Pig Notes

Myth #10: Small Cages Don't Do Lasting Harm

Sparky came to us by way of a thrift store, an abandonment case that involved pre-teens who were not taking proper care of him and a newly pregnant mom who thought she couldn't be around him. (Sparky was the inspiration for our Myth #9 posting.) When I arrived at the store that Saturday morning two weeks before Easter, I wasn't sure what I'd find. When you're picking up an abandoned guinea pig, you're never entirely sure what you're going to find; too often, it's a sad, thin, unkempt piggie.

Sparky turned out to be a beautiful black Peruvian-Abyssinian mix with a swipe of white on his nose. Despite the commotion of the thrift store, and all the people who stuck fingers through the cage bars or put their faces up to the cage, he was remarkably even-tempered. He was sociable, clean, healthy, and overall well cared for.

Except for his cage.

The cage was about 22" x 14", thinly lined with pine bedding. The wire cage top was falling apart pretty much every way that it could fall apart and was held together by binder clips and twist ties. Sparky was sitting on the right side of the cage; his food dish, water bottle, and pile of hay was on the left. He had less than 10" of space for moving around. And no hidey house.

When I brought him home to foster, he was placed in a C&C cage. For three days, he stayed on the right side of the cage...not venturing more than six inches in any direction. I spent an evening coaxing him to be a brave piggie and walk around the cage. For four days, I had to artfully position veggies around his cage to encourage him to move around. And he was obsessed with his waffle-block house.

Once he was comfortable with the cage, I put him in a play area that was bigger than his cage. Again, he would not venture more than six inches in any direction. Even the girl piggies in the neighboring play areas could not lure him out. Strategically placed veggies didn't either. It was all enough to bring tears to my eyes.

Finally, after four days, I put my male in the play area with Sparky. In a few minutes, they were doing a piggie train around the perimeter of the play area and criss-crossing back and forth across the middle. The next night, though, Sparky forgot what a brave little piggie he'd been the night before and Winston once again had to pay a visit and coax Sparky around. And had to for several more nights.

I eventually got Sparky to the point where he'd run around my dining room or, at least, around the perimeter. In his cage and play area, he still favors the right side. And whenever he's introduced to a new environment, he reverts to his old habit -- right side of the cage, six inches in either direction. It's all still enough to bring tears to my eyes.

We can't stress it frequently or loudly enough -- pet store cages do not give guinea pigs enough room to live and play. The single best cage environment that owners can give their guinea pigs is a C&C cage. Your pigs will love you for it!

Myth #9: Pregnant Women Can't Be Around Guinea Pigs

We've had a surge in inquiries in the last three months from pregnant women wanting to know if they had to surrender the family guinea pig(s) before the pregnancy proceeded any further.

This likely stems (somehow) from the prevailing concern about pregnant women and cats, due to the risk of exposure to toxoplasmosis. (By the way, if you or someone you know is pregnant and has a cat, you might want to read this info from Yale before you take Kitty to a cat rescue.)

We've checked with the vets at South Wilton Veterinary Group and Pieper Olsen Veterinary Hospital -- as well as several OB-GYNs in southern Connecticut -- and the consensus is that pregnant women have no need to be concerned about being around guinea pigs.

They added that if women still have residual concerns, basic common-sense hygiene practices -- washing one's hands, keeping cages clean, and so forth -- should lay those concerns to rest. If all else fails, have husbands (and/or older children) clean Piggy's cage during the pregnancy and -- while they're at it -- Kitty's litter box. 

Are Guinea Pigs Right For Your Home?

Are you thinking about bringing home a guinea pig this Christmas? Have your kids been pestering you for weeks or months to let them have one?

You're not alone.

At a Creative Memories scrapbooking event this weekend, I sat at a table with several mothers who between them have seven kids under the age of eight. The conversation turned to Christmas wish lists and pets, and two of the moms said their youngsters had been pestering them for guinea pigs.

"I don't know if it's a good idea," said one mom. "We have a golden retriever that always chases rabbits and squirrels."

"I can't take care of one more thing," said the other. "I have four kids and a cat. I know I'll end up taking care of a new pet, and I'm not always sure I'm giving the cat as much as I should."

Mentioning that I work with this rescue, I asked them some of the questions from our questionnaire...and it only took two or three for them to realize that a guinea pig and its unique care needs were not going to fit easily into their household at this time.

