[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Older Piggys loosing weight my second opinion

[Ann Evans]

I wrote yesterday that at Piggyville and the CCT that older piggys do 
not always loose weight. I have spoken to three members of the American 
Cavy Breeders Association who are also cavy judges. We have known each 
other since the 1980's and I have adopted special needs cavies from each 
of these individuals. These three breeders have a total of 392 cavies. 
They told me that cavies older than 4 years often loose weight and are 
even skinny by the time they die. They said that breeding programs and 
taking cavies to shows often stresses the cavies and causes them to age 
faster and loose more weight as they age compared to pet cavies. These 
three breeders have been to Piggyville. They said that cavies at 
Piggyville get more medical attention, a greater variety of food and 
more exercise than most pet cavies and cavies that are intensively bred. 
Therefore it is possible that the cavies at Piggyville and the CCT are 
not a good example of pet guinea pigs as a group. They probably are more 
representative of a sub set of cavies that get more medical care than 
the over all population of pet cavies. However, I still believe it is 
not inevitable that older cavies will loose weight. It is a possibility 
that as cavies age they naturally loose weight due to the aging process 
but in many cases it can be prevented by following the health care tips 
in care sheet number 12 titled ON GOING WEIGHT LOSS by BAR.
http://www.britishassociationofrodentologists.co.uk/Products.html
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.