rome_italy
Adult Guinea Pig
Hi @RosieMaia 
in another thread you asked me what I do for being sure that the grass I collect for my piggies is safe (we both live in big cities). You said that collecting grass in a park where there might walk stray cats is too dangerous. I was thinking of sending to you a private message, but maybe the subject interests also other users, hence I reply here. Of course everyone will remain with his/her own opinion; I write only for saying my point of view.
Some months ago I had a long talk with "my" vet (I say "my" because I am not a fan of any doctor; now I am going to him, tomorrow I might go to another one) just about this subject, because when he opened my pet carrier for visiting my sows and a lot of grass flew on his table he said aloud: "Finally two piggies who eat a genuine and proper food!" and he went on talking and showing me all his personal medical papers and data about piggies eating grass (from a park) vs. piggies living indoor with "lazy and anxious (his words) owners only able to go shopping at the supermarket".
He tried also to "use" me for persuading other owners, giving them my telephone so that I could explain where I pick up the grass and where the best places are; but I did never receive any call and I think to understand the reason:
Me, him and other few owners like us firmly believe that an herbivore pet cannot definitely live healthy without herbs and herbs cannot be replaced by the vegs. Some grams of vegs are okay and hay can replace grass for the difficult season (usually winter, but also summer for us living in a sort of a desert; we have had no rain in Rome for more than 3 months). Also roman sheep (we have a famous cheese from those sheep) eat hay in bad periods of the year; but they need fresh grass, otherwise they stop producing a good milk.
Considering this fact, we think there are no options: as we don't have the gorgeous english countryside and the beautiful mountain lawns, we can only go to the parks, the cemeteries, private gardens, not congested roads, hidden corners and green abandoned areas where there are also owners walking dogs.
My vet never found any troubles in pigs fed with such grass.
Another consideration about the risks you have mentioned: we sometimes see the risks even when they don't exist... but this is called anxiety. For example, my cousin never allows his daughter to play outside in the park... because she might fall from the bike and break a leg, she might take microbes and develop a pneumonia, she might be kidnapped, she might meet a bad man... and a lot of other "good" reason. If I were like him I would not take my daughter to school.. as the school is huge (more than 1600 students) and into such a crowdy ambient there is a certain risk of catching a viral meningitis! and moreover, I would not allow her to go scouting or only taking a walk in Rome, using our underground... because the alert of terrorism here is high and we have soldiers with the gun everywhere... The risk is evident. But putting on the sides of a scale the risks and the benefits (of going to school for example) I guess benefits are greater.
About the risk of a potential infected grass from a stray cat, as you fear:
cats dig holes for hiding their (infected?) poop. What is the statistical possibility to pick up an infected (?) string (growing high from the soil) from millions of clean strings? I see zero possibility, when I see a quite big risk of cutting a finger usign my knife (it happened... I cut my finger); there is a big risk of being bothered by some bad man... and in fact I don't go there in the evening.
And did you consider also the risks of feeding the piggies with the vegs? some days ago there was again an alert in USA: romain lettuce sent to the heaven a man and to hospital other people... people of 60-80kg... what if a contaminated leaf was served to a piggie of 1kg?
Consumer Reports says avoid romaine lettuce after E. coli outbreak, though CDC says no clear link
Last year in 2016 it was the turn of UK with italian salad which caused two deaths and hundred admitted to hospital.
Grave epidemia di E. coli in UK causata probabilmente da rucola e insalata italiana. In Italia nessun caso. - Il Fatto Alimentare
(sorry it is in italian)
Some months ago there was an epidemy of a bad bacterium found in other vegs... there was the scandal of "cavolo nero" with a lot of dangerous residuals found INTO his fibres... last year in Italy there was a report about the dangerous residuals (no washable) found in cellery, carrots, potatoes, broccoli, strawberries, apples, bell peppers and so on. Also imported vegs coming from Spain, Holland and other countries.
Your brain suggests to you to not trust the grass of your park; instead I personally don't trust the vegs I have just bought today... that I will eat only because unfortunately my gut cannot digest the genuine grass of the park.
