Section B. Cavy Daily Maintenance
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Vitamin C & the Cavy
By David Hardesty
Introduction
Early man faced a bleak existence as a hunter/gatherer. Without the benefit of today's modern medicines, the
human population, just as any other animal population, was susceptible to the full brunt of his environment.
Numerous infectious diseases, viral or bacterial, were constantly weeding out the weakest members of his
population. With no way to halt the inevitable result of these diseases, life expectancy could be less than 35
years. Cold winter months could be expected to be a time of death and misery. The healers in these societies
early on made a connection between supplementing with a good, nutritious diet, and the chances of a patient
recovering from illness. Early healers, through trial and error, concocted potions which they would administer
to the sick to bolster the bland and limited diets available during the winter. Patients who were fed a
combinations of certain dried leaves, or fruits, when reconstituted with water, were more likely to recover.
These early healers would try anything to increase the odds of recovery. They really could care less why it
worked the way it did. It would be centuries before empirical scientific research would create an
understanding of the mechanisms at work.
Just Why is Vitamin C Such an Important Part of a Cavies Diet Anyway?
All animal life is dependent upon an external source of organic matter for normal growth and tissue
maintenance. Very often the availability of this supply will fluctuate from feast to famine depending upon
various environmental conditions such as rainfall or season. Evolution has equipped organisms to minimize the
affects of this fluctuating food supply in a number of ways. Adapting behavior to wait out time of inadequate
supply of nutrients by hibernation or encapsulation is one way. During times of plenty, excess carbohydrates
and proteins are metabolized within the liver and stored within the adipose tissues as fat for future usage.
Vitamins, normally found in minute quantities within the diet, do not enjoy this luxury. Depending upon the
physical structure of the particular vitamin molecule, vitamins are retained in varying degrees within the body.
Vitamins A, D, E, and K belong to the fat soluble vitamin series and are stored within the adipose or fat
tissues. Excessive amounts of these vitamins can be toxic in varying degrees due to their solubility in fat. The
remaining vitamins belong to the water soluble series. This series includes the B-complex vitamins, Niacin,
Pantothenic acid, Folic acid, Biotin, and Vitamin C. All of these vitamins are characterized by a low retention,
or storage capacity, and as such must be constantly replenished from a dietary source.
History of Vitamin C
When man began exploring the New World he would come face to face with scurvy, the disease of Vitamin
C deficiency. Long ocean voyages, where the primary source of food was dried meats and grain, were often
accompanied by a high death rate. In 1535, Cartier, the French explorer, was taught by native North
American Indians, that certain bulbs or roots, as well as a tea made from the tips of pine tree branches,
would ward off the disease which had already claimed half of the members of his expedition. In 1756, Dr.
James Lind published the results of experimentation which would, for all time, brand the British sailor as
"Lime'ys". Up until the time of Lind, the highest singular cause of death in the British Navy, on long ocean
voyages, was scurvy. Using British sailors as experimental subjects, Lind conducted research in what is
referred to as the first "controlled" experiments in modern nutritional research. In addition to disproving the
effectiveness of many popular "cures" of his day, Lind proved conclusively that there was a substance found
in fresh limes which would totally prevent scurvy in those sailors which had a daily supplement of the fruit in
their diet. The discovery, in 1907, that the cavy also needed an exogenous, or dietary, source of the same
substance to remain healthy, gave the scientific community a much more suitable experimental animal for
conducting this research. In 1928, the Hungarian research team of Svirbely and Szent-Gyorgyi, isolated what
they would call hexuronic acid from lemon juice. In 1932, the American team of Waugh and King positively
identified hexuronic acid as the anti-scurvy compound, or more properly, antiscorbutic agent. By 1933,
Swiss, German, and British chemists had identified the molecular structure of hexuronic acid and developed
low cost methods to manufacture the vitamin. It was in this same year that Haworth gave hexuronic acid the
more familiar name of ascorbic acid.
Symptoms of Vitamin C Deficiency
Investigators have found that the cavy, when fed a diet devoid of Vitamin C, but nutritionally sufficient in all
other nutrients, will continue to grow normally for about nine or ten days as the animal uses up the Vitamin C
already present within its body. Collins & Elvehjem (1958) found that by the 14th day of this scurbogenic
(able to induce scurvy) diet that older cavies would begin a rapid weight loss. Younger cavies would have
started this rapid weight loss several days earlier at day 9. Odumoso and Wilson (1972) found that it took
about 12 days for the rapid weight loss to start. They found that by day 24 on this scurbogenic diet that the
weight of their cavies had dropped back to that at the start. By day 27 on the diet, cavies were weighing less
than the start, exhibiting classical symptoms of scurvy, and dying spontaneously.
The scurvy symptoms included:
� Rough and poor coat condition
� Unwillingness to move characterized by stiff joints and limbs. "Hopping" when prodded into moving.
� Tenderness to touch
� Extremely poor flesh condition
� A stance with the feet tucked under the animal as if unable to support its own body weight.
Collins and Elvehjem reported that in post-mortem examinations, that the adrenal glands were enlarged and
bleeding. Hemorrhaging, or bleeding, was present in the fore and hind joints, the intestine, and the muscles
between the ribs.
How Much Vitamin C is Necessary to Prevent Scurvy?
