Is she a lethal white or not?

[RodentCuddles]

I don't think she is because her incisors look to be normal *though next week the vet will check to make sure*..

But just wondering on what you all think..as she has:

blindness and one eye sunken in, not normal in shape/size and both eyes look cloudy the smaller/sunken one more so.
complete lack of hair color
deafness from what I can tell.

Sarah has agreed and she is now called Precious...here are some pictures of amazing Precious I took yesterday:



ETA: I should add that I personally do not care if she is a lethal white or not but when she gets put up for adoption *probably in 2 and a half to three months time* I'd like to be able to tell people if she is or isn't so if she is they know about it.

[MissCavyCare]

If she has blindness and one eye, sunken in eyes, not normal in shape/size, both eyes look cloudy, She sound very ill. She should be taken to a vet immediately! It is most likely that she is a lethal white, but on the other hand she could just be very ill.

[YourSoJelly]

@MissCavyCare, Not trying to sound rude, but @RodentCuddles owns and runs her own guinea pig rescue. It sounds like she already has a vet appointment booked, so Precious will be well cared for.

It sounds like a lethal to me, but I always thought lethals had red eyes?

[RodentCuddles]

@MissCavyCare What could the vet do for the blindness and the sunken in eye?

She is eating and drinking, pooping and peeing all fine. Wheeking and acting like a normal piggy. I would just like to know if In a few months time I should tell her adopties that she is a lethal white or if she just has these problems?

She is going to the vets next week on Thursday

@YourSoJelly She does have red eyes...She got dropped off at 9-ish Pm at night so it does make her eyes seem black but they're for sure red. (:

[bpatters]

I do think she's a lethal -- that one eye is a strong indicator, and the blindness and deafness pretty well guarantee it. The lethal gene can be expressed very strongly (those pigs don't usually live long after birth), or not so much, as in pigs that have teeth, and occasionally you'll hear of one with a bit of hearing or eyesight. And of course, there's a whole range in between. How old is she?

She doesn't sound/seem ill at all to me -- lethals have the same indications of illness as normal pigs, such as refusal to eat, sitting puffed up in pain, abnormal poops, runny nose, sneezing, etc.

BUT, you need to watch her carefully to make sure she can eat. Can she pick up hay with her front teeth? Chew it normally? If not, you may need to poke it in her mouth, toward her back teeth, to see if she can chew once it gets to her molars. If she can chew, you can cut food in matchstick-sized slices and feed them to her. If she can't do even that, you'll need to handfeed her.

You'll also have to make sure that she's getting enough to drink. You may have to syringe water to her until she figures out the water bottle. And of course, I'm sure you know to keep everything in the cage in the same place so she can learn where it is.

Last, for a very inspiring story of a much-loved lethal, see www.fairymagic.me.

[RodentCuddles]

I do think she's a lethal -- that one eye is a strong indicator, and the blindness and deafness pretty well guarantee it. The lethal gene can be expressed very strongly (those pigs don't usually live long after birth), or not so much, as in pigs that have teeth, and occasionally you'll hear of one with a bit of hearing or eyesight. And of course, there's a whole range in between. How old is she?

She doesn't sound/seem ill at all to me -- lethals have the same indications of illness as normal pigs, such as refusal to eat, sitting puffed up in pain, abnormal poops, runny nose, sneezing, etc.

BUT, you need to watch her carefully to make sure she can eat. Can she pick up hay with her front teeth? Chew it normally? If not, you may need to poke it in her mouth, toward her back teeth, to see if she can chew once it gets to her molars. If she can chew, you can cut food in matchstick-sized slices and feed them to her. If she can't do even that, you'll need to handfeed her.

You'll also have to make sure that she's getting enough to drink. You may have to syringe water to her until she figures out the water bottle. And of course, I'm sure you know to keep everything in the cage in the same place so she can learn where it is.

Last, for a very inspiring story of a much-loved lethal, see www.fairymagic.me.

Thank you very much!

She was brought from the Pet Shop 6 months ago..so around 6 months?

She's eating very very well..much better then the male that she was rescued with. She loves her food and is eating and drinking very very well..she has a water bowl and at first she wasn't sure what It was but now I've seen her drink out of it alot of times so feel safe she's eating and drinking by her own well.

She's nearly ate all the hay I gave her last night....I was so glad to see that her teeth look normal! (:

Do you think we should adopt her out? Would it be a safe thing to do or would it be better for her to stay here?

[bpatters]

Many rescues do not adopt out lethal whites, except possibly to a very special adopter who knows what they're getting into and are willing to provide lifelong care. But this pig sounds pretty high-functioning, and the fact that she can eat on her own means that someone won't have to spend hours a day trying to get enough food down her to keep her alive. So you could go either way -- adopt her out to a special family, or keep her in the rescue.

