To breathe life into this community, I'm attempting a debate question... or an input question.

What is your opinion of feeding "non organic"/"non 'natural' foodstuff to your guinea pig such as dog biscuts and lightly toasted bread?

Do you think it's adding a human personality to a guinea pig and the equivalent of giving a MacDonalds Lite burger to a child, or an enrichment to their diet?

Rosie's story so far can be read here: http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1101986#1101986 (you don't have to be a member/logged in to read, it isn't long I promise!)

Our blood tests are in and Jon (my partner) spoke to the vet today and she confirmed that the blood tests had shown no abnormalities at all, everything had tested exactly as it should be. She also said she had done a thorough teeth check when Rosie was sedated for her x-rays. Her only suggestion was that Rosie may be overweight (currently fluctuating between 2lb 11.5oz and 2lb 12.5oz with hand feeding, previously had climbed to almost 2lb 15oz after steady but slow weight increase).

To recap -

Initial symptoms: excessive rumbling, pig aggression, lethargy, weight loss and isolating herself from the other pigs.
Tests done: physical exam, ultrasound checking for ovarian cysts, x-rays checking for cysts and heart problems and overall health, teeth check, and blood tests.

The physical exam seemed to show slight discomfort when her abdomen/lower underside area was examined. Ultrasound showed nothing. X-rays showed gas in stomach (vet said was normal), no cysts, no enlargement of heart, no problems. Teeth check showed no problems. Blood tests showed no problems. She took a long time to come around from the x-ray sedation and a long time to recover (a few days).

She was on baytril (now finished), we gave her some infacol (not any more) which helped a little at first which seems to suggest she did have too much gas, and she is still on the metacam the vet prescribed.

Current symptoms: lack of appetite and for drinking, weight loss if not hand fed, aggression with other pigs and so separated, lethargy. No other symptoms. Poos are fine.

As said before we also realised she occasionally makes hooting noises - though not at the moment as I guess she is just too tired.


If this is heart trouble, is this enough to go on to suggest heart meds? Is there anything else that could help with a diagnosis? Could it be her weight? Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

(x-posted like crazy and with apologies)

Cavy Kit

It has a lot of the medical type things I've heard about you needing, but I thought I'd ask those of you who have the experience.

Last week, I had to change my guinea pig's cage, but realized I was out of Carefresh. I normally order plain Carefresh through my work (an animal shelter) because it's less expensive. Since I needed it quickly, I went out to PetSmart and bought a bale big enough to change his cage. When I had hamsters, they really liked the Carefresh Ultra more than the regular Carefresh, because it's softer. I decided to treat my piggy and try out the Carefresh Ultra.

I think it was a mistake. At first, it was great because I can monitor his urine and feces really well on it, since it's white. This past week, though, he's been pulling all of the hay out of his hayrack and putting it all over the floor. He normally does this a little, incidentally, as he eats the hay. This week, he's been emptying the hay rack. He's even trying to climb *into* the empty hayrack and hide there, as opposed to his Chube or Pigloo, where he usually hides. He's also been eating his veggies more slowly (though he still does finish them and his weight is constant.

Do you think this could be because of the bedding? Maybe the strange color, smell, or feel? Has anyone else's pig done this? I've just changed his bedding back to regular Carefresh, so hopefully he gets back to normal. What do you guys think?

Thanks for the help!!

Pre-Owner and New-Owner Application

I just want to say, due to circumstances my piggy adoption is probably a good 4-6 months away, so right now I'm just being a sponge and gathering as much info as I can.

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