Sad Days are Part of Life - Amended

I try not to write sad posts

There has been a lot of press recently about 'lifestyle' Youtubers and Instagrammers working themselves into the ground night and day, taking hundreds of photos of one set up to capture the perfect 'candid' shot, so they always look amazing, have perfect product placement, perfect lighting etc etc - all at the expense of actually enjoying the experience they are photographing. They are creating the illusion that only good things happen, their photos turn out Instagram-perfect first time and life is #nofilter

It's not the reality, and certainly not the reality of life with pets.

Mmmmm Pistachio and Chocolate gelato!

We'd been away on a fabulous holiday to Italy, having not been abroad for 17 years we wanted to make the most of it. We ate gelato in Venice, saw wild gentians growing 2950ft up a mountain, looked at Juliet's balcony in Verona, all the time knowing that our pets, plants and home were in the safe hands of our lovely pet sitter.

Other than Daisy poking herself in the eye half an hour before we left the house (eye drops administered and additional notes quickly scribbled on the pet sitters 'to do' list), our pet sitter had a fairly straightforward 10 days. We got regular updates and photos of everyone looking happy, and I think the pet sitter enjoyed herself too.

We had a quiet couple of days at home, playing with the piggies, hamsters and chickens, and mass-murdering a 'bloom' of Red Mite that had taken over the chicken coop, unpacking and catching up on holiday washing. Then
I went back to my day job while Mr PB took and extra day off at home.

At about 4pm my desk phone rang. It was Mr PB.
"Something's wrong with Rosie! I heard a rumpus and found her stretched out on her back with her legs in the air! I managed to get her right way up, she's breathing, but not really moving..."
I was stunned, she'd been absolutely fine, apparently even wheeking for veggies at lunchtime, coming to the front of the cage for a tickle...what was going on?

Initial thoughts were that she'd had a stroke, I got Mr PB to make her comfortable, give her some cucumber to she could keep her fluids up and make sure she was positioned near the fan - it was a rather hot day. I rang the vet, explained what was happening and made an appointment that evening. The receptionist was fantastic, and said if Rosie seemed to be deteriorating I didn't need to wait, I could take her straight in.

Guinea Pigs can survive strokes and make good recoveries, but it needs some extra care. I used Peter Gurney's 'Guinea Pig Health Guide' website  to help Mr PB over the phone until I could get there.

I drove home as quickly as possible, expecting Rosie to be in a pet carrier, ready for the 5 minute journey to the vets.

When I walked through the door, Mr PB looked glum, "I don't think she's okay, she was fitting and now she's very still"

I spoke to her softly, looking for signs of breathing. I couldn't be sure, so opened the cage and stroked her head. Her eye seemed to respond to movement but her ears felt cold. I picked her up carefully, and her little body was completely stiff - she had passed away.

I was devastated, we had rehomed her just six months ago, to give her piggie companionship. We were told she was two, so that made her two and a half. That's so young for a guinea pig. I felt I had failed her and her previous owner, who had put her into our care.

**Edit**
I've just looked back at Rosie's Gothcha post, and realised she was four when we got her, so four and a half when she passed away. That feels a little better, though I wish she had been with us longer, we miss you Rosie Po xx

Rosie loves Tilly

We don't know why this happened. I don't believe there was anything we could have done, her weight was steady, she was eating and drinking normally, and she had settled beautifully into life in a trio.

We desperately miss this little girl, who spent such a short time with us. With joy comes heartbreak, with life comes death, it's just the way the universe works.

Sleep tight Rosie, we love you very much xx

Sleep tight Rosie xx

Pet Owners Have to Take the Bad with the Good

Always be Vigilant with your Pets Health

When you've got 13 pets in your life, there are bound to be health issues cropping up from time to time. For ages there'll be nothing, then suddenly everyone needs extra attention.

As we go into the month of May, here are some of the things going on chez Pumpkin Becki.

Chickens

Felicity has been dreadfully broody, so she hasn't been taking care of herself with regular dust baths, eating, drinking, having grit, so it's been up to us to make sure she's getting out of the coop to eat drink and poop, inspecting her (and the others) for lice, treating with a spot-on type ivermectin (prescribed by our vets) if necessary, plus dusting her manually with diatomaceous earth. This is good, because you pick up each bird and can also get a sense of it's weight and overall condition. It's also important to thoroughly clean the coop with a red mite treatment, as warmer weather and hot. broody hens can cause a population explosion before you know it!

