| SECTION 2 Needs Your Attention |
| SECTION 1 Medical Emergencies |
| SECTION 3 Things You Should Know |
| HEALTH TIPS Cavies for the most part are healthy, lively animals. However, when they start to get sick you may not notice it at first, because, with them being a prey animal they hide their sickness well. When it finally does become noticeable, all too often the sickness has overcome them and it's too late to do anything. This is why, when you begin to see you cavy's illness, you don't have time to ponder, you need to do something immediately. Staying on top of a situation comes from a very keen observer and catching your cavys' illness early means the difference between life and death. One major sign of illness is when they stop eating and drinking, or if they face the corner or back of the cage with their fur all ruffled. When they stop eating, you need to syringe feed right away because going too long without food will cause them to lose the will to live. In some cases, you can turn your pig around, but if they have gone too long, you're fighting a losing battle. It is a good idea to have a cavy first aide kit because you may not have time to run to the store for needed supplies. This is what we keep in our medicine chest SEEK A QUALIFIED EXOTICS VET BECAUSE MOST 'cat and dog' VETS DON'T KNOW HOW TO TREAT A GUINEA PIG AND MAY NOT ADMIT IT. MANY PEOPLE HAVE FIGURED OUT THAT IT WAS THE VET'S TREATMENT THAT KILLED THE PIG, NOT THE ILLNESS. PLEASE--USE COMMON SENSE |