Guinea Pig Magazine

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MEET Famous Guinea Pig Artist Suzanne le Good INSIDE!

ISSUE 13. March/April 2013

M is for...

All Your Regulars

Your Letters Your Stories Your PIGS!

Your Letters Your Questions Your Pictures

Nail Trimming & FOOTCARE

LONGEVITY SPECIAL What’s the secret to helping our piggies

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TopTip

A Guide To Alternative Beddings!

O is for... OTTERS!

CATERING FOR GREEDY PIGS

E L P M A S ! e e n i e gaz Fr ISSN: 2044-4400 £3.95

LIVE LONGER?

New & exclusive from Michael Bond

The PiGs In My Life:

The ReAl Olga da Polga: episode 4 www.guineapigmagazine.com or find us on

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NEW & EXCLUSIVE Olga da Polga: Episode 2

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For All Things Guinea Pig: www.guineapigmagazine.com or find us on

ONLY Pet GUINEA PIG Magazine!

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Now With

C&C’s

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YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE:

Issue

14

PAGES!

WHAT HOW & WHERE!

Bloat!

January/February 2013

L is for...

Lunkarya R Pig’s!

All YOU

& What to do

N is for... Non-Selfs:

HELP YOUR VET HELP YOUR PIG!

The

DUTCH

NEW & EXCLUSIVE! From Michael Bond

(Father of Paddington Bear & Slave to Olga da Polga!)

The PiGs In My Life;

The True Stories Behind The Tales For All Things Guinea Pig: www.guineapigmagazine.com or find us on

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EMERGENCY

Coping With Loss

GRIEF & BEREAVEMENT

The Essential First Aid Kit for Guinea Pigs NEW & EXCLUSIVE

ISSUES

Olga da Polga

from Michael Bond

THE TRUE STORIES BEHIND THE OLGA TALES For All Things Guinea Pig: www.guineapigmagazine.com or find us on

Now Available ONLINE from www.guineapigmagazine.com G

WHAT? WHO? WHERE? WHEN? And HOW MUCH?

uinea Pig Magazine is the only publication in the world dedicated to all things guinea pig. It is produced by a small independent Publisher and is written by piggy people, for piggy people. It is the only Magazine that does not use any ‘stock images’, and where all the beautiful piggies you see are readers (your) pigs, including the Cover Model! The Magazine is not yet available in the shops and can only be purchased through the website at www.guineapigmagazine.com Take me straight to the website!

The Magazine is published every 2 months and is available as a printed glossy paper magazine, and as an online version, which is compatible with all main devices. We publish for January/

February; March/April; May/June; July/August; September/October; November/December.

Issue 15 (July/August 2013) is released on Monday 15th July.

Both versions of the magazine can be purchased as a single issue, a 3 issue subscription, or as a 6 issue subscription.

Although we are based in the UK we are currently being read in 26 countries. If you have a delivery address, anywhere in the world - we can post to you.

All payments are secure via PayPal, or Paypoint/Barclaycard for all card payments.

If you want to find out what others think of Guinea Pig Magazine, and so much more, come and join the community on our Facebook page Take me straight to Facebook

Back issues 1 - 9 are £3 each, or 9 for £25 (printed copies only). Issues 10 - date are £3.95 each + p/p.

The Online version is £3.50 each with no postage costs. Obviously.

Quality silver embossed cordex magazine binders. Simply slide in your GPM and the sprung cordex holds them firmly in place.

ers d n Bi

For more info go to www.guineapigmagazine.com or email sales@guineapigmagazine.com

Dindy

I’m the Boss and I don’t like the others touching me with their whiskers!

Tufty

Your Editor

Welcome to Your FREE ‘Taster’ GPMagazine Dear Piggy Slaves,

Their Slave

Welcome to you all, whether you have spotted us for the first time; always been unsure whether or not to buy the magazine; or are wondering whether on earth to get those back issues...

I only tolerate you because of the fridge...

Cupcake

The Only Way Is Essex!

Lucy

This is not a ‘complete’ magazine and the articles are not in full. It is more of a sample buffet of what you can expect to find in Guinea Pig Magazine.

Here is a selection of the features, stories, regulars, pictures, and of course your pigs; from the last 15 issues. It is just a taster magazine and shows you what we have been up to whilst we’ve been waiting for you to join us!

At the time of writing (July 2013) we are being read in 26 countries, on all 5 continents, and have a global perspective on all things guinea pig. We welcome contributions from readers and experts across the world.

We do not stand for or against any aspect of the guinea pig world, and are written for all people who love their guinea pigs! Our primary focus is increasing awareness of the care, needs, and welfare for all guinea pigs.

I am a Glutton

Patty

Cupcake taught me to scream when I’m picked up, Lucy taught me to steal food from other pigs mouths, and I’m still learning...

Thomson & Thompson

And as stated opposite - you will not find any stock images in Guinea Pig Magazine. All the pigs, on all the pages, belong to readers, and that includes the cover.

You do not need to be an expert photographer, you just to have caught a good shot of your pig. We will then give your pigs their own eight weeks of global fame.

CONT ACTI N

G US !

By snail mail:

GUINEA PIG MAGAZINE PO Box 4915 Chesterfield S44 9BD United Kingdom To contact us by technology: To send us your pictures, questions, stories, and articles, email: alison@guineapigmagazine.com

or lauragpm@hotmail.co.uk

If you have any questions or enquiries about Guinea Pig Magazine, or wish to post a comment, you can find us on Facebook. Just do a search for Guinea Pig Magazine.

Come and join the community!

For those of you who subscribe and already have all the back issues - this is old hat for you!

I hope you enjoy this sample and we look forward to hearing from you in the future

Thank you and best wishes Sometimes it can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders...

Your Editor We’ve been ‘set-up’!

The plan is hatched...

The girls bedding

And executed together!

Oh I wish you could see the tugging that is going on here!

Take the girls bedding out of their cage

*ASBO continues....

3

G P M NEWS

TORNADO RESCUE SPECIAL April 27th 2011 ALABAMA TORNADOES

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This is a story of miracles and heartbreak, joy and sadness.

This is the story of the Weavers and the Weaver critters, who rode out one of the fierce Alabama tornadoes that touched down on April 27th 2011.

Marsha Weaver is a woman with many real and virtual friends and admirers. She and her husband and children opened their home to many pets from animal shelters and rescues.

The debris field that was once their home (above)

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he Weavers lived in a pretty house in Alabama; a singlestorey home with enough room for a family of four, a dog, ten guinea pigs, ten rats, and a variety of critters who were lucky enough to be fostered by the Weavers while waiting for the right forever home. A gifted seamstress, Marsha ran The Cozy Cavy, which sold handcrafted beds and hidey places for the littlest furry pets.

There was almost no warning. The April 27 tornado moved in to the Weavers neighbourhood almost before it was reported. Marsha ushered

Photograph by Steve Weaver

her children and Shelby, the family dog, into the hallway; her husband, Doug, skirted through the front door moments later then the house began to shake.

The house fell in, then pieces

flew in the air.

The Weavers felt the pull of the storm. Shelby, hovering off the floor, was anchored to her humans by her collar.

It lasted for only moments; it

Hero’s RESCUE STORY Hero

Article and photographs by Sue Tate, Founder of Cavy Corner Guinea Sanctuary.

www.cavycorner.org

D

uring December 2011 we took a phone call from our Vets to say they had two guineas coming in to be put to sleep. All they knew was that the piggies were not in a good state and before suggesting this option to their client they wondered if we might be interested in taking them. We considered for all of five seconds before saying “Yes of course we would take them”. The Vet stressed that we would be responsible for paying for any treatment needed.

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They were expected at 3.00pm so I went down the Vets at 3.15pm and could hear a guinea screaming in agony whilst I sat in the waiting room. Eventually the owner came out (without the guineas) and was introduced to me. I explained we would offer her guineas a home at Cavy Corner. She was very matter of fact about giving them up and chatted quite unconcernedly about handing the guineas over.

As soon as she left, the veterinary nurse, who had a worried expression, quickly thrust an Operation Consent Form under my nose saying "you need to sign urgently…it’s very serious".

I was then taken into the nurse's room to meet Paddy, whilst Max had his surgery. Paddy was in a tiny cardboard box but was so scared it took me a full ten minutes to catch him. He scratched and wriggled and repeatedly tried to jump out of my arms.

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Max’s deep open infected wound had been left untreated so long that it had necrotized and so deep that you could see bone

Over time he started to respond to gentle handling and gradually became less afraid and his pain grew less as his wounds healed.

Physically unhurt, he was thin with his coat in rough condition and absolutely terrified.

Leaving the other guinea pig in the operating room I took Paddy straight home to Cavy Corner, where he was given good food, lots of love and

cuddles; we re-named him Parsley. New name… new life.

Mid operation on the other guinea, the Vet telephoned to ask "Are you sure you want me to continue? We don’t think he will survive."

Koa’s Rescue Story O

n the 19th August last year (my birthday!) I received an email from Val, she runs the charity that I volunteer for, April Lodge Guinea Pig Rescue and Rehoming Centre. She'd had a phone call from the PDSA at Gillingham; a woman had left a cardboard box on the animal hospital counter saying that she could not look after the guinea pig any more, then she left.

I phoned the hospital and was told that he was very poorly, but would I be able to come and get him, and maybe he could have a chance of recovery? Several minutes later my husband was driving me to Gillingham from our home in Dover.

When we arrived I was taken into a consulting room where the cardboard box was sat on top of the examination table. I looked

inside and saw the most upsetting sight, a poor little boar, squashed up head first in the corner even though the box was quite big, he had his head down – a lot of bald patches and it was obvious to me that he was suffering a severe fungal skin infection. He was so thin he appeared skeletal, and his eyes were heavily sunken indicating that he was very dehydrated. I could sense the despair from him, that's the only way I can explain it, but I had to give him a chance, to try to save him, and soon enough we were on our way home with him and all the medical supplies needed to help him.

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When we got home I made up a small cage with cotton towels, water, dry feed and hay. I offered him a small amount of veg the following morning, at first he didn't seem to know what it was, but once he had a little nibble you couldn't stop him.

He was put on a course of Itrafungol, 0.2ml twice daily as he only weighed 600 grams, and I applied Aqueous Cream all over his body which was very difficult as he couldn't bear to be touched. The cream was left on overnight and then the following day I started to tease out small amounts of infected hair.

On day three he developed severe diarrhoea, so I gave him plenty of rehydration fluids every hour and syringe fed him Science Recovery. When he tried to scratch he would start fitting (seizing) so I had to keep distracting him; I would blow gently on his face, clap my hands, anything to stop him scratching so that he wouldn't induce a potentially

Shiloh’s Rescue Story

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hen Kelly Williams rescued Shiloh, he was in a desperate state. In just four months she nursed him back to health and he is now her “miracle piggy”. This is his story...

The first time I saw Shiloh I was buying a Peruvian guinea pig from a woman who bred rabbits. She wasn’t very keen on guinea pigs but said that she had taken on Shiloh and four other pigs for a friend. She showed Shiloh to me and said that he had a skin problem but that she was going to dip him to clear it. She lifted him from a hutch with no bedding, just a paper feed bag, at that time I only saw a large scab on his tummy and had no reason to doubt she would treat him.

I was, however, still quite taken aback at how he was living and the rabbits though clean were in very small hutches considering their size - they could barely turn around. I left but did talk about the situation to my friend. The Peruvian piggy that I bought from her died shortly after.

