Guinea pig died horribly over New Year

[LizzyELane]

Please can anyone help at all, I know it's late and this concerns a small animal, but myself and young daughter are devastated. We had our lovely baby boy Guinea pig since he was born, sadly his Dad and brother were aggressive so I decided after much deliberation to get him castrated so he could live with his mum. He was 11 months old. I knew there was a 3.5% mortality rate with anaesthesia and small furies. However, in good faith I handed him to the vet nurse operating from the car park. Didn't get to see an actual vet surgeon at all, too busy apparently to hand him back to me in the car park. I diligently syringed the right meds at the right times. However, my daughter and I spent all New Years Day nursing him. He was obviously very poorly, listless, retching every 30 seconds at one point. I rang the out of hours vet who said to give him more meds, then potentially drive miles to admit him for a further cost of £104. He seemed to rally round but then died with liquid bubbling from his nose and vomiting a large amount of blood. I'm taking his body to the vets first thing tommorow, but does anyone know where I stand with this?

Aw. That’s sad. Poor piggie.

I have no advice but for you because you sound like you need it

Omg how awful. Poor guinea pig and poor you. Honestly this just sounds horrific. Please know you are not at all to blame and you did everything you could. Sending hugs.

I would be devastated and raging at the vets- absolutely go there tomorrow and demand to speak to someone. I feel a full autopsy needs to happen to discover what on Earth went so badly wrong to have caused this. The vets have a duty of care afterall.

I really hope you and your daughter are ok. X

I'm sorry, that must have been horrible to watch. Can you clarify though what you mean by "where I stand with this"? In what sense?

I'm sorry to hear about your pig. Little furries don't always do well with anaesthetic.
It might be advisable to take his poor wee body to a different vet for a second opinion. Sadly, I suspect he's reacted badly to the drugs.
See what your vet says then seek a second opinion.

Hi Op,

I'm so sorry for the loss of your guinea pig, I used to have 3 of them when younger and they all broke my heart when they passed away.

Guinea Pigs don't cope with General Anaesthetic very well, sometimes their gut can also slow down so feeding after the operation is paramount.

I have a few questions - did they tell you whether he had eaten anything whilst hospitalised after the operation?

What was he eating at home? Or did you have to syringe feed him food then too?

Was he swallowing the food and medication?

It's harder with Guinea pigs under GA because they go under without having an IV line in - because their veins are so tiny, this is normal practice (in my experience anyway) then they lose body heat very quickly so need to be kept warm, with a castration the surgery is usually quicker. But the main risk for them is post op. They need to eat ASAP and they need to be kept warm, even then sometimes that isn't enough.

It's hard with Covid op but I would've been straight back into the Vets with him at the first sign of anything seeming off, and they go downhill so fast.

It's not your fault though, and sometimes even with the best of care and £££ spent, they still don't make it. As I very much know.

I’m so sorry,OP. I’ve never had guinea pigs, but lots of other pets and I can understand how distressing this must be.

Try to do something enjoyable and comforting with your DD today - to help her, and you, get over the shock. Snuggle on couch with hot chocolate ...

Also, I’ve reported your post so MN can move it to a more appropriate area of the site where you’ll get more support and advice.

Morning, @LizzyELane - we're ever so sorry to hear about the loss of your poor little piggie.

Just to let you know that we've moved your thread over to the Pets topic, where we hope you get some useful advice and support.

Take care.

That is very sad, poor piggie and how horrible for you and your daughter. Unfortunately small animals often don’t react well to surgery so while I really understand your heartbreak I don’t really see what can be done about this - 3.5% mortality is a significant risk.

Cavies are not fighters. Quite reasonable for them to try to explain what happened.

Mine went in for castration & died instantly from the anaesthetic. It is risky.

Did the vet ask that you fast the Guinea before surgery? Because this is the worst possible advice. They need to eat right up to surgery and right after it to prevent their guts declining.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I've got 19 Guineas and love them.

Sounds horrific, poor piggie.