Two things come to mind to watch for. One, you definitely need to weigh her regularly and record her weights so you can see what's happening with her. And two, you need to keep a close eye on her teeth. Many lethals either have no teeth to speak of, or very wonky teeth that are pretty much non-functional. Most owners of lethal whites that I know of have to trim their front teeth to keep them from overgrowing because the molars don't work properly. If Precious has molars, you may not have to worry about that. But if she doesn't, or if they don't work well, you'll need a pair of rongeurs to trim her front teeth. The vet can show you how to do that, and it's not as hard as it sounds because many of them have pretty soft teeth.

[RodentCuddles]

I'll talk to my mum about what she thinks is best. If we keep her she wouldn't be able to go in with my herd of 5 would she? The cage would be too big for a blind and deaf girl? I could always separate Buttercup and house her and Buttercup together in a separate 2x3 or 3x3 c&c cage
Or we could adopt her out...but we're having enough trouble finding good homes for the average guinea pig..so not sure if one for her would come along..

Because this girl was rescued yesterday with a intact male she's on preggy watch..so will be keeping an close eye on her weight any way...but hopefully for some reason she can't have babies as they'd been housed together for the past 6 months with no babies born.

[YourSoJelly]

I'll talk to my mum about what she thinks is best. If we keep her she wouldn't be able to go in with my herd of 5 would she? The cage would be too big for a blind and deaf girl? I could always separate Buttercup and house her and Buttercup together in a separate 2x3 or 3x3 c&c cage
Or we could adopt her out...but we're having enough trouble finding good homes for the average guinea pig..so not sure if one for her would come along..

Would you be willing to ship to Indiana, USA? lol I hope the little girl gets a good home.

[RodentCuddles]

I might get in touch with Fairy's owner, as she's got first hand experience...I've been reading Fairy's website since last year and was so happy last month when she turned 4 years old!

ETA: I can't find a way to contact Fairy's owner...if someone knows how I could it would be great if you could PM me.

[bpatters]

She can go in with other pigs. You'd have to do the same sort of personality matching that you'd do with any normal pig, but many lethals live quite happily with other pigs.

There are two lethal owners over at Guinea Lynx. If you're a member there, you can mail them through the mailer. Fairy's mum is MildredM, and Jacqueline had four lethals, all from the same litter, at one time. I believe two of them have died, but she still has the other two.

[RodentCuddles]

So she could be okay living in a 3x7 + 1x2 cage with 5 other pigs? It would be great if that could work....If Trixie was to accept her then she'll be in the group..as all the other times i've done intros's it's been if Trixie likes the newbie then everyone else has to put up with them.

Will PM them both as would love to get in touch with some lethal piggie owners even if she's not as bad as some lethals.

[bpatters]

Somebody on this forum has one also, but I can't remember who it is. Maybe one of the long-time users will remember and post the name.

[jacqueline]

Hi RodentCuddles. Bpatters is right. I adopted 4 pigs with LWS all from the same liter. They were all deaf and blind. They had various combinations of teeth, so I had to learn to trim their front teeth using a rongeur. It's very much like cutting toe-nails!

When I first got them I was told to keep them in a small space, and never re-arrange things, etc. Due to some other circumstances, I ended up having to house the 2 males with LWS with a "normal" male pig. Well - they started to really come out of their shells. They became much more active and social. It's like the regular pig was their seeing eye pig. They followed him around by scent and sound I think and soon enough were quite confident in their ability to navigate their space. I have changed their cages up several times, and they seem to enjoy exploring the "new" spaces as much as any other pig does.

You do need to be very vigilant about their weight. I cut their veggies into little slivers so they can suck them into their mouth since they have little use of their front teeth. Also, now would be the time to find an exotic vet, or at least one who's willing to learn how to care for Lethals.

I could go on and on - but if you have any specific questions, just let me know! I'm sure you'll take great care if her!

[RodentCuddles]

I'll need to check with my mum if we can keep her...though her being a lethal white is sure to pull some heart strings on her!

But If she says yes we'll take the little girl over to our vets *as they're just a 1 minute drive away..timed it! * so they can meet her and I'm more then sure KV *the only vet we use there* will take time to carefully research the care of lethal whites..she's done so much for us and the rescue already.

Would she be fine eating the veggies how we chop them up? Here is a picture I took a couple of days ago...the slices are cut up to around a 1cm sq. (:



And this is the cage set up I have for my herd of 5 which If she was to stay I'd love for her to join..


Thank you so much!

And I find it so amazing you adopted 4 Lethal white piggies!

[RodentCuddles]

New Pigtures I just took of Precious...

[bpatters]

@RodentCuddles, my impression is that they do better with food in slivers rather than in chunks. If you cut those carrots lengthwise, rather than crosswise, they may be easier for her to eat.

[RodentCuddles]

Okay, thanks!

I'll cut her veggies up in slivers, wont be a problem!

[GeekPrincess]

She looks like a sweet girl, I hope if you can't keep her that she finds a great forever home!

[EcthalionMCB]

I know this post is a couple weeks old, but I'm curious, what exactly is a lethal white?