Lethal Pigs Suggestion

[muffin]

The lethal pigs thread was closed, so I didn't know where else to post this. I was so sad to read about Einstein the lethal baby guinea, especially about the fact that he was deaf and blind and would get lost in his cage. I have a suggestion which may either be of help to future carers of blind/deaf lethals, or may just be ridiculous. Someone please try it for a while and let me know. I remembered as I was reading that I had seen something on TV about people who are deaf being able to 'hear' music through the sound vibrations it made. It occurred to me that if perhaps a radio was placed mext to the food in a lethal pig's cage he would be able to guide himself back to it by the intensity of the vibrations in different areas of the cage. For example, if the speaker part of the radio was flat against one wall, the vibrations might be stronger in front of it than at the side. I can't imagine how terrifying it is to be deaf and blind, how could anyone explain to a person why they can't see or hear in a world designed around those that can? It must be even scarier for Einstein. I don't know any deaf people so I don't know if my theory would actually work. Maybe if Einstein is still having problems his owner could try it? I think the moderators know his owner? If you do could you get in touch with Salana and see what she thinks of the idea please? Worth a shot.

I read in Peter Gurney's book 'The proper Care of Guinea Pigs' that baby pigs can be fed a watered down convalescent drink, so long as it is flavourless. He also says to feed with a teaspoon that is angled downwards so they don't inhale it since they can't fingure out how to breathe and swallow seperately. Has anyone ever tried this, and if so would you prefer it to syringe feeding? He says that syringe feeding can lead to suffocating the babies, so if I were ever in a situation where I had to feed a weak piglet I wouldn't want to try it without further advice.

[salana]

I don't think Einstein is scared. He finds his way around the cage by touch and smell fine now (he's two and a half years old now), finds his food, doesn't startle when he's picked up, and loves to snuggle.

Spoon-feeding is generally recommended for baby guinea pigs because of the risk of aspiration. You can feed a stiff mash verrry sloooowly with a syringe to avoid aspiration. Generally pigs above the age of a week or two are okay for syringe-feeding.

[muffin]

Originally Posted by salana

I don't think Einstein is scared. He finds his way around the cage by touch and smell fine now (he's two and a half years old now), finds his food, doesn't startle when he's picked up, and loves to snuggle.

Spoon-feeding is generally recommended for baby guinea pigs because of the risk of aspiration. You can feed a stiff mash verrry sloooowly with a syringe to avoid aspiration. Generally pigs above the age of a week or two are okay for syringe-feeding.

Do you think the idea would work though? I don't know if I'd trust myself to syringe feed, what if it suddenly spurted some out because of a subtle change in consistency? I hope i won't be in that situation anyway! Do you agree with Peter Gurney about the convalescent drink? Would human baby milk formula work instead?

[salana]

I don't know what he has in mind for "convalescent drink". Pedialyte is a good thing to feed pigs that are being syringe-fed. Guinea pigs should never have milk products.

[Percy's Mom]

Convalescent drinks are usually something along the lines of Ensure which is a thick milkshake like liquid, so I would say definitely NOT give them that. From other threads I've read since being here, Peter Gurney's books are not generally well received for the quality of his information. Actually, I can't think of a single book that I've seen a moderator recommend since I've been here.

[salana]

I like the Cavy Health Record Book.

[Percy's Mom]

Oops! How could I have forgotten that one? It really is awesome, and everyone should have one for their piggies. Great reference and a place to record weights, measures and all other medical information. Thanks for the reminder salana.

[Matt & Guins]

For animals (and humans) which are born blinde (and/or deaf) - they dont know anything else, and its been with them since birth to learn their environment and how its set up.

For someone with a blinde & deaf cavy, the best thing to do when it comes to housing is just keep everything consistant and avoid sudden environmental changes. By this, I mean if the food bowl is kept "here" then leave it where it is - dont decide one day "oh, this might do better being over there". If you wish to change something then do it gradually. But in time, the cavy will learn exactly where things are and I have no doubt that they will be running around like any normal cavy and know exactly where things are positioned in their cage.

The idea for a radio/vibrations allowing a cavy to learn different areas of the cage *could* work -but there really is no need - they learn soon enough where things are.



Matt

[salana]

Einstein adapts pretty well to minor changes, which is good, since his brother Jackie loves to push the hidey houses around the cage.

[Squigglepiggle]

I know this probably sounds really lame, but what exactly is a lethal guineapig? and what do they look like?

[daftscotslass]

Lethals are the result of breeding roan to roan or dalmation to dalmation. They are white guinea pigs that can have many abnormalities ranging from blindness/no eyes, deafness, malformed/no teeth among various other health issues.

You can read about salana's lethal Einstein over on GL - http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7156

[bromers]

Would'nt a guinea pig who was a leathal run away from the vibration they couldnt see?