My daughter had a guinea pig that was just 9 months old. We purchased him at 2 months old from a small pet store that gets all of their pigs from the same show breeder. He was a lovely, lively little guy and we got very attached to him. Last weekend, his water consumption dropped considerably and by Sunday evening, he would barely eat or drink. She took him to the vet on Monday and they thought he might be in the beginnings of C deficiency. They gave him sub Q fluids and a shot of Vitamin C and sent her home with Critical Care. She was able to get him to eat some and syringed in some water, and he was peeing and pooping a little bit. He did not have pneumonia, nor was he constipated. Tuesday morning, he didn't look any better, so she took him to work with her and made another appointment for the vet. An xray was taken and the vet did not see anything that would be causing the problem and asked if they could keep him to stabilize him and run further tests. My daughter agreed. His temperature was also quite low, so they put him in an intensive care cage with oxygen and heat and continued the fluid therapy. He was checked at 5 am the next morning and was okay, but when my daughter stopped in with his Critical Care at 7 am, he was gone. The vet was at a total loss to explain why an apparently healthy baby would die like that. I called the owner of the store we bought him from to see if they had any ideas. The only thing the owner could come up with was an abscess. Is it possible that he had one not detectible from the outside that affected his ability to swallow? Is there anything else, like a congenital problem, that might have caused his death? She lost her last pig a month before she got this one and she is devastated.

Optional Information:
Type of Animal: Guinea Pig
Gender: Male
Age: 9 months
Name of Animal: Oliver