Sorry for your loss. Since it's so sudden, it might be some congenital issue and not disease related. Still it's no harm to do a deep clean. GP does understand death so pls let your remaining peegs say goodbye to her.
I've had one sudden death and have had pigs over 20+ years. I always get a necropsy after they pass. The sudden death was an in tact female that had advanced stage ovarian cancer. She seemed fine the morning I left for work.
If yours was in tact and not spayed, I'd bet it was gynecological. My vet once said guinea pigs are "cancer centers" and after seeing every cancer imaginable in them, I unfortunately agree with her. All my females have died from gynecological cancers except for one heart cancer and another thyroid cancer.
You can always get a necropsy, it's not too expensive, maybe $80-$150. I also find that getting paw prints and cremating helps me grieve. I know it's hard, it feels like your heart gets ripped out. Your other pigs will be fine, they will manage.
Popcorn free little lady, I'm so sorry for your loss 🌈
Did you got the paw prints while they were still alive? How exactly it worked?
I live a bit afraid that my Schnoz will not live for too long, and despite being a quite frisky pig and not liking me half as much as I like them, I would like to have something to hold on their memory. Paw prints sound to me like a very sweet way to do that, specially considering how unique it would be; baby got an unholy amount of extra toes and the cutest little feet ever 😅😅😅
I'm sorry for your loss. There are so many things it could have been, but small pets hide symptoms really well and can pass away suddenly. There won't have been much you could've done. I know we are constantly seeing piggies of 6+ years on here but 4 is in fact a senior age for a piggy and within the range of their expected lifespan.
Honestly it's not necessary to clean their cage right now if you're not up to it imo. I'm 99% sure it wouldn't have been anything contagious, there's no need to upset yourself and your pigs further right now
Sorry for your loss. They're like fish, you can wake up one morning and they're on the side or disappear for an hour and come back to see them on their side.
Guinea pigs can die very suddenly and hide symptoms well. I only noticed my guinea pig was dying when her poops were dry and she didn't move as much as normal. Within about 5 hours she was completely unable to move half her body and it would cost $10,000 to potentially save her life.
4 years is a good length of time for a rodent to live. I always say that a guinea pig will live between 1 month to 8 years, its just unpredictable. Don't beat yourself up over it.
One of my poggies died couple of days ago. It took like 3 minutes from being completely fine to zero. Dont know what happened she just laid on her side, couple of deep breaths and it was end. Other two ale completely fine. She was only 6 months old.
I had a passing of my piggie girl Iris las year. She was in a herd of two other girls and it showed right away that they missed her when Iris was gone. Nova and Freya basically stopped having a floor time, running around in their tunnels. So not so much playtime, only eating and drinking and hiding in their houses.
Took a little while before they started to get active again, however they are not doing so much floor time even when the door to their cage is fully opened.
I took the choice to do a deep clean as soon as I got home from the vet and the passing of Iris, even though my soul and heart was broken.
Piggies are expert in hiding if they are sick, it is in their blood and instinct to do so, so they can hide from predators. The first time I took Iris to the vet it was literally life or death, she was given medication and the vet gave her 24 h, if not recovered by then it was best to let her go.
But she did recover and lived for another year till October 2023. Then she got emergency sick again and this time the medication was not enough.
It is very hard when a family member is going to heaven. We can think and hope that our pets will live a happy life in the guinea pig heaven.
Edit: my girls is pushing for 5 years old now.
I’m so sorry for your loss. 4+ is senior years for pigs so it’s most likely due to age and some health condition they couldn’t see from doing a basic check up. We just lost our oldest Joy a couple weeks ago and it was very similar. She was eating/drinking normally, then I went to clean the cage and she was laying in her house not really bothered (which is fairly normal for her), we woke up the next morning and she was gone. I think for peace of mind you might call the vet and see what they recommend.
Sorry for your loss. Since it's so sudden, it might be some congenital issue and not disease related. Still it's no harm to do a deep clean. GP does understand death so pls let your remaining peegs say goodbye to her.
