Lethals Cause of death on pregnant sow

[bidohrama]

The white sow in the left picture died tonight around 4 in the morning in mid pregnancy with no visible cause and apart from the internal hemorrhage visible in the right picture, all of her organs are pristine. Since small, she has always been well cared with daily fresh vegetables and a boar in a cage. The nipples began to increase size 2 weeks ago but the hips have not began to widen. In terms of behavior she had already started building a nest of hay, she had plenty of appetite, physical activity and curiosity about her surroundings and the only recent attitude change was her constant, interminable bubbling or purring sounds.

I am looking for experienced opinions regarding:

1) What approximate age is the female?
2) What approximate age are the fetuses?
3) What could be the cause of death?
4) What age span are sows able to breed?
5) What important gems of wisdom and experience would you share regarding breeding cavies?

A big thank you for replying to these five questions.

PS: I bought a sow 10 years ago in a pet shop who died the following week. When buying a sow at a pet shop, what to look out for?

 

[bpatters]

There's no way for us to know how old the sow is.

The fetuses are probably 5-6 weeks old.

There's no way to know the cause of death unless you had a vet do a necropsy.

Sows should NEVER be deliberately bred. Pregnancy is dangerous for both sows and pups. The death rate is high, in large part because the pups are HUGE in relation to the size of the sow. In addition, they are susceptible to genetic diseases that can cause lifelong pain and disfigurement (osteodystrophy), or blindness/deafness/malocclusion/immature digestive systems (lethal white syndrome).

This site is strongly anti-breeding, pro-rescue and pro-adoption. We will give you no help whatsoever in breeding guinea pigs, and you may not discuss breeding on here. You may discuss other aspects of cavy care, but if you deliberately breed your guinea pigs, you may not post pictures of them.