It was a few months later when my friend saw the same woman advertising on an online site.

She was advertising the piggies as ‘free to a good home’.

My friend called me to check I had room to take them and then rang to arrange collection. Prior to getting him I had never even come across a mild case of fungal and it was only through reading

Shiloh (left) next to my Peruvian Monty who is the same breed and colours.

PIGPOST

If you would like to write to us, Ask the Editor, or respond to any of the letters or articles in this magazine, please email alison@guineapigmagazine.com or lauragpm@hotmail.co.uk

Switching to Alternative Beddings...

Rodentology Courses?

Dear GPM, I’m truly sorry to hear that you have lost Dindy - if only our little guinea pig friends could be with us longer - they seem “lent” to us for such a short time.

Dear GPM, I loved Laura's rodentology article.

I would love to see an article on the Cambridge Cavy Trust. I am really interested in doing the RHA course and would like more information.

Thank you.

E. Foley, Lancashire, UK. By email

Thank you for the new magazine mine arrived this morning, and is as excellent as always. I particularly liked the article on alternative bedding, which is really informative. It’s helped make up my mind that I do want to switch over to this type of bedding once I have acquired C&C

cages (and use separate hay “trays” that could be taken outside to be changed).

I’ve always used newspaper and hay before, and want to use whatever is best for my guineas, but must admit that from a purely selfish point of view, cleaning out hay filled runs in my living room creates an appalling amount of dust - and anyone who’s ever tried vacumming off the tops of a couple of thousand books will know what I mean!

Katherine Petley, Gloucestershire, UK. By email

Fudge & Nibbles Enjoy Their Dinner On The New Balcony!

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Discussion Forums?

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Dear Guinea Pig Magazine, My guinea pigs Nibbles and Fudge live in an 8ft run outside all summer and in a 5ft x 4ft hutch outside in the winter which is insulated well outside and also has an insulated suspended ceiling - they were very happy in it, but I decided to bring them in during this years snowy spell.

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All the information on the RHA course is on the BAR website, here's the direct link to the RHA page for you: http://britishassociationofrodentologists.co.uk/RHA.html (See Noticeboard on page 47)

I have bought a 5 foot indoor cage but felt that there wasn’t enough room still for them both, so last week I bought some wood and made this suspended balcony area. It is made of hardboard, with a hardboard balustrade fastened on so they dont fall off. Underneath at each end is a strip of half inch wood to stop the base from being pulled through and falling down.

I made the stairs with a cat scratching mat as they refuse to go up just a normal piece of wood, and I fastened another piece of hardboard on the stairs for safety.

They really love it and have their bedroom area underneath, and also it’s very good for additional exercise - they spend all day running up and down as the food is kept on the balcony area!

I hope you will be able to publish my idea so other readers might make one too!

Andrea Smith, Yorkshire, UK. By email

Dear Guinea Pig Magazine, The UK takes their guinea pigs so much more seriously than the US does... Everyone here seems to think they are just a stop-gap pet for the kids, when they are actually the most delightful and diverse creatures.

I used to correspond with a couple of breeders in Great Britain until our Yahoo group went defunct, and I really miss that. Do you happen to know if there is a good discussion forum elsewhere?

Katt, Redwood New York USA. By email

Here are some links to forums where you may find like-minded people to correspond with!

1. The Guinea Pig Haven: http://www.guineapighaven.com/forum 2. “Pet Exhibitors Cavy Club” (a private group on Facebook) 3. The largest guinea pig forum on the internet! www.GuineaPigCages.com

pig

Look What We Made!

Hello GPM, I have attached just a few images of Christmas tree decorations and other Christmas things that we made following the Xmas issue, to sell for the Rescue!

Helen, by email

Claire Eve I received my copy this morning and it’s all that I’ve read today!

Although have to be careful as my husband nicks it to read too! Seriously though, great magazine and keep up the good work. I’ve renewed my subscription today also.

Loved reading Shiloh’s story, although it made me tear up (yes, I’m a softie). :-) Charmaine Ryland Just got mine, loved reading Shiloh’s rescue story - I love happy endings :0)

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http://bramleycaviesrescue.com

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The Addiction of Guinea Pigs!

Hi GPM, I’m just writing this email to say how brilliant the magazine is. My husband bought the subscription for me as a Christmas present, and so far I have read and re-read the two magazines this year.

I started the addiction of guinea pig collection about four years ago with three guinea pigs and I now have thirteen. I am fascinated to find out as much information as possible, to achieve the best possible care for my guinea pigs.

They all live in groups, none of them are on their own, and I house them in outside hutches. The cages are long and wide with proper rain covers on them, to stop as much wind getting in as possible, and they go outside in our back garden (weather permitting).

I was amazed to see how much running and jumping around they do when they go outside. It is so sad to think that many many guinea pigs are just put in tiny cages with not much room to run and jump (is the jumping called popcorning?)

I just thought I would write a few details about my love for my guinea pigs. My three kids love them too- but they complain that I spend more money on the pigs than them.

Does anyone else have that same dilemma?

Keep up the good work and I very much look forward to receiving the next magazine.

Regards, Julie Moisan, by email Thank you Julie, and yes the sudden twitching and jumping is called “popcorning”. It’s almost as if they can’t contain themselves, like lambs in spring.

A popcorning piggy is a happy piggy!

Esther Hughes I love it!

Thank you so much! Read it from cover to cover already!

Xxx Bramleycavies Guinea pig Rescue We just received our copy.

Have quickly flicked through and will read it properly later. Its fantastic! Every piggy lover should get a copy!

Jane Louise Stevens I love the articles about poorly piggies as it makes me check mine regularly for certain things you publish!

Sara Strombach So loving that lower lip! Darling.

Julia Hannam Love the book! (Bertie’s downloadable books)

Spirit

The views reflected by Contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor and Guinea Pig Magazine. We believe everyone has a right to their point of view and are happy for you to debate the issues. We will not print anything that may offend other readers, or is potentially libelous. Protocols for article submissions are available on request.

Ask the Ask the EXPERTS

EXPERTS

Send your questions and problems (and any pictures you have) to lauragpm@hotmail.co.uk or pigs@rodentswithattitude.co.uk Send your questions and problems (and any pictures you have) to We will pass youralison@guineapigmagazine.com question on to our experts and contact you back as soon as they have any or solutions for you.you We will pass your question on advice to our experts and contact back as soon as they have any advice or solutions for you.

URGENT PROBLEMS SHOULD ALWAYS BE SEEN BY YOUR VET How to manage Bumblefoot as a long term condition?

Dear GPM, I rescued a piggy around 4 years ago, she was in a terrible state with Bumblefoot, and had a skin problem so severe she would fit when scratching. I got her through all that with the round the clock tender loving care, and she is now a happy healthy pig – apart from the Bumblefoot, which has never really gone away – she does have malformed toes; when rescued she was found to have very long claws with one of them growing into her pad .

She is mainly bedded on fleece now which is soft on her feet, and I regularly attend to the hard lumps of dead skin she grows on her front pads – but they still look so sore and swollen (see picture). I have tried most of the veterinary preparations; she has also been treated twice with Baytril (0.2mls twice daily for 10 days) which only seemed to temporarily and partly relieve the condition (which quickly flares up again following treatment). She does not limp or hobble so she is either not in pain or has become tolerant to it. I know it can be notoriously difficult to clear permanently but I was wondering if any of the experts had any ideas how to best manage this condition? Cheers for any advice or tips you can give me!

Mike from Exeter, by email LAURA SAYS: Bumblefoot is, as you say, a notoriously difficult problem to deal with. It is often reported that bumblefoot is an infection of the foot pad that, if left untreated, will spread to the bone: in select cases this may well be true, but in chronic cases like your sows, you would have expected if it were an infection for it to have spread throughout her body and almost certainly killed her by now, after such a long period of time. (An x-ray may show whether infection has spread to the bone if there is any uncertainty over this in any case of bumblefoot.)

Bumblefoot can be caused by unsuitable bedding or flooring material, through abrasion thus inflammation to the foot pads (hence why wire flooring is never acceptable for guinea pigs), and ineffective bedding that fails to absorb urine properly, thus leading to urine scald which worsens the condition.

Chronic bumblefoot that is definitely NOT caused by the above, and particularly is accompanied by any other signs of illness, such as those your sow had when you first got her (even though it was all that time ago), is also associated with systemic illness, predominantly systemic mycosis (fungal infection) and heart problems. The widespread symptoms and complications of these two systemic illnesses do

affect the extremities i.e. feet, hence bumblefoot is a notable secondary problem with either condition.

Treatment/management of bumblefoot caused by systemic illness can certainly improve the condition, but it does not always lead to a “cure” or full “reversal” to the problem. From your description of the severity of her skin problem, and the fact she had severe bumblefoot and has ongoing problems with this, your sow may have experienced systemic mycosis, and it is known that those severely affected by this who have developed severe bumblefoot often have malformed feet for the rest of their lives.

The inflammation/swelling can go down over time, and it may come and go intermittently, but the affected feet often never return fully to normal.

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The fact that she shows no signs of pain is excellent, and your aim is to maintain this, and as long as she is otherwise happy and healthy, I would not worry excessively, but do continue to monitor her closely.

Keep her on a soft bedding material (Vetbed or fleece is ideal) and discuss with your vet the possibility of a course of anti-inflammatories to see if this helps to reduce the inflammatory flare ups you are noticing.

LIZ SAYS: Given her age, I would be inclined to continue as you are, and maybe some steroidal foot cream would help clear the infection. The only thing I would be concerned about, would be if the infection had spread into the bone and caused underlying issues. If she was a younger sow I would have considered discussing amputation with your vet, but I am by no means an expert in that field and wouldn’t like to be sure how it would affect her.

I guess what I’m saying is, ask for another consult to discuss creams available, and love her for who she is if that’s all you can do.

Liz says:

Adding pigs to already bonded groups can be difficult, but sometimes a group is happy as it is. Adding an extra one alters the hierarchy and causes problems. I personally keep a neutered boar in my groups; I have a group of 20 with a neutered boar. There was some chasing and some confrontations but once the boar has asserted his dominance things were fine.

MaryH says:

First of all, it is most unlikely that the eyes have anything to do with this situation because guinea pigs are colour blind.

You have not said whether the established group are male or female. I have never had this problem with an established group of girls; they may give the newcomer an initial runaround but there is normally no bullying.

If the newcomer is being introduced to a group of girls there may be a problem with the newbie. Has she recently been bathed in a smelly shampoo, or is there anything on her that could give off a smell? If she does not have a normal sow smell this could make the others wary of her and possibly aggressive towards her.

The other possibility is that it is the new girl who is the aggressor. Not very often, but sometimes, a sow can be

hormonally disturbed and just will not live peacefully with another guinea pig.

Pink-Eyed Whites

Dave says:

Hello Laura, thank you for this interesting question, though you do not say whether they are boars or sows, which makes it makes it slightly more complicated to fully answer the question as group dynamics alter greatly depending of the sex of the group.

So you say this new pig has red eyes, some schools of thought say that red eyed guinea pigs are to be steered clear of, and rescues sometimes have trouble re-homing them, as people do not seem to like them, and/or some folk say they are problematic. Personally I have only experienced one problematic red eyed pig in 50 years. I have, at this moment in time, several red eyed pigs here at my sanctuary that are happily bonded with a variety of other pigs (with non red eyes), so I do not believe red eyed pigs are any more problematic than any others, and as for the possibility of an average red eyed pig affecting the dynamics of a group, I would very much doubt it.

