Sad sight in Pets @Home....

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cavykind

On taking my customary look in this shop, I was very saddened to see that they had a Satin guinea pig in the sale pen :'(

Someone is likely to be buying up a lot of heartache...I depair sometimes.

Barbara
 
Poor little mite.

Fingers crossed he/she ends up somewhere knowledgeable - chances are slim though sadly.
 
Ask the shop to take a look at satin guinea pigs for what its worth. Satins are still in garden centres here too. ::) Can you empty your inbox or email me on [email protected] please. :)
Edit: website address ::)

Edit:For those who don't get Cavies magazine a breeder did say in her article that Satins should be kept within the Fancy and not go to pet shops- not her exact words as I don't have the article here, but along those lines :) A ray of light :-\
 
are satins rare pr just hard to look after? and are either of these satin?

cutelittlepigofnonamex2008.jpg
 
I've had a quick look at the article and just wondering why they're still bred if there's such a serious problem with them.... surely it would be in the breeds interest to let it die out?
 
kayjay said:
I've had a quick look at the article and just wondering why they're still bred if there's such a serious problem with them.... surely it would be in the breeds interest to let it die out?
Click to expand...
maybe so but not everyone would undersatnd it and also it is inhumain
 
Squeeky-pig said:
kayjay said:
I've had a quick look at the article and just wondering why they're still bred if there's such a serious problem with them.... surely it would be in the breeds interest to let it die out?
Click to expand...
maybe so but not everyone would undersatnd it and also it is inhumain
Click to expand...

But it isn't. In the wild they may well have died out by now. But as humans keep breading them, they keep being born. That is inhumain.
 
:) Kay jay,

I am not interested in the breeding side of things- harsh as that seems. There is no proof that all Satins suffer from OD, it does seem that there are varying degrees of it. Even if breeding ceased the Satin gene is recessive and as the Satin has been outcrossed to practically every variety of guinea now there would still be carriers and therefore would still be Satins. It would mean ending every line of guinea that had the Satin gene possibly leading to other problems such as a small gene pool- I don't know. I'm not sure they would've died out in the wild as the gene can probably be carried by a healthy individual. Sqeeky I don't think Kayjay is talking about a mass cull...

I have seen typey guineas suffer from OD severely and the ones that don't look typey (rat faced for want of a better word).

Realistically all anyone can do is inform the public and let them decide- they may not even get a Satin with OD, my 5 year girl is clear, but others aren't.

Squeeky Pig- take a look at the website to see examples of Satins, they can be any colour its the glossy hair that makes them Satin :) Yours are not :)
 
I can just imagine pet stores putting up signs spelling out the horrors of osteodystrophy and the Satin guinea pig ::)
Of course they could stress that it's very much like Russion Roulette as to whether your guinea pigs dies this way or not...maybe they could promote them with the slogan....."Do you feel lucky?"

I'll print off some info and take it in for them...for what it is worth.

Barbara
 
:) Thanks Barbara. Russian Roulette is a good way to describe it. Can I send you a PDF file of a leaflet for people considering buying Satins? I'll have a go at putting it on here sometime too :)
 
That would be great and I'll definately take some o shop a pass on as appropriate, I'll pm you now.

barbara
 
;D ;D er... no not suggesting a mass cull of satins

I personally think they're beautiful but if there are health probs associated with them what I meant was why deliberately breed them, let the 'fault' disappear as the pigs naturally die
 
The "Satin" leaflet from Karen is excellent, I'll be printing some off for our local pet shop too, so that they are awre of the potential problems within the breed.

Barbara
 
:) If anyone else wants any I can send in PDF format for printing off. Its very basic facts, but hopefully enough for people to make an informed choice. They'll be on the site once I've figured out how to link PDF files on there ::) I do guineas, not websites LOL!
 
kayjay said:
I've had a quick look at the article and just wondering why they're still bred if there's such a serious problem with them.... surely it would be in the breeds interest to let it die out?
Click to expand...

It's pure human selfishness. Humans want them so humans breed them. They look shiny and pretty and get lots of ribbons and the shows. It says a lot that few, if any breeders with "OD free" lines of satins aren't willing to contibute to the "healthy satin" part of the study by getting their "healthy" pigs x-rayed.
 
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