What aspect of his care are your concerned about? Is there something specific you think could have been foreseen and avoided?

That sounds horrendous. As for where you stand, you will have signed a form which outlines that general anaesthetic is risky and extra treatment will incur extra costs. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as risk free surgery.

Guinea pigs physically cannot vomit or retch, they don't have a gag reflex. They can choke though. Was he tolerating the syringing well, or was it a bit of a fight? What sort of volume was he taking?

Thanks everyone, I was too upset to even look at my phone yesterday. I couldn't find the Pets section so just posted where I'd found another Guinea pig thread! To answer some of your questions, no he wasn't fasted before the op, syringing was very difficult but we tried our best with fractions of 1ml without wanting to choke him. I had also read pigs can't vomit but that's what it looked like, sort of opening his mouth and bucking his head. Maybe some sort of pain reaction. Anyway we took his body to the vets yesterday, no issues with digestion, or the wound and no throat obstruction, was probably cardio pulmonary failure due to the anaesthetic, and he could've also had an unknown genetic heart defect. Said even if it wasn't New Years Day and I'd rushed him down there they wouldn't have been able to save him. They waived the individual cremation fee so we will have him back in a little engraved box. I'm still in tears writing this as I can't even say I gave him a nice life as he was separated from the aggressive other two males for his own safety for about six months of his 11 month life. I kept putting off the neutering as I'd heard of the risk. But I guess this would've happened whenever. I need to pull myself together, I've got four other pigs plus a cat and dog to look after. I feel ridiculous but the guilt is really bad at the moment and my DP isn't being very supportive, he doesn't get it at all!

Oh sweetheart you did everything you could have done, please don't blame yourself. Lots of sympathy to you

((((Biggest hugs))))

It's so very sad when they die, let alone like that.

I'm very sorry your DH doesn't get it, not even how upset you are & to support that.

Its not at all unusual to be so upset, so don't let him make you feel you're being daft.

Thank you Moira and Broomsticks, you are so kind, and everyone else who posted, thank you so much for taking the time to post such caring messages, I appreciate it and you have helped me. I was nervous posting on MN. It turns out my local FB neighbourhood group (big village/small town in the South) had some really nasty posts after I had asked for urgent help late on Friday from any vet nurses/vets. Some lovely people responded and helped and I didn't look at the thread anymore after he died but they spotted quite a few nasty comments and reported this and the thread was closed. Wow, local people being like this, but MN ladies being so caring has restored my faith!

I'm so sorry for your loss, that must've been very distressing 😢 I'm not sure where you stand wet the vet though.

I'm so sorry to hear your sad news 😥. You did right by your little piggie and should try not to blame yourself.

This wasn't your fault and even though his life was short, he was well loved and would have felt that everyday.

Sending you lots of love 💐

So sorry to hear this. I agree in that I have heard guinea pigs cannot vomit, it sounds like with the head bucking it may have been a heart problem or respiratory infection, which I know can come on quickly and be fatal. You sound like such a caring piggy mum and I'm sure you did everything you could. Your fur baby is on rainbow bridge now, popcorning freely 🌈 x

The guilt when something like this happens, is excrutiating.

I had a much loved goldfish and one morning I noticed the intake pipe filter cap was slightly ajar. I was in a rush for work and all dressed in office gear so didn't want to take time right then to stick my arm into a huge, fishy tank of water. I resolved to check it when I got home. By then the cap had come off completely and he got his wen (puffy head bit) caught on the intake pipe and died there.

Regardless of him being "just" a £3 goldfish, I sobbed and took a while to get right again afterwards.

The reality is this: you made the best decision you could at the time, with the information wyou had and the view of risk you held. You are not at fault, you and your pet were just dealt a rum hand. You are both victims of fate.

Thank you so much ladies, all your messages all mean so much to me. I keep thinking I'm some weirdo, and that only dogs and cats count. I have a cat and dog who are much loved, but can't quite explain the Guinea pig thing, just that they are I suppose very cute but innocent and rely on me to live or die. Thank you again xxx