Photograph by Margaret Hooper

It is most unlikely that eye colour plays any part in bonding or the forming of relationships because guinea pigs are colour blind

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care needs to be taken.

Another possible thought is that possibly this red eyed pig has a genetic defect: a few years ago I adopted an all-white red eyed neutered boar, his name was Snowy.

When Snowy was with a single boar or in a group of boars he would present himself to other boars like a sow that was in season would; this would always be disruptive if in a group. In groups of sows he often had a very disruptive effect, on one occasion he was standing there minding his own business doing nothing, and Wendy, a previously mild natured sow, suddenly broke into a very melodious version of the guinea pigs song (cheeping like a bird), then started to walk backwards, and all of a sudden took a massive leap forward right onto the back of Snowy. It turned into a very serious fur-ball fight and I had to separate them very quickly. I have heard the guinea pig song many times over the years, but I've never seen it used as a prelude to a fullblown attack, it was quite an eye-opener that taught me never to underestimate anything about guinea pigs!

The only explanation that could be offered by my vet is that Snowy's odd tendencies and effect on "some" other pigs, was either he was a boar that was genetically hardwired with sow tendencies, or he was a hermaphrodite (born with male parts but also female). I was eventually able to bond Snowy with two sows with whom he lived quite happily for several years.

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As I understand it guinea pigs are what they call dichromatic: that is to say they see colours as a human with colour blindness would, and it is more than likely that certain colours would be hard to perceive contrast i.e. the new pig with red eyes. It would be very doubtful that the other pigs would be able to tell the difference in the eye colour!

Bonding: in most cases it is relatively trouble-free but there are always exceptions, and there are no quick fixes to bonding guinea pigs as they are all individuals. Several methods can be tried but under the circumstances, I would go for this more or less conventional method. If we are talking about an all sow group, try independently bonding the newbie - see if she will settle with an individual from your friends group. First see if this red eyed pig could be first bonded to one of the individuals, (maybe a mild natured sow, but that is anyone's guess)‌mix-and-match but slowly does it, the last thing you need to do is to stress them out! Once a bond has been established then slowly add the other individuals, it may take a while but sows are usually a lot easier to integrate.

If we are talking about boars or a mixed group of boars and sows, the same tactic can be employed, as a lot more

Regarding the possibility of your friends pig being the same as Snowy, who knows, but I would consider this to be very remote possibility. It is simply an option to consider, and nothing more.

It is far more likely that your friend, with just a little perseverance, should be able to integrate this red eyed pig happily into the group. I hope this helps, give your friend my best wishes.

Ask The EXPERTS is not a substitute for medical attention. Remember our experts have not had the opportunity to see or examine your piggy, and can only go on your information and their experience and knowledge. Please see your vet for a full examination if you have any reason to be concerned about your guinea’s health or welfare. Tell us about your experiences afterwards!

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We were very fortunate to be able to interview the very talented and popular piggy artist:

Suzanne le Good How long have you been working as an artist, and how long have you been creating guinea pig artwork for?

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have always drawn and painted for as long as I can remember, but I’ve been working as a full-time professional artist for around 23 years. I started taking my items (little animal figurines and handmade and painted jewellery) to craft fairs, where I was spotted by a cat show judge who suggested I sold at cat shows. This then evolved into selling at a local guinea pig show, where the general shortage of decorative piggy items came to light, so I expanded my range into guinea pig paintings, signs, cards, prints etc. Then, of course, PC’s came onto the scene and my online work took off, selling on eBay, Etsy, and my own website - www.suzannelegoodcats.com

What is your artwork medium, and how did you decide to work with that particular one over other art?

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I like working in a mixture of media - from watercolours, acrylics, inks, to combining embroidery, beadwork and painting onto linen. I also paint items like clocks, lamp bases, mirrors, pebbles, leathergoods such as handbags and purses, plus, of course, my handpainted jewellery - a favourite being painted Sea Glass - as there is a beach near where I live where it is regularly washed up!

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How long does each piece of artwork take to complete?

I am a very fast worker, so a little ACEO (miniature) painting, or a hand-painted pendant will take anywhere between one and two hours, but I usually have several items ‘on the go’ at any one time.

Interview With An Artist

The PiGs In My Life: The True Stories Behind the Tales

OLGA DA POLGA (Episode 2)

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aving fallen victim to guineapigitis in a major way, a period of deprivation set in when Pip, Squeak and Wilfred departed for pastures new.

The hutch seemed empty without them and it stayed that way, until my life received a much-needed jolt one morning when I arrived at school rather earlier than usual, only to find the classroom was occupied by a group of spectacularly large boys smoking cigars.

Indignation rapidly evaporated when I discovered they were Dutch refugees fleeing the Nazi Invasion.

That same evening I helped my father fill a government-issue hessian bag with sand, just in case, and not knowing quite what to do with it, we placed it inside Pip, Squeak and Wilfred's old hutch pending further orders.

In short, both events were forerunners to six years of war, at the end of which the world I had been born into would never be quite the same, and it would be 1965 before I set eyes on another guinea pig.

it had on various girlfriends when he broke the news to them at inappropriate moments.

For want of anything better to say, I asked him what the snake was called.

“Ah, you Westerners,” he said. “You're all the same. You must give your pets a name.”

I couldn't believe my ears. Fancy having a pet, or any animal come to that, and not giving it a name! Sometimes it's all they have in this world.

Clearly, if our new arrival was to hob-nob with the guinea-pig next door, it ought to be something Russian.

Most of my stories are character driven, so wearing my writer's hat I felt honour bound to do my best for her. Olga went well with Boris, but tossing it to and fro in my mind like a tennis ball, it occurred to me that perhaps it needed a little extra something to give it an edge.

The addition of a da Polga, perhaps?

That year, having dropped anchor in Haslemere, Surrey, with my first wife Brenda and our seven-year old daughter Karen, we discovered our next-door neighbours had a cavy called Boris.

Some things in life are meant to be, and having given me a discrete nudge, Karen joined me in hot-footing the 27 or so miles by car to a pet shop in Basingstoke where, for four shillings and sixpence, we acquired our very own Abyssinian Tricolour, with a lustrous coat and a plentiful supply of rosettes.

Just prior to that I had met a young Japanese man at a party who divulged the fact that he kept a snake in a basket under his bed, regaling me with what he clearly thought were hilarious stories about the effect

a pet shop and plonks her down...

“Really there is no other word for it - plonks her down in a strange environment all by herself in a house on legs.” How do you cope with it and still manage to come out on top?

It so happened I came across a book about the meaning of names and among other things it had this to say about Olga: Likes to be mysterious and imagines herself having an affair with James Bond.

Would you believe it? Well, by then I wouldn't have put anything past her.

In the meantime, having just returned from a holiday in France, which I had recorded on Super 8 film, she posed as a stand-in for a mock Warner Bros. lion at the beginning. There's no harm in starting at the bottom...

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At the time it hadn't occurred to me that she would be the first in a long line to bear that name in a series of books.

What could you possibly write about a small animal who spent the greater part of her life cooped up in a hutch, however charming she might be?

But it so happens that when I was small I had a lovely grandfather who drummed it into me that there is no such word in the English language as “can’t”. “If you really want to do something,” he used to say, “stick at it. All things are possible.”

So why not take the plunge and write about the world as seen through the eyes of a guinea pig from the moment a hand reaches inside her cage in

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By Michael Bond

The original picture of Olga da Polga making her debut as the Warner Bros. Film Studio lion.

Little did she know that one day she would be the star... or did she?

* Guineapigitis: An insidious disease for which there is no known cure. As with malaria, it can lie dormant for years on end, then suddenly reappear

*Stories and pictures are the strict Copyright © of Michael Bond*

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Readers Pigs...

Columbus: A True Explorer

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isitors who come into our garden for the first time are often taken aback by what appears to be a black and white toupee scurrying across the lawn, “Oh, that’s Columbus,” we explain, “he’s a free-range guinea pig...” Needless to say, this does little to take the look of shock from guests’ faces; so we continue, “He runs around the garden, goes into his hutch at night, and keeps the grass short...” Shocked expressions usually, at this point, melt into grins of delight. One final thing we have to tell anyone coming in via the back door is, “Make sure it’s shut behind you, otherwise the pig will...” By which point, Columbus has already hopped up the step into the house and scampered between our legs.

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We are incredibly lucky to have a totally fenced in garden with no threat from foxes or cats!

Columbus started his adventurous life as an indoor pig, with a cage set up on a stand by the sofa. His cagemate, Oliver, taught him to jump up on to the back of the sofa, and from there he discovered he could experience the freedom of the carpet by leaning downwards until he found himself on it, having there fallen face-first. Oliver wasn’t quite as cunning (or daft?) and Columbus’s unsolicited floor-time became a routine which mixed our happiness at seeing him popcorn, and our frustration at the ‘presents’ he left us in the corners.

Always in pursuit of new territories, Columbus soon discovered he could squeeze his way out of his outdoor run, and watching him bound with joy through the grass and weeds of the garden was beautiful. The only downside, we discovered, was catching him. He ran at the speed of light, his long hair flowing in the wind as he darted from flowerbed to flowerbed... Eventually, we decided to let Columbus roam free.

We are very lucky to live in a cat-free area, on a quiet estate. We ensured all the gaps in the fence were blocked, but Columbus never seemed bothered about escaping. He established his boundaries by running round and round and round the garden and nibbling a little bit of everything here and there, and it wasn’t

Laura B and the Skinnies Title(appearance FIRST IMPRESSIONS of bedding, ease of use): Saph's text On first look I was bit disappointed as it looked ‘messy’, almost like Text toAs goI under photo 01 stuffing pulled out of an old teddy. always look for bedding

Laura B lives in Lancashire with her 13+ skinny pigs.

She tested the beddings indoors with her hairless piggies.

which works but also looks nice straight away I wasn’t keen on this Text to go under photo 02 product.

Text to go under photo 03 -

FEEL OF BEDDING and COMFORT FOR GUINEA PIGS: Text to go under photo 04 The bedding is very soft which is great for my skinny pigs,

I did think it was just too ‘bitty’ though and small pieces got in their ears and eyes.

HYGIENE and ABSORBENCY: Personally I didn’t notice any more absorbency compared with hay and shavings.

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ODOUR CONTROL and LONGEVITY: I expected it to last a long time as the advert states that it’s 250%

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absorbent but was disappointed to notice a pee smell after only 24 hours.

SUITABILITY for the Skinnie’s SPECIFIC NEEDS:

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As I said earlier it was very bitty and I regularly found stray bits stuck to my pigs skin and on one occasion a tiny peace got stuck to a pigs eye, it also got mixed up in their food and took forever to get off the small fleece pads I use inside their houses.

WOULD YOU CONSIDER SWITCHING PARTIALLY OR FULLY TO TumbleFRESH?

Comments and overall score: I had a quick search online and found a number of websites selling it many which I regularly purchase from so it would be easy enough to purchase. If thinking of buying it I would check out a site that offers a small one off delivery fee or free delivery due to the weight of the pack size it would be more financially viable.

44%

I personally felt it was too similar to shavings etc. and looked messy in the cage and also made a lot of mess, and got inside food bowls easily and I worried about the effects of ingestion.

75% Scored very highly on ease of use, the feel of the bedding, and it’s comfort for guinea pigs!

