[Gpdd] [health] - parasites....

[Susan Eastin]

Hello Chris and All~
Please please please be careful with that.  Geez, I never thought about
the piggies getting spores from bird droppings from the grass, but it is
kind of a no-brainer!  My former husband died from that - it's called
histoplasmosis, and I would be surprised if a guinea pig could survive it.
Apparently there is only one treatment for it, and it is so rough that 
even the doctors have a nickname for it ('terrible-something")
Anyway, he just thought he had a virus, but could never get over it. He
was in and out of the urgent care, treated for various things, including
pneumonia. but just kept getting worse because they were treating for
the wrong thing. When they finally did figure it out, he was so weak he
couldn't survive the treatment! This is for real, and just over a year
ago!  They say usually this stuff settles in the intestines, but for some
reason his was mostly in his lungs.  But the point is, the stuff is deadly,
but what you would call a silent killer. You don't see it, few people even
know about it.
I guess we all should learn from this and be very careful collecting food
for our piggies and wash it thoroughly regardless of the source. And wash
your hands as well.
We will keep Spookie in our prayers - hopefully you caught it early enough
you can get rid of it and she'll be fine.
Healing wheeks and piggie kisses,
Susi and the Okie Piggies
Snowy, CocoPuff and Lil' Whistle