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ABORTIONS
The reasons for guinea pig
abortions are as many and varied as those that cause the same problems in all
animals. They can be caused by chromosomal abnormalities, shock, virus and
bacterial infections.
If they occur very early
on in the term of a pregnancy they are seldom a problem. This is more
common in very young animals whose bodies may not be mature enough to go full
term. If you are not present when the mother aborts the usual tell tale sign
that it has happened is dark red blood around her rear end and her mouth where
she has re-ingested what she has expelled. Mother Nature wastes not and the
action of the guinea is perfectly natural. She has invested a few weeks of
bodily resources into making the developing foetuses and she is not going to
let them go to waste!
ABNORMALITIES
In the main, most of the
abnormalities that guinea pigs suffer from are not too much of a problem and it
is only when there has been much in-breeding for a long time that abnormalities
which cause serious disabilities occur. These are problems such as cleft
palates, undershot jaws and serious dental malformation. Serious thought must
be given to euthanasia when these deformities are noticed to be very pronounced
in babes.
When I think of all the
guinea pigs of mine, and those of compassionate friends whom we have watched
live a long and happy life with twisted paws, missing ear lobes, blindness,
missing toes and all manner of oddities, then I realise what resilient little
creatures they are. There is a tendency in many vets to put on a long face and
suggest putting down any small animal that isn’t perfect. Rubbish. What
an insult to the nature of animal who isn’t burdened with the human
whinge ‘why me?’ but just gets on and copes with the cards
it’s been dealt.
ABSCESS
These come in all shapes
and sizes but in the main they are just under the surface of the skin,
particularly around the jaw area. Providing these abscesses are lanced, drained
and flushed out with hydrogen peroxide when they are ready then they seldom
cause any other health problems to the guinea pig. This is not a job for the
unskilled but neither is it job that I would allow most vets to perform on my
own animals. By the time I have paid for the unnecessary anaesthetics and what
they term as preventative antibiotics, and their removal by ‘cutting
out’ we are into unnecessary expenditure and serious health risks to the
guinea pig.
Having such a large stock I
have lanced more abscesses than the average veterinary surgeon has had hot
dinners. I have never, ever used an antibiotic, yet I have never yet had a
secondary infection, nor have I had a single patient suffer trauma from the
short sharp incision of a sterile scalpel blade. The only things I always bear
in mind are basic sterile techniques and not relying on antibiotics to do the
trick if I fail on this point!
Sheer experience has
taught me when an abscess is ready for lancing but if I have any doubts then I
will aspirate with a hypodermic needle and check on the fluidity of the pus.
Bear in mind that if these
kinds of abscesses are not lanced they can burst internally with fatal results.
All other abscesses that
are internal do need the expertise of a veterinary surgeon who is skilled in
small animal surgery. I certainly never hesitate to get my own animals to my
vet on the rare occasions they are suffering from internal abscesses.
ABYSINIAN
This is one of the most
common breeds of guinea pig. It is classed as a rough coated breed, its coat
being made up of many whirls spread all over the body. For show purposes these
whirls have to be set in meticulous positions and be very well defined.
Many of them have gorgeous
Victorian style pork chop side burns and looked at head-on they always appear
to me to have a look of surprise on their faces. This breed is more prone
to cataracts, which are the result of in-breeding for many years.
ADOLESCENCE
Yes, like the human
beastie, they go through it as well and the form it takes is most noticeable in
the boars. When a young boar reaches the age of about six months, by which
time, ideally, he has been living with an older boar since weaning, he will
begin to strut his stuff. I am one hundred percent certain that this is
just the usual kind of pubescent challenge to the adult that most humans go
through. In the guinea pig, the older boar seems to know this for they seldom
respond with the full fury that they would show if another adult male tried it
on. Every time one of my young boars has been through this I have seen
that it is very clear that he is testing the water, seeing how much he can get
away with. The adult boar will either ignore him or make a half-hearted lunge
in retaliation now and again, until the time he considers that the youngster
has crossed the line. You usually know when this has occurred for you will hear
a high pitched squeak of pain and turn to see the younger pig crouching,
nursing a sore head or a painful nip!
I have twelve boars living
together and ten of them were introduced this way, all went through this
process and now live in perfect harmony.
AGEING
Like in the human species
there are some guinea pigs that seem to age before their time but in the main
the symptoms are likely to appear about the age of five. There is a stiffening
in the limbs, particularly in the back legs, they get rheumy eyes and all
sexual activity ends. However, be warned some of the old boars can remain
healthy and active in this department until they actually pop their clogs!
I retire my old boars to
live in the main sow pen, usually when, say, his life-long partner dies. If there
is no sexual interest shown after a few hours of being housed in there, it is
safe to assume that he can live there permanently. So far I have had no
‘accidents’ in the five years that I have adopted this practice.
The symptoms of old age do
not necessarily herald that a guinea pig is close to its end. The stiff-limbed
symptoms can be alleviated with NOBUTE, the product based on the Devil’s
claw product produced by Equine Health at the dose rate of ten ml per day,
orally.