The additional hygiene and absorbency are an added bonus.

Guinea Pig Magazine would like to thank Carole Bloys and Supreme PetFoods for letting us be the first to review their new Bedding for all small animals, birds and reptiles.

Guinea Pigs as

THERAPY PETS We interviewed ERIN MAGGARD (from Wyoming, USA) on her experiences of guinea pigs as registered therapy pets...

Erin and Daphne: our local newspaper did an interview for an article about our visits to the Hospice. This photo was taking while I was interviewing and talking to the reporter.

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hy did you think guinea pigs as a species would make good therapy pets?

The work that I do with my guinea pigs is mostly at a local Hospice.

Patients there are often very weak or frail. The mother of a friend was in Hospice and loved the visits from therapy dogs, so one day I took in two of my guinea pigs. She loved them! The Director of Nursing at the Hospice happened to come by while we were visiting and later talked to me about having them registered as therapy animals for visits there. The two guinea pigs that I have registered are less than two pounds each – Sienna weighs in at 1 lb 14 oz and Daphne is 1 lb 12 oz.

worse than the therapy dogs: they just provide a very different experience.

When the dogs come to visit, the patient has to raise a hand to pet them, and the dogs can sometimes get on the bed, but they’re often too big or too heavy. But I’ve yet to come across a patient, who couldn’t handle such a small bundle of warm fur like Sienna and Daphne on their lap. The guinea pigs aren’t better or

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How did you register them with Pet Partners? What is the process for registering?

To register my guinea pigs with Pet Partners (formerly Delta Society), I had to complete a handler training course as well as evaluations with my animals. In a “normal” environment, you’d take an on-site course with a Pet Partners instructor who deals with both the handler and animal training, and who does the evaluation. I live in Wyoming, however, and there were no PP instructors near me, so I took a handler course online from them. Then my veterinarian agreed to work with PP to become an evaluator for me. Once he completed their requirements for that, I went to him with the girls and there were 22 “tests” that we had to pass. Things such as clumsy petting, loud noises, and unexpected movements were tried…they tested the girls’ ability to ignore and toler-

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ate those things, and my ability as a handler to be pro-active in watching out for their safety and comfort. For each of the 22 tests, my vet scored my response and that of each of the girls. Finally, the girls had an extensive medical exam, including taking faecal samples that were sent to our state vet lab. Once those came back, the results were signed off by my vet and all of the paperwork, the registration fees, and photos were sent in to PP. I got letters telling me that both were accepted to the program and registered, and they each got a collar tag and we have photo IDs for me with each of the girls.

Who are your five guineas - and who are the two therapy piggies?

Sienna is the oldest of our girls right now at about 1-1/2 years. She’s dark brown with one light brown spot on her back that matches her light tummy. She is one of our therapy piggies. She’s so calm and sweet.

WHAT? WHERE? & HOW?

C&C’s:THE COMPLETE GUIDE

simply lacking a caring home are being put down every day in the shelters. I would never consider supporting a puppy mill. Why would I support a guinea pig mill?

The shelter had a small animal room, filled with cages of rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and hamsters. Of course, I had to have a closer look at the guinea pigs. They were in a vertical stack of cages. I knelt down to look at a pretty black female on the bottom cage.

But I thought, what am I doing? I have two pregnant guinea pigs at home! Be strong. I decided no, I can’t adopt one right now. As I was walking out the door, she “wheek, wheek, wheeked” at me. My heart melted. I adopted her. Now I had five pigs, with more on the way.

The Birth of C&C Cages

By Teresa Murphy

(also known as “Cavy Spirit” in the Guinea Pig World) Necessity is the Mother of Invention, or so the saying goes, and that was what drove the creation of the Cubes and Coroplast/Correx guinea pig cage design, or, C&C as it is now internationally known!

We were extremely fortunate when Teresa, the ‘Mother of C&C’s’ told us her story of how it all began...

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started my guinea pig journey back in 1998. My boyfriend at the time had taken in a lone guinea pig from someone at work who no longer wanted it. The guinea pig had arrived with a cage that was pretty common back then—a small metal cage—providing maybe 3 square feet of space. My boyfriend had not done any research on care and was just feeding her carrots and pellets and water. No hay. No other veggies. So sad.

(Just an aside: we later realized Babe had diabetes—too much sugar from the carrots in her early life.)

As my boyfriend and I began dating more often, I found myself feeling guilty about long evenings at my place - while his pet was not being fed and cared for at his home. Babe moved into my home (long before the boyfriend), so I didn’t have to worry about her, as our dating life progressed. That was the start of a beautiful relationship – with guinea pigs!

My boyfriend and I were together for five years, but while that relationship didn’t last, my love for guinea pigs did!

pig’s little trick of “wheeking” when he opened the refrigerator door. This was a new experience for us, as Babe never “wheeked.”

Not then, not ever. I can only guess about what her early life was like. But, we were immediately in love with this little pregnant Dutch American guinea pig that made cute noises. The pet store owner said he would take back any or all babies that we didn’t want. What a guy.

And so, pregnant “Lucy” came home with us to live with Babe. Isn’t it amazing how these teeny, tiny little decisions in life can impact your future forever - change the course of your life, and perhaps put you on the path of your true calling, as in my case!

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I started on the road to improvement at the pet store. I wanted a new cage for Babe. I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but I didn’t care for that metal contraption. I instinctively went for the biggest cage I could find – a “Super Pet” cage with two levels, which set me back in the neighbourhood of $100. It felt like the “right” cage, and it had a cute picture of a happy guinea pig on it.

Next, I bought a couple of books. You know the type. The nice books with pretty pictures everywhere, written by some well-known breeders hired by the book publishers. Of course, included in the books are pictures of the popular products that you’re supposed to buy. In addition to that (as I later discovered), they included lots of misinformation about guinea pigs—including little details like age of sexual maturity.

The first thing that these books made clear was the fact that guinea pigs need a friend.

They are social, herd animals. (Great! No wonder Babe seems sad, she needs a friend!)

Off to the pet stores we go again (I really didn’t know any better at the time), in search of a pal for Babe. We found a guinea pig that a ‘nice guy’ in the pet store kept in the back of the store … that was pregnant! I had no idea at the time about the hidden reality of the situation, with the “backyard breeding” going on with this pet store and countless others.

The pet store owner showed us this guinea

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At this point, with two guinea pigs now at home in my “Super Pet” cage, and one of them pregnant, I still had not become motivated to hit the internet (it was a bit different back then). I was enjoying my pretty books.

Lucy delivered five babies - too many guinea pigs to keep that’s for sure! So, we kept what we thought were two females, and returned the three males to the pet store (I’ll always regret that). Oh, and while at the pet store, I needed to buy another “Super Pet” cage to give my little herd more room.

On one long side of the cage, the wall was a bit lower in the middle for a door. We put these two cages side-by-side the long way, and got a ceramic-type turtle bridge to put over the lower part of the long wall. This gave the guinea pigs a chance to go from one cage to the other—with some effort. A few weeks went by, before we realized that ‘oh no, we kept a male’! Well, the books put sexual maturity at 6-8 weeks, and I hoped at the time that I might have a couple of weeks on top of that … Wrong! So, the menagerie was now Babe, Lucy, Little Lucy and Ralphy! That rascal Ralphy wasted no time in getting both his sister and his mother pregnant. Oh dear!

Now, I finally hit the internet search engines in earnest—and was amazed to discover that there are homeless guinea pigs in shelters-just like cats and dogs. I had no idea. In fact, I could hardly believe it. With four pigs at home, two of whom were pregnant, I made a trip to our local Humane Society to see for myself.

The trip to the shelter was enlightening. I would never buy a puppy from a pet store, and certainly not a breeder. I’m strongly opposed to the idea of breeding designer pets, when perfectly wonderful animals who are

Both Little Lucy and Big Lucy went into labour while I was away on a business trip--a four-hour flight across the country. Little Lucy delivered four pups just fine. But Big Lucy, after delivering four healthy pups was still in labour when I got home. She was rolling on her back to trying to get it out—clearly in distress. I rushed her to the vet (of course this is late at night). The vet had to manually pull out an overly large pup (three times the normal size) that did not survive. Big Lucy was traumatized by this experience and was never the same, although she lived to a ripe old age. I think she pretty much hated people after that.

It was off to the pet store again, for another “Super Pet” cage! Now, I had thirteen guinea pigs. It used to be one boyfriend. Now, it was one boyfriend plus thirteen guinea pigs!

With a third cage, we struggled to figure out how to integrate it with the others. Since we could not match up three lower lips, we had to figure out a way to improvise a solution.

We hack-sawed the sides of two of those hard brittle plastic cages, added another bridge. It looked like a hack job of a cage for our guinea pigs.

After Ralphy was neutered, thirteen guinea pigs in three small cages was ridiculous. For a couple of weeks, while they were still small, hippity-hoppity, popcorning dervishes, it seemed tolerable. But that didn’t last long.

I’ll never forget thinking: “What’s one or two more? I’ll do rescue!” Ha! After spending my life’s savings, losing a job, losing a house … a thousand guinea pigs and a decade later… with the advantage of hindsight, I would probably do it all over again. The rewards were amazing and life changing.

Along this path, I started experimenting with a variety of larger, alternative cages. We got a large plastic kid’s swimming pool and gave up the dining room. The pool was put on top of two long office-type folding tables side-byside lengthwise. The pool was too wide to reach across, so it was a challenge trying to reach the piggies to pick them up.

We experimented with a variety of crazy things. I started to deeply research cages. A couple of people had adapted the “NIC” cages being used in the rabbit community. NIC was a brand of office storage cubes called “Neat Idea Cubes.”

I decided to use the Cubes for the cage perimeter and I went with linoleum for the base. This may sound inexpensive, but it

HOW TO: Administer Oral Medications G uinea pigs may need medication for almost any kind of ailment.

Medications come in three administration methods: parenteral (injected), topical (on the skin), and oral (by mouth).

Injections are usually performed by vets or rodentologists, although some owners may have been taught how to inject their guinea pigs for specific medical reasons. Topical medicines or shampoos tend to be simple to apply.

Article and photographs by Laura Humphreys, Contributing Editor/Guinea Pig Helpline

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Oral medication is perhaps the most common prescribed for guinea pigs, and given oral medication can be prescribed for almost any ailment, this is the one I am focusing on.

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The first word of warning here is to never put medication or supplements into a guinea pigs water. There are some very serious issues with this method, including the following: will be inaccurate. Even !if theThepigdosage drinks an entire bottle full

of water fairly quickly and supposedly gets all the medications/supplement, there is no guarantee that the water does not drip or get spilt or spat out, which instantly alters the dosage in the remaining water. There is a reason vets should prescribe a specific dosage of medication according to your guinea pigs needs; if anything less is given it is highly likely to prove ineffective - and is tantamount to giving your guinea pig no medication at all. Likewise with supplements, if the guinea pig needs additional Vitamin C, this must be given directly to the guinea pig to ensure a safe and effective dosage. guinea pigs live with at least !oneMost other cage-mate. Splitting the pigs

up when one is ill is not often necessary and can, in some cases, be detrimental to the sick pig. Thus if cage-mates are kept together and medication/supplements are put into the water, there is no way of monitoring how much the ill pig drinks, and there is a distinct likelihood that the healthy piggy would end up drinking some of the medication.

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Guinea pigs need fresh, clean water.

Medication and supplements can distort the taste of the water, discouraging the pigs from drinking it.

