pregnant guinea pig died

Question
Years ago my husband and I raised guinea pigs and of all we had born only lost 1 baby and never a sow. My daughter wanted to breed 2 of hers and they got along famously. The sow was near birthing with 2 maybe 3 in her. This afternoon she was squeeking alot and was shaking her hind end a bit so we assumed she was getting ready to deliver. She was eating and drinking just fine. We removed the male so she would not be bothered by him when delivery came. We went out for a walk for maybe 30 minutes and when we returned she had died. There was no movement of the babies either. What went wrong? I have never had this happen. She was a beautifull abby and much loved by my 4 year old grandaughter. We were very carefull not to handle her for the last 2 weeks and kept the little hands completley away from her so she would not get hurt. They are fed very well with a full diet of veggies and all that they need. She was eating and drinking just fine. There were no signs that made us think anything was going wrong. Any ideas would be very helpfull to us to figure out this mystery. She was 6 months when we bred her.We are very saddned by her death. She was a wonderfull pig and very gentle.

Answer
Hello Cindy,

First of all, I am terribly sorry for your loss. It is never easy to lose a beloved pet, especially a wonderful piggy. Unfortunantly, sometimes things happen with even the best of care. Without you having been there to witness the situation, I can't be too certain of anything but I do have a number of possiblities. The most likely seems to be that she was possibly exhausted from trying to deliver a large pup. If they don't deliver the pup fairly quickly, exhaustion can kill them if they don't have assistance. It is also possible she was not getting enough of something she needed (usually it's calcium or sugars). You said you gave her all that she needed though and while it is still possible, it seems a bit less likely. Usually deficiencies will show up before they kill but it's possible she was only mildly deficient and that caused her to not have the strength she needed to deliver. It could have also been toxemia but usually that shows up around 10 days or so beforehand too. The pups or even just one of them could have died inside her as well and slowly poisoned her and his/her siblings. The most likely still seems to me to be exhaustion. Just a thought, I don't know if you'd want to or if it's even still possible but if the body is still limp you could check for a pup in the birth canal and you may have your answer for sure. I don't think I'd have the heart or emotional stablity to do it after losing her, but  if you can, it may give you more of a clue. I really wish I could be more certain and give you a more definitive answer. I know it would help, but so many things can go wrong during pregnancy and delivery it's hard to be certain without anyone witnessing it. I'm so sorry you lost her and her pups. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family tonight. I reccommend the following website. It may help all of you deal with their death by creating a memorial for Mommy and her pups. I know it always helps me.

http://www.in-memory-of-pets.com/

-kkat

PS
If you have any other questions or remember some odd behavior or something that you may have forgotten at the moment, please feel free to ask again.