Beaphar

illness

Diarrhoea and gastroenteritis
Guinea pigs and rabbits, but also sometimes chinchillas, hamsters, mice and rats, may suffer from diarrhoea. One of the main causes of diarrhoea is not a contagious disease, but stress or dietary changes. Guinea pigs and rabbits from different breeders may have been brought together at a young age to be sold in a pet shop. This kind of stress can play an important role in their short life. New surroundings, different food, different accommodation, and new friends are all sources of stress for young rabbits and guinea pigs, and they may be exposed to previously unencountered bacteria and viruses. This kind of stress, together with a change of food, can cause a disturbance to their normal digestion and can damage the good bacterial flora. Under these circumstances, other bad bacteria get a chance to flourish in the gut, and this causes diarrhoea.
You need to be aware of the fact that diarrhoea leads to a loss of salt and body fluids, which causes a decline in the circulating volume of blood in the body. Your pet will dehydrate quickly if it has diarrhoea. Given the fact that rodents are quite small, this is a life-threatening situation. When a pet dies, it is often the result of dehydration, and not the result of a parasite or bacterial infection.

What else can you do for your pet?
Try to house a pet suffering from diarrhoea separately from other pets, and try to do this in a warm, draught-free place. Make sure that everything you do is hygienic. Regularly check your pet for any worsening or improvement in its condition.
Additionally, it is important that you take the following measures:
• Give your pet clean, fresh hay and good, fresh, balanced dry food
• Replenish your pet’s fluid levesl. To prevent your pet from dehydrating, it is very important that it gets plenty to drink. Aside from water, your pet will also be losing important nutrients. This can be prevented by adding a little sugar and salt to its drinking water, but if you are concerned, it is best to consult your vet
• Give your pet extra vitamins. Your pet’s own intestinal bacteria produce vitamins inside the intestinal tract. When your pet has diarrhoea, the intestinal flora is either disturbed or has declined, and it is sensible to give your pet extra vitamins. Beaphar’s range of products contains a number of vitamin supplements created to meet the recommended daily amount of vitamins for your rodent
If the symptoms do not disappear quickly, or you see your pet’s condition is getting worse, please contact your veterinarian as soon as possible. Small pets can quickly lose condition, and may die without prompt veterinary attention..
Tightness of the chest, respiratory infections and lung inflammation
The general symptoms of rodent respiratory infections vary from a lack of appetite, to drowsiness, watery eyes, sneezing, secretions from the nose and sticky nostrils, coughing, breathing problems and tightness of the chest. Their vulnerability to respiratory infections is mainly caused by a break down of your pet’s condition and innate resistance to disease. The linings of the mouth, nose, throat, windpipe and lungs are constantly in contact with the outside world and so with all kinds of bacteria and viruses in the environment. This is not a problem, as long as the condition of these tissues is good and it can maintain its full functionality. The main causes of a higher risk of respiratory infections are:
• Dust, especially dusty bedding. Also, your pet’s cage may be situated on the floor, which is something of a dust trap
• Draught. Cold gusts of wind and draught are notorious causes of a cold, because sudden temperature drops lead to diminished disease resistance;
• All weather conditions, climate types and extreme changes in temperature and humidity levels, that are either too high or too low
• Poor hygiene, such as unsuccessful disinfection of wounds, wet straw or diry living conditions. Bad hygiene or insufficient ventilation can result in a rise in ammonia levels, originating from urine, and cause an irritation of the lungs. This will lower the rodent’s resistance against infections from bacteria and viruses;
• Physical reasons for a drop in resistance, such as stress, ageing, shortage of specific nutrients caused by unbalanced diets, changes of food and other diseases;
• Direct transmission of viruses and bacteria from people and other animals.
It is important that you keep the above in mind!

What can you do for your pet?
Make sure that there is plenty of ventilation and a dry, dust free bed with sufficient warmth.

Contagious catarrh
Rabbits can suffer from contagious catarrh. Most rabbits carry the bacteria that causes contagious catarrh in their pharynx, without it becoming a problem. Only unfavourable circumstances, like an already weakened immune system, malnutrition, etc. give this syndrome a chance to develop. The syndrome can vary from rodent to rodent. Characteristics are a runny nose and a lot of snorting and coughing. Your rabbit will lose weight and suffer from pussy, infected eyelids. Its forelegs may become stained by constantly rubbing its nose. Complications like skin abscesses, a middle ear infection, meningitis and infertility can sometimes occur. This is a chronic syndrome, which eventually can develop into a severe lung infection and even cause heart problems as a result of congestion inside the lungs and corrosion of the heart valves by the bacteria. These bacteria enter the blood stream via the lungs. If you think your pet may have this infection, please contact your veterinarian as soon as possible.