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antipodi
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 12:11 pm
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 Pregnancy Toxemia In Cavy Sows
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Pregnancy Toxemia In Cavy Sows
Many deaths in pregancy is caused by this condition , so it is with a word of caution that you allow your piggy to become preganant. Below is information gathered from breeders and should be followed cautiously...
To begin with, a definition of "Pregnancy Toxemia" is necessary. This is a catchall term for deaths attributable to complications during pregnancy. The exact causes and symptoms can be many, the only common denominator being that the sow was pregnant and she died.
Sows usually follow a pattern of inactivity, low fluid consumption, loss of appetite, glassy eyes, gurgled breathing, and sweetish toxic smelling breath. Death usually occurred one to ten days from the first signs of abnormality. Sometimes the litter would be cold and dead within the sow and other times it would seem alive until her death.
Numerous live and post c-sections, tissue cultures, etc., revealed nothing but an over-all toxic condition. One exception was a live c-section on a sow which had no toxic symptoms prior to labor and her trouble turned out to be a mal-positioned fetus blocking delivery. At this point I formed the hypothesis that, with the exception of problems arising during labor it, the sows were dying because their systems were being over-stressed allowing the build-up of toxicity which caused their deaths. I then set about to reduce stress in every way possible and build the sows up physically to enable their system to handle the demands of pregnancy.
For an animal their size, cavies carry very large litters and have a long period of gestation. It is little wonder their system sometimes breaks down. During gestation, her reproductive system often makes up 1/3 of her mass. This is quite a bit compared to other mammals.
The first suggestion we make is in handling the sows. You should not take them out almost daily and feel the litter to try and guess how many and how soon they'd arrive. While this may not hurt a sow at all, it could be a contributing stress. Only handle them once a week to move them to a clean cage, and do so carefully, using both hands to support the sow.
Since many losses occur during hot weather, this was obviously a factor. Warm air does not hold as much oxygen as cool air. A large quantity of oxygen is essential to maintain the sow's metabolism during gestation. Warm temperatures also increase respiration, so a situation is created where maximum oxygen is demanded, and a minimum amount is available. To provide too artificial an environment also reduces the ability of a herd to cope with variations and lessons their vigor. Another way to increase the oxygen content of the air was by circulation and ventilation. A most effective method was to place a fan in the window drawing air out of, rather than into, the building. This causes fresh air to circulate in from various vents and caused less draft than in-blowing fans. This also kept the temperature lower. It is adviseable to keep Cavys on a sheltered patio with an unlimited supply of fresh air, which seems to work the best.
The next change was in their diet. Add a water soluble powdered cavy multivitamin to their drinking water. Feed fresh oranges about three days a week, and either apples, carrots, parsley, or spinach the other days. Oranges supply vitamin C, the apples have a regulatory effect on digestion, and these five fruits and vegetables are the richest in the various vitamins and minerals cavies need. It is not adviseable to feed lettuce because it has little nutritional value, and the outer leaves may contain amounts of chemicals not harmful to humans but enough to harm cavies. Feed them a good quality cavy pellet. Obtaining good quality pellets seems to be a universal problem. Buy what you believe to be the best available at a given time and try to ensure they contain adequate nutrition, but never count on it. Supplementing., with fresh food and vitamins is very expensive, granted, but so are dead sows! Reduce your herd to a size you can afford to feed this way. For those with large herds, it may be more practical to reserve the oranges and vitamins for only pregnant and nursing sows.
The final step is to reduce the strain on sows during nursing by leaving only their two best offspring to nurse (usually). The sows stay in such good condition and the babies get such a good start that you can wean them and put the sow back in for breeding at 3 to 5 weeks of age. It is not necessary to kill the balance of the litter. I leave them with the mother for I or 2 days so she can get their digestion and elimination established, and then put them into a pen with older babies where they soon learn to eat and drink. At first, they become very scraggly and some die, but most survive and recover a normal rate of growth by four weeks of age. It is better to give them this kind of chance at life than to kill them or risk the sow and best quality young for their sake by making her raise the whole litter.
The above advice seems to work , but any danger signs in any pregant sow means a visit to the Vet ...
One thing I forgot to mention that is extremely important is a clean cage - which means dry and plenty of bedding as well as take out any day old uneaten food. Good luck.
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Antipodi
May one day man and Animals live together in harmony and peace
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