Just trying to make sense of things

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RomeAndSmores1

Post   » Fri Mar 08, 2019 9:53 am


So i had a guinea pig by the name of Little Man, and he passed away in october last year. the thing is, i cant tell what killed him.

he died at the age of 8 months, and througout his entire life he had one peculiar thing that worried me. He always breathed funny. now he didnt have a URI, i took him to a cavy savvy vet and we got medicine for him just in case, which he took. the thing is, when he breathed, he rocked back and forth like he was breathing too hard. when i tried to listen to it, it was all smooth.

what do you guys think? Ive been scrambling my brain for the past couple of months so that i could figure out what took him. my mom seems to think it was some sort of funky birth defect, but i dont know.

RomeAndSmores1

Post   » Fri Mar 08, 2019 9:54 am


he was fed top notch pellets and food, but one more thing. when he ate his food pellets, he would leave behind them as dust and powder instead of them just being gone. none of my other piggies to this day do this, not Smores, not Rome, not Targarian.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Mar 08, 2019 11:08 am


He may have had a congenital heart or lung problem. Sometimes that just happens. Guinea pigs are often very inbred, and so are susceptible to more abnormalities.

WICharlie

Post   » Fri Mar 08, 2019 11:48 am


It's true what bpatters said. However, do your pigs get unlimited good quality hay as well as the pellets? I ask because one symptom of a tooth problem is when a pig will leave pellets "splayed," and you mention that this pig would leave behind bits of pellet. If your pigs are not getting any hay, their teeth are not being worn down properly and will overgrow over time. Hay is much more important for a pig to get than pellets and should be the pig's main food.

To monitor the health of your other pigs, weight them every week on a digital scale and record their weights. Sometimes the only way to catch a serious illness or condition is to note a weight loss.

RomeAndSmores1

Post   » Fri Mar 08, 2019 1:13 pm


Thanks guys, and yes, they do (he did) get unlimited timothy hay from OxBow. i never thought about a heart problem, but i guess that would apply. its so unfortunate that people do that to them. i think he might have had teeth issues because the store i bought him from (yes i know i bought him from a store, bad idea) didnt give him any hay just pellets. they also kept him in a glass cage with other boys.

i learned from this experience and got Rome, Smores, and Targarian (my three remaining musketeers) from breeders or a rescue. i know the importance of good quality hay and i give them hay every day. thier feeders are always topped off with hay.

thanks guys. When little man was alive he was an amazing pig. i just was trying to figure out why i lost him when i did. it was also very sudden which is kind of sad. at least he passed in his sleep (i found him in his favorite sleeping position and spot)

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:51 pm


RomeAndSmores1, please read this post:
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewt ... 711#826711
If you take the time to use proper capitalization and punctuation, it makes posts so much more readable.
Thanks!

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sat Mar 09, 2019 1:48 pm


It's impossible to say. It could have been something he was born with, or could have been something that was not properly diagnosed. What kind of antibiotics was he put on for his suspected URI? I'm sorry that you lost him, but when they die suddenly like that, there's no way to really know what happened without a necropsy.

You did mention that you have been getting your guinea pigs from rescues and breeders. I don't know what rescue is near you in Kentucky, but you might consider Rescued Guinea Pigs in Sellersburg, IN for any future adoptions. Pet stores and breeders (99.9% of which have no clue when it comes to genetics OR the welfare of the animals in their care) just perpetuate the problem.

RomeAndSmores1

Post   » Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:23 pm


The breeder that i got the three of them from is very knowledgeable, and has an account here. She didnt tell me her username though.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:31 pm


That's probably because we're such an anti-breeding forum, and she hasn't identified herself as such.

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