Hi everyone,
I just want to know any tips/tricks on preventing respiratory problems? Apart from a clean cage, lost of hay, fresh veggies, and clean water what else would you recommend? Any specific foods?
Hi!
Good care, a prey animal friendly/low stress environment and a hay based diet with even more decent quality hay (you simply can't feed enough of the stuff!) and fresh grass in summer but only a little veg and pellets (go for quality and not quantity in that respect) is the best prevention. Healthy piggies with a fully working immune system are usually able to fend off or control opportunistic bugs like skin parasites, bacterial respiratory or urine infections etc. There is nothing you can do to prevent the real nasties, which are thankfully rare.
Good diet and care however take time to come through, as does an immune system take time to build up and strengthen - but they are for the long term anyway!
Keep in mind that guinea pigs have never had the need to make their own vitamin C because grass is actually high in vitamin C, and that also goes for hay (dried grass) - the more hay they eat, the better protected they are, the healthier the digestive system and the better ground down the crucial back teeth. Stay off too many processed products but be careful when introducing fresh grass to an unprepared tummy and never feed any damp grass, as it can cause bloating or diarrhea.
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
Our sample diet with no root/high sugar veg and fruit (rather invest in fresh herbs) in combination with looking at all other food groups like water, hay, pellets and treats has stood the test of time with piggies of our regular members living on average 1-2 years longer without having any bladder stones, UTIs and URIs or much in the way of skin parasites anymore.
When it comes to feeding guinea pigs, outside of hay less is more. Rather concentrate on making your daily meal a fun-filled enriched occasion and invest in feeding a small amount of good quality pellets rather than in lots of treats and veg.
I would think that is well worth reading our diet guide where we can at least say that it is a functioning way through the minefield of feeding recommendations:
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
You may want to have a first aid kit at home so you can step in asap in an emergency.
First Aid Kit: Easily available non-medication support products for an emergency
Leave any supplements, so you can give your piggies a short boost whenever they really need it; that way, the boost will really work because the body is not already accustomed to high levels and won't ironically react with deficiency symptoms as soon as the high level drops in illness.
