Eva's Pregnancy Toxemia Page

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Pregnancy Toxemia

Pregnancy toxemia is a serious illness that kills lots of pregnant guinea pig females. Typical symptoms is anorexia, smelling of acetone, and that the cavy seems listless. It usually occurs in the two last weeks of pregnancy, and the female can stay alive up to a week if not treated correctly. The female can abort the babies late and still develop pregnancy toxemia. If the problem is caught late and you must give cortisone - be prepared that this harms the babies, and they will probably die after a few days even if they survive long enough to be born. This happened when my pet cavy Kurtan had her last litter.

Causes

The main causes are 3:

Wrong food Too much fat.
Out of food If the pregnant cavy runs out of food for only two hours, that can easily start the toxemia process. A pregnant female shall always have food, always!
Stress Change of cage, change of cagemates or removal of the male too late into pregnancy. Never ever move a pregnant female into another cage. Never change cagemates for a pregnant female. Do not remove the male after the female is 5 weeks pregnant, unless she has another cagemate that is left with her, and has been with her since mating.

Other common causes The female is too fat, too old, has too small cage, or gets sick.

Treatment

Treatment depends upon how early the pregnancy toxemia is detected. Check all pregnant females for symptoms of toxemia!

If caught very early - already when the female is still eating and the only sign that something is wrong is that some of the hairs in the neck region is sticking up and that she eats a bit less than normal and looks hungry at the same time - you only need to syringe feed nourishment fluids. Usually the female is better in a day, if not see the vet.

If caught later the symptoms are worse and the success of threatment depends upon how much energy you can spend on taking care of the female.

You will need to get her cortisone for maybe a week or so, see a vet right away. The best is to make sure the cortisone dose is lowered every day.
You will need to handfeed her for a long time, giving her nourishment fluids. She will need hand feeding every 3 hours. This is a huge job, and if you are not willing to do this it is better to have her put to sleep at the vets.

If caught too late you will not be able to save her. A sure sign that tell that she is out of hope - she does not swallow.

Precautions

Avoid giving pellets or seeds during pregnancy.
Give her a big cage or free access to the floor, along with her best cavy friends.
Make sure she always have lots of food.
Do not lift her up.
Do not let her sit alone.
Check her every day for signs of any problem.