If a vet should advise you put any medication or supplement in the water, I very strongly recommend requesting a specific dosage to be administered directly to the guinea pig.

How to Give Oral Medications When syringing anything into a piggy, always insert the syringe via the diastema. This is the gap either side of the mouth behind the incisors - if you try to get into the mouth through those front teeth, you will have a lot of difficulty! Push the syringe slightly (and slowly) towards the fleshy cheek

pads - at this stage the pig usually starts complaining, trying to open and close his mouth, and this is the time to administer the meds. Push the plunger of the syringe steadily - don't squirt anything quickly, but do aim for a smooth action. For those who are unsure, you can start with the guideline of putting 0.3 millilitres (mls) of

How To Syringe-Feed Your Guinea Pig Please be aware that you must seek the advice of a rodentologist and/or experienced vet as soon as possible to determine the cause of your piggy’s refusal to eat. Please note that if your guinea pig is unable or unwilling to swallow anything you put into her mouth, you must not try to force her to swallow. Seek veterinary assistance urgently.

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here may come a time in your guinea pigs life when, for whatever reason, she (or he) stops eating. The causes of inappetence (lack of appetite) vary hugely but can include pain and an actual inability to eat. Even if the initial problem is nothing concerning the teeth, piggy molars will overgrow if she does not eat hard foods for herself, hence routine dental checks should be carried out to ensure any problems with the teeth are caught and corrected quickly (no anaesthesia is needed for dental checks and most forms of dental work, including molars; this does vary from surgery to surgery so it is worth checking what policies your veterinary practice have).

food intake and faecal output (poops) of the sick pig, but you don’t want to isolate the guinea entirely as this can have a detrimental effect on her recovery. Keep her in a cage directly next to her fellow piggy friends (or the same cage, just divided down the middle), this way she is close by her friends, so her morale is less likely to drop entirely, yet you are able to monitor her well. The only exception to this would be if the poorly guinea has a known infectious illness; please seek advice on this if you are unsure.

1. Weigh your pig daily while she is unwell. Make sure you weigh at the same time each day (e.g. just before the first feed of the day). Continue daily weight checks until your piggy has recovered. If your guinea is losing weight despite syringe feeds, then it’s very likely that you are either not feeding enough, and/or not feeding often enough.

2. You also need to monitor 12

What do I feed my poorly pig?

You might need to cut the tip off at the very top of the barrel of the 1ml syringe

What tools are needed for syringe-feeding?

•A bowl and spoon - to mix up the syringe-food; •A handful of 1ml syringes you may like to prepare multiple syringes by filling them prior to starting the feeding, or just refill a single syringe as required; •Soft damp kitchen roll / small facecloth (flannel) - to clean the chin after feeding; •Syringe-feeding chart - to monitor how much you are feeding and how often.

You might need to cut the tip off at the very top of the barrel of the 1ml syringe. This creates a hole the size of the actual

The important thing to bear in mind is that you must ensure the food contains a high level of Vitamin C, and a high percentage of fibre.

The most popular syringe-foods include: •Ready-made commercial preparations: - Oxbow Critical Care; - Oxbow Critical Care Fine Grind; - Supreme Science Recovery.

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Two Key Points to Aid Recovery:

barrel, making it very easy for the foods to be sucked up and administered, but take care not to push the rubber plunger out of the end of the syringe; stop and refill just before you reach the end.

•Regular guinea pig dry food (plain nuggets) most successfully used: - Burgess Excel Guinea Pig Tasty Nuggets (Original flavour); - Burgess Excel Guinea Pig Tasty Nuggets (Blackcurrent & Oregano flavour).

The technique with the plain nuggets is to place a small handful (10g) into a bowl, pour enough boiled water over them to just cover all the nuggets (25-30ml / 2 tablespoons), and allow to soak and cool for around 5-10 minutes. Then use a spoon or a fork to thoroughly mash the soggy nuggets, turning them into a thick paste.

How much and how often should I syringe feed?

It is much better to feed small amounts frequently than to give large feeds infrequently.

Although it must be said that any food at all will make a difference to the pig, it is

HOW TO: Bath Your Pig: Part 2 IN THE LAST ISSUE: The basics to know before you start bathing – when/why to bath, supplies and shampoos!

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o now we can get down to the real fun part: Grease glands, checking boar ‘bits’, ear cleaning, bathing, and drying. And remember, your piggies will only hate you until veggie time!

Cleaning Boar’s Bits

Sit the boar upright...

Penis and Anal Sac – When you have learned how to safely extrude your boar’s penis (a good vet, rodentologist or very experienced owner can show you how) it is worth checking and cleaning this on a regular basis e.g. weekly, or at every monthly bath. With an unscented wet wipe remove all residues and debris; hay, hair and bedding have all been known to collect around the penis. Please also note that it is not uncommon to see a whiteish “worm” in your boar’s bits – this is ejaculate, not a worm, and is nothing to worry about; simply remove it gently as with the rest of the debris. Also do not worry if you see two “prongs” or “horns” near the tip of the penis – this is normal and they should not be removed!

When checking the anal sac, again any debris such as hay, hair and bedding should be wiped out with an unscented wipe. If there is a mass within the anal sac it is possible that the boar is impacted. He will need his anal sac checking daily and emptying as often as required; if you are unsure how, again a good vet/rodentologist/experienced owner will show you - no products or special skills are necessary, just practice.

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Grease Gland

With his back supported by your body

All guinea pigs, including females, have a grease gland located at the base of their spine, roughly where the tail would be if they had one. It is harder to find on some pigs than others, but boars in particular tend to have quite active grease glands, and locating it will be made easier by the greasy circle you can feel - and in some cases see!

The photo below right shows the position of the grease gland.

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Cleaning the grease gland – along with cleaning the penis and anal sac - should be the first thing you do when bathing a male guinea pig, before you move onto the full bath. Removing the grease will ensure the gland stays clean and healthy. Some females have active grease glands too, but it’s significantly more common for boars to have active glands. Normal shampoo will not shift the grease; a product formulated for degreasing is needed. Just a few of the products that have been widely, safely and effectively used include: 1.

Washing-up liquid; 2. Swarfega; 3.

Paxcutol shampoo.

Massage a small amount of product into the grease gland with a wet hand. After a minute or so of massaging, the grease will start to loosen up and you can gently rinse and remove the grease with ease, and move onto bathing the rest of his body.

HOW TO: Take Your Pigs on Holiday With You!

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s the cost of living soars, more and more people are deciding to take their holidays "at home", in their own country. For those with pets, this opens up a whole new possibility for the holiday care of your animals.

Obviously it depends on exactly what type of holiday you are taking, how you are travelling and the destination (clearly outdoor activity holidays or coach trips are not going to be on your guineas list of favourite places to go!), but have you ever considered taking your guinea pigs on vacation with you?

In this HOW TO we find out the experiences of various GPM readers who have taken their pigs on holiday with them, and what they found the advantages and disadvantages were. Their insights also offer plenty of handy hints and tips to help make your chosen piggy vacation a happy and relaxing one for piggies and slaves alike.

STAY ING W FRIE I NDS? TH

ST HOUSES, HOTELS, GUE OTTAGES? & HOLIDAY C ROAD TRAVEL?

VAN CAMPER YS? HOLIDA

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Photograph from Kim Smith

Gruffydd & Celyn check they packed the essentials

STAYING WITH FRIENDS (By Mark Harrison, Contributor)

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arlier this year I had the opportunity to go and stay with a friend for a week in Devon.

Oh dear! What do I do with my piggies? I had three options, a) Put them in a boarding home, b) Take them with me, c) Don’t go.

Well, I really wanted to go so I had to look at the pros and cons of the first two options. I had already been offered a place for the piggies to stay if ever I needed to go away, by my friends Sue and Winston at Cavy Corner Guinea Sanctuary. I would have to take a pen and supplies for my pigs and I knew that they would be well looked after and receive lots of cuddles. However, I was aware of the distance to travel there (an hour by car) and more to the point the workload that Sue and Winston have at their Sanctuary. I was also worried about taking up valuable space at Cavy Corner and that the whole set up and subsequent takedown would total a whole day’s worth of time.

piggies to Devon with me. I would be taking their two tier pen and all its contents. The pigs went on the back seat of my car in a single pen made up from one of the two tiers, and the other tier bits could easily fit in the boot of the car. The pen could be wedged or restrained by sliding the passenger seat backwards. They had familiar surroundings with food, hay and places to hide during the journey and I gave them plenty of extra cucumber for the water content as I have found that water bottles will empty themselves during a car journey.

The journey took about five hours, so rest breaks were in order so the piggies could benefit from the stillness of the car occasionally. During the breaks I could also rig a sun shield on the window if needed so that they wouldn’t overheat.

The journey was mostly motorway so the piggies had a very gentle trip. When I arrived in Devon I immediately set up the two tier pen and left them to it for a while, keeping an eye on them all the time to check for any ill effects from the journey; Dindy went straight to the food bowl, no change there then!

I prepared their veg at tea time and it was as though they were at home, they were digging in with the usual gusto that three piggies do around a plate of veggies. I am so glad that I took them as they had some wonderful free range time whilst there. My friend’s piggies are free-rangers so the house was set up for it.

We gave both parties separate free-range time to avoid any dominance issues that would probably have occurred. I was able to have my pigs with me-rather than worrying about how they were getting on, and was able to maintain their routine and diet. I am pleased I made the decision to take them with me, and pigs from both groups made new friends!

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My other option was to take them with me. My friend in Devon has piggies too. My lot- Dindy, Cupcake and Tufty have been to Cavy Corner Fun Days on several occasions with no ill effects, and I know of other well respected members of the piggy community that have taken guineas on much longer journeys with no ill effects.

They would also have my familiar face and smell around them and cuddles from me to help them settle. I would not have to take any more extra equipment taking the piggies to Devon than I would have to take to Cavy Corner.

After weighing up the pros and cons, I decided to take the

C is for...Coronets

We interviewed Caroline Creese about her Coronets, an extremely popular breed, and what it is that she loves about these beautiful pigs.

Hello and thank you for sharing your passion for these pretty little pigs. How long have you been breeding and exhibiting Coronets, and what other breeds do you have in your ‘shed’?

Coronets were my first purebreed, and the breed which ‘started it all’ for me in the cavy fancy. I have had Coronets since 1998 when I got my first pair of boars, Colin and Cuthbert, shortly joined by a sow, Ariel.

The rest is history! I also keep Shelties, which I obtained originally to breed with my Coronets around the same time, also in my shed are Alpacas, a few Texels and my exhibition pets. Over the last two years, I have also started breeding and

Rhapsody, a two day old Coronet baby!

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exhibiting Swiss and Teddies.

What are the main characteristics of the Coronet (How would we recognise if we had one)?

The Coronet is a straight coated, long haired cavy with a crest on

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the forehead but no other rosettes elsewhere on the body.

What are the show/breed standards for them?

The coat is extremely important in the Coronet, it should have a dense coat with a silky texture.

At shows Coronets are presented on a square, natural hessian covered board of a suitable size for the age of the animal

All photographs by Caroline Creese

Carrie

N is for... Non-Selfs:

Delia

Bugenhagen

DUTCH CAVIES Article by Gary Clark. Photographs © Copyright of Gary Clark and Amy Heale

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hilst we are aware that N for the beautiful Dutch cavy is a somewhat tenuous link, we couldn’t think of a better breed to represent the “Non-Selfs” (coats of more than one colour). Gary Clark, experienced breeder and exhibitor of the Dutch, gives us the full story on this most classic of guinea pig breeds, and tells us why they are his passion.

