W
wendyapple
Hello all, I am new to this and hope this isn't too long winded. Up until recently we had 3 piggies all living outside in separate hutches, Bebe (a six year old female) was on her own because her sister had died. Casper (18 months) and Fudge (2 years) are two males who used to live together but had to be separated after fighting.
Thinking that she was too old to live outside we moved Bebe indoors in a Ferplast Cavie cage. She seemed to be quite content until one morning she had trouble walking. We took her to the vet and discovered that she had pododermatitis. This was so extensive that we had no choice but to have her put down. Obviously everyone was heartbroken to lose her. We have kept piggies for over 10 years and weren't even aware of this problem.
The cage was cleaned daily but the vet suggested that because Bebe was old she may have sat in her own wee for periods of time when a younger piggy would have been more active.
We decided to move one of the boy piggies inside to the new cage. He has been in there for about 2 weeks now and we are checking his feet religiously. Despite the fact that the cage is still cleaned daily, lined with newspaper and hay and shredded paper put in for a bed, one of Casper's feet looks slightly swollen.
I am so concerned that this might be the start of pododermatitis that I have put him back outside in his hutch in the daytime and will be bringing him in at night. Is this the right thing to do?
I don't know if the new cage is stopping him being active enough and if he would have been better off staying outside? Is hay the correct bedding or would something else be more comfortable? The piggies were both quite vocal when they lived outside but more subdued indoors - does this suggest that they prefer it outdoors or that they were just getting used to the family noises? If Casper would be healthier back in his hutch, do I need to get him gradually used to the change in temperature?
I would love to be able to house the two boys together as keeping them individually seems awfully lonely. Is there anyway to re-introduce them to each other? I read somewhere that the scent of a female causes them to fight and wondered if, now that we have no females, they may be friendlier to each other? Thanks for taking the time to read all this
Thinking that she was too old to live outside we moved Bebe indoors in a Ferplast Cavie cage. She seemed to be quite content until one morning she had trouble walking. We took her to the vet and discovered that she had pododermatitis. This was so extensive that we had no choice but to have her put down. Obviously everyone was heartbroken to lose her. We have kept piggies for over 10 years and weren't even aware of this problem.
The cage was cleaned daily but the vet suggested that because Bebe was old she may have sat in her own wee for periods of time when a younger piggy would have been more active.
We decided to move one of the boy piggies inside to the new cage. He has been in there for about 2 weeks now and we are checking his feet religiously. Despite the fact that the cage is still cleaned daily, lined with newspaper and hay and shredded paper put in for a bed, one of Casper's feet looks slightly swollen.
I am so concerned that this might be the start of pododermatitis that I have put him back outside in his hutch in the daytime and will be bringing him in at night. Is this the right thing to do?
I don't know if the new cage is stopping him being active enough and if he would have been better off staying outside? Is hay the correct bedding or would something else be more comfortable? The piggies were both quite vocal when they lived outside but more subdued indoors - does this suggest that they prefer it outdoors or that they were just getting used to the family noises? If Casper would be healthier back in his hutch, do I need to get him gradually used to the change in temperature?
I would love to be able to house the two boys together as keeping them individually seems awfully lonely. Is there anyway to re-introduce them to each other? I read somewhere that the scent of a female causes them to fight and wondered if, now that we have no females, they may be friendlier to each other? Thanks for taking the time to read all this
