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Search This Site |
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- Types
of Illnesses -
Improper
Nutrition | Internal
Illnesses | Diarrhea
Colds
| Intestinal
Parasites | Lice
& Fleas | FUR
LOSS
There
is definitely no end to the amount of emails that I receive everyday about
the health and illnesses of guinea pigs...so I thought this page would
be very useful! I really hope that this helps for those of you who have
sick piggies and I wish you the best of luck for them returning to health.
Vet Information
Taking your guinea
pig to the vet is not something that is really necessary. It is a good
precaution to ensure that your guinea pig will be in the best shape, but
it is not required. If you do decide to take your guinea pig to the vet,
pick a time each year when it would be convenient for you to go and when
the guinea pig/small animal vet is available. So then you would be getting
your piggie checked yearly. As I said above, make an appointment
when the small animal vet is available. I know in my area, there are only
certain dates when that particular vet is available. There are certain
veterinarians for different pets.
Ah, yes, the cost of a checkup! It probably varies in different
areas, but to give you an idea of what it will approximately cost, in my
area, you can get a guinea pig exam/checkup for about $20. Depending on
the place, this can include a toenail clipping as well.
If your guinea pig does turn out to be sick, the vet will prescribe some
medication/antibiotics to help it. This will cost some extra money,
if the guinea pig does need the meds. When I took Chocolate (my guinea
pig) to the vet because she was sick, it cost $20 for the exam and about
$80 for the medication that they gave her, including an injection at the
office, herbs, a liquid oral antibiotic, and the syringes that I needed
in order to give her the right amount of medication. So all in all, the
total was about $100. This is the first time I have ever had to do this.
Most likely, if it happens to you at all, this vet cost will only be paid
once.
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Illnesses from Improper Nutrition
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Without This
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May Cause This
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Where Vitamin Is
Found
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| Vitamin A |
- trouble breathing
- paralysis |
- carrots
- lettuce |
| Vitamin B |
- loss of fur
- skin problems
- diarrhea |
- grains
- green veggies
- milk |
| Vitamin C |
- colds
- internal bleeding
- bleeding gums |
- cabbage
- carrots
- potatoes |
| Vitamin D |
- calcium loss in bones |
- grains
- hay
- green veggies |
| Vitamin E |
- stunted growth
- poor balance
- paralysis |
- grains
- wheat germ |
| Vitamin K |
- nose bleeds
- digestive problems |
- fresh green veggies |
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Fur / Hair Loss
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FUR
LOSS: A guinea pig that is losing fur probably has an inadequate diet.
Guinea pigs need a variety of vitamins and minerals in their diet and if
they don’t get those things, they tend to get sick. Depending on the material,
deprivation could cause minor to severe illnesses. In the case of fur loss,
it is only minor, for the time being. Most likely, the problem is
that you are feeding your guinea pig improperly (not enough of a certain
food, possibly too much of another), and the solution is quite simple…
All you need to do is make a list of the veggies and fruits that you feed
your guinea pig. Then, take a look at the page below, to see what else
you need to feed him/her; find the foods that are needed in their diet
that they don't have at the moment....
http://www.freewebs.com/aaguineapigs/Health.html#improp_nutrition
I’m
not sure how long it will take for your pig’s fur to grow back, maybe a
couple of weeks.
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BARE
ANKLES: A guinea pig with bare “ankles” is quite normal. The fur, apparently,
does not grow around the ankle. My guinea pigs do not have fur around their
ankles either. This is nothing to be concerned about as this is very common
among guinea pigs.
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Internal Illnesses
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Symptoms: shortness of
breath, diarrhea, fever, guinea pig is unable to move
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What you SHOULD do: take
pet to vet as soon as possible
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What you SHOULD NOT do:
try to cure the guinea pig on your own. This could just damage the guinea
pig even more and put it in a worse situation than it is already in.
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Mostly likely treatments:
of course, the veterinarian will administer some sort of medication if
he/she thinks that the guinea pig has a chance of recovering. In this case,
antibiotics administered through the mouth will probably be given a couple
times throughout the day. Make sure you explicitly follow the instructions
from the vet!
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Diarrhea
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Why?
The most likely cause of diarrhea in a guinea pig is because it has eaten
spoiled or rotten food.
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What
will help? thin black tea, grated apples, hay
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Is
there anything else I should do? If the diarrhea continues, take the
guinea pig and sample of the guinea pigs feces to the vet to be examined.
This is because there could be parasites in the guinea pigs intestines
that need to be taken care of.
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Colds
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Symptoms:
lethargic, ruffled coat, sneezing, coughing, runny nose, diarrhea
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Why?
Your guinea pig probably has a cold because it was left in a draft from
the air conditioning in your house or from a fan. Colds can also result
from cool/cold temperatures or damp conditions (i.e. if guinea pig lived
outside on wet grass, or if cage hadn't been thoroughly cleaned of urine).
The infections can either be viral or bacterial.
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What
you should do: take the guinea pig to a vet immediately.
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Most
likely treatments: antibiotics given in the form of injections or through
the mouth with small tube-like syringes.
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Intestinal Parasites
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Types
of Parasites: tapeworms, roundworms, pinworms
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Symptoms:
diarrhea, anemia, weight loss, worms or worm-like parasites in your guinea
pig's feces
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What
to do: take your guinea pig to a veterinarian.
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Note:
parasites like these are found more in guinea pigs that are kept outdoors
than those that are kept indoors.
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Lice and Fleas
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AboutLICE:Guinea
pigs can get lice just like humans. It's not rare. In fact, I have had
that unfortunate incident. Lice look like tiny, thin, long bugs. They don't
hop or jump. They crawl around throughout the guinea pig's fur and close
to the skin. They irritate the guinea pig and make it very uncomfortable.
Please groom your guinea pig with a small brush or an old toothbrush every
week, and check through thier fur to make sure that it doesn't have anything
that's not supposed to be there.
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Symptoms:
Guinea pig scratching furiously, bare spots or patches through fur, small
thin yellow-white bugs crawling through fur, tiny insects that hop around
on guinea pig
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Possible
Treatments: flea/tick/lice spray available at pet stores, give guinea
pig a bath, brush with a clean toothbrush, take to a vet.
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NOTE:
Guinea pigs cannot give their lice to humans, as they each get different
types. However, guinea pigs CAN give their lice to other guinea pigs, so
if one of your piggies has lice, it would be best to separate him/her from
the others until all of the lice is gone, to reduce the risk of transferring
the lice from one guinea pig to another.
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If
there is any information that is not here and that you think is important
for people to know about the health of guinea pigs, please email me at:
aagpigs@yahoo.com 
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-Guinea
Pigs: All About Them-