Lethal guinea pigs discussion

[WEAVER]

Angel---Even though she was a petstore purchase, I look up to you for taking her in. This truly was a rescue, and although many may not agree, I will say that is what I believe. This pig, if fallen into a uneducated pig parent's arms would have had no chance of living a quality of life. Lethal pigs require a lot of care, time, and without a doubt are more of a expense than a "normal pig". They need a knowledgeable caregiver with a huge heart. I do hope that you did not "pay" the petstore for the pig, but I would consider Pearl "saved."

p.s. I love her name, especially seeing she is lethal. It is perfect and she is a real cutie, the poor baby

 

[AngelsCavies]

Weaver, I kinda had to pay for her, the reason being that this petstore was so strict in everything, I even tried nicely to let me at least take her since she is ill and I will not return after that. None.

But I have spoken to someone and they said no matter what weather you paid for a sick pig to be taken out of there or a bad home, she is concidered a rescue though.

Tomorrow I will be calling my local humane society to see what she has doen. I told her that I am not worried about the money. My thing is that they sold and had a sick lethal pig. I was told while i was there that they double check to make sure they are not sick or of anykind. Well apparently they did not. Look at what I brought home.

 

[WEAVER]

But I have spoken to someone and they said no matter what weather you paid for a sick pig to be taken out of there or a bad home, she is concidered a rescue though.

I don't want to hyjack the lethal thread, but I do have to say that even though one person told you that statement, does not make it a "fact".

I personally feel that you "purchased" the pig, because you did give the pet store money. On the other hand that does NOT mean that I do not think Pearl needed a good educated guinea pig home. Because of her special needs is the only reason I can valudate this pig being bought of the petstore. Under other circumstances I do not view people walking into a petstore and making a purchase a rescue. I also would not consider this a rescue if you did not follow through making sure that this petstore does not profit from the money you gave them to buy the pig, otherwise they will not care if they sell lethals or not, it is money in their pocket either way. It is truly a vicious cycle, but I am glad that Pearl is safe and having a chance at living the best quality of life that she can.

 

[AngelsCavies]

I agree with you and I know what you mean. I trully appreciate this.

 

[LobsterOverlord]

Is it normal for lethals to have smaller than poo beans than regular pigs? I've finally noticed this about Piggly and Wiggly, and with possible internal issues unseen, I was curious.

John M.

 

[salana]

Einy always had little poops, but he was also always smaller than his brother.

 

[LobsterOverlord]

That makes me feel a tad better since both are smaller than all the others.

John M.

 

[Spectre]

Hello all
Some people from the theme may remember me from the CavyCompendium forums, where I wrote about a lethal pigger named Gen. His owner is going to publish a material on lethal guinea pigs in Russian (based largely on Salana's article which was translated by me) and asks for permission to use the photos of other lethal pigs that were discussed here at the forums. Can she put them on her website?
P.S. Gen is very soon 6 months old, he's doing all right and has no major health issues.

 

[LobsterOverlord]

My girls have stopped drinking water. They havn't touched their water bottle in a couple of days. Any help would be appreciated.

John M>

 

[VoodooJoint]

Check to make certain the bottles are actually flowing. Sometimes air is trapped in the tube or the ball gets stuck and no water actually flows down the pipe.

 

[LobsterOverlord]

I hadn't seen them at the bottle even trying to use it, but I did clean it just after posting this, and they've taken to it a little here and there, so the air may have been the issue. Thanks for the info.

John M>

 

[3mpets]

Hi:

Just wanted to share... I have had several cavies that have stopped drinking water for long periods of time. Originally it was quite disconcerting, however, when my veterinarian asked what I fed my pigs, and when I told him about the large amount of greens that they get each day, he said that they were likely to be getting all their water needs from the vegetables.

Recently, after staying "off the bottle" for months, my eldest Guinea Pig has decided to make up for lost time and drains her bottle regularly. If you are providing lots of greens to your pigs there might not be any problem at all.

Brad

 

[Tumbleweed]

We have a piggy who is pregnant; we don't know what the father looked like or who he was, but he very well might have been related to her.

I am concerned because our piggy looks very much like salana's Suzi-- a white abyssinian with a black eyepatch over one eye. However, our piggy differs from Suzi in that there is both a patch of black and a continguous patch of butterscotch/light tan color over the other eye. She also has a circular black marking on her bottom.

Does the fact that she does have that third color patch of light tan mean that she could not be a roan/dal "in disguise", or might she still be carrying the lethal allele? And if so, is there anything we can do in preparation?

Thanks!

 

[kathrynj]

The fact that she has a third colour makes no difference, any pig with any white hair, and unknown genetic history has the potential to be a hidden roan or dal.

What you can do is read as much as you can about the care of lethals and what to look for in the newborns, and find yourself a very cavy savy vet who knows about these piggies.

Where abouts are you ? Someone may be able to recommend a vet to you?

 

[salana]

Roans and dals tend to have solid, non-roaned patches of colored hairs on their heads and butts. So a pig with eyepatches and a butt patch could very well be a covert roan or dal. kathrynj is correct that the roan allele can go with any color pig. I've seen roans that had black, golden agouti, red, silver agouti, cream, lilac, etc.

 

[MCR_Rox]

Can smallness be a symptom of a lethal?

 

[kathrynj]

Do you mean are lethals smaller? Usually they are yes, from what I know and my Faithy-mae is slowly gaining weight but I doubt she will ever be full size. She was 50-70grams when I got her at 3 weeks old.

She is now 270ish grams and she is now 13 weeks old.

Smallness in itself is not a indicator of a lethal, but in combination with other factors, can be a side effect if you like, who knows what is happening internally for these guys?

 

[MCR_Rox]

Patches is smaller than the rest of the guinea pigs, and appears not to be growing. He doesn't have any more symptoms. Another thing he does different is when I lay him on his back, he doesn't try to get up. Also, when I hold him on my chest when I am standing, he turns his neck the way I'm facing. He seems different, but doesn't seem like a lethal.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Thanks for the info, Kathrynj and Salana. So I guess there's no way of telling for sure at this point, I can only hope for the best...there's no reason to think she is a roan, just no way to rule it out either, have I got that right? (Please correct my understanding if not!)

Kathryn, we live in the Chicago area. We do have an exotic pets vet who seems OK, but maybe not super brilliant, with guinea pigs, so if anyone has a recommendation for who to go to for a highly special-needs piggy, that'd be much appreciated.

The mommy-to-be is doing well so far, given that she is really much too young to be pregnant. At first we were concerned that the only fresh food she would eat was lettuce lettuce and more lettuce, but we discovered today that she will gobble down beet greens and especially radish greens quite eagerly! I really hope her pups will be OK...

 

[salana]

Landhermie, it sounds like you may have a pig with heart problems. Lethals have a specific genetic defect which produces an entirely white guinea pig with vision, hearing, and tooth problems. They may also have digestive problems, which results (with the tooth problems) in a smaller than normal guinea pig. But, if your pig is not white, it's not a lethal.

Good luck, Tumbleweed. You're correct that we can't tell one way or the other about your pig. Hopefully she will stay healthy and deliver healthy pups. Suzi was very young when she got pregnant, and she did just fine with pregnancy and delivery. One morning, I went to work with two pigs in the cage (Suzi and her neutered 'husband' Doom), and came home to four.