Guinea pig osteodystrophy

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The osteodystrophy of guinea pigs is a skeletal disease of house guinea pigs in which calcium is removed from the bones , the basic bone substance ( osteoid ) is broken down and replaced by unstable connective tissue . The disease occurs more frequently only in satin guinea pigs and is presumably genetic. Osteodystrophy only rarely occurs in guinea pigs without this peculiarity of hair; then it is usually the result of a long-term calcium deficiency or chronic kidney failure .

Clinical picture

In osteodystrophy, the jaw and / or thigh bones are particularly affected. It leads to an instability of the skeleton with considerable pain , postural disorders (spreading the legs when lying down), movement disorders (alternating strain, hopping gait, up to complete inability to move) and difficulties in feeding (preference for soft food, digestive disorders, later emaciation). The disease can be diagnosed by x-rays before these symptoms appear.

The course of the disease is very variable. Some animals are already 10 to 12 months old and have such severe symptoms that they have to be euthanized . In others, bone decalcification is so slow that, despite radiographic evidence of osteodystrophy, they reach a normal age without ever showing symptoms.

treatment

Treatment of the disease is not possible, and calcium administration has no effect on the progression of the disease. In the advanced stage, euthanasia is appropriate to save the animal from severe suffering. Avoiding osteodystrophy through breeding selection is hardly possible, as it can usually only be detected at an age when breeding animals have long since produced offspring. The small animal clinic of the Free University of Berlin , where the relevant investigations were carried out, advised against further breeding of satin guinea pigs for animal welfare and medical reasons until the problem was finally resolved .

literature

  • Ewringmann, A. and B. Glöckner: Osteodystrophy . In: Key symptoms in guinea pigs, chinchillas and degu. Enke Verlag, Stuttgart, 2005, pp. 194-195. ISBN 3-8304-1055-7 .
  • Ewringmann, A. and H. Schulze: Bone Disease Due to a Gene Defect? Rodentia 6/7 (2001), pp. 63-65.
  • Schwarz, T. et al .: Osteodystrophia in two guinea pigs . J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc. 49 (2001), pp. 63-66.
  • Wasel, E .: Osteodystrophy . In: Gabrisch, K., Zwart, P .: Diseases of pets . Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft Hannover, 6th edition 2005, p. 76. ISBN 3-89993-010-X