Miss Opal was about 1.5 years old and I had to put her down today due to some pretty gruesome conditions. I do have a question, with which I will have to get specific, so if you don't want to read about that I want to warn you to look away.
I woke up this morning and Opal had diarrhea in multiple spots around the cage. She was also lethargic and unable to move well at all and her little nose and lips were blue. They were going to treat her, as her chances were 50/50, but she quickly declined during our visit and began seizing. She began making unearthly noises and I made the decision to put her down as opposed to put her through any more pain on my account. This was all very sudden. I am having her cremated and I will introduce her ashes once they arrive to her two cage mates.
This is where my question comes in: the vet said that the other guinea pigs should not be in danger of having any illness (this was all VERY sudden for Opal. She weighed in fine yesterday and matched her weight for the week prior. She had been eating and had water yesterday. She had some softer stool for about two weeks but her pellets had always been strange since I rescued her) but I wanted to see if anyone had had a similar experience and might have some insight to what could have happened? As of current, I have the fleece bed that i took her to the vet in in the cage so they can smell her (they've been looking for her all day) and she did not defecate into the bed so I don't believe there would be any bacterial transmission there. I do notice that some pellets in the cage are smaller than others, but one of my guinea pigs is smaller than the other so this makes sense.
I'm sorry if this seems all over the place. I am just heartbroken and want to give my babies the best life possible and that includes seeking out knowledge of what Opal's condition could have been. She had some abnormalities as a piggy from day one as she was quiet and, as of recent, had become pretty violent. I know this could mean she had a neurological condition which would mean it wasn't contagious.
I'm going to take my loves for a well visit once the office makes themselves available for such visits (because of quarantine, they aren't doing yearly things right now) but I want to go into that visit as educated as possible.
Thank you all so much. I joined this forum a long time ago and am now back hoping someone can give insight <3