If you (or someone you know) are considering a guinea pig for your home, we invite you to check out Are Guinea Pigs Right For Your Home on our main Web site. Below are the critical questions you need to ask yourself:

• Are you willing to adopt a pair of pigs?
• Can you make the lifetime commitment (as many as 8 years)?
• Do you have time for the daily and weekly care routines?
• Do you have space for the proper-sized cage?
• Can you provide a safe environment?
• Can you interact with them daily?
• Can you afford the costs of care?

You can find detailed explanations for each question on our site. You'll undoubtedly think of other questions to ask yourself as you read, but it's better to ask these questions now rather than later when an animal has settled into your family. And, as always, you're welcome to ask us for more information!

Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs

With temperatures dropping here in the Northeast (and elsewhere) -- apparently for good this time -- it's a good time to review the cold weather care needs of our piggie friends.

Cages

• Move cages away from windows and doors. More cold air slips in around the frames than most folks realize. And once the glass in windows gets cold, the immediate area around the windows feels chilly as well.
• Keep cages away from heating vents, fireplaces, and wood stoves, so piggies don't get too warm. And for other obvious (fire hazard) reasons.
• Cover cages at night with a large towel, fleece blanket/throw, or light blanket. For folks with C&C cages, you can use medium-sized binder clips to hold the cover in place and prevent it from dropping into the cage. Keep one side of the cage uncovered to allow for good ventilation.

Home Environment

• Monitor the temperature in your home. Guinea pigs are easily chilled, and you need to be extra vigilant when you have very young piggies or seniors. Guinea pigs' optimum temperature range is 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit; during the winter months, keeping the temperature around 66 or 67 can help keep pigs from catching cold.
• Consider running a humidifier to keep some moisture in the air and keep everyone's skin from feeling dry and itchy.

Diet & Grooming

• Check water bottles frequently. Heating systems dry out a home, making animals and humans feel the need to drink more water.
• Serve a chunk of sweet bell pepper daily, for the boost in essential Vitamin C. Crunchy, juicy vegetables also provide a little extra fluid.
• Brush your guinea pigs weekly to help manage any itchies.

And, finally, watch your pigs carefully for signs of developing colds and respiratory illness, including sneezing and runny nose. If you see them, waste no time getting to a vet.

Wellness Exams For Guinea Pigs -- A Vet's Perspective

Every animal benefits from an annual exam and even more from semi-annual exams. 

I believe that I am an experienced child care provider to my children. I volunteer with the Cub Scouts, have taught classes at the elementary school, have taken numerous classes on First Aid and child welfare and youth protection training. I also have read books on “proper’ parenting and many articles in parenting journals. On top of this, I attended medical school for four years. I take my children to have regular wellness exams.

Based on the argument that people are experienced pet owners or experienced parents/guardians, we would no longer need doctors for preventative medicine. We would be taking a step back and practicing medicine of ages past. It still needs to be acknowledged that wellness exams should not give a false sense of security; no doctor can guarantee health -- this is as true on the human side as on the veterinary side. That said, however, the benefits of wellness exams have been amply demonstrated within our lifetime.

• Most people have regular wellness exams -- the average age of people has increased.
• Most dogs and cats have regular wellness exams -- the average age of cats has increased by about 3 years, dogs up to about 5 years.
• Most people have regular dental exams/cleanings -- most people retain all their teeth throughout life.
• Many avian patients now receive annual wellness exams -- life expectancy is increasing and less severe health problems are being seen.
• More pocket pets are being seen -- requiring more veterinarians to be trained in this area, but the pets are benefiting by seeing a qualified person.
• Reptiles are now starting to be seen more regularly and they too should benefit.

I will say that a veterinarian who is inexperienced with treating guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, reptiles or anything else out of the element can do harm. Just like in human medicine, the code of veterinary medicine is to “do no harm”. I would not treat a horse or a cow because these animals are outside of my realm of experience. I do care for most pocket pets because I have trained in this area and most of my practice is comprised of birds and pocket pets (60%).

While there are things that an observant and experienced pet owner can look for themselves, I still believe that all pets benefit from a wellness exam from a qualified veterinarian. 

Sean Pampreen, DVM
Marlborough Bird & Animal Hospital, LLC
21 South Main Street
Marlborough, CT  06447
(860) 295-1595

Wellness Exams For Guinea Pigs -- An Owner's Perspective

For the nearly ten years that I've owned (err...been owned by) guinea pigs, I've taken them for annual wellness exams. Once each of them hits the age of 4, I take them twice a year for wellness exams.

