Guinea Pigs Scurvy

Guinea pigs scurvy is a disease that is caused by a long standing vitamin C deficiency. Vitamin C is very essential not just to humans but also for animals as well. Without this vitamin your pet can easily get ill and suffer from different deficiencies and develop scurvy. This condition can be quite severe and crucial.

Scurvy is simply a lack of vitamin C in a guinea pigs diet. Like humans, guinea pigs cannot produce their own vitamin C in their system, so they always need to have a constant inflow of it to stay in healthy condition. Normally, vitamin C is acquired in the foods that they eat. Guinea pigs scurvy symptoms start with the teeth, the gum and skin disorders and progresses in a partial or full limb paralysis. Symptoms can also affects and lead into eye disorders and even death.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are great source of vitamin C and fiber, though half of time, the levels of vitamin C deteriorate rapidly in the elements such as the air, the water and the sun. Most commercial foods of guinea pigs and rabbits claimed to have vitamin C, but the fact is vitamin C is easily swept out upon the process of making those foods. With the number of stages that it has to undergo, for sure the nutrients that the ingredients have had already deteriorated. These are not advisable for your pets, it is much better to give them fresh fruits and vegetables to keep them healthy.

What are the signs of this condition?

* Weakness, lethargy, and unwillingness to move
* Hopping instead of walking
* Enlarged or stiff limbs
* Loss of weight due to not eating
* Eye and nose discharge
* Diarrhea
* Rough coat
* Internal skeletal and muscular hemorrhage

Some signs are also symptoms of other condition, so you should not assume outright in the condition of your pets. Guinea pigs scurvy is only due to the lack of ascorbic acid of their body. If other signs exist more that the above-mentioned symptoms, it is better to take your pet to a competent veterinarian.

How long does scurvy in guinea pigs be cured?

Usual recovery for guinea pigs scurvy requires weeks and your pet should be on medication and treatment. You should at least give those 50mg of vitamin C once a day or 25mg twice in a day. Fresh pellets formulated for guinea pigs and fresh fruits and vegetables are best source of vitamin C.

Ascorbic acid is a very essential nutrient to good growth and health of your pet. On its absence, bone and blood vessel abnormalities can develop, bleeding of joint limbs, enlargement of the adrenal gland, rib muscles and intestines. Without the right amount of vitamin C, guinea pigs scurvy also develops.

Guinea pigs scurvy is brought by insufficient supply of ascorbic acid in the system of your pets, since they cannot produce their own vitamin you must be the one to give them the nutrients that they need through proper diet. To avoid guinea pigs scurvy, feed them with the right foods with right nutrients.