Anyway: there are a lot of hidden areas where some good fresh grass grows up and where you will never find any cat and dog; try to have a look in your city when you drive your car, when you take a walk, when you go shopping. There are little (hidden) gardens full of grass which cannot be contaminated. Only a problem: stopping in the middle of a parking area, walking next to a wall of a house or climbing a little hill next to the bus stop with bag and knife in hand requests a big nerve, because people will stop for staring at you.
Some of them will politely ask you what you are doing, other ones will only think you are totally mad.
Oh, a last thing about the risks: guinea pigs can be messangers of serious infections to humans: also "coriomeningite" (sorry, I don't know the english name) and "Encephalitozoon cunicul":
of course it is extremely rare in healthy humans... but statistically the risk exists: should we stop having rabbits and piggies at home with children and sick/weak people for example?
I add some pictures of the places where I cut the grass: I am very lucky because I live near a residential complex with pedestrian areas and private gardens and only thanks to those gardens my piggies can eat grass during the arid months. But the best grass, the one they prefer and that make them gain some grams, the one which is very nutritious and make them produce big poops is the wild fibrous grass of the park and of the edge of the road next to the bus stop!
These are the little "gardens" along the roads (only few cars); there live different types of grass with long fibrous strings; very appreciated and good for eroding teeth
the residential complex has lovely green areas, there are some "stray" cats, but they are healthy and honestly I don't see any risk:
and there are the parks with their paths, the lawns with the dogs, but also hidden bushes where no dog goes...
statistically speaking, after more than 300days of grass expedition with a full bag every two days, I guess that some zoonotic disease should have been arrived; the vet checked twice my piggies' poop and nothing bad had ever resulted.
There is a commercial product made of chlorine; many people here use it for washing the vegs; it is supposed of being able to kill 99% bacteria... but my Prof at the Uni used to tell us "yes, 99% of harmless bacteria will be killed and 1% of pathogenic bacteria will not". I have never used it. (And Chlorine is toxic)
in another thread you asked me what I do for being sure that the grass I collect for my piggies is safe (we both live in big cities). You said that collecting grass in a park where there might walk stray cats is too dangerous. I was thinking of sending to you a private message, but maybe the subject interests also other users, hence I reply here.
Of course everyone will remain with his/her own opinion; I write only for saying my point of view.Some months ago I had a long talk with "my" vet (I say "my" because I am not a fan of any doctor; now I am going to him, tomorrow I might go to another one) just about this subject, because when he opened my pet carrier for visiting my sows and a lot of grass flew on his table he said aloud: "Finally two piggies who eat a genuine and proper food!" and he went on talking and showing me all his personal medical papers and data about piggies eating grass (from a park) vs. piggies living indoor with "lazy and anxious (his words) owners only able to go shopping at the supermarket".
He tried also to "use" me for persuading other owners, giving them my telephone so that I could explain where I pick up the grass and where the best places are; but I did never receive any call and I think to understand the reason:
Me, him and other few owners like us firmly believe that an herbivore pet cannot definitely live healthy without herbs and herbs cannot be replaced by the vegs. Some grams of vegs are okay and hay can replace grass for the difficult season (usually winter, but also summer for us living in a sort of a desert; we have had no rain in Rome for more than 3 months). Also roman sheep (we have a famous cheese from those sheep) eat hay in bad periods of the year; but they need fresh grass, otherwise they stop producing a good milk.
Considering this fact, we think there are no options: as we don't have the gorgeous english countryside and the beautiful mountain lawns, we can only go to the parks, the cemeteries, private gardens, not congested roads, hidden corners and green abandoned areas where there are also owners walking dogs.
My vet never found any troubles in pigs fed with such grass.