Hetty is such a sweet girl

Hetty is a natural midwife, when someone goes inside the coop to lay, she sits with them until they're done. With Felicity broody, Hetty has also not been looking after herself, but we thought she was midwifing and hadn't realised how bad she was until she began holding her tail was down.

Picking her up you could feel she was lighter than before, she had a few lice too but not in significant numbers. she got a spot-on treatment and a dusting. Then she pooped...well it was more of a squirt than a poop! Bright green bits in a watery white splat. This was NOT NORMAL! The ivermectin should clear up external and internal parasites including most worms, but not all. We'd been dosing the layers pellets with Flubenvet, but with Felicity and Hetty not eating properly, they probably weren't getting their proper dosage. Felicity has now come out of her broody phase and is back to her old fabulous self, but Hetty is suffering. We are now hand feeding her a mixture of growers and layers pellets, plus Verm-X Poultry Zest, softened in apple cider vinegar and water, with a sprinkling of corn for added appeal. The cider vinegar is said to be beneficial to poultry, reducing bacterial infection, and acting as a wormer and digestion aid by reducing the pH level in the chicken's digestive system.

Hetty being handfed a tempting, mushy mixture

On day one Hetty was silent and disinterested, she had to be encouraged to keep lifting her head up as we carefully syringe fed her. When we put her back on the ground she was very unbalanced and though she now had fluids and food in her we were desperately concerned.

On day two she allowed us to syringe feed her a little, but as I re-mixed the mashy concoction, she started pecking it off the spoon! She took little but often and we were really pleased with how much she managed to consume. We fed her three times over the day and she began standing up for longer and making her sweet little cooing sound again.

On day three she seemed a little brighter still, she had three feeds of her special concoction again, was more active in the run, pecking for her evening corn with the others, but being very submissive to them, and her droppings were definite squirts still.

Day four (today), she only ate a little of her mush this morning, but was keen to drink when she was put back in the run, and she put up a bit more of a struggle to be caught - always a good sign. By lunchtime she was coming out of the run on her own to peck for some scratch treats and beginning to stand up for herself again. Hopefully we've turned the corner, but we still need her poops to improve.

Action Shot: Omm nom nom nom

Hamsters

Fingers crossed, all is quiet on the hamster front.

Pip the Roborovski Hamster has awesome whiskers

Guinea Pigs

Rosie developed a bald patch on her rump last week. I suspect it's lice related, as she is quite reluctant to be touched near it. Alternatively she may be suffering from barbering at the hands (or teeth) of Phoebe or Tilly.

Rosie's bald patch

Barbering is where a guinea pig's hair is pulled out/ chewed off by itself or a cage mate. It shouldn't be treated lightly, and you must establish whether the hair loss is self inflicted or not. If self inflicted it could be the sign of a skin infection or infestation, and that must be dealt with. As with the chickens, it's the right time of year for a population explosion of creepy crawlies, so you must be vigilant for signs such as excessive hair loss, clumps of hair falling out with skin attached, scurf and bald patches. You may even see the lice wiggling around near the skin. they look like tiny fawn-brown...insects (sorry, I gave up trying to find a better description!).

If Phoebe or Tilly are barbering Rosie, it may be because she has long hair that looks a little hay-like (sorry Rosie, I'm not suggesting your hair looks like straw, honest!). If that's the case I may have to cut it shorter, but the patch is very localised, my instinct says it's lice.

I'm treating Rosie in several ways; she, Tilly and Phoebe have all had a spot-on treatment of ivermectin, then about five days later Rosie had a Gorgeous Guineas CocoNeem Melt treatment and a lather, rinse, repeat in Gorgeous Guineas Lice 'n' Easy shampoo. She is due for a follow-up bath one week later.

Rosie also has ongoing earwax issues. I've never known anything like it! Cotton wool buds don't really remove it, it needs emulsifying with something first and then wiping off. The internet suggests a mineral oil, but I also emailed Chrissie at Gorgeous Guineas to see if she has anything in her range to suggest. She doesn't have anything specific, but recommended an off the shelf product Otodex drops, or repeat applications of her CocoNeem Melt over three days.

Rosie is bright in every other respect, eating and drinking well, so if I don't see any improvement, including hair regrowth after all that, she will be going to the vets.

The Moral of this story is:

Always be vigilant with your pets, their health and well-being is your responsibility and yours alone. Changes happen quickly, particularly with 'prey' animals, who tend to hide their symptoms until the very end. Quick action on your part can reduce the chances of long term problems or fatality.

