Pridecity's Sparky

[johnsonboys]

Some of you may know that I am friends with Pridecity. You may also know that she's been really sick and I've been taking care of her pigs. She had six, I had four and my neighbor gave me four more that the family didn't want. That led to fourteen pigs, but Pridecity knew I couldn't handle so many so she let me rehome two of hers and I rehomed two of mine, in addition of the four my neighbor gave me. That left seven in my care.

I'd been having a few aggression problems among hers before I rehomed two of them, one of them was the aggresser and had given her oldest pig several bites as well as barbering. That pig has been slowly healing and growing fur. Then another of hers has re-occuring eye problems that requires tetracycline twice a day. Another keeps getting colds, but he is almost a lethal.

In addition to this, one of mine had decided to become aggressive and caused several bites. One of of the pigs, this had led to an absess that needs draining. All this means that out of seven guinea pigs, seven were on medication or not at 100% health. Everyone else seemed to be healthy and happy.

Then, this morning I found someone dead. It was one of the ones that acted healthy with no problems. His name was Sparky and he was a tri-colored Abby. She'd gotten him in the fall of 2007 as a baby at Petsmart. She was working there at the time and couldn't resist.

I can't even remember when I saw him last. If it was yesterday, the day before, or the day before that. I didn't pay much attention when I was feeding them. It's hard to do when you have several mouths trying to take the bag of food away from you late at night.

When I found him and picked him up, he felt like he weighed 10 pounds. His feet were blue and he was hard. Does that give anyone an indication of how long he could have been dead? He didn't have any blood on him that I could see, but I didn't want to move him too much.

I haven't told Pridecity that he died yet. I'm hoping to be able to give her some reason as to why he died. Anyone have any ideas?

Here is a picture of him that I found among my pictures. It was taken about six months ago and isn't very good, but I don't have her pictures folder with me, so it will have to do.

[akstrohm]

Only a necropsy will give you an accurate cause of death. Had he lost any weight? That might give you some clue.

Guinea pigs don't get colds. Any cold-like symptoms could be indicative of a URI or other problems. Do you weigh all of the pigs at least weekly? If you are noticing cold-like symptoms, your pigs should see a vet.

Even with 7 pigs, you should make sure that you at least see all of them every day and that they look healthy. When guinea pigs get sick, they go downhill really quickly. The pig in question may have been showing symptoms a few days ago that could have been treated if he had gotten to the vet then. They all need to be weighed weekly as well.

Finally, if your pigs are drawing blood, they need to be separated. Do you have large enough cages for them?

[Wodentoad]

If he was hard and immoble, you're looking at about 8-16 hours (rigor), if he was soft and floppy but not particularly odorous, 16-24 hours.

Don't ask me how I know this. I'd rather not say.

Stress can kill, more cages and rehoming may be the answer here. Very sorry for your loss.

[johnsonboys]

I'm pretty new to guinea pigs myself, but Pridecity has had her oldest since July 2006. She never weighed hers, so I never knew about it. As far as the weight, he's always been a little pudgy and I know when I clipped nails on Monday, he still felt like a horse (as far as guinea pig weights go, if you know what I mean on that). I know I wouldn't be able to tell the difference of ounces or grams, but he didn't feel like he lost anythings. He always ate like a horse too and I don't know why I don't remember seeing him last night when I fed. He's usually the first one besides the near-lethal to the bowl. I just don't remember who I saw last night.

I remember that the one with the bite absess ate. His name is Svan and I remember convincing him that I wouldn't hurt him by petting him on the nose while he was in the cage. I remember the near-lethal (Marx) glaring at me when I found out that one of the water bottles was empty. But I honestly cannot remember who else I saw.

As for the one who is being aggressive (Roberto), he has been seperate for a few weeks now in a second level. The cage the other ones are in is a 3x8 cage that will possibly be extended again to a 3x8 with an additional 2x4 attachment. I think that is big enough.

With Marx, I said cold out of habit. He's been on medication before, but it came back for some reason. The only sign is a mucky nose that sometimes makes a whistling sound. I noticed it a week ago but can't have him checked by a vet until tomorrow because my regular vet is on vacation until then. He does house calls for me to save my money and because I'm a rescue (for fish, but still a rescue).

The only other thing I can say is that every time I trimmed Sparky's nails, he would suddenly develop a twitch. Pridecity said he started that after her now-ex boyfriend cut into the quik the first time Sparky had his nails done. She always thought it was just a way for him to not get his nails done. He never twitched at any other time.

[akstrohm]

Guinea pigs should be weighed weekly. Weight loss is often the first (and can be the only) sign of illness. A 1 ounce fluctuation is normal, but a loss of 3 ounces or so warrants a vet visit. If you suspect any of your pigs might be sick, weigh them more often.

Since the vet is coming to your place anyway, I think it would be a good idea to have him look all the pigs over.

I'm sorry for your loss. He was a very cute pig.

[johnsonboys]

I talked to Pridecity. She was going to post but let me do so instead.

About the weighing, she said that when she first read about weighing, she was a high schooler and did not have money of her own, then for the two years after, she had a lot of money troubles and getting a weighing scale was not in her top 20 things to spend money on.

Now, she would like to get one, but neither of us know where to get one or the price. Can anyone help with that?

[akstrohm]

You can get them at places like Target for as little as $20-30. Digital is best, but it's not necessary. A regular kitchen scale that goes up to 5lb or so will do.

[Wodentoad]

A lot of places, like thrift stores, will have kitchen scales. We have one that came with our house (bought from family, so we knew the previous owners), but was bought sometime in the 70's or 80's. Luckily springs don't change much even in 20-30 years.

Let your local stores know what you're after (and why) and they may be on the look out for you.

I just weighed mine tonight. Healthy, plump, and for at least the littlest, still growing!