Grieving - My guinea pig died

[gjk]

My good friend Titus passed away earlier this week.

I was on holiday/vacation in California. I returned on December 8th and noticed he was not 100% well. I went to work on December 9th. I called his name, as I usually do, when I return home. He did not come running to greet me. I then noticed his nose was facing the corner of his cage. I picked him up and he was very sick. He was also bleeding from the rectum.

I took him to a vet. She said that likely, Titus' gastrointestinal (GI) system was blocked, he was dehydrated, and would not eat. He died within 2 hours after I left him with the vet.

Question: what are the causes of GI blockage? I want to make sure that this does not happen to any other guinea pig of mine again.

Thank you.

[Orlaith]

Hi.

I've never had this happen, but one of the main causes of GI blockage is if a guinea pig goes off their food and stops eating. They need to eat often to keep their digestive systems moving. Other than this, all I can think of is that he could have eaten something that got tangled up, like a piece of thread or something like that.

I'm really sorry to hear about your little friend.

[honey]

Earlier this year my Blossom was very sick, she also stopped eating and her gut was not working she had gut stasis, this was caused by a nasty infection that she picked up, god knows from where and she was very sick for 3 weeks until her infection cleared up, in this time she did not eat or drink for herself, I had to do it for her around the clock, she was also dehydrated and had diarrhea, shes fully recovered now, but I just think somethings cant be helped and its just one of those things that happen.

Im sorry to hear about Titus, rip little man