Review on 🐰 Premium Western Timothy Hay by Oxbow Animal Health - Natural Hay for Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Chinchillas, Hamsters & Gerbils by Christopher Smith

I thought for a long time that old hay was the best hay on the market and I hope I'm wrong. I've been using this hay for about 5-6 months and the quality has kept changing. That last package was a disaster and I think it killed my guinea pig. When I first opened the package, I noticed my allergies were showing very strongly. This has never been a problem with my previous bags and both of my sisters have complained that they sneeze too. Both are not prone to allergies. Shortly after I fed this hay to my three guinea pigs, one died of unknown causes and the other inexplicably began to itch. I never thought there was a connection but I took the other two to the vet after the other one died and the vet said they might have mites. I thought there might be something in the cage so I removed it. I moved the cage to the dining/living room for other reasons. Soon after, my sister (roommate) and I got itchy and started complaining about bites on one side of her body. I slept on the couch on the right side, all the bites were on the left. Today I opened the hay and forgot to close the bag and a few minutes later we noticed a lot of unidentified FLYING INSECTS in the air. I am 99% convinced that the itching in me, my sister and the guinea pigs was caused by these insects and 80% of my guinea pigs died from the hay. She had long fur into which the beetles could easily crawl. I am devastated by her death and angry that a brand I thought I trusted caused us such harm. To make matters worse, the hay was mostly sticks and not worth the money as most of what they ate had to be constantly refilled. I am asking this company to be more selective about what they put in their bags. Please be careful and check your hay before feeding it to your friends.