Breeding over a year...sad email exchange

[CavySpirit]

[FONT=Verdana]I received an email from a person a few days ago who wanted to know whether or not it was appropriate to post her bad experience about breeding on the testimonials, as she ordered a new cage, because she thought she lost the mother due to stress of cage size.

I was also just asked via private message from someone else, if it's true if a sow's pelvic bones fuse after a year because she has a friend who wants to breed her 18-month old sow and she's trying to convince her not to!

I know a lot of people think the pelvic bones 'fuse,' but actually, that's not the case exactly. It's that their ligaments tighten, making the birthing process very very difficult if not impossible in some cases. This is much more of a danger in first-time mothers, but can happen with sows who have given birth before as well.

So, since I've received the PM, I've decided to share the email with names changed:

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..... My sow, Peaches, died tonight also, after giving birth to the babies on Monday night. My daughter is beside herself, and I'm very, very sad, too. I don't know if it had anything to do with the cage, but I suspect it does. What I do know is that I bought two piggies at a mom and pop pet store nearly a year ago. They had only two--one male and one female, but the pet store owner assured me that they breed well and that they don't eat their young and that she'd buy the babies back from me after they were born, so I've seen many kittens born, and I thought it might be fun to have Guinea Pig babies. I know now how stupid I was.

I bought the biggest cage the store had for my two pigs, and after I took them home and put them in it, even I could tell it was way too small. Their pigloo took up almost half the space and they were constantly running into each other. Every time I went to a pet store, I'd look at their cages, but I never could find one that was significantly larger. It took a tragedy for me to go online and really look into it. Peaches gave birth on Monday, and Monday night when my daughter went to feed the piggies, she discovered the four babies. They were all dead and two of them had been partially eaten. I haven't found a whole lot of information about this sort of thing, except that it really is rare for Guinea Pigs to eat their young. I read somewhere that they sometimes will if they're stressed by being in too small a space.

After my research, I was very grateful that Peaches was still alive, and I immediately took Herb (the boar) out of the cage. I ordered the two cages from you, and I was going to get each of my piggies a same sex companion. I could tell Peaches didn't feel completely well, but I'd been giving her lots of love and care and she seemed to be doing better. I figured no woman feels quite herself after giving birth. But tonight she began to have convulsions. My daughter was holding her in her arms on the way to the vet when she left us.

I'm so distraught that I gave Peaches such a miserable life without even knowing it, and just as I figured it out and was about to make everything better for her, I lost her. So, I've been giving Herb lots of time out of the cage and he's already popcorning more and seeming much happier. I can't wait to put him in his new home, and I'm glad that it's not too late for him, at least.

Thank you for your interest. Would you want me to post this (after I have more news about how Herb acts in the new cage)?

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[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Hi Angela,[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]... First, let me say, I’m very sorry for your loss. Second, I doubt the loss had to do with cage size. Quite frankly, it’s just the results of breeding. I know you feel bad about it, but I hope that you’ve done some more research on why breeding guinea pigs is a bad idea. It sounds like the female was over a year old—very dangerous for getting pregnant the first time—and now you know why. Her pelvic ligaments tighten up and she can’t deliver easily. The reason she was eating the young was much more likely because they weren’t viable. She almost certainly had another fetus in her that she couldn’t get out and she went toxic, hence the convulsions.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]The best thing for you to do, on a human level, is become a champion of ‘no breeding of pets’ and ‘no selling of pets in pet stores.’ The advice you got from the pet store was, as is typical 95% of the time—completely and life-threateningly—wrong. The shelters and rescues are full. It makes no sense to breed. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]For your guinea pig, since he is now used to being with a female, if you can find a GOOD cavy vet, experienced in neutering, I would get him neutered, wait two weeks, and ADOPT from a rescue or shelter a new female for him. You could try pairing him up with a very young male if you don’t want to get him neutered.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Regarding the testimonial, I wouldn’t attribute the incident to the small cage. But, I’m very glad you are upgrading the cage for your remaining piggy and hopefully new friend down the road. He’ll be much happier.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Again, I’m sorry for your loss and I hope my honest assessment isn’t too disturbing. I’m sure you’ll do the right things moving forward, you and your daughter sound like very loving cavy caretakers.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]All the best, [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Teresa[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]

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[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Thank you to you, Teresa, and you, Sue, for taking the time to help me better understand and explain to my daughter what happened. Your honest assessment was disturbing, but not surprising to me. In fact, I had read the page on breeding at CavySpirit.com already and had learned what a horrible idea breeding my piggies was. That’s why I was originally so grateful that Peaches was still alive, but we weren’t as lucky as I’d hoped. Believe me; you are now preaching to the choir on that issue. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Thanks also for the advice on how best to team Herb up with a new friend. I will check into vets in the area. And I can’t wait to get Herb’s new home and see him happier. I can’t take back what happened to poor Peaches, and I still feel really horrible that I didn’t take the time to better educate myself while I could have averted this tragedy. We miss Peaches very much, and Herb and his new adopted friend will have the very best lives I can manage for them.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Regards,[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Angela[/FONT]

[Stephanae]

My name is Stephanae, and I'm the "Angela" in Teresa's posting. We buried Oreo (aka Peaches) on Friday, although I had to take a bucket of hot water out and poor it on the frozen ground to dig a hole. Winter, my daughter, found a pretty rock and wrote "Here lies Oreo who will not be forgotten" on it, and we placed it on Oreo's grave.

We are terribly sad that this happened. We have learned a very hard lesson, though. And I'm now a big believer in not breeding piggies. If you know anyone who's as ignorant as I was, please share my story! I would love for other Guinea Pigs to be saved in memory of Oreo.

[piggly wiggly]

I am very sorry for your loss, may Oreo rest in peace. Sometimes it takes a tragedy for people to realize things. Hindsight is 20/20. But take comfort in knowing that your story could help many piggies from being bred(hopefully). If your story stops atleast a few people from breeding their piggies, that is many lives saved thanks to you sharing your story. It would save sows from being bred and babies from ending up in a shelter. Thank you for sharing, I know how hard it must have been.