AGGRESSION
Of all animals, guinea
pigs are the least aggressive both towards their own species and others. My
opinion is that they seem to believe in what Winston Churchill once said,
‘Jaw, jaw, jaw is preferable to War, war, war.’ It is their almost
continuous communication that kind of keeps the peace. I think in a guinea pig
pack it is a case of always knowing where you are and the way things stand.
The occasional head butt
or nip in the rear comes when communication has broken down or perhaps because
the guinea just feels a bit snappy, but it’s not meant or taken seriously
and very seldom leads to serious combat.
Occasionally, when a new
guinea pig is introduced to a group, it will display aggression, usually
because it feels intimidated by the numbers. If it reaches the stage where its
hackles rise, it rattles its teeth and attacks, then the liberal use of a spray
bottle with some scented water in it usually does the trick. The animal becomes
so preoccupied with drying itself and so overwhelmed by the scent in the water
that combat will be forgotten. Usually, after three or four shots of the
bottle, the aggressive guinea pig gets the picture and settles down.
When it comes to
aggression between boars, if you follow the rules of bringing a pair up
together from the age of weaning or introducing a young one to an adult and
letting them settle down, then you shouldn’t get aggression. However,
mistakes can happen and if you get it wrong and do not correct it the right
way, it hurts! I once didn’t think what I was doing and I put an adult
boar into a pen with another one with whom he did not cohabit. World War Three
was not long in coming and in my panic I put my hand in to separate them. I
lifted the hand out with one of them having his incisor teeth embedded in my
knuckles. Take my word for it; it is not an experience I wish to repeat! The
golden rule is to throw a towel, a coat or anything like that over them to
confuse them. If you have a handy bucket of water, so much the better!
AGOUTI
The Agouti breed of guinea
pig is the one that I always refer as to the down-to-earth no-nonsense breed.
Agouti coats are kind of highlighted by the fact that the tips of their hair
shafts are much lighter that the base colour. Most wild rabbits have this
kind of coat only not in such a variety of colours as domestic guinea pigs.
ALLERGIES
There are a few guinea
pigs that suffer allergies, which affect the respiratory system and I seethe
with anger every time I hear that a vet has prescribed antibiotics for this
problem. The symptoms are totally different from a bacterial infection and the
onset is far more rapid. If your guinea pig suddenly develops a dry sounding
rasp in its chest and nose yet in all other respects it seem perfectly healthy,
has a good appetite, not a laboured respiration and is behaving in a bright and
alert manner then you can bet it is suffering from an allergy or just a cold.
What it needs is a
decongestant, BISOLVON being the veterinary medicine. However, if your vet will
not prescribe this then give it 0.4 Sudafed, the cough medicine formulated for
chesty coughs in humans. In many cases one dose is sufficient but
it can be given up to three doses. If the condition persists there are
other drugs that can be given but these are prescription only medicines.
When these conditions
develop try to think if there has been a change of hay or bedding which could
cause the allergy. However, allergies, in many cases, can be airborne and
extremely hard to track down. If this is the cause of the wheezing then it can
clear up as quickly as it came, as the irritant in the air moves on.
The lips of some guinea
pigs are extremely allergic to the acid in fruit, particularly in apples. It
breaks down the membrane and can cause a fungal or bacterial infection, which
causes painful scabs. I use the old-fashioned Gentian violet. DO NOT LET ANY
CHEMIST TELL YOU THAT THIS PRODUCT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. This excellent
product can be obtained in most corn merchants or establishments that sell
horse tack.
Paint over the scabs on
the first day but be sure to pick them off on the second and every subsequent
day as you repaint the site of the scabs. In sixteen years of living with
guinea pigs I have never known this treatment to fail!
ALOPECIA
In the main, hair loss is
due to either fungal or parasitic infestations. However there are a couple of
very notable exceptions where it is not and I wish vets would learn this. Hair
loss due to hormonal imbalance is very common in all mammals during pregnancy
and should NOT be treated as a parasitic or fungal skin problem! The
other very common form of alopecia is in elderly sows and this is also caused
by hormonal imbalance. I have yet to come across a single case where a boar
suffers from this, which emphasises the fact that it is a female problem.
Unlike in the cases where hair loss is caused by parasitic or fungal activity,
the elderly sows do not seem to suffer itching. I know of no treatment
for this but the good news is that in many cases after quite a lengthy period,
the hair returns.
ALPACA
In short this is a
long-haired variety, like the Peruvian, but it has the same kind of crinkly
coat as the Rex, or the Teddy as it is more commonly called in the States. The
coats of these animals do tend to get a bit knotty so tend to need grooming by
their owners.
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
Fortunately I never went
to university or a veterinary college so I do not suffer from a closed mind
when it comes to medicines other than the one I specialise in. To tell you the
truth, I don’t specialise for not only do I use conventional medicine
myself, I recommend its use in all my books.
