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Interesting webinar by John Chitty

Like Tara95 I also failed, I didn't get an email and I registered twice, now I can't seem to get logged back in -it doesn't recognise either email I use! I thought it was just me being useless as usual with this sort of stuff so at least now there were two of us!
furryfriends is there any way you can give us the link OR tell us what he said!
I'm desperate to see it as well is there another way 😂😂
 
Ohh my gosh, the webinar was absolutely amazing! Really informative and learnt lots! Thank you for sharing! Was really surprised by alot of the information about how water bowls are better and you can position them around the cage it's alot better for them and are less likely to have issues as they're drinking more water. Will be adding lots of bowls to encourage drinking! Sprinkling their veg in water or hay if necessary for a wetter diet. The importance of vitamin D in preventing problems. How studies show that hay/grass is the best bedding for preventing foot problems.. would've thought it would've been fleece but apparently it's not as it's not natural! I have just been using hay because I can't be bothered to wash the fleece and feeling bad about it! What the guy said about how moving outdoors for summer and inside for winter isn't exactly better because the animal's aren't experiencing shorter days and longer days just a year long summer. I tend to switch the light off at night and for most of the day to make it more natural but always feel a bit anxious about them being in the dark at night and not being able to see? I was also surprised about the potential problem's indoor guinea pigs may have because of a dryer/warmer environment with the heating etc. Would've thought they'd be more prone to it outside if it's like 5 degrees with more temperature fluctuations. I get what he was saying about the importance of ventilation but if I opened the windows for them I wouldn't be able to keep the temperature above 15 degrees at the moment. Does anyone else keep the windows open for ventilation during the winter? It's been quite an eye opener but very interesting! Xx
 
I thought it was really interesting and it has reinforced my thoughts about why the TEAS piggies haven't experienced the bladder issues that seem to be so prevalent in many guinea pigs. I feed a very wet diet and our piggies get outdoor time, all year round, obviously weather permitting. When I say outdoor time, I mean they get around 15 to 20 mins in a run, on the lawn, while I clean their cage. They love this time and munch the grass nonstop! Our guinea pigs are kept in a Dunster House log cabin, which is heated overnight and also during the day, when the temperature is low. However, for a few hours every day, I open one door, just leaving the mesh doors closed, to let fresh air into the cabin. I add more hay to the cages, so if they feel chilly, they can get under the hay, which is very insulating, but they are protected from damp, draughts, etc. I use water bowls for the dental piggies, who struggle to cope with the water bottle, but I am going to add bowls to all cages, in addition to the bottle. Although I use bath mats on the bottom of the cage, I pile the cages high with hay, as they love to play in it. It's interesting to see how even the older piggies start to popcorn, when lots of fresh hay is added!
 
When I first visited Simon Maddock he asked if Bill and Ted grazed outside and I said yes, out in the run most days weather dependant for at least 6 hours and he said he could tell that by their very good muscle tone and general overall health. I think it’s really important for them to run about and keep everything moving, mine all get a handful of grass every evening along with wet veggies twice a day
 
Just finished the webinar. So informative! John is the vet I use regularly and he adores the guineas and become a great friend to them over the years. Some of these points have come up over the years (particularly how cystitis can be stress related). He has helped me a lot over the years. I am very fortunate! Does anyone have the pdf he refers to?
 
Just finished the webinar. So informative! John is the vet I use regularly and he adores the guineas and become a great friend to them over the years. Some of these points have come up over the years (particularly how cystitis can be stress related). He has helped me a lot over the years. I am very fortunate! Does anyone have the pdf he refers to?
This is the pdf https://d12geb6i3t2qxg.cloudfront.net/webinar_resources/5ac62b1c-e5e4-428e-a1c2-b78a0dcd783f.pdf
 
I finally managed to listen, but eek it was tricky, I got about half a sentence, then 5 mins of a spinning circle, then a few more words, and so it went on, it took hours to get the whole of it but it was worth perserevering, this guy is brilliant, so much commonsense and real knowledge. This should be compulsory for anyone with guinea pigs to hear.

I agree with everything he says and it does finally explain why like furry friends, i don't have cystitis or bladder problems in my herd.

He even came up with an additional aspect I hadn't thought of regarding the breeding and rearing. I had been thinking along the lines of genetic differences between well bred and well reared animals and those subjected to the horrors of the factory farming which feeds pet shops with stock, but I hadn't thought of the differences that rearing made as well as breeding. It upsets me to read of these terrified unhandled youngsters going into pet homes, but of course it's not just upsetting for me, but pretty upsetting for them too!

With the couple of 'heart over head' pet shop line guineas that I had, I was amazed by their "feral" nature, they were just terrified of being handled. That should NOT be the norm that everyone accepts, and of course it means extreme stress for these animals right from the start and many remain scared all their lives to some degree or another. We know that cystitis can be caused by stress, it seems so obvious looking at it now.