Another consideration about the risks you have mentioned: we sometimes see the risks even when they don't exist... but this is called anxiety. For example, my cousin never allows his daughter to play outside in the park... because she might fall from the bike and break a leg, she might take microbes and develop a pneumonia, she might be kidnapped, she might meet a bad man... and a lot of other "good" reason. If I were like him I would not take my daughter to school.. as the school is huge (more than 1600 students) and into such a crowdy ambient there is a certain risk of catching a viral meningitis! and moreover, I would not allow her to go scouting or only taking a walk in Rome, using our underground... because the alert of terrorism here is high and we have soldiers with the gun everywhere... The risk is evident. But putting on the sides of a scale the risks and the benefits (of going to school for example) I guess benefits are greater.
About the risk of a potential infected grass from a stray cat, as you fear:
cats dig holes for hiding their (infected?) poop. What is the statistical possibility to pick up an infected (?) string (growing high from the soil) from millions of clean strings? I see zero possibility, when I see a quite big risk of cutting a finger usign my knife (it happened... I cut my finger); there is a big risk of being bothered by some bad man... and in fact I don't go there in the evening.
And did you consider also the risks of feeding the piggies with the vegs? some days ago there was again an alert in USA: romain lettuce sent to the heaven a man and to hospital other people... people of 60-80kg... what if a contaminated leaf was served to a piggie of 1kg?
Consumer Reports says avoid romaine lettuce after E. coli outbreak, though CDC says no clear link
Last year in 2016 it was the turn of UK with italian salad which caused two deaths and hundred admitted to hospital.
Grave epidemia di E. coli in UK causata probabilmente da rucola e insalata italiana. In Italia nessun caso. - Il Fatto Alimentare
(sorry it is in italian)
Some months ago there was an epidemy of a bad bacterium found in other vegs... there was the scandal of "cavolo nero" with a lot of dangerous residuals found INTO his fibres... last year in Italy there was a report about the dangerous residuals (no washable) found in cellery, carrots, potatoes, broccoli, strawberries, apples, bell peppers and so on. Also imported vegs coming from Spain, Holland and other countries.
Your brain suggests to you to not trust the grass of your park; instead I personally don't trust the vegs I have just bought today... that I will eat only because unfortunately my gut cannot digest the genuine grass of the park.
Anyway: there are a lot of hidden areas where some good fresh grass grows up and where you will never find any cat and dog; try to have a look in your city when you drive your car, when you take a walk, when you go shopping. There are little (hidden) gardens full of grass which cannot be contaminated. Only a problem: stopping in the middle of a parking area, walking next to a wall of a house or climbing a little hill next to the bus stop with bag and knife in hand requests a big nerve, because people will stop for staring at you.
Some of them will politely ask you what you are doing, other ones will only think you are totally mad.Oh, a last thing about the risks: guinea pigs can be messangers of serious infections to humans: also "coriomeningite" (sorry, I don't know the english name) and "Encephalitozoon cunicul":
of course it is extremely rare in healthy humans... but statistically the risk exists: should we stop having rabbits and piggies at home with children and sick/weak people for example?
I add some pictures of the places where I cut the grass: I am very lucky because I live near a residential complex with pedestrian areas and private gardens and only thanks to those gardens my piggies can eat grass during the arid months. But the best grass, the one they prefer and that make them gain some grams, the one which is very nutritious and make them produce big poops is the wild fibrous grass of the park and of the edge of the road next to the bus stop!
These are the little "gardens" along the roads (only few cars); there live different types of grass with long fibrous strings; very appreciated and good for eroding teeth
the residential complex has lovely green areas, there are some "stray" cats, but they are healthy and honestly I don't see any risk:
and there are the parks with their paths, the lawns with the dogs, but also hidden bushes where no dog goes...
statistically speaking, after more than 300days of grass expedition with a full bag every two days, I guess that some zoonotic disease should have been arrived; the vet checked twice my piggies' poop and nothing bad had ever resulted.
There is a commercial product made of chlorine; many people here use it for washing the vegs; it is supposed of being able to kill 99% bacteria... but my Prof at the Uni used to tell us "yes, 99% of harmless bacteria will be killed and 1% of pathogenic bacteria will not". I have never used it. (And Chlorine is toxic)
Xx
He is a rustic boy!
).
... of course if there are snakes and other dangerous wild animals, that is definitely the risk to be avoided!
