Loss PLEASE! Give me ANY other explaination!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[guineapig_girl1]

My guinea pigs' 2 by 3 C&C cage sits on top of an old bath tub in the bathroom. I don't remember why I even went in there, but Pepper was dead, hiding underneath the food dish. I saw paw/claw marks on her sides, and her eyes were milky white. She was perfectly heathy. She was very talkative, ate good, drank plenty of water.... everything. Please tell me, could Salt have killed her? I noticed they had been chattering quite a bit lately. I thought nothing of it. I have read once you get them in a bigger cage they get much more talkative, and that's what I attributed it to. Is there anything else? She was only about 2 1/2 or 3.

 

[betty]

I am so sorry for your loss. Hopefully someone comes along soon who can give you some insight on this.

 

[CavyMama]

She shared the cage with your other pig? It's rare that a fight would be severe enough to result in death but it's possible. The fact that she had claw marks on her side is a good indication that there was quite a struggle. Had they gotten along up to that point?

 

[guineapig_girl1]

As far as I knew, other than the chattering, they were always happy together

 

[CavyMama]

And they both lived in that 2X3 for a while? Sometimes lack of space can cause a dust up.

 

[guineapig_girl1]

They just moved into the 2 by 3 from a bird cage!

 

[piggies1331]

I am sorry to hear about your loss.Hopefully you can make peace with the sudden death of your piggy.I hope you can forgive your other piggy if there is a possibility that she was involved in this

 

[TCTrun]

What a shame! I'm sorry this happened to you (and to pepper). I would say its unlikely, but certainly not impossible, that there was a violent enough scuffle that resulted in Pepper's death. I think a more likely explanation for Pepper's wounds is that Salt may have clawed/bit Pepper in an attempt to wake her up after she died. I have heard of piggies doing this before. If you are willing to spend some money, you could take Pepper's body to an exotics vet to hopefully receive a better explanation. Otherwise, you could perhaps take her body to a shelter or something. Maybe someone that runs a cavy shelter has seen something like this before?? I had a male piggie that died VERY suddenly with absolutely no signs beforehand around 3 years of age.

 

[bpatters]

Ditto TCTrun. I don't think I've ever heard of one cavy killing another, but I have heard several stories of pigs trying to wake a dead cage mate up.

 

[Paula]

It could have been a lot of things. Had you been weighing her regularly? Were her weights consistent or dropping? It could have been a URI that went untreated, a heart defect, a stroke, etc. The only thing that will tell you to any degree of certainty is a necropsy. A gross necropsy at my vet is very inexpensive and might be the only way to find definitive answers.

You don't really elaborate on the paw/claw marks on her side - could they have been from another animal, like a cat or dog? How many people have access to the pigs? Are there young children in the house?

There are a lot of possible explanations depending on the circumstances. Why do you think salt would have had something to do with it?

 

[Crystalkate]

If she had been picked on often it could have been over stress that killed her as well! I am so sorry

 

[guineapig_girl1]

Salt was the only one near her, and I guess It is because they had a history of fighting. I had posted about it before, and I was told to put them in a larger cage (which I did.) It was definately guinea paw marks, which is probably what made me think of Salt the most. The skin isn't broken, though, just marks and strokes through the fur. Maybe I was too hasty, I don't know. I was really shocked, and really sad. I don't know if I should keep Salt, or put her up for adoption, or what. I loved Pepper so much!

 

[Wildcavy]

This is only my thought, but I wouldn't give up on Salt, especially if there is any chance that she is grieving and was really only trying to wake up her friend. Two of my piggies started out with a very violent confrontation, and when the aggressor got hurt in a later event, the other pig was devastated. They both are okay now but I can picture Salt trying to figure out what happened and being worried despite prior hostilities. But that's just from my own experiences.

I am so sorry this happened -- its hard to lose a furbaby.

 

[CavyMama]

I wouldn't put Salt up for adoption. She is likely grieving for her friend, in her own guinea pig way. It's likely, like others have said, she was only trying to wake her friend up. What she needs is familiar surroundings and people she knows around her. In due time, you can adopt a new friend for her.

 

[kourt1313]

Definitely don't give Salt up! The poor baby is probably, like everyone else has said, grieving for her friend. If you let her go, how will she feel losing her human also and being a new, strange place? Please don't do that to her :weepy: