I have a friedn who discoverd that her son had left his guinea pig without water for three or four days. she discoverd it last night-he had lost most of his color(I assume from stress) and has regained some of it, and has drunk a lot! Eaten a bit, but is still listless. Will he recover? Is there anything else she can do? I don't know anything abut guinea pigs, but figure they must be close to rabbits...does he need somethig extra becasue of the stress? (I was thinking electrolytes maybe and then some minerals in addition to his feed.)

Any help appreciated. This is a 10 yo boys pet. He just doesn't realise who important it is he not neglect his pet.

Thanks!

-- Sarah (heartsongacres@juno.com), December 14, 2000

Answers

I think one main thing might be to not let the little piggie drink too much water all at once...I'd call a vet or a vet's assistant to see if something like Gatorade or Pedialyte would hurt him or not. Let us know how this turns out! Hopefully the son is very contrite about this and has learned a valuable lesson about how animals depend on us for their lives!

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), December 14, 2000.

Poor little piggie! I'll try to search out some online sources for information, since I'm not sure what to tell you.

We had chickens when we were children, and we were supposed to take care of them. One summer day, Mom & Grandma took me and my sister off to town, to do errands. Somehow, it came up that my sister had not watered the chickens that day (just forgot, I guess). My mother would not let her have a drink of anything while we were gone, so that she would experience what it was like to be without. She has never forgotten that experience, and yes, she did feel badly for the chickens. I wouldn't suggest having the child go without water as long as the guinea pig did, but an entire day wouldn't hurt him -- and it should make an impression.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), December 14, 2000.

Your guinea pig is a rodent, similar to a rat. Guinea pigs feed largely on grass and other green plants and, if supplied with such plants, can get along without water. It may be kept on dry rabbit or rat food, but must then have water. It is of the species Cavia porcellus), domesticated species of South American rodent of the family Caviidae (order Rodentia).

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), December 14, 2000.

Well, I haven't been able to find out much, but several sites said that lethargy/listlessness indicated a need for a visit to the vet. Apparently their care is different from other animals, so a vet who treats "exotics" would be needed. I wonder if the pig doesn't need subcutaneous hydrations (under the skin).

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), December 14, 2000.

All I know is you don't feed them just rabbit pellets. They need Vitimin-C that is not in rabbit feed, They will die without it. I do agree not too much water at once and the green food sounds like a good idea

-- grant (organicgrange@yahoo.com), December 14, 2000.

Give him some orange slices. They need the extra C anyway and the liquid will do him good.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), December 15, 2000.

Well, my sister has covered my old time chicken story for me, but I will agree that I think it was the right thing for my mother to do!! I'm the one who double checks every water bucket at the stable nights (altho it isn't my job) and have frequently ended up watering someone else's horse.

I'd go with the pedialyte idea -- you can even try giving some orally with a non-glass eye dropper or pipette.

My cavies never cared for oranges, but they did like rose hips, which has a great vit. C source as well as bioflavonids. They also got pellets formulated for cavies instead of rabbits, plus fresh hay, and lots of yard-weeds in season, plus fresh grass, all from unsprayed organic sources...apples are good in a situation like this as well. If you are somewhere that isn't snow-bound and want to offer natural green feed, add it slowly, and avoid dandelions right now since they are diuretic and you want to keep water in the system, not out. They also like fresh green twigs from edible trees, such as poplar, maple, and apple trees, or mine did anyway.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), December 15, 2000.

I agree with Joy, the subcutaneous water will bring him around more quickly, proper rehydration is critical here. A visit to the vet would be required, and the youngster responsible should have to pay for it, as well! Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), December 15, 2000.

Guinia pigs need lots of fresh veggies to stay healthy,my sons has out lived his mate and a baby and the only care diferent is I give him lots of greens.He loves cucumber and it is high in water so you might try some for your pig.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), December 16, 2000.

DONT LEAVE IT ALONE WITH OUT WATER.

DUH

-- Mandy l. bolin (GHUYTY@HIIIH.LIOK), January 12, 2002.