guinea pigs dying

Question
i have 7 guinea pigs in a huge enclosure that is cleaned every week. I lost two. They both looked like they were choking before they died. One died right in my hands the other i seperated after seeing the same symptoms and she died over night. Everyone else seems ok . They are on carefresh bedding and i have never had this problem before. Have you ever heard of anything like this before? They get drops in their water fresh everyday. They get their oranges and other fresh fruits almost daily. Tina

Answer
Hi Tina

First of all I am sorry to hear about your loses.

The choking type noise you heard is most probably them gasping for breath in the final moments but could be indicative of a respiratory problem.

The bedding you use is fine and there is no reason to think that your other pigs will have problems but you could listen closely to their breathing to see if there is any anomolies.

Weighing them all daily and monitoring them eating would also be wise. If you are worried about anything please do not hesitate to let me know.

Andy