What's in your pet store animal?

[salana]

We all know that animals from pet stores are often pregnant, usually infected with a URI, always covered in mites and/or lice...but did you know what critters they have in their guts?

A study was done on Syrian hamsters from two large hamster mills in the southwest US, each with about 40,000 hamsters on site, bred for the pet trade. The study was specifically looking at "wet tail" disease, a very common intestinal disease that afflicts most pet store hamsters, with high mortality rates. Here are some interesting results:

In the first phase of the study, the most important findings were severe Tyzzer’s disease (infection with Clostridium piliforme) and cestodiasis in all of the 9 clinically ill hamsters. Eight (89%) of these 9 hamsters were positive for Campylobacter species by PCR-based testing. Two (22%) of 9 hamsters had Clostridium difficile toxins, a commonly reported cause of enterocolitis. All 15 (100%) of the hamsters had mild to severe infections with the tapeworm, Hymenolepis nana. The tapeworm burden appeared correlative with the level of disease and debilitation. The protozoa Giardia, Entamoeba, Spironucleus muris, and trichomonads were also variably detected in all individuals. The yeast Torulopsis (Candida) heavily colonized the stomach of all hamsters. Rare spiral Helicobacter-like organisms were seen in intestinal wet mounts. Interestingly, the remaining 6 clinically normal hamsters, which were also euthanized and necropsied, had all of the same pathogens except for Clostridium piliforme.

Serologic testing revealed all hamsters to be positive for Sendai [virus] and PVM [pneumonia virus]. Nasal flushes revealed a wide variety of bacterial respiratory pathogens, corresponding with evidence of otitis and sinusitis histologically. Interestingly, all were serologically negative for Tyzzers, despite clear evidence histologically. All were negative for LCMV.

Barron, Heather Wilson, et al. 2007 "Etiology, Pathology, and Control of Enterocolitis in a Group of Hamsters." Proceedings of the 28th Annual AAV Conference & Expo with AEMV.

[cs275]

Wow! I never knew, that is so sad and disgusting the way these animals are treated and cared for.

[Susan9608]

Clostridium difficile toxins

This is so, so gross. People get severe, severe diarrhea from this organism. Yuck.

[C&K]

That really is gross.

A little off topic, but Toronto and 1/2 of Southern Ontario is currently experiancing a rabies scare from a puppymill. A mother dog died of Rabies back in December, they went on to put the puppies up for sale at one of Torontos largest flea markets, and 100's of people fondled the puppies, of which, 2 have now died of rabies.

[piggly wiggly]

We haven't had a rabies outbreak since the 30's. This is so awful. The mother dog fought with a skunk, and got rabies and died when the pupps were only about 3 weeks old.

[C&K]

I just can't get over that they then put the pups up for sale! It really outrages me and shows that puppymills are indeed, as bad as your worst nightmare!

[JeevesIsMyPig]

No rabies in Australia

We have it easy nothing dramatic ever happens here
But my GP has mites, should i get special shampoo or just wash him?

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by JeevesIsMyPig

But my GP has mites, should i get special shampoo or just wash him?

No, don't wash him as it will only cause more pain and irritation. There are no "special shampoos" that will work either. You need to treat him with Ivermectin or take him to a vet to get him properly treated.

Here is an info page to read about mites Guinea Lynx :: Mange Mites

Here is info about Ivermectin Guinea Lynx :: Ivermectin Products

Here are treatment guidelines
Guinea Lynx -- Topical Ivermectin Treatment
Guinea Lynx :: Ivermectin Topical Treatment
Guinea Lynx :: Ivermectin