How can u tell guinea/skinny pig's age?

pinta

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 12:31 am


Oh and if you are really rescuing a pig from a pet store, the pig will be in poor shape and you will buy it while telling the manager he/she will be contacted by the SPCA as you will be lodging a complaint against them re cruelty to animals. Then you will document the condition of the pig on social media along with the vet bills and full details of where you bought it.

THAT's willing to spend money to rescue a pig from a pet store.

By the way, I have four skinnies, all of them rescues. And a possible other two in the works if a crazy woman can be convinced to take her 6 month old pigs off the Buy and Sell and give them to a rescue instead. The rescue has arranged for me to be the potential landing pad as I know skinnies and their health issues.

WICharlie

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:08 am


pinta, that's excellent information to know about skinnies. I never fostered a skinny in our rescue when it was going so I never had the opportunity to observe their differences from haired pigs. You should start an informational thread to gather this kind of info together for people who want/have skinnies.

pinta

Post   » Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:54 pm


That was my first skinny in heart failure. I figured her to be a heart pig as she became more and more "shy" and was losing weight. My vet has retired but I got a hold of another pig savvy vet(primarily a rabbit vet) who freelances and caught up with him at the SPCA hospital. Since she was my first skinny with what I suspected was heart issues I wanted to have a vet check her out in case it may be something else.

She got every test up the yahoo including ultrasound(the vet snuck her in and we got one for free). The only test we couldn't do was blood as she refused to give up a drop. Looked absolutely fine and in perfect health. Vet said he was of the type that didn't want to prescribe meds unless there was a scientific reason. I pointed out the most definitive test would be to cut her open and send her heart to the lab. On that basis he agreed to put her on Fortekor but his dose(based on the books) was very low - 1/3 the amount I would normally give.

I dutifully tried her on the lower dose for 3 days and then upped it to the dose I normally gave pigs 0.5cc per kg *(1mg/1ml). She turned around within 48 hours. I emailed the vet an update and that was what she was on(she regained her weight and activity level) until her heart failure 6 months later.

After the heart failure episode, she's went to double the Fortekor dose(in twice daily doses) + vetmedin and Lasix as needed

In short, this was my experience with ONE skinny heart pig so I don't know if it's an anomaly though I suspect it may be the norm for that breed.

A couple of months later I got a call from the vet asking me for detailed symptoms. He had a pig patient who was coming up roses on all the diagnostics but was inexplicably losing weight so at least another vet was won over to "diagnostics via meds" in the case of heart issues in pigs.

Mommyteya

Post   » Tue Sep 19, 2017 11:09 pm


I'm kind of sad about all the hate in some of these forums. I just had a little girl guinea pig thrown into my lap . I'm doing the best I can for her. She is healthy but came from a terrible owner. Sometimes people don't have the choice but to go to a pet store. You people make it sound like anybody who goes to a pet store is committing animal abuse. The only places around me who have a guinea pigs are pet stores. I've gone to the shelters there Are no piggie there. I'm trying to find a friend for this poor little pig… And now I don't want to go to a pet store.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Sep 19, 2017 11:38 pm


It's not hate. It's protection of the guinea pigs. The people abusing those pigs are the people who breed them and sell them to the stores. The sows are kept continually pregnant until they're too old to breed, and then they're killed. There's no attempt to separate pups from adults, so they're very inbred. The baby sows are often pregnant.

They're shipped in large plastic containers, several layers deep. The ones on the bottom are trampled and often suffocate. They're stored in horrible conditions in the warehouses and in transit. If you want a good look at how they're bred and raised, see www.petsmartcruelty.com. One of the rescuers who used to be a member here took in over 200 animals when Rainbow Exotics was raided. It's still in business.

To a pet store, a guinea pig is a product to be sold, just like dog food or cat beds. When the stock runs low because people are buying them, they order some more. So when you buy one of those pigs, you're participating in that breeding mill/pet store business. Every pig you buy means another one will get bred to take its place.

People do have a choice not to go to a pet store. There are rescues and shelters, some of which will arrange piggy trains to get a pig to an owner who wants one. There are private sales listed on places like Craigslist and in the newspaper. If there are pet stores around you selling guinea pigs, there are guinea pigs that need to be rescued. You might have to wait a few weeks to get one, but that's still better than buying from a pet store.

Owning a guinea pig is not an absolute right.

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PinkRufus
Contributor in 2020

Post   » Thu Sep 21, 2017 4:56 pm


Pet store breeders are the worst of the worst, especially where Skinnies are concerned. Proper breeding of Skinnies requires frequent out crosses to haired pigs, which is something that "for profit" breeders do not do, because it cuts down on their ratio of sell-able hairless pigs, which bring the higher price. They do not care if your pet later becomes ill, or if it lives a shorter life, as long as they get their money. The Skinny and you, are the ones who pay the price.

My first Skinny (Rufus) came from a pet store and only lived about 3 - 4 years and had health issues. I never knew his true age, since I did get him from a store. I later got in touch with the rescue that took on all of the breeder's stock, who supplied the store where I got Rufus. I learned about the hideous conditions and random breeding that took place there. That man was only after money and didn't care if my Rufus or I suffered any pain, financial loss (for vet bills), or heartache, because of his actions. When his stock all got ringworm and were no longer sell-able, he sought to dump them all, and some were killed at the shelter before the rescue people were able get there. This is not the type of thing I wish to support.

To answer your question regarding age: If your Skinnies are still growing, chances are they were under one year when you got them. Nails often get wider as they age, but not always. I had one smaller fellow who had "young" nails for his entire life. As Skinnies age, you will see more bones on the top and more saggy skin on the bottom, especially under their necks. If it is a black Skinny, the skin will develop white spots. If it is a fuzzy Skinny, they usually become more smooth as they age. The lower lip will sag a bit as well. Hope this helps!

Good luck with your Skinnies. I hope they live long with few health issues, but be sure to educate yourself and be prepared for any problems that may arise.

Classicalcavy

Post   » Thu Sep 21, 2017 6:21 pm


Wow! It seems like there has been a run on posters who want to breed guineas or rabbits and now a pro-pet store person. I wish they had taken the time to do some research before posting on this forum. If they did, they would know better than to say they want to breed or that they "rescued" a pig from a pet store. My little one was thrown away like a piece of trash. She was most likely purchased for a child who lost interest in her very quickly. She was a tiny baby when she was found and brought to my Vet's office. Sadly, this is how many pet store pigs end up. It just breaks my heart to think of these loving little creatures being so horribly mistreated.

The highest compliment I ever received was from my Vet. She said she wanted to be one of my pets in her next life. At that time I had a rescue dog, a rescue parrot, rescue pig and even a rescue fish.

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