This is no small expense for me, mind you. At any given time, I have three or four guinea pigs in my charge. I live in Southern Fairfield County, where everything seems to be more expensive just by virtue of stepping across the line out of New Haven County. In years where I've had vet bills for illnesses and/or surgeries, the bill for the wellness exams takes an even bigger bite out of my wallet.

But this is the choice I made, and I stick by it. I budget for it. I grew up watching my mother take the family cats and dogs for their regular exams and shots every year, without fail. It was engrained in me -- if you have a pet, you take it for checkups.

In the two years I've worked with this rescue, my resolve has only grown. I've seen just how fragile these little animals are, and how big of a toll inadequate care, neglect, and illness can take on their bodies. I've also seen how hard they'll fight, right along with Cindy and the vets at Pieper Olson, to get better if given the chance.

I consider myself an experienced, well-read owner. I check weight weekly, and I thoroughly check the pigs over daily for developing problems with their skin, feet, nails, ears, eyes...everything. I feel for lumps and bumps and swelling where there shouldn't be. I know their eating and drinking habits so well that I see the smallest changes in behavior. I monitor things just long enough to know whether we need to head to South Wilton Vet or if what I saw was just a temporary anomaly. I read Guinea Lynx so often in the beginning that I practically have their site memorized, and I routinely visit their forums. I read everything that Peter Gurney ever wrote. I've listened attentively to my vets, and read any journal articles and books they recommended. They've all told me that I have excellent instincts, and that my observation and quick action has allowed us to identify and resolve problems very early.

But I have no delusions that my knowledge is up to par with that of an experienced veterinarian. I can't hear subtle differences in heart rate, feel when arthritis is forming in a pig's leg, see a cataract until after it shows up in front of the eye. I'm a well-informed client who can work collaboratively, intelligently, and rationally with my vet. I went to college to study journalism, my vets studied exotic animal care. I nearly passed out when I had to dissect a frog in high school biology, one of my vets performed an emergency hysterectonomy on one of my pigs and saved her life. I write and edit and teach for a living. They help animals get better and save lives on a daily basis.

I know that wellness exams don't give us a free pass from illness, but for me they provide a needed comfort level, one where I can look back on a guinea pig's life and know that I always did right by him/her and always gave the best of everything. I consider myself fortunate that I can do this, because I know there are owners who struggle to pay vet bills. If I couldn't do it, I'm not sure I would have pets at all.

Whitney Potsus

Guinea Pig Owner

Wellness Exams For Guinea Pigs -- A Rescue's Perspective

A lot of new adopters ask us if guinea pigs need annual wellness exams. To answer this question, we'll give you three perspectives over three days -- rescue, owner, and vet.

At The Critter Connection, our standard reply is that we strongly recommend wellness visits, but each individual owner has to determine what is financially feasible for them. Vet visits are not cheap, and for families juggling substantial financial responsibilities, vet visits will take a bite out of already tight budgets. As we've written here and here, we do tell owners that if their pigs are showing signs of illness, or possible illness, they must get to a vet.

We know there are others who have different views on the topic. Where experienced guinea pig owners are concerned, a reasonable argument could be made for wellness exams not needing to be more frequent than once a year. For new and inexperienced owners, wellness exams at least once a year really are a necessity.

Guinea pigs have delicate physiologies that can turn for the worse seemingly on a dime if they aren't watched carefully. These physiologies can be and are compromised by breeders who don't take steps to avoid overbreeding or inbreeding. They also can be compromised by neglect, abuse, and abandonment. We spend a lot of time and effort rehabilitating the guinea pigs that come out of neglectful or abusive situations, bringing up their weight, and boosting their immune systems. They don't leave the rescue until they have a clean bill of health. But that doesn't mean that we don't worry about them a little as they get older. Certainly, for these pigs, wellness exams are a good idea.

As you think about this topic with respect to your own pets, we hope you'll drop by over the next two days to read the owner and veterinarian perspectives.

Get Thy Pig To A Vet -- Lessons From Yahoo! Answers

Over the last few weeks I've been responding to guinea pig-related questions in the Pets area over at Yahoo! Answers. And watching what was going on with questions about other species of pets.

I'd initially wandered in out of idle curiosity, but shortly found myself answering sometimes as many as 15 or 20 questions a day. There's a lot I could comment on -- and may eventually -- but for now I'll stick to what concerned me the most.

On any given day, a good third of the guinea pig-related questions were from owners whose pigs were clearly in a state of profound distress (e.g., heaving sides, crying out while urinating, extreme listlessness, blood in urine, diarrhea). Their comments were littered with phrases like "I probably should go to a vet but..." or questions like "Should I go to vet?" Several folks said they'd been asking questions in a Yahoo! Group and/or in some other unidentified forum(s) for a couple of days before coming to Yahoo! Answers.