I get very angry when I
hear ‘Professor this or Doctor that’ condemning medicine of which
they have absolutely no knowledge. I think this attitude says more about the
threat they feel to what they regard as their exclusive monopoly of knowledge
than any real interest in learning from others outside their narrow fields. I
have yet to hear one of these ‘wise ones’ answer the question,
‘If your testing procedures are so great how come Thalidomide and the
many other conventional medicines that have had to be withdrawn when they found
that the side effect, were lethal’?
Right that is all
the soap boxing I intend to do about the subject.
The kind of alternatives
that I use can be bought over the counter and I have had many years of using
them very effectively. The ones that I am particularly proud of and pleased
with are my essential oil formulae for parasitic and fungal skin problems. See “skin
problems” for details.
There are many diuretics
which are made up of various herbs which are very helpful when you have a
guinea pig which has a chromic heart or kidney problems, see heart attack. They
can be used in tandem with the more powerful conventional one, FRUSEMIDE, which
must sometimes be used. However, the over-use of this drug can deplete
the potassium in the animal’s system which is the last thing you need if
it has a heart problem.
There are many other herbs
and essential oils that I use and those will be identified when I write of
specific illnesses through this book.
As I have had no
experience of Homeopathic medicine I cannot comment from a personal point of
view about it. However, I do know owners who have had good results from it.
ANAESTHESIA
Even if you have a vet who
is skilled in the use of general anaesthesia, its use in many cases must always
be questioned. It should certainly never be used to carry out corrective dental
work. Because of the refusal of the profession to learn modern non-anaesthetic
techniques which have been used by me and people trained by the Cambridge Cavy
Trust for fifteen years now, hundreds of guinea pigs, and other rodents, weak
and debilitated by long-term dental malocclusion, die unnecessarily from the
effects of the anaesthetic when this work is carried out by vets.
Most minor surgery such as
lancing abscesses and sebaceous cysts can be safely performed without the use
of an anaesthetic of any kind and without causing trauma to the animal. A great
deal of minor surgery, including the removal of a stone from the end of a
sow’s urethral tube can be carried out under local anaesthetic. Although
it may be easier for a vet to perform surgery upon an inert animal under a
general anaesthetic, with a little more effort and expertise on his or her
part, the subsequent recovery of the patient can be greatly improved and sped
up by sticking to locals.
ANAL IMPACTION
Though I have been told
that this can occur in sows I have only come across it in boars. It is mainly
in old boars, though I have had a couple of cases where quite young ones have
suffered from this condition. What we think is the cause is that the muscles at
the opening of the perianal sac which push out the softer pellets, which are
re-ingested as part of the guinea pig’s digestive process (see
Coprophagy) are weakened and the pellets remain in the sac, forming
Sometimes a fungal
infection can be caused by this condition so it is advisable to put some
ALPHOSYL ointment or Aloe Vera gel into the sac as a preventative measure once
a week.
Occasionally things return
to normal but it is advisable to monitor animals that have suffered from this
condition. I certainly keep a closer eye on all my boars as they get older so
that I can intervene as soon as the problem is spotted.
ARKS
These are great for
allowing guinea pigs to get out onto the lawn during the summer and have a high
old time grazing or lazing in the sun. Most are ark shaped in that they are
triangular wooden frames covered by wire mesh and with one end left uncovered,
which are placed onto the grass. Make sure that there is a sheltered area at
one end to give the guinea pigs some shade from the sun.
There is one essential
rule and it is that these should never be left unattended, or leastwise out of
sight of owners. I have given up counting the number of times I have heard a
distressed owner saying ‘I only left them for a minute,’ after
telling me that a fox had made a meal of them.
Suburban foxes are a
menace and take many pets and it is no good being wise after the event. PROTECT YOUR STOCK!
AROMATHERAPY
I love writing about this
subject because I know how many conventional practitioners who know absolutely
nothing about the subject, will curl their arrogant lips and sneer! There is
nothing like a position of utter ignorance, particularly from professionals, to
give the idea that they speak from a position of a superior knowledge
base. Not being very bright they have not yet worked out that
aromatherapy was not even on their curriculum so how can they pass judgement?
I have been using a
combination of essential oils to tackle both fungal and parasitic skin problems
in guinea pigs for many years now and even if I had access to veterinary
medicines I would not switch to them.
I use lavender oil as a
first class antiseptic. There is nothing to match it if a guinea pig has a
nicely accessible sutured wound after surgery, out of which it is determined to
remove the stitches before the wound is healed! Like most rodents they hate the
odour and by painting the wound with the oil you are killing two birds with one
stone, getting a good antiseptic on the wound and deterring the guinea pig from
early stitch removal.
A dab of citronella oil on
the rear end of any guinea pig will deter any flies from depositing their eggs
and thus stop fly strike in its tracks.
Tea tree oil and Aloe Vera
gel are both excellent for most fungal skin conditions.