad when a beloved pet dies and if there's no apparent reason it's even worse. {hugs} to you and your son and I hope a GP expert is along soon with some advice.

[feelinghopeful]

Just wondering if it could have been the weather? They were inside for the first year we had them but my DH was getting a bad reaction to the hay and finally couldn't even be in the same room as them.

We moved them into a hutch in the spring, and the weather has been getting more chilly recently...?

Or cancer? Wouldn't we have felt the bumps?

A virus??

[feelinghopeful]

Thanks Bluestocking - cross posted with you. xxxxxx

[BonkeyMollocks]

So sorry :(

I would get you other one thoroughly checked and give theirst house a deep clean just in case.

I don't think.it would.be the weather. As long as they had plenty odd bedding to stay warm then they had enough time to a get used to being outside before the chilliness of the evenings kicked in. They would have their coats coming through by now too.

Hope you and your ds are ok and give you other lots of attention.until you decide what to do .

R.I.P piggy :(

[BonkeyMollocks]

Is your vet experienced with piggies ?

May be worth trying to find a guinea vet near you if possible for the future. Some vets mean well but just don't know.enough about them to spot problems or give the right treatment .

Im sure probiotics are meant to be give.with antibiotic s. Did she give you these? Not 100% sure why (luckily both.mine have never needed vet treatment) but again may be worth keeping in mind for the future .

[feelinghopeful]

Thanks bonkey. I'll look into other vets in the area. But they're hardly likely to go "oh no, actually we're not that great with GPs" are they?? How do you know if they're going to be any good??
This vet service did come highly recommended, but I have to say apart from doing the basic checks she did seem pretty clueless.
I'm going back tomorrow anyway.
So far other GP seems absolutely fine, though looking a bit lonely?
I've disinfected the cage already. Fingers crossed it's not something that is catching.
Such a mystery and I hate mysteries. xx

[BonkeyMollocks]

On theguineapigforum.com they have list of good guinea vets.aye worth having a look to see if there is one near you??

If you can't find it let me know and i will link when I cam get on laptop. Look under health and Im sure its a 'sticky'.

No idea what it could be. Only been a guinea mum since April . I get most of my info from forums and Google. not had to deal.with many health issues thankfully yet.

Good luck. Thoughts are with you

[BonkeyMollocks]

when your ready it may be worth finding a rescue to help.your boy find a new friend. They will hopefully be able to match him up successfully for you. :)

Sorry fir the typos. Blame.the phone!

[fortifiedwithtea]

Poor piggie. Sorry for your loss but it was probably just one of those things. Some just live longer than others and we never know why.

For future, ask a vets practise if they have experience of 'excotics' ie small furries like guinea pigs .

As Bonkey says piggies should have pro-biotics with anti-biotics. Ask for fibre-plex. Its a orange paste that's administered from a tube and tastes like carrot apparently .

[RedBunny]

Oh that's so sad! One of my guinea pigs had six babies, four girls and two boys. I kept them all!!
One day three of the girls had died.... I was very upset as they all had been healthy and was told it was likely a genetic problem. However this was a year ago and the other three all still are fine. So it's very unfortunate and unfair but it seems to make no sense at all sometimes. I feel so bad for you!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

sometimes there are no answers but yes, 2 yo is young for a GP.
It sounds like you did everything you could do, that's all you can do really.

Definately scrub the cage out completely, though if it was anything your other pig could catch, he'd have caught it by now.
If you do ever need antibiotics for a GP in the future, make sure you get pro-biotics as well (to replenish their gut flora)

for your DS but it sounds like your GP went quickly and quietly at the end- that will be a comfort.

Give your GP lots of attention and consider a friend for him- they can suffer depression , so keep an eye on him.

[feelinghopeful]

Thank you all for your kind comments and suggestions. I went back to the vets today with my other GP for a quick check over, and he's absolutely fine - clear bright eyes, healthy coat, healthy scuttling, healthy munching of any treats offered... all in good form.

The vet was very sad too, but said basically the same thing as you guys... sometimes you just don't know.

It turns out that it was actually in JULY that I went the first time with Scoodles, so longer ago than I remembered. She thinks this ties in with maybe it being some sort of growth. Apparently if it's in the chest you can't necessarily feel it. And anyway, apparently you can't operate even if she had felt something??

I'm planning to contact our local rescue to see if they can help me find a good friend for our remaining GP.

PS the practice nurse is planning to get her boy GP neutered and then get him a girl GP as a friend.. I've never heard of this before? Thoughts from anyone else on this approach??
I guess it would help the bickering you can get between 2 boys??

And thanks again for all your replies. They reallly do help. xxx

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

If you get your little boy neutered you have to give them a month (IIRC, might be wrong) before they can be safe with a female.
You could, in theory, get a female and side-by-side them (without direct contact) but there's no 100% guarentee that they'd get on together IRL.
But, if you go down the neutered boar +sow route, then you could possibly get 2 girls so you don't have a similar situation down the line when one goes.

If you get a little boar for your boar ,then you can only really get one (trios of boars are not generally adviced).

Your boar is only 2 yo so provided he is fit and a good weight, he'd be a good candidate for neutering. It doesn't change their behaviour though, if they are arsey boars, they'll just be jaffa arsey boars.


(I'm mum to 2 brothers who are nearly 2yo. I wonder what will happen when one shrugs off his mortal coil. Our bolshy boar doesn't like his brother being taken away from him, but is ok being taken.
And the little boy is very much in his brothers shadow, so I don't know if he'd cope with being 'step-uncle' then maybe being overtaken by a young ,teenage boar)

If you ask your vet about the neutering, see what they advice.

[feelinghopeful]

Thanks 70 - I've just been looking at our local rescue site - lots of bunnies but not many GPs at the moment and no singles. I'll check out getting him neutered and then finding him a girl.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

If you let your vet knw that you are looking for a pig-mate they might know of some?

[feelinghopeful]

Good idea. I'll do that too.

[agnesf]

Hello feeling hopeful

This happened to us in the winter. 2 brothers - everything fine and then suddenly the big brother just went down hill and died. He was only 2.5 too - It was v sad and I felt rather guilty wondering if leaving the door open for a couple of hours on a v cold night had been the cause.

However the good news is that we had the remaining brother neutered (cost ~ £40) and found him a lady love and they have been very happy ever since (even if she is mad as a hatter and eats all his cucumber ). We were lucky to find a girl guinea up the road but maybe you could put up a lonely hearts ad in your pet shop. We also had another girl lined up from a local breeder (who I found through the local rabbit/ guinea pig boarding place).

[FarrowAndBollock]

. They are very very prone to cancer, which is why they are used for medical testing (and how the term 'being a guinea pig evolved). I hope your son is OK.