Necropsy... they think I'm crazy!

[Zeander]

Hello everyone. I posted last week about my pig Mia passing on for reasons I'm not sure of. Well last night Pepper appeared to have the same condition as Mia and she died as well. I've started calling veterinarians searching for one that will do a necropsy on Pepper so that I can figure out what happend to my girls. I've only called one place so far and the receptioinist acted like I was crazy! I guess it is a strange request.
Has anyone ever gotten a necropsy done on their pet? Do all vets do that sort of procedure?
Thanks.

[VoodooJoint]

Oh lord Zea, Pepper too? I'm sorry.

To do a good necropsy on a GP you will need a Cavy Savy vet just as you would to treat a live GP.

Most Vets do necropsies but, just like most people, many vets see GPs and other small pets as "disposable". They do not understand why you would bother and they don't have the knowledge to do a good cavy necropsy anyway. You may get stuck with a vet guessing at what the cause of death was because they are not familiar with cavy anatomy and illness. If that happens then you are no better off then you were before the necropsy.

You may want to contact a local vet school if you have any good ones nearby. Often they have an exotic expert on staff and they may jump at the chance to do a necropsy as a teaching tool for the students (possibly for free). In return Pepper's death may help teach a new generation a bit more about small animals and spark some interest in them to seek a career in exotic animal medicine and not just dogs and cats.

[lynn's Cavies]

Hi there,

Yes. I have had necropsy's done before on two of my guinea pigs. I found it to be very helpful as I was concerned that one of them had passed away from a contagious disease and didn't want my other one to get sick too.
It turned out she had a twisted stomach. Absolutely horrible. The other guinea pig died from an acute hemmoraghic...darn I can't remember the actual medical term, but she had bleeding in her lungs. I wanted to know if it was trauma induced because a "friend" had been watching her for me temporarily. That is a whole other long story that I won't get into. The Vet told me that it could have been caused by trauma or she could have had a weak area in her chest. I don't think I am making much sense.

The Vet was an exotic Vet though and he performed all the neuters on my male guinea pigs. He is highly recommended in the community and his staff was not surprized I wanted this done. Some Vets who only treat cats or dogs maybe surprized as they might not come across this request a lot.

But you are not crazy or unusual for asking for this. I understand having been there myself.

Lynn

[Zeander]

I found a vet to do it. When we spoke on the phone, he was very nice and understanding of how much my piggy meant to me. I told him the whole story about Mia and then about Pepper. He said that my observations match up with what her cause of death was. Pepper had Pasturella (sp?) which caused her lungs to hemorage. He said that cows also get it and they call it "Shipping Disease" because it comes out or they get it when they are stressed out from shipping. He wasn't clear on how she got it. I can't think of anything that would had stressed her out so badly. My mom thought maybe Pepper was stressed because of losing Mia.

The vet told me he had a veterinary student coming in tomorrow and that he will save some tissue samples to show her. If they find out anything more, he will give me a call back. I am really satisfied with how he handled the situation... he seemed to care.

Just wanted to let y'all know.

[PiggieMom]

That's good new Zea. I'm really sorry that you lost them.

[jdomans]

Oh Zea this is awful. You now know what happened but not really why. Maybe you can do some reseach yourself. I know here I have Dr. Bink, but in many cases anything out of the norm, (and for south Ga most everything is out of the norm) should go on up to Athens to the UGA vet college.

[HowietheGreat]

My heart goes out to you. I am so sorry for the loss of the two.

[GSL1445]

Good vets will necropsy animals without a problem, but I have worked for a few that thought it was a waste of their time. Vet schools or schools that specialize in Veterinary Technology are a good place to look for necropsies should your vet not be willing to accomodate you.

[JennG]

I just wanted to say how sorry I am for both your losses. It's terrible to lose one let alone both your girls. Take care.