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Post by loctavius on Apr 9, 2011 2:34:25 GMT
Hi there. We had a pig named Sparky who was only three years old. This morning he was fine. He ate, he drank, he squeaked. We found him dead about an hour ago.
I have had other pigs, and as far as I can tell he had no health problems. He drank plenty of water, he ate plenty of pig food, and he played a lot. He was also a VERY vocal pig. The only thing strange about him was that he was VERY, VERY picky when it came to other foods. He would only eat carrots in addition to the pig food. He refused to eat any other kind of vegetable or fruit at all.
Anyway, I have two crying kids and a wife who is totally freaked out. We are going to bury him in the morning, but I'd like to try and find out what killed the poor guy if I can. I think it will help everyone come to terms with his passing.
Thanks in advance for the help.
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Post by Kayleigh on Apr 9, 2011 12:29:01 GMT
Sorry for your loss. Was Sparky a lone pig? What sort of cage/hutch was he in and what was its size? Have you changed hay supplier or food supplier, what was he being fed on? What sort of hideys etc where in the cage?
Sorry for all the questions but they may help with a possible answer.
If he was a happy healthy pig then there are only usually a few things that may have caused such a sudden death. He may have ingested something (hence asking about food/hay supplier) Are there any signs of lumps or bumps on him. Any blood in his nasal cavity or mouth or ears?
Kayleigh
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Post by loctavius on Apr 9, 2011 17:54:02 GMT
Sorry for your loss. Was Sparky a lone pig? What sort of cage/hutch was he in and what was its size? Have you changed hay supplier or food supplier, what was he being fed on? What sort of hideys etc where in the cage? Sorry for all the questions but they may help with a possible answer. If he was a happy healthy pig then there are only usually a few things that may have caused such a sudden death. He may have ingested something (hence asking about food/hay supplier) Are there any signs of lumps or bumps on him. Any blood in his nasal cavity or mouth or ears? Thanks for the reply. Sparky lived alone in a fairly open wire cage. He had one of those edible houses that looks like a log. This was his second one, he ate the first one over the course of seven months. He ate any brand of food, as long as it was pellets. He would not eat the extra seeds and whatnot that comes in some foods. For bedding, we used pine shavings and newspaper his entire life. A couple of months ago we switched to a newspaper type mulch, and I watched him carefully but he seemed fine with it. There were no lumps or bumps, and no visible blood. He hadn't had any Timothy hay in a couple of weeks, but he had fortified pellets and compressed hay cubes. My wife said she noticed a little bit of milky white "goop" in the corners of both eyes, which is not normal for him. Like I said, he was fine in the morning. He was yelling for a carrot like he always does. That's why we were shocked to find him dead like that around dinner time. He was still limp, so I don't think he had been dead very long. I know pigs don't live a long time, but he was barely three. Don't they usually live to five or six years old? |
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Post by Kayleigh on Apr 10, 2011 10:25:47 GMT
You say you switched his bedding to a newspaper type mulch, is this a pet bedding that is sold? I cant find anything on it online.
Ideally guinea pigs should ALWAYS have access to fresh hay, wether it be timothy or meadow hay. The hay cubes should be used a treat not as a replacement to hay.
Guinea pigs generally live 5 - 8 years. My eldest pig was 7 when she passed away.
It sounds like you done everything right for your pig. Did he get access outside on a daily basis? If so he may have picked something up. The only thing i can think of is he may have been poisened by something. My intial thought was a head injury as when pigs popcorn they can sometimes hit their heads and this would slowly and painfully kill them. But you say there was no blood in his nose, mouth or ears.
This is what i think may have happened to my latest sow to pass away. She was only around 3 and was fine one moment then the next she was dying.
Sometimes we just have to accept that we dont know what happened and as hard as that is, unless we pay for an autopsy. But for most people laying their pet to rest is enough and we just have to hope it doesnt happen again.
Sorry for your loss
Kayleigh
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Post by pgomes68 on Apr 10, 2011 16:40:12 GMT
Sorry for your families loss....I'll keep your family & Sparky in our prayers tonight....
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Post by samantha15797 on Apr 28, 2011 0:09:20 GMT
My guinnea pig has milky eyes too I'm starting to worry about what I have been hearing
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Post by guineamom on Feb 13, 2012 1:04:34 GMT
I have never been on a forum, so please forgive my ineptitude if I make a blunder. We had two femail guinea pigs since last December which were from another family. The mother and her baby (ages today would be approx 4yrs and 2 yrs). A few months ago we had the mother in to the vet for bloating. He sent us home with a dropper and Keopectate. Didn't seem to help. She has had periodic bloating since, mostly no urgent distress. : ( SHE JUST PASSED AWAY. Can someone please tell me whether I should remove her body immediately or give the baby some time with her?  My personal thought is that I should remove her immediately. I'll wait no more than another 1/2 hour. I feel sad and sorry for they baby and my daughter. I just want to do what is right for the remaining guinea pig. Thanks |
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Post by Kayleigh on Feb 13, 2012 12:00:10 GMT
I have never been on a forum, so please forgive my ineptitude if I make a blunder. We had two femail guinea pigs since last December which were from another family. The mother and her baby (ages today would be approx 4yrs and 2 yrs). A few months ago we had the mother in to the vet for bloating. He sent us home with a dropper and Keopectate. Didn't seem to help. She has had periodic bloating since, mostly no urgent distress. : ( SHE JUST PASSED AWAY. Can someone please tell me whether I should remove her body immediately or give the baby some time with her? My personal thought is that I should remove her immediately. I'll wait no more than another 1/2 hour. I feel sad and sorry for they baby and my daughter. I just want to do what is right for the remaining guinea pig. Thanks So sorry for your loss. You must remove the body and i would suggest cleaning the cage/hutch out also. I recently had a sow who passed away due to old age. she lived in a sow pen and she must have passed away in the early hours of the morning as when i went in at 6am like usual she had passed away. I immediatly went to remove the body and was really quite shocked to see that her cage mates had eaten away at her feet. I had never experienced this before so asked a few breeders, who assured me this was a natural thing for pigs to do as it decreases the chance of the corspe attracting predators (in the wild of course) So yes remove the pig and bury her. Again so sorry for your loss Kayleigh |
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Post by kourt1313 on Feb 16, 2012 3:38:40 GMT
To the original poster, my condolences. I am wondering if it could have been pneumonia. My first two died very suddenly as well and I only knew it was pneumonia because I happened to be home and noticed a sudden change in behavior. Both were fine then probably 2 hours before each passed is when they showed labored breathing at which point I rushed them to the vet. Pigs are experts at hiding any sign of illness, often till it's too late.
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Post by oliversmommy on Feb 18, 2012 23:32:09 GMT
To the original poster, I am so sorry for your loss, I had the exact thing happen with my piglet Albert, fine the morning I leave for work and both my pigs are at my moms eating drinking playing the next thing I know I get a phone call from my mom saying Albert had died and his eyes were still open, I was devastated  I loved my boys so much, it comforted me to know that if his eyes were open it was a quick death, and hopefully peaceful, I will have to agree with kayleigh, the only thing that came to my mind was poisoning of some sort, hope this helps |
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