why did my guinea pig die? (see details, please.)?

Question

my guinea pig was 4 yrs old, & recently he had a filing on his MOLARS and his INCISORS. he was given anesthesia (we were informed of the risks) by a CERTIFIED VET at a clinic in SW Chicago suburbs, and for unknown reasons they gave him an injection of the antibiotic BAYTRIL, which i later found could cause a decrease in appetite. he seemed like he was better before his tooth filing than afterwards, he stopped eating and drinking even after we softened his food. he just sat in his house & would either sleep or just lie there. also we think he was sick before his filing, however he seemed to have been better for a few days. i found him dead in his cage this morning, help me why/how did he die? was the vet at fault? only answer if you know what you're talking about, please!! i need to know i still have one guinea pig i don't want the same thing to happen to him and future pets!!!!

if the vet was at fault should i seek legal action?

i don't know WHY his teeth got overgrown, he's given hard pellets and hay. and he wouldn't chew on the wood blocks we gave him, so we just took them away rather than having them sit in the cage and get soiled.

yes i KNOW 4 yrs is pretty old for anesthesia... the vet informed us of that. however it was the only way to get the job done PROPERLY.
what was i supposed to do, not have it done and have him starve?
and i have done research.

Answer 1

Baytril has to be given because working around the teeth and gums will cause bleeding and infection to get into the blood. The Baytril was a precaution to prevent infection. Guinea pigs normal life span is any where from 4-6 years... so yours was considered "older" and may simply could not handle the stress of surgery and his organs shut down. It was not the vets fault... they told you of the risks.

Answer 2

Sometimes a guinea pig's teeth can become overgrown. It can be a result of poor diet not wearing the teeth down fast enough. It could also be a problem where the teeth did not line up properly (malocclusion) and they couldn't rub against each other to wear. A rodent or cavy with a malocclusion does need his teeth filed/trimmed down. He/she should never be bred because it may be a genetic trait.

Baytril is a very common antibiotic to give to small pets, so I am not shocked they gave it. It may just have been a preventative so he wouldn't get sick when he was so stressed by the procedure & time in the vet office.

I don't know why he died. Only a necropsy will tell you the cause of death, and without knowing the cause of death for sure, you cannot blame the vet. If he died this morning you could still take the body to a vet office for this to be done. Do not freeze it but it is OK to keep in the fridge.

We can't blame the vet because we're not sure why he died. He just may have had a weak heart and any big stress would've triggered it.

To avoid problems like this:
Buy your next guinea pig direct from a GOOD breeder. A quality breeder will be monitoring the health of the babies and shouldn't be breeding lines of guinea pigs that tend to have teeth problems.

Read up on cavy health. This way you if the vet suggests a surgery or procedure you know what the risks are.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Sounds to me that he died of a post-operative infection. Your vet gave him Baytril to try to prevent an infection, but it still happens from time to time. How long after you brought him home did his symptoms begin? If he didn't "perk up" a couple of days after surgery, you should have taken him back to the vet. I've treated many small animals with Baytril and have never seen a decrease in appetite...your pig could have stopped eating due to his teeth being sensitive from the filing or from an infection. I'm sorry for your loss, but the second that you noticed something was wrong with him you should have taken him back to the vet.

As for your other pig, take him in to get checked for any infection. If he has discharge around his eyes or his nostrils he could have caught a respiratory infection and needs antibiotics.

I seriously doubt that your vet was at fault. They are trained professionals who know what they are doing. You shouldn't transfer your anger/grief onto the vet. I understand that you are sad and angry that you lost your pet, but if you had taken him back as soon as you noticed something was wrong he might not have died.

Make sure your remaining pig has lots of chew toys (wood blocks, etc.) to keep his teeth in good order.

Answer 4

The answers some people give only waste our time don't they? Don't they realize that they're "name" is out there for all the world to see. Such idiots, and ignorant answers don't give people a very good impression of your personality! Here is a more "true to life" answer. Why did you even have your Guinia Pigs teeth filed down, weren't you giving him enough hard stuff that nature provides to keep them from getting over grown. Like a Beaver, the teen ontinue to grow, a beaver will chew the hard stuff nature provides to keep his teeth short. I believe the dentist may be at fault, and he may have hit a nerve (more likely) and your little guy was in PAIN and didn't want to eat because it wuld have put pressure on his gums and cause even MORE pain. Filing the teeth of such a small animal is risky. I don't think your little guy was sick before the operation/proceedure. Give your remaining pet lots of hard stuff to nibble on, like carrots! He pretty much didn't want to do much of anything because he didn't feel good. As you know when you are in THAT much pain, toothache/headache, you don't want to do much of anything. Especially eat. So he didn't eat, or drink water, and he either died from starvation, or lack of water. But be assured, he will meet you with all your pets at the Pearly Gates there in Heaven! Our animals live on in Heaven too! But no there isn't anyway you can sue or anything, the vet. You won't be able to prove anything. But I WOULD get another vet..

Answer 5

i am very sorry about the loss of your guinea pig. remember, teh vet was able to actually inform you that 4 yrs was old for anesthesia. but there are many reasons for the loss.

1. some antibiotics are somethimes poisonous to guinea pigs.

2. he starved to death by decreace in appitite or couldnt really chew on his food.

3.Draft or change in room temp, either at home or in the room where the filling was made.

4.death by possible sickness from before the filling.

5. old age. they live about 4-8 years.

as for the overgrown teeth, you should have consulted a vet sooner to wear them down manually.

Answer 6

Your pig probably wasn't eating because he was in pain. Denistry is painful, for humans too (my teeth are always sore after a cleaning). From my understanding, a pain reliever is prescribed to use after teeth trimmings. It is not usually necessary to trim the incisors, only the molars.

It is really impossible to say how he died without a necropsy (animal autopsy). He could have had a delayed reaction from the anesthetic. If he had stopped eating, he could have starved to death. At the first sign of not eating, it is immensly important to hand feed guinea pigs. If they do not get food on a regular basis and continually throughout the day, their systems start to shut down.

Answer 7

I'm very sorry for the loss of your pet.

Unfortunately, I don't know that anyone here can give you a definitive answer as to the reason behind it. You should take peace in knowing that you cared enough about your friend to get his teeth fixed and to take care of him until the end. I wish there were better answers for you, but unfortuantely with our pets, we just never know.

If you are concerned about your other guinea pig, bring him to the vet to ensure that he is ok. Discuss the death of the other one with him until you feel comfortable understanding what may have gone wrong.

Good luck to you and again, I'm very sorry for your loss.

Answer 8

Hi again. Sorry to hear of your piggie.
You evidently didn't read my post. I told you no vet that tells you that is routine to give a piggie anesthesia is not certified to treat piggies. Only about 1% survive it. Your piggie was in shock. You have to know how to hand feed to use antibiotics. Read and study the web below for good advice, it's great. I've studied for many, many hours on piggie health and probably know as much as a vet about them.

www.guinealynx.com

Answer 9

I lost my 5 yr. old guinea pig after having her into the vet for her annual teeth filing (she didn't chew enough.) The stress does it. These are very sensitive little creatures. I'm sorry for your loss.

Answer 10

the vets not at fault you did state "they warned me of the risks" so he cant be sued or anything like that. your hampster was very old, and he probably died of natural causes or from the stress of the surgery. so calm down and dont worry it wont happend to other pets, if you strongly think its the vet dont go to that vet anymore. but its nothing to panic about pet do die of stress from visits from the vet when they have alot of work done to them and they die of natural causes when they are old. your hampster was 4, thats probably like 100 in human years cuz they only live to 3-4 years.