“The Dutch cavy breed has been in existence for well over a century and evolved from the Tort & White breed, originally carrying three colours.

Around the beginning of 1900 there was discussion over the future of the breed and it was agreed to follow the example of the Dutch rabbit and carry only two colours black and white, and red and white. Also from research done

by Dutch club member Tim Brock it was evident that Agouti Dutch, Golden and the then Grey (now known as Silver Agouti) were also in existence, and to a lesser extent Cream Dutch (source: Boys Own Paper 1900).

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Cinnamon Agouti Dutch, owned by Madelaine Coomber

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It is not certain when Chocolate Dutch first appeared but it was apparent that they were around before World War II and it was Margaret Elward that nurtured the breed through the war and surprised everyone by showing an exhibit at the Bradford Championship show in the early fifties. Over the years since then four more clours have been recognised by the Dutch Cavy Club the Cinnamon Agouti, Cream Agouti, Lilac and most recently the Chocolate Agouti - bringing the total to ten.”

The above was taken from an article

written by Alan Trigg and is taken from the current edition of the Dutch Cavy Club Handbook.

Who was your first guinea pig and how did your love for these little animals begin?

My first ever guinea pig was an Abyssinian type cross. He was Black and Gold with tufts of hair sticking out at odd angles all over his body he was aptly named Scruff. The friendliest guinea pig you could ever wish to meet.

He had the run of our secure back garden and used to come and flop beside us in the Summer months when we sat outside. He lived for 7 years and was the start of my love for these fascinating creatures.

What first attracted you to the Dutch, and what is it about them that you

Silver Agouti Dutch, owned by Graham Godfrey GPM MAY/JUNE 2013. Issue 14

Kalusha’s Thornton Wins!

Win!

Lunkarya L is for...

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O

Kalusha’s October Litter at 2 days old

verall, the Lunkarya are a wonderful, friendly and laid-back breed. Their lovely nature seems the opposite to their ‘unruly’ hairstyle which never fails to go unnoticed! They may appear to look hard work, but the coat is generally easy to maintain. Their popularity is slowly increasing across the UK so keep your eyes out for a sighting of one of the most stunning varieties of guinea pig to grace our shores.

We interviewed Rebecca Takeda-Frost, founder of Kalusha’s Cavies in Cornwall, to find out more about this extraordinary breed. Rebecca has been a specialist breeder of the Lunkarya since 2007.

Who was your first guinea pig and how did your love for these little animals begin?

My first guinea pig was a tricolour Peruvian named Perry in 1998. During a trip to Australia, he passed away and my mother quickly replaced him with an Alpaca named Fuzzle so I would not miss him! She also brought me two girls and we decided to breed them when the time came. Since then I haven’t been without guineas as they really do capture your heart. I have been breeding and exhibiting the Lunkarya since 2007.

What first attracted you to the Lunkarya, and what is it about them that you particularly like?

I first saw Lunkarya’s on the ‘von den Knopfaugen’ website in Spring 2007. I knew immediately they were the breed for me –

the huge hair styled in the ‘relaxed yet crazy’ hairstyle that falls in every direction and the intensity of their colours just grabs your attention. I was very fortunate that another breeder was kind enough to import a total of eight Lunkarya from Belgium and Germany on my behalf in September 2007. They have a fantastic nature – quite unlike any other breed!

Have you got any other breeds in your shed?

As I specialise in Lunkarya, I do not have another pure-breed in my stud. However, I do continue the pet line that has been running since our first litter in 2003 started by ‘Fuzzle’ the Alpaca. I really enjoy having a ‘Pet project’ as it provides a element of fun from the confines of a blueprint standard that is the aim of the pure-breeds.

H is for... HIMALAYANS M

artha Fardoe, new resident expert, tells us all about the iconic Himalayans and the standards required for exhibiting them. From her library of stunning photographs we can see how truly stunning these beautiful little piggies are!

How long have you been breeding and exhibiting Himalayans, and how did you start?

I attended my first show in November 2005, it was Warrington and I was invited by one of my first friends in the Fancy who I have now lost touch with.

As I entered the hall across most of the back wall were the Himalayans (also known as Himis). Almost without looking anywhere else I fell in love and instantly knew I wanted them. I spoke with the judge, who I had been told bred Himalayans, and he sorted me out reserving a black Himi sow!

I collected her in December, shortly followed by a mate for her, a lovely nine week old black Himi boar. He was very nervous in my arms, and it was then too, that I learnt how to properly hold a cavy. But soon he became much better and started being the cheeky character that anyone who owns Himis, know they are!

show was only about 30 pigs, and he was the only Himalayan shown, but as a young juvenile, that didn’t matter at all.

From there, as they say, it’s history.

I’ve had them ever since, and am very picky about what is bred, they are my pride and joy.

I also breed Satin Black Himalayans (see picture below). I only have six satins, but have three litters in the making, and two more litters planned soon. As far as I am aware, I am the only person breeding them at least in the UK. (If anyone knows different, please let me know-send your details to alison@guineapigmagazine.com who will pass them on) I use carriers (pigs that carry the satin gene) to help me out as they are so few in numbers, but have done a couple of satin to satin matings. They seem to be very healthy and free of the satin disease, Osteodystrophy, but it is always on my mind.

My main problem in the satins at the moment is that a lot of them are very dark. It’s something to work on, I wouldn’t expect the project to be without compromises! But I have to concentrate first on their numbers. The good thing though is that their markings are proving to be very strong, especially in the smut department!

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My first litter was born on the 27th February 2006 to those two pigs, the eternally remembered in my stud, Cookie and Liquorish. Liquo, as we called him, won me Best In Show at the Oswestry show later that year, which was a fantastic surprise to me. The

of the Himalayan (i.e. how would we recognise if we had one)?

A purebred Himalayan has an off-white coat with coloured (black or chocolate) extremities (ears, nose, feet and genitalia). These are known as the ‘points’. A pet Himalayan may have white within these points. But one thing will always be true, they always have bright pink eyes, with no exceptions.

Baby Himalayans are born pure white and slowly develop their markings over 4 months (see page 32). They change in shade with the weather; warmer weather can wash out their colour, while cold weather can tilt them the other way and produce very dark markings.

What are the main characteristics

What are the show/breed standards for them?

As mentioned in the previous question, Himalayans always with no exception have bright pink eyes.

The standard calls for a clean body colour with no staining. Points that have dense colour in either black or milk chocolate. Deductions will be made for any peppering (which is paler hairs ‘peppering’ the colour). Having white on any of the points is disqualifiable.

Standard calls, as all standards do, for a ‘typey’ pig with a broad head, petal shaped ears drooping beside the face and good strong shoulders.

The standards read as such: Head, Eyes & Ears Head to be short and broad, with a gently curving

The adorable Mustang, Freddie, and Quatro are enthusiastic, affectionate, and always give the sloppiest of kisses!

Guinea Pig

CLINIC

Article and photographs by Faye Jones and Nikki Butterworth, Veterinary Nurses from Beech House Veterinary Clinic

Faye

Harry

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Pig’s Name: Harry Age: 2 years Sex: Boar Breed: Bi-Colour

Harry was anaesthetised using a combination of drugs injected intramuscularly, and anaesthetic gas and oxygen were supplied by a mask whilst we prepared the area by clipping the hair away from the area, leaving a wide margin around the mass. The area was then scrubbed with Hibiscrub and draped ready for surgery.

The Vet used a scalpel blade and cut

The first incision

around the mass carefully, making sure to leave enough skin for the wound to be closed, and ensuring the entire infected area was removed. Once the abscess was removed the area was closed with a dissolvable suture material. This means the sutures were buried in the guinea pigs skin so he could not nibble at them and pull them out. The skin edges were glued together with skin glue for extra security.

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Upon recovery the guinea pig was given oxygen and kept warm on a heat pad in a quiet area away from other animals.

He was kept under close supervision until he was fully recovered. Once he was able to swallow properly, he was syringe fed recovery food and given a comfortable bed and lots of hay before being sent home later that day. When the lump was cut open it was obvious it was an abscess that had become calcified and hard, rather than being softer and filled with pus (see right).

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Harry’s lump before clipped or surgery arry the guinea pig was brought in by his owner to the guinea pig CLINIC for a general check up. All appeared fine except we noticed a very large, hard mass on the pig's rump.

Harry seemed uncomfortable when the area was touched; this indicated it was more likely to be an abscess or infection, as a tumour would be less likely to be painful unless ulcerated. As the mass was hard it was not possible to try antibiotic treatment and after consulting the Vet it was decided the guinea pig would need surgery to remove the lump.

Nikki

This highlights the importance of checking your guinea pigs over thoroughly on regular basis.

Abscesses can be caused by bites or scratches from other pigs, or hay/straw splinters in the skin. They are routinely treated with a course of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories prescribed by your Vet. If left untreated however, it could lead to more serious treatment such as surgery being needed, and obviously the risk that is always involved with anaesthetics, surgery, and small animals.

Harry made a good recovery, the wound healed well, and he was soon back to his normal self.

Half removed...

The whole lump!

The mass is cut open to see what’s inside

Further excision of the lump showed it to be a hard calcified abscess

Guinea Pig Magazine would like to thank Faye, Nikki, all the staff and patients at Beech House Veterinary Centre, and the Willows Veterinary Group for bringing us Guinea Pig CLINIC, and allowing us to go ‘behind the scenes’ and follow their real piggy patients through their real-life treatments.

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Big & Beautiful: Part One O

ne of the most common queries regarding guinea pigs is their weight. More often than not, owners are worried that their guinea pig is overweight.

A double-chin, also known as a dewlap is normal!

First of all, few piggies are actually overweight or obese. It is normal for guineas to have quite a large roll of fat, usually referred to as a double-chin or dewlap, under their chin (see picture right)

? What is a healthy weight

for guinea pigs? My vet says my 1.3kg pig is fat and needs to lose weight!

As with every other species, including humans, some guineas are naturally very large while others are far more dainty and petite. The generally accepted weight range is 2lb to 3.5lb, or 900g 1600g, although some piggies may be perfectly healthy and slightly outside these margins.

As long as the pigs are eating well, healthy and can move around normally, you should not need to fret about the size of them. It is also worth remembering that most guinea pigs reach their adult weight at 9-12 months. Their weight should then stabilise, although it is normal for a little more weight to be gained over a another few months. What actually matters more in weight issues is keeping track of the weight of your piggies.

Regular weight checks are useful not only to yourself, so you can see what is a normal weight for your guineas and spot any drastic gains or losses, but also to your vet.

When diagnosing an illness, it

can significantly help a vet if he sees the amount of weight lost and over what period of time it has occurred.

“Feeling” the condition of your piggies is still important, but only being aware of how your piggies “feel” is too unreliable, it doesn’t tell you how much weight has been lost, which will not help your vet (who does not know how your guineas “feel” ordinarily) and will not give you an accurate view of the overall health of your animals.

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So how do I track the weight of my piggies?

Weekly or fortnightly (every two-weeks) checks are ideal, especially with young pigs who are still growing and with pregnant sows who need close monitoring. Ideally, aim to weigh no less often than fortnightly as there would be little point in tracking the weight; fluctuations would not be monitored as effectively and a sudden drop in weight

perhaps not spotted soon enough.

