When guinea pigs need a veterinarian

Even guinea pigs should be presented to the veterinarian regularly, so that any diseases can be detected and treated at an early stage. Because early detection is the first step to healing.

Dangerous: bridging of the teeth

All guinea-pig teeth, including the molars, are growing throughout their lives. This lifelong growth can be a problem with incorrect feeding. Guinea pigs are naturally used to barren food and require raw fiber-rich feed such as hay and green fodder, which makes intensive grinding movements of the molars necessary. In case of improper diet, e.g. Too much grain, the already strongly tongue-tilted lower molars are rubbed too little, grow across the tongue and eventually form a bridge over the tongue. The affected animals can no longer swallow the food and starve to death at the full bowl. The pet owner is struck by the fact that chewed-up food hangs out of the guinea-pig's mouth and that the animal is heavily salivating and emaciating. For the animal to survive, the teeth must be shortened by the veterinarian.

Most incurable: Guinea pig paralysis

The first symptoms of this dreaded disease are loss of appetite, shaggy coat and severe emaciation. The animals tremble, spasmodic twitching of the back and neck muscles are noticeable. In the further course, the muscles of the hind legs visibly relax and paralysis occurs. Untreated, the animals die after two to ten days, possibly even after three to four weeks. Unfortunately, the treatment is unsuccessful in most cases. Nevertheless, a therapy should be tried in not too weakened animals, since in some cases, but healing can be achieved.

Especially in winter: Lippengrind

Especially in the winter months, many guinea pig owners notice that inflammations with yellow-brown, barky deposits have formed in the corners of the mouth and in the split part of the upper lip. The main reason for this is a lack of vitamin C and vitamin A. Because in contrast to other animals guinea pigs can not produce vitamin C themselves and are therefore dependent on an adequate intake with food. In winter without forage, there is a shortage of vitamin C, as well as vitamin A and unsaturated fatty acids. This leads to a resistance weakness of the skin against bacteria - Lippengrind is the consequence of it. As a therapy, the veterinarian initially delivers high-dose vitamin C as an injection and later as a pet dropper. Local treatments with vitamin A containing ointments and feeding of broken linseed kernels (rich in unsaturated fatty acids) support the healing.

Pododermatitis: inflammation of the bales

Bale inflammations in guinea pigs often indicate deficiencies in attitude. For example, prolonged improper nutrition with grain mixtures instead of raw fiber-rich feeding with hay and green fodder, poorly cleaned stables (urea dissolves the cornea of ​​the paw pads!), Lack of exercise and obesity promote the development of pododermatitis. The paw pads are sore and open, often abscesses. In the therapy, the cancellation of the causes in the foreground. The attitude on a thick hay mat and the treatment of the bales with an antibiotic ointment accelerate the healing.

Cysts on the ovary

The pet owner will notice a circumferential increase in the flank region in combination with symmetrical hair loss. As the cysts can become very large, affected guinea pigs look as if they are highly productive. The ovarian cysts can reach tennis ball size and ultimately displace other organs in the abdomen, which can lead to death. The puncture of the cysts through the abdominal wall brings only short-term relief, as the cysts fill up quickly. With hormonally active cysts and hairlessness on the flanks, a treatment with progestogens can be tried by the veterinarian - the sick animal receives a progestogen injection once a month. Experience has shown that the hair grows quickly after, but the problem of cysts usually persists. The only therapy with certain success is the castration of the guinea pig. This should be done if possible in the initial stage of the disease, as long as the cysts are still small. During castration, both ovaries are removed under general anesthesia.

Hairball in the stomach

The formation of hairballs is promoted by psychological stress on the animals (for example mourning for a companion), boredom and bad grooming by the owner of the animal. Especially during the change of coat regular combing and brushing of the guinea pigs is absolutely necessary, since they usually swallow too much hair when brushing, which then accumulate in the stomach. Also a wrong composition of the food (too little hay and green fodder!) And a too low water intake favor the emergence of hairballs in the stomach. The stomach is thereby expanded, which is why the peristalsis no longer works properly; This means that the food is no longer transported completely from the stomach into the intestine and therefore can not be digested. In smaller hairballs usually conservative therapy with the administration of paraffin oil and subsequent abdominal massages. Large hairballs must be surgically removed.