If you've experienced any of this issues too, do let me know in the comments.
Love
Pumpkin Becki xx

Guinea Pigs: Are there different breeds?

Are there different breeds of Guinea Pig?

Yes, there certainly are, more than you might imagine, in fact the British Cavy Council currently recognises 51 standard pure breeds of Guinea Pig for showing, which are: 

Abyssinian, Agouti, Alpaca, Argente, Belted Bicolour, Brindle Californian, Chinchilla, Crested, Any Other Variety Crested, Coronet, Dalmatian, Dutch, English Crested, Fox, Harlequin, Himalayan, Lunkarya, Magpie, Merino, Otter, Peruvian, Rex, Ridgeback, Roan, Satin, Self Beige, Self Black, Self Blue, Self Buff, Self Chocolate, Self Dark Eyed Cream, Self Pink Eyed Cream, Self Dark Eyed Golden, Self Pink Eyed Golden, Self Lilac, Self Red, Self Saffron, Self Slate, Self Dark Eyed White, Self Pink Eyed White, Sheltie, Solid Agouti, Swiss, Tan, Teddy, Texel, Tortoise and White, Tortoiseshell and Tricolour

They each have very strict breed guidelines which 'show quality' cavies are judged by. Pet Guinea Pigs will generally be cross breeds (mixtures of pure breeds), or animals seen as 'poor examples' of a pure breed that could never be exhibited at shows.

Lets just be clear here - this relates to exhibiting cavies, and winning prizes based on aesthetics - it has nothing to do with the character of a guinea pig or how wonderful a pet it will make. When you are choosing a pet piggie, don't base it on looks, coat type or colour alone, pet guinea pigs will come in an amazing array of these things, just make sure they are healthy and friendly. I have owned pure bred guinea pigs (Honey and Amber), bred by someone who showed and was a show judge. These poor piggies were susceptible to everything, pneumonia, ovarian cysts etc etc, and they lived relatively short lives because of this. We all know that mongrel (cross-breed) dogs usually live longer, healthier, more balanced lives than pure bred ones, same applies with guinea pigs. 

The difference between 'breed' and 'colour' is tricky to understand, and it's easier to think in terms of coat type and coat colour. For example;

• Himalayan is always pale cream/white with a brown patch on it's nose and brown ears (the Siamese cat of the Guinea Pig world), but can be found in long haired, short haired, Abyssinian, Rex etc. 
• Tri-colour can be any combination of three coat colours (usually, but not exclusively black, white plus a third colour, Emmeline's third colour is red, but Tilly's is Lemon) and any sort of coat type. 'Self' breeds have single, uniform colour coats, in any coat type. 
• Agouti is one colour hair shaft, tipped in a contrasting colour, usually golden or silver, it can be the entire coat (like Molly), or part of a tri-colour, or just a patch (like on Phoebe) ...you see the problem.

Lets look at some of the most commonly available Guinea Pig breeds by coat type.

Short Haired 

Illustration of Short Haired Guinea Pig by Rebecca Reynolds BA(Hons)

(aka English Short Haired and American Short Haired)

The oldest and most common breed available. Their coat is smooth and short, running in one direction from nose to rump.

Colour variations are huge, going from Self (a single, solid colour like black or cream), Tri-colour, Himalayan, Agouti etc.
Phoebe, Tilly and Emmeline are all English Short Haired.

Crested

The Crested falls into two categories, in both the main coat is a single colour, it's short and smooth except for a single rosette of flattened hair in the centre of the forehead. The English Crested's rosette is the same colour as the main coat (and can therefore be classified as a 'Self' breed). The American Crested's rosette always contrasts the main coat colour, usually in black or white (and so cannot be classified as a Self breed).

Abyssinian

Illustration of Abyssinian Guinea Pig by Rebecca Reynolds BA(Hons)

The coat of the Abyssinian is usually mixed colour (ie tortoiseshell, Agouti or Brindle. The hair is short and rough, and lies in rosettes all over the body and head, which create ridges where they meet.

'Show' Abyssinians have 10 rosettes over the body in a very specific pattern, and there should be no areas of smoothness. My illustrated one here wouldn't win any prizes!