In every case, there were at least a dozen respondents who advised, directed, ordered, begged, pleaded, and cyber-YELLED at the owners to get their guinea pigs to a vet immediately. In the cases of the folks who'd been asking around in forums for days (and still hadn't gone to a vet), there were respondents who were all over them like white on rice for "wasting crucial hours".

The problem apparently wasn't confined to guinea pigs. In a separate community feedback forum, members bemoaned the number of questions that were being posted about pets clearly in the midst of health crises. They debated about where best in the Pets area to post a blanket notice that pet owners needed to take sick pets to a vet instead of firing up the computer, logging into Yahoo! Answers (or any forum), posting questions, and then waiting for answers. As one member put it, "If you're concerned enough to be asking whether you need go to a vet, then you absolutely should go to one."

Guinea pigs, like all species of animals, have a list of critical, need-to-go-to-a-vet-ASAP symptoms. Guinea Lynx's Emergency Medical Guide is the most complete list available online, and is a page that we recommend that all guinea pig owners add to their Favorites/Bookmarks lists.

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with going online to ask for help in reliable forums when the symptoms you're seeing are (much) less severe, or when a vet has already diagnosed and started treating your guinea pig. Forums are a great place for information on everything from sparking the appetite of a sick guinea pig to identifying the nuances in behavior that can help you tell if you're dealing with a guinea pig who's being finicky or who's not eating as much as usual because a larger problem is brewing.

But when the symptoms you're seeing are on the emergency list, get thee to a vet. In these circumstances, every minute counts.

Helping Critters Through Shedding Season

Ah...warm spring weather, at last! Flowers are blooming, the trees are starting to burst, the birds sing us awake every morning...

...and our pets are all shedding.

Guinea pigs, even the short-haired ones, shed their fair share this time of year. They get itchy. Our clothes acquire a layer of the hair their bodies no longer need or want. Like dogs and cats, they need the help that only a brush can give them. But while they need the help, and while brushing them is an additional opportunity for a little bonding time with them, the wrong brush can ruin their grooming experience and make them determined to escape your lap at all possible costs.

Super Pet makes these great soft-bristled brushes that even short-haired guinea pigs (who are notoriously picky about being brushed) will like. The bristles effectively grab loose hair without scraping guinea pigs' delicate skin, and are easy to clean without jabbing and poking at your fingertips. These brushes have been spotted at Petsmart and at some independent pet supply stores (like Pet Super-bowl in Stratford), and are easily found on online retail sites.

Another good brush -- particularly for long-haired guinea pigs -- is this soft wire brush made by Lawrence. Unlike many (too many) of the wire brushes produced for small critters, this brush's wires have rounded tips that are easy on guinea pigs' skin. I originally found this brush on The Winking Cavy, a U.K.-based purveyor of products for rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, rats, and hamsters (and the humans who love them). You likely can find it a little closer to home with a little searching on the Web.

Your guinea pigs will thank you!

Making Snuggle Time Enjoyable For All (Part II)

Back before Christmas, I wrote about the cozy cup beds made by Marsha Weaver at The Cozy Cavy. On behalf of the rescue pigs, who received some of these beds as a gift from a donor, we raved about how wonderful they were. If I didn't write that we humans were wishing she made cups big enough for people, we should have. They're sinfully soft and lavishly luxurious.

Three months later, these cups are still prime real estate in the cages that have them. Minerva and her roommates have one in their cage and there is much -- to borrow a phrase from the Brits -- "berth bagging" (guinea pigs rousting their friends out of a spot after they've gotten it all nice and toasty warm). What's remarkable is that Minerva has, in the past, turned up her prissy little nose at every other bed that Cindy has offered to her.

Since the holidays, Marsha has launched a new item -- Cozy Saks. These, too, are sinfully soft and lavishly luxurious. Featuring two layers of fabric, she took the design a step further. Instead of stitching the two layers together all the way around, she stitched them together only around the opening. The result is a sack that lets you pull out the interior lining to ensure thorough washing and drying of both layers. Once clean, the interior lining is easily stuffed back into the pouch for your next cuddle session.

I wasted no time placing an order. These saks have been a HUGE hit at my house and at the rescue. If you're looking to add more "cuddle factor" to your cuddle sessions with your own guinea pigs, these are sure to do the trick!