Is this true....

[A4PigHome]

My cousin stopped over today and mentioned about her friend who had a guinea pig. Apparently it was really hot outside, so she put cold water on the gp and later it died. Her vet said the gp died because she put water on it. Does this sound right? I do not know anything else about the situation, but I guess I am kind of surprised to hear that a gp can die from having cold water put on it.

 

[Eventrocker33]

Well I can see why that would happen, being very hot and then getting a cold rush. You should talk to her friend and tell her that if she ever gets another guinea pig that she shouldn't do that and she also shouldn't keep it outside.

 

[RubyPiggie2]

Yup, the temperature changed way too quickly, it probably developed pnemonia.

 

[Cherryrosed]

How much cold water was put on the GP? If a lot was put on it, then it could have gone into shock. A little bit shouldn't have caused it to die though.

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

He probably had heat stroke. The ice cold water did not help due to the drastic temperature change, but neither did housing him outdoors.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

I am thinking heat related death as well. The cold water could have put the pig into shock and thus causing it to not to be able to recover. Pigs are susceptible to temperatures over 75F. They can't sweat and heat stroke can come on quickly if they get too hot. Guinea pigs are much better off in the house where there are fans and/or air conditioning.

 

[A4PigHome]

I know she had her guinea pig inside the house, but it could have still gotten pretty hot despite the fact that we have very few days over 85 degrees here at Duluth. They probably didn't have air conditioning as many don't in town. I thought about asking more about what happened, but I guess I was already pretty sad about hearing how yet another guinea pig was mistreated. I do know the vet gave her a pretty good lecture about what she did to the guinea pig.

As for my cousin, she is learning the proper way to take care of a guinea pig thru watching us take care of our 4 boys. She even stopped by each day to feed and water them while we were camping this last week. She was surprised at how the wheeked at her for food. I think they really grew on her because now she likes to hold them when she comes over.