gpigluver14
Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2007
- Posts
- 739
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2007
- Messages
- 739
I'm not sure if this should be in the medical forum. This is more of a vent than anything.
I just lost my 4.5 year old girl, Ruby yesterday due to a possible UTI/ sludge that didn't respond to abs and high doses of Metacam. She was stable with hand-feeding and was better for a few days and then suddenly last night within 3 hours she went downhill rapidly, getting weaker and weaker until she passed in my arms. I don't know what happened. I wonder if it was stones, although 2 exotic vets said it wasn't from x-rays.
My pig before that, S'more, was 9 years old and developed severe arthritis and became unable to walk overnight. And possibly had something else that turned up in an x-ray. Hand-feeding and meds kept her going for a couple weeks I believe, and she even had some improvements with being able to walk/ stand on her own with my doing physical therapy with her. Eventually she became weak and lethargic passed away in my arms.
I'm not sure of Snicker's cause of death, but she was middle aged too, around 4, and passed rather suddenly with me, with no symptoms beforehand. I didn't do a necropsy.
Lastly was Skye, who was very young, under 2 years- she had a URI and I think could've been saved if I had taken her in to the vet sooner and I really blame myself for. She was PTS as she was too poorly to treat.
I guess I would like to maybe get a poll going on people who have had more than 5 pigs. How old were they when they passed, and what was the cause of death. Maybe I am unlucky, or it's normal (granted I've only had 5 pigs now). But the passing of my last two pigs has been very traumatic and emotionally exhausting for me. I do everything I can for them and they still don't make it, and then I wonder if I could have done more or tried something else, and if the vet was possibly wrong in their decisions/ analysis. I love pigs so much and they bring me so much joy but they are such fragile little creatures. I know it's a matter of them being prey animals so they hide things and many illnesses are common like URI's, UTI's, etc. But 4.5 years is too young to lose a pig, anything before 5 years is too young.
I am wondering how common is it for a pig to go illness-free throughout their whole life, and live the full average lifespan of 5-8 years? Is it rare? Of course, many times they get sick and manage to pull through as well.
Hopefully my current pig does well. I want to get her another friend eventually, but not for a while. I'm just feeling kind of put off by pigs right now because of the traumatic losses; I'm feeling sad and frustrated. I dread any time they are acting off at all because I worry if it's something serious and I'm about to lose them, despite the best treatment in the world. I would like some reassurance I suppose, and maybe some more positive information on other people's experiences with their pigs.
Ideally I'm sure we would love them to all live to be 9+ years and pass peacefully in their sleep but that hasn't been the case so far with me. Maybe it just takes someone special to be a great guinea pig owner to go through the stress and emotional turmoil of taking care of a sickly pig, whereas a dog or cat can usually recover very easily when they're sick and it's not such an ordeal. They can go days without eating and be fine, and they don't decline in a matter of hours. It's almost too much for me emotionally. But I do love them and always want to have them. Hopefully other people agree with how I'm feeling.
I just lost my 4.5 year old girl, Ruby yesterday due to a possible UTI/ sludge that didn't respond to abs and high doses of Metacam. She was stable with hand-feeding and was better for a few days and then suddenly last night within 3 hours she went downhill rapidly, getting weaker and weaker until she passed in my arms. I don't know what happened. I wonder if it was stones, although 2 exotic vets said it wasn't from x-rays.
My pig before that, S'more, was 9 years old and developed severe arthritis and became unable to walk overnight. And possibly had something else that turned up in an x-ray. Hand-feeding and meds kept her going for a couple weeks I believe, and she even had some improvements with being able to walk/ stand on her own with my doing physical therapy with her. Eventually she became weak and lethargic passed away in my arms.
I'm not sure of Snicker's cause of death, but she was middle aged too, around 4, and passed rather suddenly with me, with no symptoms beforehand. I didn't do a necropsy.
Lastly was Skye, who was very young, under 2 years- she had a URI and I think could've been saved if I had taken her in to the vet sooner and I really blame myself for. She was PTS as she was too poorly to treat.
I guess I would like to maybe get a poll going on people who have had more than 5 pigs. How old were they when they passed, and what was the cause of death. Maybe I am unlucky, or it's normal (granted I've only had 5 pigs now). But the passing of my last two pigs has been very traumatic and emotionally exhausting for me. I do everything I can for them and they still don't make it, and then I wonder if I could have done more or tried something else, and if the vet was possibly wrong in their decisions/ analysis. I love pigs so much and they bring me so much joy but they are such fragile little creatures. I know it's a matter of them being prey animals so they hide things and many illnesses are common like URI's, UTI's, etc. But 4.5 years is too young to lose a pig, anything before 5 years is too young.
I am wondering how common is it for a pig to go illness-free throughout their whole life, and live the full average lifespan of 5-8 years? Is it rare? Of course, many times they get sick and manage to pull through as well.
Hopefully my current pig does well. I want to get her another friend eventually, but not for a while. I'm just feeling kind of put off by pigs right now because of the traumatic losses; I'm feeling sad and frustrated. I dread any time they are acting off at all because I worry if it's something serious and I'm about to lose them, despite the best treatment in the world. I would like some reassurance I suppose, and maybe some more positive information on other people's experiences with their pigs.
Ideally I'm sure we would love them to all live to be 9+ years and pass peacefully in their sleep but that hasn't been the case so far with me. Maybe it just takes someone special to be a great guinea pig owner to go through the stress and emotional turmoil of taking care of a sickly pig, whereas a dog or cat can usually recover very easily when they're sick and it's not such an ordeal. They can go days without eating and be fine, and they don't decline in a matter of hours. It's almost too much for me emotionally. But I do love them and always want to have them. Hopefully other people agree with how I'm feeling.