Any thoughts as to the cause of her death?

[cml609]

Our 3.5 year old female died a couple days ago. She had lost a little bit of weight, but nothing alarming. She was very active, eating, drinking, everything. In fact she was, as usual, the loudest and friendliest of our 5. I was needless to say shocked to find her passed away in a corner of the cage when I went to feed them a few nights ago. Any ideas as to what might have caused this? As I said, she was acting normal other than some weight loss.

[paula.m.moore]

I'm sorry to hear about your girl. Weight loss can be an indicator of a number of things. Are you going to have a necropsy?

[ellenvega]

A necropsy may have provided the answers.

There are many things that could have caused her death, from stroke to heart issues to some underlying infection. Sadly, these little guys don't often give us a lot of clues as to what exactly is going on (weight loss is a classic warning, true, but sometimes even then it's hard to diagnose the actual problem).

Very closely monitor your other pigs and have them checked by a vet if any more symptoms arise. Sorry for your loss.

[Pennyspiggies]

I am so sorry for your loss. My first guinea pig, Shadow, was only 3.5 when he died unexpectedly last Nov. He was active and eating up until the day before he passed away in my arms. We had a necropsy done and it did not give us any answers. My thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time. I know how hard it is. *Hugs*

[salana]

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. Sadly, guinea pigs are very good at hiding their illnesses until it's too late to save them. I personally suspect cancer (no history of any symptoms except slight weight loss). I know many people have had pigs that suddenly died and had a necropsy, only to discover they had a spleen tumor the size of an orange, or something similar.

It doesn't make it easier, but at least you know she was living the good life until the moment she died--she was loud, active, hungry, and friendly. A pig who has all of those behaviors is a contented pig, except they WOULD like just a FEW more tomatoes RIGHT NOW already WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK.