I think my baby piggy just had a miscarriage, what now?

[MidwestSteph]

Hello everyone. This is my first post on this forum. Our family just got a little girl piggy on Monday. Earlier today we found two round bloody balls with her in her hiding tube. Each were a little bigger than a marble. It seems to me that she miscarried an early pregnancy. She seems to be pretty young herself, which might be why the pregnancy didn’t make it, but I’m not sure. My two boys were in tears, worried for their new piggy. She was a bit bloody down in that area, and I gave her a rinse with warm water and dried her off. I think she’s still bleeding a bit because she’s been cleaning that area and her nose has a bit of blood on it from cleaning.

I am not sure what to do for her. Does she need to see a vet? Should I change her diet in any way, or give vitamin drops to help her recover? We’ve only had her for a short while but my little boys and I have already grown quite attached to this sweetheart. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Soecara]

If she is still bleeding I would take her for a check over by a good exotics vet.

She shouldn't need any diet changes as she should already be getting a young guinea pig diet, which has the same elements of a diet for a pregnant sow.

 

[MidwestSteph]

Soecara, thank you for your advice. She is currently getting young guinea pig pellets and hay by oxbow.


She doesn’t appear to be bleeding anymore. However she seems to have a URI. Sneezing and some drainage from her nose. Maybe this infection brought on the miscarriage. She also seems more irritable and screamed when I was holding her and touched around her middle her to move her higher on my chest. I am going to try to have her seen tomorrow by an exotics vet. My little boy will be absolutely devastated if this turns out to be fatal.

 

[MidwestSteph]

The vet put our piggy on an antibiotic plus a pain/inflammation reducer. She still acts like her tummy is tender, and the vet said she thought there might be another fetus inside. I didn't think to ask at the time if she thought it was alive. Can a pig miscarry two babies, but keep a third? And is it normal for their tummies to be tender while pregnant?

 

[bpatters]

No, pregnancy doesn't make the abdomen particularly tender, especially if there aren't a lot of pups inside.

Did this vet do any diagnostics, like an ultra sound or an x-ray? Were you able to see an exotic vet who knows about guinea pigs?

 

[Soecara]

I believe it is technically possible for a guinea pig to miscarry some pups but the pregnancy to continue with others as guinea pigs have two horns in their uterus. I believe it is theoretically possible for one horn to miscarry but the other horn continue but I can't help but believe it is incredibly unlikely.

Pregnant sows are not usually tender around their abdomens. It is more likely her uterus has become infected, potentially by a retained but deceased pup if the vet is indeed correct, which is I suspect may be why the vet may have put her on an antibiotic.

I too am interested in what diagnostics the vet ran in this case. When I had a sow with birthing complications they only palpitated her abdomen before agreeing with what I suspected was wrong (retained placenta), luckily they were able to give her something that helped her pass the remaining placenta otherwise she would have gotten and infection in her uterus that could have snowballed into septic shock.

If she doesn't get better with antibiotics, or at any point seems to be getting worse, you may want to consider discussing the option of spaying her with a good exotic vet.

 

[Countrycavy]

How is your piggie doing?

 

[MidwestSteph]

Hello everyone. Thanks again for the input. The vet I took her to is exclusively an exotics vet. They seemed very knowledgeable. The vet suggested doing an X-ray if she is still swollen and tender at her recheck. Luckily the tenderness in her abdomen has improved. She’s still sneezing though. She has one week to go yet on her meds. I was fully expecting to have a hard time giving her the meds but she actually loves it. She runs up to take it.

I bought a gram scale to keep an eye on her weight. She’s about 10 grams less than she was at the vet’s office, but maybe that’s just the difference between having just gone potty or not.

I can’t get her to take any type of vitamin C supplement, but she’s been scarfing down red pepper which is high in C. Have any of you found a good supplement that your piggies actually like?

 

[MidwestSteph]

Here’s a photo of her snuggling on a blanket while my son reads to her.