Diseases of guinea pigs can significantly reduce their life expectancy. How long the guinea pig will live depends on many factors, but the main thing is feeding and caring. Incorrect feeding leads to a strong weakening of immunity and exhaustion of the body. The outcome of treating guinea pigs from many diseases depends on the state of the immune system.
First-aid kit must be assembled for guinea pig owners, which must include wound care products, eye drops, parasite agents, antibiotics, and other drugs necessary to treat guinea pig. You also need to be able at any time to get advice from a good veterinarian and make the necessary tests.
One of the main questions asked by the owners of these animals is "How many years live guinea pigs?" With proper care, guinea pigs live up to 9-10 years, but there are cases when mumps survive to 15 years. The age of guinea pig affects the state of immunity, the aging process starts from about 7 to 8 years, the animal at this age requires more attention and concern.
Diseases of guinea pigs
For the timely detection of the disease every 3 days, you must carefully examine the pet. If the guinea pig itches, there is a hair loss, then, most likely the cause is parasites. The most common parasites of guinea pigs are withers, fleas, lice and scabies are also common, which is dangerous for humans. If the female symmetrically falls on the sides of the hair, then this indicates the development of the ovarian cyst, therefore, sterilization is required. The appearance of cones in guinea pig can be a sign of a tumor, and although they are usually benign, surgical intervention may be required. But ruffled cohesive wool can be a symptom of a viral disease. In general, any changes in behavior, appearance, refusal to eat, diarrhea, or constipation in guinea pigs are signs of various diseases, therefore it is necessary to contact a specialist without delay.
Pigs are very susceptible to colds. Drafts and hypothermia cause respiratory diseases in guinea pigs. The most common disease is the common cold, which quickly flows into pneumonia. Dangerous is pasteurellosis, which also begins with a common cold, but later affects the respiratory system and leads to the death of the animal. For a person, the greatest danger is lymphocytic choriomeningitis, which causes meningoencephalitis. The disease can manifest as pneumonia, difficulty in breathing. If there were similar symptoms and the guinea pig died, then an autopsy should be done to make sure there is no danger to people.
Damage to guinea pigs with worms, problems with teeth, poor feed quality, viral infections can cause diseases of the digestive system. The most dangerous are enteritis, intestinal lesions. When lesions with E. coli the animal dies within 2-3 days. Salmonella in acute form also leads to the death of the animal, while it is very dangerous for humans.
The most dangerous diseases for guinea pigs are pseudotuberculosis and paralysis, which in a short time can ruin all the guinea pigs living together.
How to treat a guinea pig if she fell ill?
First of all, the sick mumps must be isolated from the rest. For any symptoms of the disease, you need to contact a specialist. It can be very difficult to diagnose without tests, but a good veterinarian will be able to tell what first aid should be given to the animal. Sometimes it is enough to change the conditions of the mumps or change the feed. When problems with the teeth require surgical intervention,
From the correct care of guinea pig depends on how much she will live. In order for the pet to rejoice its owners for a long time, it is necessary to observe simple rules of keeping and feeding and not to neglect the recommendations of breeders with extensive experience in the care of mumps.