Holding Tight

[katzintheclouds]

Hi everyone..

I'm Kat, I've posed a few times in the past about one piggie of mine, Machete, who had been losing her hair. I took her to the vet, they did some stuff & found out it was barbering that she was doing to herself. I've been watching her closely but then today I was very surprised to be hit with an awful unexpected event, my other guinea pig, Chipotle, has fallen suddenly ill.

When I went to her this morning, she was sitting in the corner of the cage staring at the wall. She was lethargic & bloated, I was sure she was dying. I took her to the small animal vet in which they did an x-ray, did not see an obvious blockage but her intestines were swollen. Her lower GI seemed to be functioning okay, she had a lot of gas but again there was no OBVIOUS cause. The doctor gave her some fluids as she was dehydrated & something to help motivate her bowels to keep moving (she suspected that she's blocking up). When I left the vets, I felt more optimistic because the vet made me feel better, but now it's been about five hours since the visit & she's exactly the same, despite the intervention.

Part of me wants to continue blaming myself or looking for something I did wrong, but I can't keep doing that to myself. I've been reading around here & it seems like a common thing to happen, the gastro-whatever it is. If anyone has ever been here, please give me some advice.

Should I attempt to hand feed her at all? She has no interested in food. She also is not drinking or doing anything on her own except sitting. The doctor gave her something for pain she said, which made me wonder if it would make her lethargic, but I think that's just a pipedream to think she's only lethargic because of medication. Should I take her out & try to keep her active to move gas along? Or just leave her be? I'm so very worried.

I can't begin to describe how worried & hurt I am right now. I need to mention that she's 6 years old, she's been with me for a long time. It would be like losing a child. .

Thanks guys..

[twistedsymphony]

poor you xxx I feel for you I really do.

Try feeding her, you never know it might work, you could try mashing up some pellets with water. But sometimes these things just happen, don't try to blame yourself, you took her to the vets and sometimes there just isn't anything else that you can do.

I am not a breeder so I don't have any more suggestions other than saying try with water, food, slices of cucumber and cross your fingers. The meds may make her lethargic, considering they can do that for humans but again I don't know.

You could always book an appointment with a different vet for a second opinion. Sorry I can't be of more help xxx

[katzintheclouds]

Thank you for your kind words. I've tried hand feeding her tonight, she's just not interested at all. She just kind of stares off, it's very very depressing. But I asked the vet about it, if I should try tonight to force/hand feed her & she said I could, but it wouldn't be completely necessary since I should let her soak in the treatments of today. I'm calling tomorrow morning as soon as they open to see if they can fit me in again...I'm just fearing the worst, I guess that's the best thing to do because it both prepares me for the dreaded possibly of her being put down as well while ALSO giving me the chance to be happier if that DOESNT happen.

I meant to ask in my earlier post too, even though it's extremely depressing, if anyone could kind of tell me the experience of that to prepare me a little..my vet will go over it with me, but I have no idea how they go about doing that..it worries me, if they even do that with them. With them being so small, it's hard to believe they can do the normal kind of thing they do with other pets like cats & dogs.

I keep checking on her, but she's been just sitting still pretty much since I got home tonight...

[Alice Rose]

Nothing can really prepare you for losing any type of animal. When I had to have one of mine put down due to a brain tumour they let me say me goodbyes to the her and they took her into the back room so you can't see what happens. They then brought her out in her carry box for me to take home so I could bury her in the garden. Sometimes these things just happen and there's not much you can do except make their quality of life the best you can. I feel really bad saying all this tbh =( don't really like upsetting other people but you said you wanted to know what happens.

[twistedsymphony]

If I have understood your question is what is it like putting a small animal to sleep?

Its slightly different at all vets but what they will tend to do is ask you if you would like to have that done, and give you the reasons why they are suggesting it, You can ask for a moment to go and think about it. If you decide that is the right thing to do then they will give you a moment to say goodbye. After that they will generally take them into a room out the back, but sometimes they don't, you could always leave the room if you can't watch. They will put them in a little box, and they will put in gas that will make them fall asleep, and they will go peacefully in their sleep, its very gentle. It is then up to you if you would like to take her home, or leave her there.

I know its depressing, but I also need to know these things otherwise I can't cope either. I have always gone on the rule that if they are not in obvious pain then I say no, but if they are and the vet assures me that there will be no change then I say yes.

Fingers crossed that you don't need to think about it and the vet will come up with something to make it better

[katzintheclouds]

Thank you all for your encouraging words, I sadly just got back from the vets because I had to put her down. When I woke up this morning, I heard her making high pitched squeaks which just broke my heart. I called my vet & talked with her, but I knew it was just time to let her go. It's so very hard making that decision, I had to drive her to the vet hearing her cry which was really, really REALLY hard. I keep trying to figure out what I did wrong, if I did something to cause it. I kept thinking "Maybe the lettuce had something on it, maybe I didn't feed her right, maybe I shouldn't have changed their water bottle" etc etc. I know though that she was almost 7 years old, which is pretty good for guinea pigs. It's just so hard losing her because out of all the pets I own, she's the only one I've had this long. She's been with me through my 20's, from college, to new houses, seeing new people, new things...always been with me. It's like losing any other pet. My vet was really nice, helped me out every bit of the way. I'm just so very sad from it now..

All my attention though has been shifted to my other one. I'm not quite sure exactly how old she is, I've had her since 2008 so she's at least 3. I'm so terrified that she's going to get sick or something, but I guess I'll just have to spoil her. I've got a lot of questions about her, but i'll save that for another post.

RIP Chipotle. I'll miss her so much.

[Alice Rose]

I'm so sorry to hear that =( I know how hard it can be but at least Chipotle isn't in pain anymrore and is in a better place.
If you're worried about your other one then take her to the vet as a precaution, Better be safe than sorry.

[twistedsymphony]

Sorry for your loss, you must have been a very very good owner though as 7 is quite old for a pig.

[Kayleigh]

Sorry to hear you had to get her pts.

It sounds like she had bloat and if its not caught early enough it can be fatal. Its a condition that needs immediate vet treatment in most cases.

www.oginet.com/pgurney/bloat.htm

You done all you could.

Kayleigh