Important Note! Guinea pigs who are ill, especially ones who are refusing to eat, should be weighed daily. If the guinea is continuing to lose weight each day, it usually suggests that the food intake is still too low and you need to increase the amount of syringe-feeding you are doing (a guideline amount, for an adult guinea pig who is not eating for himself at all, is at least 60-120ml per day). happens if there ? What is a difference in weight

from the previous weighin? When do I panic about a weight loss?

It is not often that you will have identical readings every week, especially if you are weighing in grams. Some small differences between readings is normal and a fluctuation of up to 2oz / 60g is typically okay.

A loss of more than this needs closely monitoring and ideally an examination by an

Set-up at end of January 2009

“Alternative” Beddings for Guinea Pigs

Article and photographs by Laura Humphreys RHA/Assistant Editor

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lternative beddings (material or fabric bedding) is the collective term for the material-based beddings you wouldn’t typically associate with guinea pigs; This article is written based on my eight years’ experience with using this type of bedding.

It is important to remember that alternative beddings can really only be used for piggies that live indoors, or those living in a specially designed temperature controlled shed; alternative beddings are not advised for use in outdoor hutches as these piggies require stacks of hay to keep them warm…hay on top of fleece or Vetbed isn’t the best combination!

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There are two main beddings that fit into

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this classification – fleece and Vetbed.

Information on the specific uses of each is given later in this article, but first, the basic pros and cons of using an alternative

Prior to the first use, run your new fleece or Vetbed through the washing machine at least 2-3 times. Brand new unwashed bed-

The Pros:

The Cons:

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4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Reusable, one set of bedding can last many years; Highly cost effective long-term, not spending money regularly on bedding; Readily available online and in shops; Can be cut to size; Does not harbour parasites or fungal spores when washed correctly; Kind to piggies feet, skin, coat and respiratory tracts; Ideal for elderly and ill guinea pigs; Surface remains dry – urine and moisture wick down through the bedding, encouraging optimum hygiene; Excellent for post-operative recovery.

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bedding, as below:

1.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Need regular access to a washing machine and tumble dryer/airer; Debris such as hay and hair may stick to the bedding; Initial outlay may be expensive depending on which bedding is chosen; Must include an “underbedding” – something absorbent underneath the bedding to absorb fluids; Bedding may shrink with very long term use, so when first fitting to size of cage an additional 2-3 inches must be included on all sides; Fleece is not a weighty bedding, so some find it difficult to spot clean (remove poops daily).

dings don’t work with moisture as effectively as bedding that has been “broken in” by washing.

Never use any fabric softener/conditioner when washing beddings as this reduces the bedding’s ability to wick urine.

You should cut the bedding to size after these initial washes, and always allow an additional two to three inches of bedding (minimum) on all sides to accommodate any shrinkage associated with long term use.

It is recommended that you buy at least 2 or 3 full sets of your bedding so that you can immediately replace the old bedding with fresh rather than having to wait to wash and dry a single set.

Under-beddings Under-beddings are important to use with alternative beddings because fleece and Vetbed themselves are not absorbent. As moisture is wicked right through the fleece, or in the case of Vetbed down through the Vetbed to its base/backing, the moisture needs to be absorbed by something at this point to prevent any pooling of urine and to allow more moisture to wick through, keeping the surface continually dry. Favoured under-beddings are bath towels/sheets, or mattress “incontinence pads”. Newspaper is inadequate as an under-bedding when using fleece – although it can work relatively well with Vetbed – and

GUINEA PIG TOYS!

Rory

The Basics And Requirements: Part 1 of 5

Guinea pigs can be affected by boredom, which can be easily prevented by providing just a few interesting and stimulating accessories. Signs that a guinea may be bored include:• Reduced activity • Little interest in surroundings • Overeating and excess weight gain • Barbering (chewing the hair of themselves or another guinea pig • Cage bar biting

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uch behaviours can be destructive, particularly barbering and biting the cage bars, and could prove stressful for the guinea pig and any cage-mates.

There are things other than toys that can and should prevent boredom, and indeed you must ensure the following has been followed before turning to toys.

The most important ones are:•A friend of the same species.

Guinea pigs should only live with other guinea pigs. Try to find a pair whose personalities match, and ensure the grouping situation is appropriate i.e. 1 neutered male and one or more females, 1 male and one or more spayed females, two or more males, or two or more females.

•Fresh fruits and vegetables, at least once daily. Providing a good variety (three or more foods each day, at least one different food 2-3 times a week) can stimulate and interest guineas.

show enjoyment from being snuggled up in their owners lap, being talked or even sang to. Routinely sharing that closeness with an owner can also stimulate an interest in their surroundings.

•A large cage, at least 2x4ft for two guinea pigs. Younger piggies especially need this space to run off some of their energy! A larger cage will also stay cleaner for longer, automatically brightening the area and naturally sparking a little interest in their environment.

Even with all of the above catered for, some guinea pigs may find enjoyment from some additional accessories – toys – in their housing or in their exercise/playtime space.

Many people say that guinea pigs don't play. Some guineas show no interest. Some guineas totally ignore anything put into their cage that is not food! Some guineas are simply happy with their roomy cage, regular exercise time and cuddles, and perfectly content with their good friend and good diet – the introduction of toys makes no difference to their behaviour. This is nothing to worry about.

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•Hay, and lots of it! Ensuring the hay supply is consistent and “unlimited” can significantly reduce the chances of boredom. Allowing them to forage in a wide selection of different hays, grasses, dried herbs and wild forages can drastically reduce boredom levels.

Hay, and lots of it!

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•Regular floor time. This may be in a run in the garden, or in a piggie-proofed room in the house.

Make this exercise time regular, aim for at least an hour a day – guineas can get bored sitting in the same cage or hutch day in, day out! The smaller their housing, the longer they should be allowed out of it.

•Regular handling. While some guinea pigs will do anything to avoid having a cuddle with their owner, there are also many who

However there are plenty of guinea pigs that do play. They do show a happiness towards toys, they do become more active and exhibit more happy behaviours. The toy is always simple, guineas aren't as intelligent as dogs, some of whom need extreme mental stimulation to prevent boredom. Piggies may be overjoyed with something like a brown paper bag, a toilet roll tube, or even just a mirror! Guinea pig toys need not be elaborate, complex or expensive.

Another short note on the topic, the way a guinea pig 'plays' with the toys is something to understand and learn to recognise. A piggy is unlikely to pick up a toy and throw it around, although it does happen! - and they are probably not going to run after a ball. Depending

FIRST AID KIT

By Laura Humphreys, Rodent Health Advisor Please Note: Please be aware that a competent veterinary diagnosis and advice is extremely important, whether you use anything in your first aid kit or not. Please make sure you have registered with a good vet - don’t wait until you actually need the vet to find out whether (s)he is experienced enough in guinea pig medical care to save your guinea (See page 12)

1ml syringes - no needle

for Guinea Pigs

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Useful TOOLS in a Guinea Pig First Aid Kit:

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- 1ml syringes (no needles)

- Pill crusher (pestle and mortar)

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- Pill cutter

- Weighing Scales

- Round-ended scissors

- Towels (hand-towel or tea-towel size) - Kitchen Roll - Cotton wool pads

- Small bowls and spoons

- Cotton buds

- Rodent-safe heatpad

- Gauze

- Nail clippers

- Soft, flexible wrap bandages

- Blunt-ended tweezers

- Disposable gloves

Pestle & mortar for pill crushing

Round-ended scissors

Cotton wool pads

Disposable gloves

Useful SUPPLEMENTS to keep in stock: Vitamin C

Used for: All poorly piggies.

Example Products: Tesco Chewable Vitamin C 200mg, Oxbow Daily C. Ill guineas need a minimum of 50-100mg Vitamin C a day. Particularly if they are not interested in eating, supplementing is important. Find a Vitamin C supplement with as low a dose as possible to allow you to dose accurately.

Syringe-feeding formula (See Issue 3 for “HOW TO: Syringe feed”)

Used for: Guineas who are not eating normally.

Please do not attempt to syringe-feed your guinea pig if he is bloated; a blockage must be ruled out urgently to allow safe and appropriate treatment and feeding to commence.

Example Products: Recovery Plus, Oxbow Critical Care, Science Recovery.

A guinea who is not eating at all will need feeding little and often, amounting to an absolute minimum of 60-120ml per day – preferably more. It is also appropriate to soak and mash your guineas normal plain pellet feeds (e.g. Burgess Excel, Supreme PetFoods Science Selective, Wagg Optimum etc.).

Probiotic

Used for: Piggies with digestive upsets, particularly diarrhoea; Piggies on antibiotics.

Example Products: Protexin Bio-Lapis, Fibreplex, Pro-C Probiotic, Avipro Plus.

Acidophilus powder or “poop soup” (faeces from a healthy pig mashed and mixed with a little water) are just as adequate. If giving a probiotic alongside antibiotics, leave 1-2 hours after the antibiotic dose before giving the probiotic. (Always follow the instructions with each particular product)

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Daves Top Ti p s

Helping Your Vet to Help Your Guinea Pig!

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Article and photographs

by Dave PP

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uinea pigs are prone to getting illnesses the same as all animals, and most of us humans from time to time. At some stage we will find ourselves in the vet’s waiting room. Often it may be for nothing more than mites or a simple fungal infection which is relatively easy to identify and treat.

Unfortunately however, many of the ailments our guinea pigs are prone to are not that straight forward!

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A veterinarian unexperienced with small animals may not have enough expertise to determine exactly what is wrong with your pig straightaway, and sometimes it can be a case of hit and miss; diagnosis often involves a process of elimination, and different treatments may be tried at the expense of your pig and your pocket!

This does not necessarily mean he/she is a bad vet, it may simply be that they have not had the hands-on experience with guinea pigs and their ailments.

Most vets will openly admit that they have seen very few guinea pigs, and their knowledge may not be all it could be. It is always worth asking the surgery if they have a vet with a particular interest in the small furries.

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So, here are a few ways you can help your vet to help your pig:

Guinea pigs are creatures of habit. Get to know your pig! The more you you know about their ways, the sooner you may be able to tell if there is a problem; behavioural changes are often the first indicator when something is wrong,

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Get a pen and paper and write your observations down, so that you can present them to your vet; the clearer the picture they have of your pig, the more chance they have of helping them.

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One of the first things the vet may do is to look inside your pigs mouth to see if their teeth and gums are in order and as they should be, and here comes the first stumbling block; looking inside a guinea pig’s mouth with an otoscope is like looking into pea soup! It is very difficult to see anything clearly as there will be bits of food and debris obscuring your vets vision. Piggies also tend to store ‘cud’ in their cheeks to chew on later (much like cows do).

How you can help your vet to get a better view of the teeth and gums: An hour before you go to see your vet give your guinea pig a piece of peeled cucumber (most pigs like cucumber), this will clear most of the debris off the teeth and gums.

The next step is to take a “good-quality” cotton wool bud and carefully run around the inside of your guinea pigs mouth, teeth and cheeks. Do this 2 - 3 times with fresh cotton buds (see pictures 1 - 3, right) You really will be surprised at how much more can be seen with an otoscope by simply doing these two things!

For those pigs who do not like cucumber, try celery (although it’s not as effective as cucumber) then try giving your pig a couple of millilitres of water in a 1ml syringe, then follow the procedure as above with the cotton wool buds.

Failing that, or if your pig is not eating, you could get your cotton wool bud into a bowl of clean water and wash the mouth that way. It may take a bit longer until you have a clean swab, but it will still get the job done.

