Ruby is gone

arogerson · Dec 8, 2005

Last Wednesday (11/30) my daughter said that Ruby wasn't eating her carrot. She loves carrots. It was at that moment we became aware Ruby wasn't eating at all. I called my vet, who at one time bred guinea pigs, and she told me all I could do was hand feed her to try and get her appetite back. I started to hand feed her but could not do it every two hours like she suggested. Over the next few days, we noticed she would take drinks and eat some of her produce but no pellets. Then the diarrhea started on day 4. Despite all the hand feeding, she would not eat. I knew the situation was grave. However, we live over 2 hours from a guinea pig vet. It was not possible to take her to the vet, the cost, travel time etc. We tried probiotics and it did not help. She never had any signs of a URI. She died on day 7 after one long fight. It was horrible, she was my daughter's first piggie. She held her and sobbed for 6 hours before Ruby finally gave up the fight. I would have taken her to get euthanized but it was after hours. I live in a small town and don't have the luxury of a 24 hour vet service. Ruby was not even a year old. I have no idea what was wrong. Now we have Ginger and her baby Peaches. I feel for any of you out there who have piggies that won't eat. :weepy:

RyanR · Dec 8, 2005

I'm so sorry for your lost and your daugther's.

Marlania · Dec 8, 2005

I'm so sorry. Run free, Ruby.

JackSpicerRules · Dec 8, 2005

I'm so sorry for your loss, arogerson. I know it's hard to lose a piggie. :hug:

~Veronica~

♥pepsi♥ · Dec 9, 2005

Im sorry

get your daughter a new pig prehaps?

pigs usually live between 5-10 yrs, was the cage always clean? sorry to ask

cavy-cool-crazy · Dec 9, 2005

I'm sorry you lost Ruby. You did what you could.

I'm thinking she may have had bloat or something interfering with the whole digestive system. Not eating, not pooping, then diarrhoea - it's all to do with digestion.

Bless your soul, Ruby.

iLoveDusty · Dec 9, 2005

That is so sad. I'm so sorry.

I'm sure she loved you both, and she is looking down on you now, just waiting until you can feed her carrots again.

Poor little girl :weepy:

pennick · Dec 9, 2005

I am also sorry for your loss, I know what it is like.

I would suggest you not adopt any other piggies since you cannot afford nor drive the distance for medical attention. Don't mean to be harsh sounding, just truthful and realistic.

arogerson · Dec 9, 2005

We did keep the cage immaculate, used Cell-sorb plus in the corners where they "do their business" and that was covered with aspen. We have two other piggies. We got Ginger in July to keep Ruby company. Unfortunately Ruby wasn't too fond of Ginger, they were in the same cage but separated with a divider, they could see and interact with each other. Then we found out Ginger was pregnant when we got her. 58 days after we got her, she had 5 pups. We kept one of the pups and gave the other 4 to loving homes. The baby we kept is Peaches. Now we only have Peaches and Ginger and will stay with two pigs.

I don't think people should not own guinea pigs just because they can't afford the extraordinary health care costs. I think it is rare a guinea pig needs life saving attention. There are lots of good people out there in rural areas that own pigs that cannot justify the time and expense for extraordinary care.

Pigaroo Mama · Dec 9, 2005

You poor things. What a terrible week you had. It must be torture watching and waiting. How odd for her to deteriorate like that at under a year old. Hopefully Ginger and Peaches will live to a ripe old age. I would just watch them closely for a while. If they start having any problems, you need to treat ASAP as they go downhill so fast.

Sending :grouphug: from me and my girls, Cookie & Sundae.

pennick · Dec 9, 2005

arogerson said:
I don't think people should not own guinea pigs just because they can't afford the extraordinary health care costs. I think it is rare a guinea pig needs life saving attention. There are lots of good people out there in rural areas that own pigs that cannot justify the time and expense for extraordinary care.

You use the word "extraordinary" twice in your post. May need a clarification here. Taking a guinea pig to the vet when it is ill to me is not extraordinary, but rather "ordinary" as a pet owner.

Your statement "There are lots of good people out there in rural areas that own pigs that cannot justify the time and expense for extraordinary care" to me is pretty sad. What you are basically saying is that guinea pigs are throw away animals. If one gets sick let it die and go out and get another.

arogerson · Dec 9, 2005

What I am saying is that there are no guinea pig vets in my area. For me to have to drive 2 hours one way to take my guinea pig to a vet is somewhat "extraordinary" for me and probably for many other guinea pig owners. That is what I meant by extraordinary. I do not think they are "throw away" animals. "Assumption is the mother of all evil." Stop assuming things about people you know nothing about.

At one point this year, I was the owner of 7 guinea pigs, one cockatiel, and two scottie dogs. My 16 yr old scottie died in August, we gave 4 guinea pups away, and now Ruby is gone. I love pets and would never think any animal is "throw away" material. Shame on you.

homeschoolmama · Dec 9, 2005

I am so sorry you lost Ruby. How sad, to lose one so young. (((((((hugs!!!))))))

Percy's Mom · Dec 9, 2005

My condolences to you and your family on your loss.

To a point I do have to agree with Pennick. It's obvious that you don't consider your animals "throw away pets", but would it not make more sense to have animals that can be seen be easily seen by a doctor if they get ill? If it's not possible for whatever reason, be it financial or time constraints, to get to a cavy vet, maybe guinea pigs aren't the pets for you. It's not a judgement on you as a person. It's a statement on what's best for the animal. You stated in your first post that Ruby was dying for a week. If in that time it had been possible to drive the 2 hours to a vet, she might be on the road to recovery now.

arogerson · Dec 9, 2005

I plan to have guinea pigs as long as my daughter wants to have them despite your opinions. Somehow I KNEW when I made my post I would get criticized for not doing something right. It is a common occurrence on this forum. Thanks for not only sticking in the knife, but also twisting it. (This does not apply to all those nice people who gave us proper condolences.)

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Ruby is gone

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