Help with babies

albijohnson · Jul 5, 2008

Hi everyone,

Our Guinea Pig, Gaby, has recently given birth to 3 Guinea Pigs, however one was a still born. This was a real surprise to us, as when we purchased her from the pet store we were told that she was not fertile due to the fact she had been housed with males for breeding purposes for a year and nothing happened.

The two cuties looked healthy enough on initial inspection, however, we have now handled them for the first time after 4 days, and it appears that they both have significant deformities with their front legs.

One of them appears to have one useful leg, however, both of the other's front legs appear useless.

I'm aware that at times the front legs can be slightly turned inwards after birth, however, these seem to be facing the right way.

I've taken pictures of both of them, however the quality isn't great. They otherwise seem healthy, are both feeding from their mother, and have all their teeth.

This is the one with both front legs deformed. His front right leg is very black and not easily seen, but it is almost the same size and shape as the other)

(the other guy with the one good leg)

(two of them looking otherwise healthy)

(both parents. Gaby, the female is the darkish one, and Pepe, the other is the proud father)

I'm hoping that someone can give us an indication of what might be wrong here.

Thanks very much

pigsforlife · Jul 5, 2008

Is Pepe with Mum and bubs? Please remove him asap. It is likely that Mum is now pregnant again, and pregnancies are hard enough on guinea pigs let alone back to back pregnancies. I have no idea what is wrong with these little babies, and I highly urge you to take them to a cavvy savvy vet (normal cat and dog vets will not know what to do). In the meantime, make sure that they continue to eat and gain weight (weighing daily on kitchen scales). How do they move? I am thinking that it is probably a genetic issue, but as to how to fix it I do not know. Could you post on guinealynx (medical forum) - Guinea Lynx ::

albijohnson · Jul 5, 2008

Hi pigsforlife.

Yes, we did seperate them just after birth, so everything should be ok in that regard.

The babies move very little and slowly, though it's obvious that they have grown since birth, so hopefully that's a good sign. If their disabilities aren't life threatening or greatly affect their quality of life, then we're happy to keep them and provide them with any additional support they need throughout their lives.

Thanks for the link to Guinea Lynx site.

pigsforlife · Jul 5, 2008

Poor little bubs, it is great to hear your dedication. I am honestly not sure what the future will hold for these little pigs. Have you located a cavvy savvy vet nearby?

albijohnson · Jul 5, 2008

pigsforlife said:
Poor little bubs, it is great to hear your dedication. I am honestly not sure what the future will hold for these little pigs. Have you located a cavvy savvy vet nearby?

No vet yet, however, being in a small area, nothing is open on weekends. We'll wait until Monday and try the local vets to see if they'll see my little pigs.

Fingers crossed.

Thanks again.

rabbitsncavyluv · Jul 5, 2008

Pet stores are not the best source of information. Poor pigs are probably inbred greatly.

Hopefully she isn't pregnant again but good chance she is.

Please do not put the dad back in unless you neuter him Breeding Guinea Pigs

The only infertile guinea pigs are neutered ones.

albijohnson · Jul 5, 2008

The guinea pigs have been separated sinse just before the babies birth, so unless some strange immaculate guinea pig conception has taken place, Gaby is not pregnant.

We found a vet open on Sundays that has experience with small rodents. However, the smallest pig (the one with the black head with both front legs deformed) died on the way to the vet. The vet examined the other one and concluded that he is quite health, with no other abnormalities present. He figures that Gaby is the product of fierce inbreeding by the pet store. Very cruel.

We'll keep our fingers crossed that this little guy makes it.

Thanks for all the advice.

gooberific · Jul 6, 2008

I'm so sorry to hear about the dark-headed one.

I hope the other little one does well and grows up without any other problems.

VoodooJoint · Jul 6, 2008

albijohnson said:
we did seperate them just after birth,

albijohnson said:
The guinea pigs have been separated sinse just before the babies birth,

I'm sorry but there are some discrepancies. First you say that they were separated after the birth, then you say they were separated before. You also have a picture of the mother, father and babies all together proving that they have had contact with each other.

This disaster should prove to you what a serious and dangerous issue breeding is. The mother gave birth to a stillborn, a malformed baby that likely suffered before it died and a you have one live baby left although I would bet good money that there are genetic issues with it as well that have not yet been discovered. It's long perm prognosis of a long, healthy life is not optimistic in my view.

More babies will likely have the exact same issues, suffer and die and next time you may lose the mother as well. You MUST keep the male and female separated at all times. Do not let them together for even an instant as mating can happen quickly. Please take this seriously and realize that we are very concerned about your pets' well-being as well as yours.

albijohnson · Jul 6, 2008

VoodooJoint said:
I'm sorry but there are some discrepancies. First you say that they were separated after the birth, then you say they were separated before. You also have a picture of the mother, father and babies all together proving that they have had contact with each other.