Doing any one of these procedures will greatly improve your vets chance of seeing if there is anything untoward inside your piggy’s mouth!

Poos often have a story to tell in diagnosing illnesses.

The vet may often ask if your pig is pooing regularly; make sure you know what your piggies poos are like!

Better still take a sample if you feel it may be relevant.

Helping your vet diagnose UTI’s: Guinea pigs unfortunately are prone to a number of Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) and bladder stones; squeaking when urinating, or blood in the wee (raspberry coloured urine) are usually the first indicators of a UTI. If you suspect your piggy is suffering from a bladder problem, then take a urine sample in with you for your vet to analyse It is quite simple, and all you need to do is put your piggy in a clean tray or on a rubber sheet and wait for them to wee. Then draw it up into a 5 or 10ml syringe. The fresher the sample is when presented to your vet the better. Although it will keep for several hours, it does deteriorate for detection purposes as time goes on...

A basic analysis done by your vet is relatively inexpensive and will tell them quite a lot about your pigs condition.

You could in fact do the tests yourself! *See “How To; Take a Urine Sample” Issue 4 of GPM, September/October 2011* You could then show your vet a series of readings for the period of time you became concerned.

OA T! BL

Dave’s Top Ti p s

nd Article a phs photogra PP

by Dave Prevention is better than Cure: Do not feed anything that looks or smells mouldy, or is past its best!

BLOAT & Gastro-Intestinal STASIS

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lison the editor has asked me to do an article on bloat, but before I start I would like to say that if you feel your piggy is in any way suffering from bloat you must seek veterinary advice, as it could mean a painful and miserable death; some people call it the “mother of

all emergencies”.

As such I feel I need to be very guarded on this subject, as inappropriate ‘Do-ItYourself’ treatments could have serious repercussions. Also a lot of it is open to interpretation - one person's opinion of “gassy” could be another’s opinion of a “full piggy”. Some pigs have round type tummies naturally, and it is just part of the way that they are, some of my Teddy Rexes spring to mind!

Bear in mind the word bloat is simply a generalization for many possible conditions that cause the tummy to swell, and there are many reasons that a guinea pig can suffer from a gassy/ bloated stomach. The trouble is a great many of the causes are speculative, and at the end of the day even a good vet may only able to give you a guarded diagnosis/prognosis, as sometimes treatments are hit and miss.

carrying flies at bay. Always have a clean cage/food bowls/water bottles.

4. Sudden changes in dried food can upset the tummy.

5. If you have a pig that barbers (chews another pigs hair) try and dissuade them, as the fur is not digestible and may lead to a gut blockage.

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I think firstly, it may be better if I explain some possible precautions you could take to avoid this condition.

Prevention: 1. Do not overfeed vegetables, especially greens. The best food for a healthy digestive system is hay!

2. If you introduce your pigs to grazing in the garden as the days get warmer, do so slowly, as too much grass all at once can cause tummy problems.

3. Do not leave uneaten vegetables in the cage, and in summer months take all opportunities to keep bacteria

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6. Keep all plastic and nylon materials like carrier bags and cucumber wrappers away from piggies.

Symptoms to look out for: The first one is obvious, piggy will have a larger than normal tummy, lethargy, hunched posture, weight loss, refusal to eat and or drink, and no poos.

Quite often there are medicines that will rectify this problem, but caution has to be taken. Example: the cause could be one of many things, e.g. it's no good assuming that it is a bacterial infection, treating with antibiotics, and in the process wiping out an already compromised gut flora.

What to do: The absolute first thing you need to do if your piggies tummy is swollen in any way is to stop the feeding of any vegetables, in particular green vegetables, as depending on the problem these could ferment causing more gas and more of a problem. Encourage your pigs to eat plenty of hay, The next thing you need to establish is

whether or not it is a blockage; this is easy if you only have one piggy, make sure he is pooing and that they are of a normal size/texture and smell. Foul smell = Something very wrong! This could possibly be the most important piece of information you could give to your vet, and taking a sample of them is always good practice.

If you have more than one piggy it is essential to isolate the suspect pig as it is of the utmost importance to identify whether or not the piggy is pooing.

If there have been no poos produced in 5-6 hours, then it could be that the tummy is swelling due to gastro-intestinal stasis (GI stasis / gut blockage) if this is the case then extra precautions need to be taken as a lot of conventional motility medicines should not be given when there is a gut blockage.

The decision to treat with motility medications such as Metaclopramide is best taken by the vet as he/she will be in a better position to judge.

If there are no poos then I would strongly suggest that you visit your vet as soon as possible, as treating with inappropriate medications could cause your pigs condition to worsen.

If you cannot get to your vets, the safest thing you could start off with is a probiotic called Fibreplex, not for its probiotic properties (though they will help) but for the soya oil it is made up of. This is probably one of the safest

Fig 1

Dave’s Top Tips Cross-section of a Toenail Fig 2

Anyway as I was saying the main thing you need to do is believe that you can do it: sit in a comfortable chair in a well lit room, have your pig standing comfortably on your lap, preferably with no distractions, then lift each foot individually and clip each nail cleanly and decisively in a direction shown in Fig 2.

Quick Cut here

Fig 4

Fig

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Nail

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utting your piggies toenails is not as difficult as it looks; all you need are the right tools and the confidence in yourself that you can do it.

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I personally favour guillotine type clipper specially designed to cut small animals nails (see Fig 1). I find the compound lever style and the pliers style applies far too much downward pressure, and hurts the pig, in my experience. The guillotine type gives a cleaner cut without applying undue pressure. I know a lot of people are quite happy to use human lever style and/or pliersstyle nail clippers and have quite good results, I suppose it is really down to what you feel comfortable with and what suits your budget. Also if you’re only clipping the nails of one or two pigs then I suppose they are okay, but try and get good ones, not the cheaper ones, as the more discomfort to the pig, the harder it is for you to do!

Having the pig standing on your lap may not work with every pig, sometimes you may need to stand the pig on its hind legs, or laid to one side, it’s just that if you can do it with the pig standing it is by far the easiest and most stress-free to have you pig in a natural position. Your piggy may well “protest” to having their feet fiddled with - that’s normal!

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Cutting Tools

Fig 5

Article and photographs

by Dave PP

How to clip the nails

The Quick: Flesh part of the nail - has nerves and a blood supply.

The dead nail part

TRIMMING NAILS & FOOTCARE

Because I have so many pigs I use a pair of vet quality guillotine type clippers. The other clippers (pliers style in Fig 1), are never used on my piggies toenails, they are purely for use in trimming foot pad spurs.

Also have some styptic powder just in case of accidents (a ‘nail trimming’ powder especially for this purpose and found in most pet shops)

Nail Types

For the purposes of this article, guinea pig nails can be viewed as two types, black ones, and clear ones (Fig 3). If you have the good luck to have a pig with clear nails on every foot, simply try your best to identify where the quick is, and cut as in Figs 2 - 5.

If your pig has mixed coloured nails then you would be better doing the clear ones first, then move on to the black nails.

Black nails are a little bit more difficult and require a bit of guesswork, sometimes you can look underneath and get a basic indication of where the quick starts but this is not very reliable; I find the best method with black nails is to cut more frequently but not to take off as much.

“Oh No! I have cut the quick! My piggy’s bleeding!”

Sooner or later no matter how careful you are, you will cut into the quick and it will bleed. Try not to worry, it will stop of its own accord sooner than you think. You can always help by dipping it in the styptic although personally I’ve never found it to be necessary!

How often do they need clipping?

That greatly depends on the pig, some grow faster than others. Many of mine can go two or more months without needing toenails clipped! But don’t leave it too long, as the quick (bloodline) has a tendency to grow closer to the end of the nail the longer the nail is left uncut, so if you need a time period, I would say check them every month.

Foot pad spurs

Foot pad spurs (see Fig 6 on following page) are nothing more than dead skin, but as you are trimming the nails you need to examine these. Some pigs will get them frequently while some will never get them, but it is always worth check. Please

By Wiebke Wiese-Thomas

Tidbits from the Tribe A

lthough Tegyd has cataracts, it hasn’t stopped her from living a fulfilled life and lives very happily with a smaller group. We left her basking in Post-Pigolympic glory. But, with Team GP spending the next 3 years ‘resting’, Tegyd is looking for a new career:..

I need a new career... something challenging...

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I can spot a good opportunity;

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In fact, I would make a perfect personal life coach for you!

I always find my way through difficult situations...

I could find you a better paid job...

I have experience in Interior Design;

And I have a face you can trust... just look into my eyes...

Please see Noticeboard on page 43; “WANTED”

GUINEA GALLERY Send your pictures to alison@guineapigmagazine.com Please make sure you ‘own the rights’ to all photos you send.

We keep all your photos, so if your picture is not in this issue, it may well be in a future one.

Any particularly good, high quality images we receive that we think would make a good Cover Pig are being saved for a potential future Cover!

You will be contacted if your piggy gets chosen to be on a cover!

Let Sleeping Pigs Lie. Diana Haskins Skinny pig I love Guinea Pig Magazine. It never fails to make my day when it gets delivered through the door. I thought I would send in some pictures of my handsome boys.

This is Logan and Bailey (above), and Brillo (below).

From Amie, Nottinghamshire, UK (We have saved Jackson as a potential future cover pig!)

Here are my guinea pigs. I hope you like the picture!

From Lolitta in the Philippines. Too cute!

Guinea pig Smudge, and our tortoise Darwin. They get on well and it’s very funny watching them sniff each other! From Amy We want to know who’s ‘in’ and who’s ‘out’? (left)

y r e l l a G a ! e e n u i s u s i G Y A R E V E In

Winston, Roo, Bandit & Daisy (top) and Fiona the Model (below).

From Jeffrey Frieden, Memphis USA

Look out it’s a piggy stand-off! Nibbles and Fudge are have a ‘staring’ competition! From Andrea Smith in UK

A pigture of our dear sweet Buddy, who passed away earlier this year unexpectedly. From Deniz Martinez

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GPM JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013. Issue 12

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Send your gorgeous piggy pictures to alison@guineapigmagazine.com

Cupcake under mum Candy! From Denise, Essex Smokey. From Janet Ashton (Rexy) Nottinghamshire, UK

Pumpkin. From Kelly Kan, Cheshire, UK

Mr Toby is my oldest guinea who’s about 8 months old now - he loves constantly peeping (and then jumping) out of cardboard boxes onto my lap!

And this is Cookie and Crumble!

Oscar (left) with his brother Gizmo (who died a few years ago). Oscar loves cucumber and parsley, but melon is also a favourite treat.

He likes to be stroked and to lick yoghurt off my fingers... but dislikes weigh-ins and manicures! From Laura Jenkins

Goldilocks and Fuzzy Bear. From Christine Pavely, Bedfordshire, UK

Oscar and Bailey. From Mandy, Oxfordshire

Coppy ‘borrows’ a bit of mum’s watermelon! From Alice at CaliCollective Cavies, Washington USA www.guineapigmagazine.com 21

Tiggy-Wu snuggling! From Kendra O’Neill www.guineapigmagazine.com

Lucius. From Lisa-Marie Arroway, Cornwall, UK

Chocolatedrop. From Becky Donnelly, Staffordshire, UK

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Thank you to Camilla in Sweden for of your pig, please send it to ure pict If you have a funny or unusual alison@guineapigmagazine.com

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