The careful handling, socialising and accustoming to different foods and different surroundings that well reared guineas get is obviously totally up to the breeder and just like puppies, what they miss early on is never going to entirely be made up for. Mine are always past 8 weeks when I get them, as no decent breeder would sell any earlier,and I hadn't realised until reading the internet that such young babies get sold from shops. So the owner can do their best, but the damage is done already.

Fantastic to hear such an obviously well respected vet with guineas of his own extolling the wet food diet! The temperature thing was another very interesting aspect - having never had central heating in any of my houses , the idea of a house at 20 degrees makes me shudder with horror, but it's effects on weight and respiratory disease made me feel much better about just putting on a jumper when it gets cold! Perhaps that's why I'm slim, along with the guineas - LOL!

thank you so much for helping me to hear this chap furryfriends.
 
Finally watched it and how interesting. For me, there was a bit which I felt to be obvious, but the bits that I didn't know made sense. Explained very well. Can't wait to watch another webinar. Thanks @furryfriends (TEAS) for making us aware of this. About to read the PDF mentioned now. ☺️

Edit: I couldn't get over the adrenal gland!
 
I just listened to the webinar while doing some house chores. I really enjoyed it and he confirmed a lot of things I am already doing for my indoor pigs. There are of course pros and cons to both outdoor and indoor living, but I came out of it feeling good about my pigs living indoors, especially knowing the risks and how I as an owner can help mitigate them. I am especially glad he touched on the sunlight issue, I will definitely be getting a UV lamp tonight. My girls have outdoor run time in the summer, but I was never sure if that was enough, or if it was even a relevant issue at all.

Overall, I really liked how he kept emphasizing that guinea pigs and rabbits have a right to their natural behaviors, a right to privacy, etc. and how we as owners have to provide that. It seems so obvious, but I think many people really don't enjoy that quality in a pet. I think a lot owners need their pet to be human oriented 24/7 and I can see how that may be more of a problem for animals living indoors.
 
I just listened to the webinar while doing some house chores. I really enjoyed it and he confirmed a lot of things I am already doing for my indoor pigs. There are of course pros and cons to both outdoor and indoor living, but I came out of it feeling good about my pigs living indoors, especially knowing the risks and how I as an owner can help mitigate them. I am especially glad he touched on the sunlight issue, I will definitely be getting a UV lamp tonight. My girls have outdoor run time in the summer, but I was never sure if that was enough, or if it was even a relevant issue at all.

Overall, I really liked how he kept emphasizing that guinea pigs and rabbits have a right to their natural behaviors, a right to privacy, etc. and how we as owners have to provide that. It seems so obvious, but I think many people really don't enjoy that quality in a pet. I think a lot owners need their pet to be human oriented 24/7 and I can see how that may be more of a problem for animals living indoors.
When you purchase a UV light could you please let me know which one and if you'd recommend it. Not re sure which one to get as it's not a very common item to have for guinea pigs. Wouldn't want to get one that is damaging or not right. Thanks :)
 
When you purchase a UV light could you please let me know which one and if you'd recommend it. Not re sure which one to get as it's not a very common item to have for guinea pigs. Wouldn't want to get one that is damaging or not right. Thanks :)

I am in Germany, so I am not sure how much I would be able to help unfortunately because it will probably be a German brand. I was already thinking about making a post asking if anyone could recommend me one because I have no idea where to start either, but I assumed it wouldn't help me much because I am in Germany. I would love to know if anyone here already has one as well. I just started looking now and I am also really unsure, especially because the price ranges are so extreme. I am not sure if I want a uv bulb that produces no heat, or if I can just get a seasonal depression lamp on amazon or something.

Edit: I think I will just make a post about it, maybe someone can help steer us in a general direction!
 
Just had a quick look at the PDF. Thank's for posting.
The research work at the University of Münster is always really interesting and worth looking into.
I did a few simple webinars myself last year and part of my research for these was reading the updates on their research. It's really addictive and luckily a lot of articles are open to everyone.
 
For a long time I've had concerns about how we keep guinea pigs nowadays, suspecting that anthropomorphism is affecting how we keep and deal with our pets. Therefore, it was really encouraging to hear how we can provide good quality indoor homes, whilst allowing them to display normal species specific behaviours. Denying animals the ability to display normal behaviours can be very stressful and it is well documented that stress can impact health. Even when an animal appears to accept what is provided for them, this can be learned helplessness and not actual acceptance of a situation. It is important to remember that we are constantly learning and it is important to keep an open mind!
 
:agr:

Though I do accept that sometimes environmental adaptation for welfare/conservation etc may be an only option. For example, when we stable horses. That is totally against natural behaviour and herd behaviour, but on the same hand is a very much needed management solution for a variety of reasons.

I’ve just managed to catch up on the seminar - interesting stuff
 
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