Loss I'm A Terrible Pet Owner...

Cativision · Sep 16, 2015

Today,I lost both of my guinea pigs unexpectedly. I actually held one when she was dying, but I woke up today to find the other dead too.I have no idea how,but my little sister's pig was still alive. Literally the same exact thing happened back in February with my hamsters-both died and my sister's lived. I just feel responsible for their deaths,even though I know it wasn't my fault. I spoiled those two rotten, they got top care. My mom contacted someone on craigslist and found a guinea pig that was being given up because the owners were highly allergic. We are picking him up on Sunday,but the grief of loosing my babies still lingers. Not only that,but my family will be watching my aunt's 3 ferrets until she finds an apartment that allows pets. I always love adding a new pet to the family, but I just don't feel happy this time. I feel horrible,I can't even keep the smallest hamster alive for even half a year. I have no idea what I am doing wrong...

lisanjake · Sep 16, 2015

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss.
did they have any symptoms or were that acting differently recently? its strange they both died within a day of each other. could u get any tests done on them to see what was wrong?
It cant have been your fault, unless you never fed them or neglected them which I highly doubt!
Can I ask were your hamsters kept together? as they usually live alone as they can kill each other (from what I know)
Rather sad that no one has replied to you either

Cativision · Sep 16, 2015

lisanjake said:
I'm so sorry to hear of your loss.
did they have any symptoms or were that acting differently recently? its strange they both died within a day of each other. could u get any tests done on them to see what was wrong?
It cant have been your fault, unless you never fed them or neglected them which I highly doubt!
Can I ask were your hamsters kept together? as they usually live alone as they can kill each other (from what I know)
Rather sad that no one has replied to you either

Well one of them,Annabeth,actually allowed me to pet her.(Which she never let me do) Whenever she wheeked she did wheeze a bit...
The other piggy,Wasabi showed no symptoms. He was just his same,goofy self.
My hamsters were not housed together,they were completely separate.

bpatters · Sep 16, 2015

I'm sorry you lost your pigs. But as you've sadly found out, guinea pigs can go from well to dead in a day. You have to pay close attention to symptoms, and get to a vet quickly, especially if it's a respiratory symptom.

lunarminx · Sep 16, 2015

I wouldn't get another pig yet, from your posts, you have lost 3 in the past month. These two and one from a post on 9/7/15. Something is up with that, do a complete cleaning on all unused cages and accessories a few times, rinse well. Switch your remaining pig(s) to a clean cage and do the same with that cage. If the remaining pig(s) survive for the next 3-6 months then start looking for another pig. Why get another just to have it die from whatever is killing off your piggies.

pinky · Sep 16, 2015

I'd take your new one to the vet for well check to make sure it's healthy .

Where do you keep your cage? Is it near a window or air duct? They shouldn't be kept in direct sunlight or next to a heater or a/c vent. Could another pet have gotten to them or are there any small children in your household that might have handled them roughly without you knowing? The fact that yours have died and your sister's haven't seems to indicate that there's something in the environment where you keep them that's posing a risk to them. Are you feeding them or supplementing their diet with anything that your sister isn't?

Cativision · Sep 16, 2015

pinky said:
I'd take your new one to the vet for well check to make sure it's healthy .

Where do you keep your cage? Is it near a window or air duct? They shouldn't be kept in direct sunlight or next to a heater or a/c vent. Could another pet have gotten to them or are there any small children in your household that might have handled them roughly without you knowing? The fact that yours have died and your sister's haven't seems to indicate that there's something in the environment where you keep them that's posing a risk to them. Are you feeding them or supplementing their diet with anything that your sister isn't?

I keep all cages in my room,one below a window that is rarely opened,another across from the AC. I do have a dog, but my room is on another level and she doesn't know how to get up stairs. Ever since my sister's friend dropped my hamster, I do not allow anyone to hold or touch my pigs,with the exception of my parents and my cousin who owns pigs herself. My sister's pig is diabetic, so I keep her on a low-sugar diet.I switched her to that diet only a few months ago,when all were eating the same things. Annabeth's cage mate Piper passed away when all were on the same diet,so I really have no idea what the issue is.

EDIT: I just remembered something:my little sister loves to spray air fresheners in our room.I know this is a stupid question,but could that be a factor?

Cativision · Sep 16, 2015

lunarminx said:
I wouldn't get another pig yet, from your posts, you have lost 3 in the past month. These two and one from a post on 9/7/15. Something is up with that, do a complete cleaning on all unused cages and accessories a few times, rinse well. Switch your remaining pig(s) to a clean cage and do the same with that cage. If the remaining pig(s) survive for the next 3-6 months then start looking for another pig. Why get another just to have it die from whatever is killing off your piggies.

I just cleaned every single cage that I own after they passed away.I cleaned the canvas bottom of the MidWest, the travel cage,everything. I will not be getting this pig from a pet store,as I do not want him to have the same fate as poor Piper. He's about four years old, and my aunt texted my mom saying she found a pig for us, he's had many inquiries but was never adopted out. Wasabi was an adoption pig,a girl's boyfriend got him for her as a gift,but she was allergic and gave him up. So,he was a pet store piggy as well,which could've been a factor for their deaths. I still need to clean the accessories.

bpatters · Sep 16, 2015

Air fresheners are not safe for YOU, much less the pigs. And that definitely could have played a part in the deaths.

The source of the pigs likely had nothing to do with it, as they died in the same place in a very short period of time. It's much more likely something in your environment that's the problem.

pinky · Sep 16, 2015

I'd move the cage away from the window.

Cativision · Sep 16, 2015

pinky said:
I'd move the cage away from the window.

I have no other space to put it,I live in the attic so the walls are slanted. I can't put anything against the walls because of this,so under the window is my only option unless I somehow find a clear space against a straight wall.

