Any idea why he died?

[Blaykrs]

One month to the day that I got my first pig, I took him outside for awhile. From everything I read and seen, I should have been able to put him in the grass. Well, a few hours later, his tummy got big and he couldn't breath well. I held him until he died. What did I do wrong?

[Piglet]

Oh my! I have never heard of something like that happening... I'm really sorry.

[Sara'spets]

I am so sorry for you and your little pigger. I hope he wasn't in pain. Was the grass treated with anything that could have been poisonous - like fertilizer or weed killer?

[VoodooJoint]

Before you put your GP on the grass did you ever feed it fresh veggies?

It sounds like your GP got Gastric Dilitation Volvulous(Bloat) it's an emergency condition where the stomach fills with gas and can rotate. The rotation of the stomach cuts off blood supply to the internal organs, keeps any gas from passing and if not treated immediatly with surgery (the only option for this condition) death will result from either the stomach rupturing or toxins in the system from the dying bood deprived organs.

If your GP never had fresh veggies before, or only got them rarely it is possible that your pig got "colic" much like a horse would. The colic causes the bloat and the death. GPs cannot vomit like humans, dogs and cats can so if the only other path out is blocked by a torsion then a rupture is the only other way to relieve the pressure.

If ever anyone sees these signs in their pet be it dog, Gp or anything else you MUST get to an experianced Vet immediatly. This condition is only resolved with surgery and time is of the essence.

[Blaykrs]

The yard had fert. put on last June. I thought it would be ok by now. Maybe I was wrong. He got carrots and lettuce everyday. And I did give him a hand full of grass about a week before that. I took it very hard. I had always wanted a piggy.

[Sara'spets]

I know how difficult it is to have a pet die and not know why or how to help it. Just don't be afraid to get a new one, but be sure to do a lot more research on how to care for guinea pigs. I would also refrain from putting it in the grass.

[Slap Maxwell]

You need to feed a pig more than lettuce and carrots. If it was iceberg that may have contributed to the problem, also, feeding carrots everyday may have, too. Carrots should only be fed 2-3 times a week.

Sounds very traumatic, I'm sorry.

[onyx979]

Oh my, i'm very sorry for your loss. I truely hope that now you are more knowlegable about piggies and their care you will rescue one from a shelter and give it a loving careing home.

[CuteFluffyThing]

You know my stance on outdoor cages , i'm porbably the only pro-outdoors in these forums. Very odd that your guineapig died from the grass. When your guineapig moves to a new enviroment , see what kind of things there are they could eat and put one of each in their cage. We did the same and they loved it , everything was gone in 5 minutes. Start with small bits , too see if anything happens and increase it every day. They will get used to fresh vegetables (very healthy for a gp btw) and they love grazing outside

[salana]

Bloat and/or gastric torsion can happen for no obvious cause. CuteFluffyThing, I fail to see how your stance on keeping guinea pigs outdoors is relevant to this discussion.

[glitterbug121]

I cant see it to be the grass i put my gp on the grass nearly every day and he has vegitables every day in his hutch
Lettuce
Carrots
Cucumber thats his favorite

Im realy sorry for your loss i know how it feels my guniea was one of 3 the other two died about 1 month after i had them, thay formed a skin problem i took them to the vet and she said she really dident know what it was, they gave them all this Cow injection she said it should help, but it dident help they both died about 2 days later but the guniea pig that servived i still have i named him Lucky he is about 7 years old now and going strong.
He recently got a lump on the back of his neck but it turned out to be a gland that had come up, i asked the women about the cow injection that my GP had and she told me they have now brought out one for guniea pigs, so thats good.
sorry about what happened to you but i woudent hesertate getting another gp maybe have you grass chequed, im sure it wasent the grass maybe consalt a vet or look on the internet try to find what the course was and then you can prevent it from happening again.
I know my guniea pig and i know they love being out side on a nice summer day eating the grass, there that sort of animal i really think it was nothing you could have done

[Anubis]

Wow, that's really strange. o.O

I haven't even got piggies yet, but I'm going to ask a question relevant to this thread, which is if piggies aren't fed vegetables or fruit, and are put out of the grass, they get bloat? o.o

[glitterbug121]

Maybe but what ever they should get veg every day its not good for them if they dont and its not fair they love greenery

[The Magic Taco]

poor piggle. im sorry.

[lilipution1013]

Originally Posted by Blaykrs

One month to the day that I got my first pig, I took him outside for awhile. From everything I read and seen, I should have been able to put him in the grass. Well, a few hours later, his tummy got big and he couldn't breath well. I held him until he died. What did I do wrong?

Sometimes droppings / urine from other animals in the neighborhood can leave behind chemicals and bacteria that are harmful to piggies. I'm so sorry to hear about your piglet. *Hugs*

[kathrynj]

Oh my I'm so sorry
It sounds similar to what happened to my Hairy Mclairy a couple of years ago.
Checked their water - multiple bottles - in the morning, looked in at one point and noticed one completely empty, but didn't investigate as there were 2 more small ones.
Then in the afternoon I picked up H as he looked funny and within 15 minutes his tummy swelled up, it was awfull, then he very quickly was gone.
Only later I discovered the ball bearing from my "most expensive" bottle was totally missing. not in the bedding on the floor, anywhere. He'd accidentally swallowed it - how incredibly painful

[Daisy Duke]

Sorry for your loss.

[Cavykid14]

Or i heard if you feed your piggies crackers or bread it will expand there stomach, maybe if you would have applied a little pressure on his/her stomach it would have helped to release the gas but thats very sad, im sorry for your loss