This disaster should prove to you what a serious and dangerous issue breeding is. The mother gave birth to a stillborn, a malformed baby that likely suffered before it died and a you have one live baby left although I would bet good money that there are genetic issues with it as well that have not yet been discovered. It's long perm prognosis of a long, healthy life is not optimistic in my view.

More babies will likely have the exact same issues, suffer and die and next time you may lose the mother as well. You MUST keep the male and female separated at all times. Do not let them together for even an instant as mating can happen quickly. Please take this seriously and realize that we are very concerned about your pets' well-being as well as yours.

Hello,

You're total lack of sensitivity during this difficult time is quite simply astounding.

I'm sorry if that during my saddness I made some mistakes about timeframes, as both my wife and I were involved in the process. Pepe the male was taken out of the cage the night before the babies birth. I was asleep at the time due to working very late.

Thank you to all those who have helped us. To those who take the opportunity to judge and criticise us, well, you should be ashmed.

Goodbye.

Gemiinii · Jul 6, 2008

VoodooJoint is not being insensitive, if anything you are being given vital information to save you from even more heartbreak. They picture you have clearly shows that the father was in with the mother after the birth, and she could very well be pregnant again.

Perhaps instead of being offended or put off, you should accept that you made a mistake, correct it, and get your sow and her pups to a vet asap. If your sow is pregnant again, you will probably have a very difficult time ahead of you.

I really hope the pups will pull through, good luck to you.

albijohnson · Jul 6, 2008

Gemiinii said:
VoodooJoint is not being insensitive, if anything you are being given vital information to save you from even more heartbreak. They picture you have clearly shows that the father was in with the mother after the birth, and she could very well be pregnant again.

Perhaps instead of being offended or put off, you should accept that you made a mistake, correct it, and get your sow and her pups to a vet asap. If your sow is pregnant again, you will probably have a very difficult time ahead of you.

I really hope the pups will pull through, good luck to you.

Pepe was put in the cage for the purpose of being able to capture both Mum and Dad together in a photo as we thought their colours etc may be relevant. He was in there for about 20 seconds, so unless he magically was able to impregnate Gaby, I doubt we have much to worry about.

Also, my previous post indicated that mum and baby have been to the vet, and things are looking good for the survivor.

It's quite incredible that a post designed to save the life of my beautiful baby pigs has turned into an opportunity for people to piously point the finger at us and cast judgment. We rescued Gaby from being euthanised by the pet store, and she has been in a loving home since. We separated her from Pepe the night before her birth, and spent $110 that we didn't have in order to have her and the baby attended to by the vet.

We've done nothing wrong, and are doing our best to care for our precious pigs.

Once again, I thank the many people who have sent us kind personal messages of support and advice. You won't be forgotten.

VoodooJoint · Jul 6, 2008

albijohnson said:
You're total lack of sensitivity during this difficult time is quite simply astounding.

I'm not here to coddle you although I thought my post was pretty nice considering your apparent deception

It is a difficult time isn't it? Guess what? Whatever you are feeling it's worse for the animals. I, and others, are simply trying to help prevent more suffering. What is done is done but since you appear to be a grow adult you should know better. That doesn't seem to be the case though since you appear to be lying.

There are some other issues I wasn't going to mention yet but since you think I'm being mean anyway I might as well voice all of my concerns. You have your animals in extremely poor housing and I have concerns about your knowledge and care. I believe I can see wire flooring in that hutch and it also appears to be outdoors. Neither are acceptable and both are very dangerous.

Your vet (if you actually went to a vet) is not a psychic. You do not know what could be wrong with the remaining baby. It doesn't matter if it appears healthy now. Loads of animals are born seemingly healthy and the genetic issues appear later. I pray for the animal's sake it is fine, I simply don't hold out much hope.

You can either learn from the mistakes you have made or repeat them. I suggest you don't repeat them for everyone's sake as well as do some research and learn more about proper guinea pig care.

Gemiinii · Jul 6, 2008

I did miss your post about the vet, and I'm glad the little one is going to pull through.

But as for the picture, you could have simply posted up a separate picture of dad. None of this is to judge you, its to inform you and help your piggies.

And its better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your pets health, dont you agree? So while the boar may not have impregnated the sow, its best not to give him any opprotunity to do so.

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Help with babies

albijohnson

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pigsforlife

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albijohnson

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pigsforlife

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rabbitsncavyluv

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