Cativision · Sep 16, 2015

bpatters said:
Air fresheners are not safe for YOU, much less the pigs. And that definitely could have played a part in the deaths.

The source of the pigs likely had nothing to do with it, as they died in the same place in a very short period of time. It's much more likely something in your environment that's the problem.

Thanks for letting me know,I'll keep the air fresheners away from my sister. She sprayed about half the bottle in the room,I wasn't really paying attention.I always try to keep the source in mind,because pet store breeding mills result to sickness and all that.

pinky · Sep 16, 2015

Cativision said:
I have no other space to put it,I live in the attic so the walls are slanted. I can't put anything against the walls because of this,so under the window is my only option unless I somehow find a clear space against a straight wall.

When I lived at home, my bedroom was a coverted attic. The temperature fluctuated a lot up there and would get really hot in the summer Guinea pigs aren't very heat tolerant so is it possible it got too hot up there?

Cativision · Sep 16, 2015

pinky said:
When I lived at home, my bedroom was a coverted attic. The temperature fluctuated a lot up there and would get really hot in the summer Guinea pigs aren't very heat tolerant so is it possible it got too hot up there?

It gets extremely hot in the attic,so I keep the AC on 24/7. After Annabeth and Wasabi passed away,I dialed the AC down a bit,to the "fan" mode.My mom tells me to always keep the AC on, but I do get a bit nervous leaving it on all the time since I had one of my hamsters die from hypothermia during the winter.Since then,we move all the animals downstairs into my grandparent's apartment to keep warm. I also put ice cubes in their water bottles.

bpatters · Sep 16, 2015

If it gets extremely hot in the attic, that may be why you lost your pigs. Guinea pigs do much better in cold than they do in heat. They can die of heat stroke at anything above 85 degrees. Mine live in our house very comfortably at 67-70 degrees.

Guinea pigs (the haired ones) are just balls of fat and fur, and they do NOT handle heat well. Ice cubes in the water bottles will do nothing to keep them cooled off. You should leave the air conditioner running, and if that doesn't keep it cool, put frozen bottles in the cage (wrap them in fleece) so the pigs can get close to them if they want to. Marble tiles that have been chilled in the freezer or refrigerator will also help keep them cool.

Hamsters and guinea pigs are two different species, and what's good for one is not necessarily good for the other. You need to read up on guinea pig care and not just assume that they can handle the conditions they're living in. Here's some good reading information:

-- https://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy.html
-- https://www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html
-- www.cavyspirit.com
-- the stickies at the tops of the main forums here
-- https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum...us-Plants-List for what you can feed and how often
-- https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum...ur-guinea-pigs!

Cativision · Sep 16, 2015

bpatters said:
If it gets extremely hot in the attic, that may be why you lost your pigs. Guinea pigs do much better in cold than they do in heat. They can die of heat stroke at anything above 85 degrees. Mine live in our house very comfortably at 67-70 degrees.

Guinea pigs (the haired ones) are just balls of fat and fur, and they do NOT handle heat well. Ice cubes in the water bottles will do nothing to keep them cooled off. You should leave the air conditioner running, and if that doesn't keep it cool, put frozen bottles in the cage (wrap them in fleece) so the pigs can get close to them if they want to. Marble tiles that have been chilled in the freezer or refrigerator will also help keep them cool.

Hamsters and guinea pigs are two different species, and what's good for one is not necessarily good for the other. You need to read up on guinea pig care and not just assume that they can handle the conditions they're living in. Here's some good reading information:

-- https://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy.html
-- https://www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html
-- www.cavyspirit.com
-- the stickies at the tops of the main forums here
-- https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum...us-Plants-List for what you can feed and how often
-- https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum...ur-guinea-pigs!

I researched guinea pigs before I got them, I already understand all this. I changed my mistakes and learned from them. This thread was for support and for some insight on why they could of possibly died,but I guess that is not the case. My house is always 65-70 degrees.But I will let you know that if you went back in my previous post,I said I keep my AC on 24/7.But thank you for the links,I appreciate you trying to make me a better piggy caretaker.

bpatters · Sep 16, 2015

I dialed the AC down a bit,to the "fan" mode.My mom tells me to always keep the AC on, but I do get a bit nervous leaving it on all the time

"Fan" mode means that just the fan is running. The air is not being cooled.

pinky · Sep 16, 2015

Cativision said:
I researched guinea pigs before I got them, I already understand all this. I changed my mistakes and learned from them. This thread was for support and for some insight on why they could of possibly died,but I guess that is not the case. My house is always 65-70 degrees.But I will let you know that if you went back in my previous post,I said I keep my AC on 24/7.But thank you for the links,I appreciate you trying to make me a better piggy caretaker.

Everyone is just trying to toss out anything we think might have been the cause. I thought you said you dialed the air conditioner down to fan mode. Air conditioning set at the a/c setting at a comfortable temperature should keep them cool as long as the sun isn't shining on them but an air conditioner set on fan mode won't.

Cativision · Sep 16, 2015

bpatters said:
"Fan" mode means that just the fan is running. The air is not being cooled.

I will turn it back up to the regular mode. Sorry for getting a little worked up,I'm not having the best day. I started sobbing in class because I was thinking about my departed babies.

Cativision · Sep 16, 2015

pinky said:
Everyone is just trying to toss out anything we think might have been the cause. I thought you said you dialed the air conditioner down to fan mode. Air conditioning set at the a/c setting at a comfortable temperature should keep them cool as long as the sun isn't shining on them but an air conditioner set on fan mode won't.

I know,I got a bit worked up from stress and sadness. I'm going to turn it back to the regular mode and a comfortable temperature.I really appreciate everyone trying to figure out what caused my babies to leave me so soon.

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