Sheltie

Illustration of Sheltie Guinea Pig by Rebecca Reynolds BA(Hons)

The Sheltie (aka Silkie in America) is a long haired breed where the coat runs smoothly in one direction, from nose to rump with no partings or rosettes. The facial and shoulder hair is shorter than the rest of the body, which falls on the ground at the back and sides (known as the 'sweep'. Unless you are showing your Guinea Pigs, it is advised to trim the sweep regularly to prevent knots and mats forming. Shelties come in any colour or mix of colours.

Peruvian

Illustration of Peruvian Guinea Pig by Rebecca Reynolds BA(Hons)

Peruvians are also long haired, but the hair has two rosettes, one at the neck and one further down the back. There is also a parting along the spine. This makes the coat grow forward over the head, evenly down both sides, and backwards over the rump. When you see show Peruvians all brushed out, they look like toupees! Glamorous toupees, but toupees nonetheless! Non show piggies should have their coat trimmed to floor level to prevent mats forming. Peruvians come in all colours and mixes.
Rosie is a tri-colour Peruvian.

Illustration of Rex Guinea Pig by Rebecca Reynolds BA(Hons)

Rex

Rex coats are quite astounding, the hairs are dense, springy, short and wiry, with a lightly crimped appearance. The whiskers look crimped too! The coat stands upright away from the body, so Rex piggies look chunkier than they actually are. The Rex coat comes in many colours and mixes, but the Agoutis look really special. Molly is a Golden Agouti Rex

Teddy

Teddies look similar to Rex piggies, but the short, dense, bouncy coat is straight and should appear to run from the rump, back up the body towards the nose. At the top of the head this backwards hair growth forms a little fringe or 'cap' between the ears. The Teddy whiskers are straight. Teddies come in most colours and mixes.

Illustration of Texel Guinea Pig by Rebecca Reynolds BA(Hons)

Texel

The Texel has a mixture of Sheltie and Rex coat characteristics. The hair is long, sweeping back along the body from nose to rump. The hair falls in waves (almost dreadlocks) and is usually longer at the back than on the sides. To prevent knots and mats it is best to trim the hair to floor level.
Texels come in all colours and mixes.

Lunkarya

One of the most recently recognised breeds, the Lunkarya's long coat is naturally unruly, the hair on the face is Rex-like forming curly sideburns, and the body has ringlet curls and two rump rosettes which push the coat up and outwards. Lunkarya are not designed to be neat, so it's important to keep a sharp look out for knots and mats, and if not showing them, trim the coat to a manageable length all over. Lunkarya can be any colour or mix. 

Skinny Pigs

Developed in the 1980's from a genetic abnormality, the Skinny Pig is completely hairless, though the skin will have the colours and markings that the coat would have had. Their skin can be dry and sensitive, it requires protection from the sun and they should live indoors during the winter at the very least. Skinny Pigs require a knowledgeable, experienced owner.

Baldwin

Baldwin young are born with hair, which by 2 months of age has mostly fallen out, leaving just have a little patch of wiry hair on their nose and each paw. The skin will have the colours and markings that the coat would have had. Their skin can be dry and sensitive, it requires protection from the sun and they should live indoors during the winter at the very least. Baldwin Pigs require a knowledgeable, experienced owner.

And Finally: A Note About Satins

Satin Guinea Pigs don't just have shiny healthy-looking coats, the hair shaft is actually hollow, giving a glass-like appearance to the coat which is quite quite different to that of normal varieties. Almost all coat types and colours have been bred in the Satin variant, but it quickly became apparent that this genetic mutation did not just affect the hair, it could also affect skeletal bone density, often leading to Osteodystrophy (defective bone development aka OD) and/or Paget's Disease (excessive formation and breakdown of bone and bone marrow). Both diseases are chronic, painful and degenerative, and can only be supported with pain relief, there is no cure. X-rays can determine how far the diseases have progressed, and what degree of pain relief is needed. 

Many Cavy Societies have actually banned the exhibiting of Satins, due to the welfare issues involved. The British Cavy Council still has classes for Satins, but I hope that this will change, as promoting a variety that carries such genetic problems only encourages breeding for profit not welfare.

Satins are only suitable for experienced owners who are also prepared for the high cost of veterinary care involved.

Never buy a Satin. Adopt, but only if you feel you can give one a reasonable quality of life with support from a knowledgeable vet and a regime of pain relief.

Never breed a Satin with another Satin. The genetic mutation that causes the satin coat is too complicated to be controlled by backyard breeding, it cannot be bred out, and you could be subjecting animals to unnecessary pain and suffering.