Consequences of Breeding - Genetic Defects

[Bennalaya]

As some of you may know, Abby was surrendered to me by a man who bred guinea pigs to use as snake food. He has decided to go another route and had already bred Abby and decided he no longer had any use for her. Rather than knowing what her fate would be, I took her in pregnant and all.

Abby was bred with a hairless male. I'm not certain whether the boar was a Baldwin or a Skinny or some sort of other hairless and I doubt the man who surrendered her to me knows either.

I doted on Abby throughout her pregnancy. Four weeks to the day she came to me I went to check on her sometime between 2:30 and 2:45pm (I got so excited I forgot to look at the clock!) and realized she was not alone in the cage. She had given birth the one moment I wasn't staring at her.

The much awaited event was bittersweet, however, as I quickly noticed that there was something terribly wrong with one of the pups. Abby was frantically bathing the little fur ball right in front of her, whilst completely ignoring the poor little hairless baby. He lay limp and breathing quite heavily, still covered from the shoulders down in placenta. Abby had known something was wrong and shunned him the moment she removed the sac from his face.

While the other pup was already sitting upright and trying to scoot away, the hairless pup couldn't even lift his head. Once Abby was situated with the furry pup, I carefully placed the hairless pup beside Abby, hoping she would tend to him and he would be stimulated enough to get up. She was so scared of him and quickly ran away.

I gently scooped him up in a soft fleecy blanket and wiped the sticky mess off of his body. It almost seemed as if he had no spine, as his poor head rolled uncontrollably. His front legs were completely bent inward. I tried cleaning him up the best I could. I placed water on my finger and tried to encourage him to drink. I held him in my arms and kept him warm, every so often trying to re-introduce him back to Abby. She wanted nothing to do with him.

I felt so heartbroken and helpless. I know that there are significant risks involved with breeding, especially with skinnies, but I had held onto the hope that with Abby's pups everything would be alright.

But it wasn't alright. Little Champ passed away peacefully within hours after birth. I was so hurt. I had been waiting for this day for the past four weeks and we had lost a baby. Once I was able to focus all of my attention on Abby and the other pup, I soon realized that the lone pup also had a birth defect - her front right leg is curled slightly inward. Fortunately it isn't as severe as her baby brother's and she is able to get around just fine.

Still, it makes me so sad and so angry at the same time. You always hear breeders say, "eh, losses happen. It's the nature of our business." I didn't see Champ as some sort of inevitable loss that can be so quickly dismissed with "stuff happens". My heart aches for the loss and also for the little disability the other one is afflicted with as well. I don't know what sort of conditions Abby was bred under. She may have been backbred. She may have been bred with her own offspring from a previous litter. The man I got her from was trying to mix Abyssinians and Skinnies. Now I have one baby, a baby that is going to sometimes have trouble getting around because of a birth defect. A birth defect most likely caused due to negligent breeding practices and a lack of knowledge on proper animal husbandry and genetics.

Abby and her pup are doing great, though. I know we're not out of the woods completely yet, so I am closely monitoring both Abby and her pup, Indie.

The moral to this story is that so many people assume that because you have two guinea pigs that you can breed them without producing any sort of genetic anomalies or taking a significant risk of losing the pups, the mother, or all of them. The man who surrendered her to me isn't the one who paid for her high quality hay and pellets, had to line up a costly veterinarian who is a specialist for small and exotic animals. He didn't have to be the one who tried, through blinding tears, to recussitate a little baby who came into this world with everything going against him. He isn't the one who is going to have to work with a special needs animal, trying to make sure it can get around without too many problems.

I'm not angry that I ended up with a special needs piggie. I am able and willing to take care of that baby. I'm angry that there are some people out there who could read this very personal account about indiscriminate breeding and still scoff at it and think, I'm not doing anything wrong. My breeding animals are happy. And, if the die, oh well. It just happens sometimes.

My story is one of many that proves that breeding can produce devestating consequences, and I wasn't even the one who is responsible for Abby being pregnant in the first place. I'm just the one left to pick up the pieces of a breeding situation gone terribly wrong.

[Janelle]

I'm so sorry you had to go through this. I'm so glad that you're able and willing to keep little Indie. Too many people wouldn't bother with an "imperfect" animal. I'm sure she'll bring you lots of love and happiness.

[Res Judicata]

I'm glad that someone who cared with there with Champ during his short life. And I'm sorry that you had to go through such grief because of another person's carelessness. I bet Indie will be just fine. Animals can be so resilient and can handle more than we give them credit for. She and Abby will have wonderful, perfect, happy lives with a human companion who truly cares about them.

[paula.m.moore]

Hopefully you can give little Indie and her momma a great life and they will bring you happiness for many years to come. I'm sorry to hear about little Champ, but as RJ said, if you can take no other comfort from his brief life, you can know that he died having someone care for and love him, and that's more than he would have had elsewhere.

[Res Judicata]

Bennalaya -- do you have any pictures of Indie? It's probably off topic in this thread, but I'm a sucker for a cute, little baby guinea pig.

[Bennalaya]

I do have two pictures of little Indie. That's all she'd sit still for. She's a feisty one. I posted them in the About Guinea Pigs sub-forum:

http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/about-guinea-pigs/39043-welcome-world-indie.html

[Res Judicata]

What a little doll!

[breezy2]

I saw the photos today,she is gorgeous, but didn't know the story behind it before now. You are an inspiration. I am very glad you were there for Abby, Indie and Champ. Champ had a short life, but at least he had someone to care for him for those few hours. The breeder would have probably instantly discarded him. And I know Abby and Indie will have a great life with you. Are there pigtures of Abby anywhere? I would love to see her.

[crazywiggy]

I'm so sorry for what you have been through - your post brought me close to tears. At least you know that Champ was loved for his brief life, and that his mum and sister will be loved and well cared for for the rest of theirs.