Bird and guinea pigs died (floor, free, identify, how)

elliedeee · 10-16-2016, 11:28 PM

I posted yesterday about my Cockatiel suddenly dying and today I went to give the guinea pigs carrots and they're both dead. What is going on? Does anyone have any ideas?

My bird was strictly indoors and doesn't fly around the house.

The bird and guinea pigs weren't stressed or neither the bird or the guinea pigs were subject to extreme changes in temperature. They all had food and water and their cages were clean.

What the heck happened? I'm in shock over this.

skelaki · 10-16-2016, 11:54 PM

Ages? But, in actuality assuming none were ill or very old (for their species) the only way to know for sure, or at least have the best chance of knowing, would be to have necropsies done.

coschristi · 10-17-2016, 12:04 AM

Do you have a Carbon Monoxide alarm in your home? This is the time of year when these things can be a problem. Sorry about your little guys!

coschristi · 10-17-2016, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coschristi

Do you have a Carbon Monoxide alarm in your home? This is the time of year when these things can be a problem. Sorry about your little guys!

Quoted myself to add: PLEASE get this checked out so that YOU will be OK ...I had Carbon Monoxide poisoning once from a faulty water heater. I was so delerious I crawled on my hands & knees for 4 blocks to get to a phone to call for help. It can be fatal ... & FAST.

elliedeee · 10-17-2016, 09:06 AM

I've been racking my brain trying to think of one commonality between the bird and the guinea pigs and couldn't come up with anything other than the water but then I think we'd be sick too. If one guinea pig had died I could have accepted that but both died at the same time along with the bird. The pets were even in different rooms of the house.

But now that you mention it, I had the heat on for the first time this year for a few hours one day recently , and the other night I accidentally left it on overnight. The guinea pigs were in a room with the door shut so if it is carbon monoxide they would have gotten quite a dose of it.

We have two separate heating systems and the heat was only on down here where the pets were. Fortunately, there was no heat on upstairs where we were all sleeping. Our family room with tv are down here too and now that I think about it I've been getting bad headaches occasionally. I'm trying to remember if it was on the days the heat was on.

I have CO alarm for the basement level but it's not in the small room where the furnace and hot water heaters are. I just checked the CO alarm for here that was supposed to last '10 years' and the batteries are dead.

crap.. I wonder if it is carbon monoxide poisoning. Im going to pick up a bunch of new detectors and put them around the house.

I'll let you know.

elliedeee · 10-17-2016, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coschristi

Quoted myself to add: PLEASE get this checked out so that YOU will be OK ...I had Carbon Monoxide poisoning once from a faulty water heater. I was so delerious I crawled on my hands & knees for 4 blocks to get to a phone to call for help. It can be fatal ... & FAST.

jeeze.. I'm glad you're okay after that.

Did you have any odd symptoms before that? Now that you look back were there any warning signs?

I'm going to see if I can buy a CO detector to check the levels in addition to CO alarms.

eta.. in case you're wondering it's warm outside right now so all my windows and doors are open and they will stay open until I get the co detector. Im not taking any chances.

coschristi · 10-17-2016, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elliedeee

jeeze.. I'm glad you're okay after that.

Did you have any odd symptoms before that? Now that you look back were there any warning signs?

I'm going to see if I can buy a CO detector to check the levels in addition to CO alarms.

eta.. in case you're wondering it's warm outside right now so all my windows and doors are open and they will stay open until I get the co detector. Im not taking any chances.

Headaches & nausea are common. But the #1 first symptom is usually fatigue.

Just SO tired.

The house was converted into a duplex & everyone had been waking up feeling slightly headachey, dizzy & tired for about a week before that morning.

Additionally I was 4 months pregnant so I had been dissmissing the symptoms as morning sickness.

That particular morning everybody else had already left for work; I was the only one still there. I was still in bed as I just didn't feel good. I remember opening my eyes & seeing the sunlight & thinking "I should be up."

But I was just SO tired I started to close my eyes & drift off. I kid you not; I "heard"; with my brain, not my ears, something say "GET UP. GET OUT".

I tried to turn over & realized my arms & legs felt very heavy. But I was too tired to care. I closed my eyes again & it happened AGAIN ..."Get up. Get out."

I had to roll myself out of bed & onto the floor because my extremities felt too heavy to "work" right.

I crawled out the front door in my pajamas & lay on the porch until my mind was a little clearer.

This was before cell-phones. I was so disoriented I didn't want to "bother" a neighbor to use a phone. So I crawled on my hands & knees, in my pajamas, 4 blocks to a pay-phone & called 911.

The fire-department responded & found that there were lethal levels of Carbon Monoxide inside the house & were able to identify the source as the water-heater. I was taken to the hospital & strapped to a fetal monitor. Thank God; my son was okay.

I'm worried about YOU now; this is scary! So sorry about your pets! Please do upddate; even if the levels are initially ok, try leaving the house with the windows closed for a few hours & check them when you get home. When you do re-enter make sure you leave your door open behind you.

Or better yet I think the Utility company will come out & check for free & that would be safer. I'm just not sure how those things work at your local level.

OwlKaMyst · 10-17-2016, 10:50 AM

Not only get new detectors, have your heater serviced.
In a program for energy efficiency sponsored by our utility company, a tech came to check things in our house and he found that the heater was not running right, too much fumes.
Maybe your utility company or other agency might have a similar program you could access so it won't cost you a bunch of money.
So sad about your pets (((hugs))). I know how bad I would feel if it happened to me. Dont be too mad with yourself if you feel like it's your fault. I know pets depend on us and you probably feel like you let them down...but how could you know? (Hugs)

elliedeee · 10-17-2016, 08:44 PM

I picked up some CO detectors but I haven't turned the heat on to check to see if that's what it was. The detectors didn't go off when I was cooking or at any time when they were on so that's good news. It's been too hot here to turn the heat on so once it cools down and I have to shut my windows I'll check it then. But I'm waiting outside just in case they go off.

foxywench · 10-20-2016, 06:21 AM

definatly sounds like either food, water or co2
since the bird and g0pigs don't eat the same food id rule that out.
water is defintly possible (remember YOU are MUCH larger than a bird of g-pig so what might be TOXIC to them may not even trouble your tummy...
id have your water tested just to be sure.

but it realy does sound like possible co2 poisoning...again as small creatures (and brids are particularly sensitive) the tiny does that would effect them might not be enough to do anything to something larger.