[Gpdd] HEALTH

Bellarobi at aol.com Bellarobi at aol.com
Mon Oct 20 13:23:07 EDT 2003


Hi everbody,
I am so amazed when I hear that guinea pigs can get diabetes, bladder stones, 
cysts e.t.c. I have owned guinea pigs at one time or another throughout my 
life, took a longer break from them, and bought Poly and Sweetie in 2001. I 
found out in a hurry that a lot of things have changed when I made the purchase. 
Cages got fancier, the variety on foods and beddings seemed endless, and toys 
for guinea pigs???
To begin with both piggies came sick right from the pet store. They had 
ringworms. My children and I were attached to them right away and an exchange was 
out of the question. They recovered after a 3 week treatment.
Like many other guinea pig owners I ask myself how can I prevent illness and 
provide a happy and healthy life for our piggies Poly and Sweetie. Especially 
since Sweetie was really sick this year, and luckily survived. One thing I 
learned is to gather as much information as possible. There are a lot of great 
vets and enthusiasts that have very helpful information but only you are in- 
tuned with the animal and therefore are its best advocate. I felt very guilty 
when the vet told me that Sweetie must have been in pain for a long time. She did 
not act like it at all. He told me that guinea pigs are good in hiding their 
pain. I believe him  because it makes sense.She had a growing tumor in her 
belly at the time and lived with it for at least 4 month before it was detected. 
He did not think that Sweetie needed pain meds after surgery, but I insisted 
because at the very least I wanted to make her life as painless as possible. 
She had suffered enough and I felt bad that I did not use my common sense to 
realize that guinea pigs don't show pain as my vet said. I also remembered 
reading about it in a book.
I believe in providing a life for our pets to as close to a natural habitat 
as possible. That includes a clean cage, fresh layers of bedding every day, 
free run of the house for 1-2 hours a day, plenty of hay to nibble and lay on, 
hard bread for their teeth, a premium food, vitamindrops in their water, fresh 
veggies or fruit twice a day. Their favorite is carrots and green leaves. 
Common sense tells me to go light on fruits because that raises bloodsugar ( mine 
at least). 
And that's all I can do, and hope for the best that those beautiful piggies 
will give us years of enjoyment.
that's all for today,
Marion





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