[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Older cavies loosing weight????

Ann Evans ann.evans at hintlink.com
Thu Dec 29 18:50:47 EST 2011


I am happy that the vet said Mimi is in good health. But I am somewhat 
puzzled over the comments about older cavies loosing weight. This is not 
a natural occurrence at Piggyville which is a sanctuary for special 
needs cavies and their offspring which has been in operation for 27 
years. Most of my cavies die of old age and are within 100 grams of 
their top weight at the time of death.  Cavies have a very large gastro 
intestinal tract and cecum that usually contains up to 50g of food and 
fluid. I know that the Cambridge Cavy Trust, CCT, and British 
Association of Rodentologists, BAR, are not the only source of 
information on cavies. However they publish a care sheet number 12 
titled ON GOING WEIGHT LOSS.
http://www.britishassociationofrodentologists.co.uk/Products.html
Anyone can buy it. You do not need to be a member of the CCT or BAR or 
live in the UK. You can pay for it by PayPal and write under the 
comments section what you are ordering an add a little extra money to 
cover postage outside of the UK or ask Vedra what the postage will be. 
Vedra's email address is also the BAR Paypal address. stanislinski at aol.com
I spoke to Vedra the founder of CCT/BAR about this topic and their 40 
years of weight data on cavies does not support the assumption that 
older cavies just naturally loose weight. The care sheet lists over 10 
reasons why cavies may loose weight and what needs to be done about it. 
One of the things I do is every month I make up a small bowl of Critical 
Care or Critter be Better that my piggys just lap up. This seems to keep 
their digestive tracts working smoothly. Peter Gurney gave all of his 
piggys brown bread and milk at least once a month for the same reason. 
Just food for thought. I am not a vet but I volunteer as a cavy health 
advisor for Dr. Frank Bonsack DVM of the Adventure Animal Hospital in 
Tampa Florida.
http://adventureanimalhospital.com/

Cheers,

Ann and the Rescued Piggys of Piggyville, Tampa Florida USA.




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