A Question About 'lethals'

[sazmatazz]

Hi everyone. I was just wondering about this as I just randomly read something about it online.
I have never heard of it before, but we previously had 2 white guinea pigs with red eyes and noone ever mentioned anything about it.
I read that some of these piggies are deaf and blind but not all, and ours weren't. Dora died at 4.5years as she did not recover from spaying due to cystic ovaries. Poppy had some dental problems but it was thought that she had a mass in her intestine which caused severe bloat and she never recovered, aged 4 years and 9 months.
They didn't appear small in size but I was wondering how it is possible to tell if they had these genetic problems but we didn't realise?
I did expect them both to live longer as we very much doted on them both.
Reading about this has upset me a bit as I had no idea about it. I really hope these genetic problems weren't the cause of suffering for them.
They were born due to inbreeding as well, when a lady was sold 2 guinea pigs from a litter that she was told were both girls.

 

[maxdawn]

I have a white with red eyes too. When I first heard of lethels I asked a rescue if he could be a lethal. I was told that lethals tend to have a lot of health problem. Because your weren't blind or deaf. I don't think they were lethals. If you look on the forum you will see that alot of pigs have dentel and cystic problems. Lethals are very special pigs you would of known if they were lethals.

 

[Julesie]

Yours were just normal white guinea pigs with red eyes.

Lethals are a different thing entirely. Many guinea pigs are white with red eyes.

Lethal's are born from a mix of roan and ... I cannot remember the other type of guinea pig breeding together. They are usually born with small eyes, blind, death, may have no teeth and don't usually live beyond a few days. The only cases I know off of lethal piggies living normal lives live with expert owners who are most of the time vets.

I've had two white piggies with red eyes. It's just another colour combination they come in. ^_^

 

[katanamoon]

I think it's roan and dalmatian

 

[Julesie]

I think it's roan and dalmatian

I thought Dalmation but I wasn't 100% sure so didn't want to say.

 

[katanamoon]

When I discovered my girls were pregnant two weeks after getting them I was worried they would have lethal babies. I hadn't known at the time that it's only if those two types breed (due to recessive genes) - no danger of that for mine, the girls are about as cross-bred as they come!

 

[Flutterby]

The lethal gene is on the roan gene which is in the dalmation and roan colouration. If the pig has two of these genes (one from each parent) it creates a lethal which is most of the time fatal in utero or shortly after birth. The one's that do survive have multiple health problems. To get a roan or dalmation you should cross the gene with a carrier instead of two direct genes. Its the same with the merle gene in dogs and the overo gene in horses. I may not have explained it perfectly though lol

 

[Pebble]

Just to clarify a few points for anyone reading this thread:

1) Pink-eyed self-whites are a healthy recognised breed in themselves - they are NOT lethals

2) Lethals arise when male and female parents both carry the roan gene. If they both do, then there is a 25% chance a lethal will result in the progeny - which is characterised with a white coat with various health issues such as blind/tiny white eyes/teeth problems etc ...assuming they don;t die before birth.

3) Sadly, because of cross-breeding by inexperienced people over the years (be it on purpose or by mistake), guinea pigs carrying the roan gene now come in ALL shapes sizes and colours Many,are quite difficult to determine unless you know what you are looking for...they may only have a very tiny patch of fur that identifies they carry the roan gene. Please do not assume your guinea pig isn;t carrying the roan gene because it is not an identifiable "pure-bred" Roan/Dalmatian/Magpie etc

4) I have one easily identifiable pink-eyed golden roan - but 3 other piggies who I didn't realise were roans until Rescue people more experienced than I pointed out the tiny patches of their fur to support their roan status when I was rehoming them!

HTH
x

 

[Pebble]

Edited to add:
A piggie carrying a single roan gene will be perfectly healthy....and is just that - a "Roan Carrier". I have 4 roan carriers.
A piggie that has unluckily inherited the roan gene from BOTH father and mother will be a lethal

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

I have 12 lethal gene piggies here at TEAS. They are all blind/deaf and some have teeth missing, or teeth very misplaced. They will live their life out here, and will receive any veterinary care they need. They are all happy piggies, who enjoy their life to the full. They have never been able to hear and see, so they don't miss these senses and their other senses are heightened. They all need close monitoring to ensure they get the very best from life, and their needs are met. The sanctuary ethos is 'to extend good quality life, but never to prolong death', and if it is ever thought that they no longer have good life quality, then they will be put to sleep. So far I haven't had to make that decision with any of them. The only one we have lost was little Walter, who very quickly and peacefully passed away aged about 9 months. Bill and Ted are now over 3 1/2 and Captain Darling is also a similar age.

 

[Freela]

There are pink-eyed-white guinea pigs who are not lethals. Lethals are the product of two recessive roan or Dalmatian genes meeting. Yours sound as though they were normal pink-eyed whites who ran into health issues that, unfortunately, can happen to any piggy.