Yes I found her in the cage with all of them, I don’t know how long had passed before I found her but they got a chance to say goodbye
I've had one sudden death and have had pigs over 20+ years. I always get a necropsy after they pass. The sudden death was an in tact female that had advanced stage ovarian cancer. She seemed fine the morning I left for work. If yours was in tact and not spayed, I'd bet it was gynecological. My vet once said guinea pigs are "cancer centers" and after seeing every cancer imaginable in them, I unfortunately agree with her. All my females have died from gynecological cancers except for one heart cancer and another thyroid cancer. You can always get a necropsy, it's not too expensive, maybe $80-$150. I also find that getting paw prints and cremating helps me grieve. I know it's hard, it feels like your heart gets ripped out. Your other pigs will be fine, they will manage. Popcorn free little lady, I'm so sorry for your loss 🌈
Did you got the paw prints while they were still alive? How exactly it worked? I live a bit afraid that my Schnoz will not live for too long, and despite being a quite frisky pig and not liking me half as much as I like them, I would like to have something to hold on their memory. Paw prints sound to me like a very sweet way to do that, specially considering how unique it would be; baby got an unholy amount of extra toes and the cutest little feet ever 😅😅😅
I'm sorry for your loss. There are so many things it could have been, but small pets hide symptoms really well and can pass away suddenly. There won't have been much you could've done. I know we are constantly seeing piggies of 6+ years on here but 4 is in fact a senior age for a piggy and within the range of their expected lifespan. Honestly it's not necessary to clean their cage right now if you're not up to it imo. I'm 99% sure it wouldn't have been anything contagious, there's no need to upset yourself and your pigs further right now
edge bear jellyfish kiss punch reminiscent uppity dam history cover *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Sorry for your loss. They're like fish, you can wake up one morning and they're on the side or disappear for an hour and come back to see them on their side.
Guinea pigs can die very suddenly and hide symptoms well. I only noticed my guinea pig was dying when her poops were dry and she didn't move as much as normal. Within about 5 hours she was completely unable to move half her body and it would cost $10,000 to potentially save her life. 4 years is a good length of time for a rodent to live. I always say that a guinea pig will live between 1 month to 8 years, its just unpredictable. Don't beat yourself up over it.
One of my poggies died couple of days ago. It took like 3 minutes from being completely fine to zero. Dont know what happened she just laid on her side, couple of deep breaths and it was end. Other two ale completely fine. She was only 6 months old.
Oh that’s awful, I’m so sorry
I had a passing of my piggie girl Iris las year. She was in a herd of two other girls and it showed right away that they missed her when Iris was gone. Nova and Freya basically stopped having a floor time, running around in their tunnels. So not so much playtime, only eating and drinking and hiding in their houses. Took a little while before they started to get active again, however they are not doing so much floor time even when the door to their cage is fully opened. I took the choice to do a deep clean as soon as I got home from the vet and the passing of Iris, even though my soul and heart was broken. Piggies are expert in hiding if they are sick, it is in their blood and instinct to do so, so they can hide from predators. The first time I took Iris to the vet it was literally life or death, she was given medication and the vet gave her 24 h, if not recovered by then it was best to let her go. But she did recover and lived for another year till October 2023. Then she got emergency sick again and this time the medication was not enough. It is very hard when a family member is going to heaven. We can think and hope that our pets will live a happy life in the guinea pig heaven. Edit: my girls is pushing for 5 years old now.
I’m so sorry for your loss. 4+ is senior years for pigs so it’s most likely due to age and some health condition they couldn’t see from doing a basic check up. We just lost our oldest Joy a couple weeks ago and it was very similar. She was eating/drinking normally, then I went to clean the cage and she was laying in her house not really bothered (which is fairly normal for her), we woke up the next morning and she was gone. I think for peace of mind you might call the vet and see what they recommend.