Waugh and King (1932) found that .5mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams (3.5 oz) of bodyweight was sufficient
when the criteria selected was the growth rate of certain body tissues. Dawborn (1945) reported a
recommended Minimum Daily Requirement (MDR) of .4mg per 100 grams body weight. Crampton, in 1944,
had earlier reported a MDR of 2 mg per day using a natural diet. Reid and Briggs, in 1953, developed a
purified scurbogenic diet, nutritionally complete otherwise, which enabled investigators to study the effects of
Vitamin C deficiency alone, uncomplicated by other nutritional deficiencies. Using this purified diet, mixed
with various predetermined amounts of Vitamin C, Collins and Elvehjem, in 1958, re-established more
conclusively a MDR of .5mg per 100 grams of body weight. But this was the level necessary to prevent
scurvy. Investigators today are inclined to believe that a MDR closer to twice that amount, or 1mg per 100
grams bodyweight is necessary for optimum growth. Research has also indicated that this MDR varies with
both the age and sex of the cavy. Odumoso and Wilson, in 1973, reported a higher survival rate among some
female cavies fed a scurbogenic diet than among male cavies on the same diet. Some females were reported
to have survived up to 60 days as to the normal survival time of 21 to 27 days. Yet in the same issue as the
Odumosa and Wilson study was published, Jones, Hurley, and Hughes reported a 100% mortality on a
scurbogenic diet, regardless of sex. What this successfully demonstrates is that there are individual
differences in the MDR from cavy to cavy, that is, each cavy is biochemically individual in their requirement
for Vitamin C. Commercially prepared diets which may have a sufficient MDR for one cavy, may be
insufficient for another, and may manifest itself in subclinical symptoms, such as weak flesh condition or low
reproductive rates. Kutsky, in 1973, reported that "the existence of subclinical vitamin deficiencies is
extremely difficult to prove without adequate statistical data, but, undoubtedly, if we accept the principle of
biochemical individuality, they do exist."
Can There Be Too Much of a Good Thing?
Much debate was created, in 1974, when Dr. Linus Pauling published his theory that massive doses of
Vitamin C would reduce the incidence of colds and various other mild maladies. His theories were
whole-heartedly embraced by the health food community and created mixed reactions from his colleagues.
His theories flew into the face of evidence presented by Gordonoff, in 1960, that cavies given a four week
regimen at an estimated 500 mgs Vitamin C per day, would develop scurvy much more rapidly, than did
control animals, when Vitamin C was deprived from both groups of cavies.
Catabolism is the process by which complex organic molecules are converted by living cells into more simple
organic molecules. This destructive process is irreversible and occurs within an organism either as a prelude
to some eventual reformation into a newly synthesized molecule, or as a prelude to its eventual elimination
from the body. Complete catabolism results in the reduction of the original organic molecule down to carbon
dioxide and water, the primary waste products of all animal life.
Cochrane (1965) observed that two offspring, out of a female cavy which had been receiving 1 gram of
Vitamin C per day (1000 x MDR) during pregnancy, had succumbed to scurvy when given only a normal
maintenance dose of the vitamin. He postulated that these offspring had been conditioned in utero to a higher
than normal rate of Vitamin C catabolism.
Sorrensen (1974) fed an experimental group of cavies a diet which contained 86 grams Vitamin C/kg of diet
for 275 days. The growth rate of the experimental animals was significantly retarded as compared to the
growth rate of the control group, receiving only 2 grams Vitamin C/kg of diet. Radioactive Vitamin C was
administered to these animals at the end of the study and the rate of catabolism, as measured by the amount
of radioactive carbon dioxide, was significantly higher. When both groups were put on a scurbogenic diet, the
experimental animals were depleted of Vitamin C at a much faster rate than the control group. Due to the
presence of these catabolic enzymes, progressively larger and larger doses of Vitamin C were necessary just
to maintain these artificially high levels in the blood stream. When these conditioned animals were subjected
to a sudden removal of dietary Vitamin C, these catabolic enzymes were so abundant that existing systemic
Vitamin C was very quickly wiped out, with the resultant scurvy symptoms. Reducing the conditioning
overload level of Vitamin C had little affect on this rapid depletion by these catabolizing enzymes post
overload. Therefore dosing cavies with high levels of Vitamin C over long periods of time does little good, and
will actually condition the cavy to develop scurvy more rapidly in times of reduced Vitamin C.
1) Cochrane, H.A. (1965), Overnutrition in prenatal life: A problem?,
Can. Med. Assoc. J.93, 893-899.
2) Gordonoff, F. (1960), Should one give excesses of water soluble vitamins?
Experiments with Vitamin C., Schweiz. Med. Wochenschr. 90, 726-729.
3)
Section C. Cavy Facts and Related Items
Guinea Pigs (Cavies) make very popular pets. They can be kept indoors and are
naturally clean animals. Although nervous by nature they soon become
accustomed to gentle handling. Varieties are distinguished by the texture, length
and colour of their hair and coat patterns.
Rabbits are very popular pets with children of all ages. They are clean and easy
to manage. There are numerous varieties available. Long haired rabbits will
require extra care and grooming.
Hamsters rank as one of the most popular of all small companion animals. As it
is a mainly nocturnal animal it is ideal if you cannot be home during the day.
Hamsters are suitable for young children, but parents with very young children
must remember that they will be responsible for the hamster's daily care and
handling.
Gerbils are friendly, curious and fun. Properly handled, they become tame and
affectionate. They are happiest when kept in pairs, as they are by nature
"community animals".
Several factors must be taken into consideration when deciding to purchase a
small mammal. For example, one must determine to whom it is to be given. This
kind of animal is often acquired for a young child and in many cases, it represents
his or her first companion pet. Generally, a lack of preparation results in a
traumatic experience for the animal and the young child. Being properly informed
is the key!
ENVIRONMENT
Even though these smaller mammals are less vulnerable to changes in
temperature than other species such as birds, it remains very important to provide
a warm and dry living space.
Several types of cages exist specifically designed for your pet. If you also own a
cat, it is recommended that you choose a cage strong enough to resist your
friendly feline. Moreover, it is strongly advisable that your cage also have a cover.
Not only are these small animals difficult to find once they have escaped, they
may injure themselves while investigating your home. As a rule, one should never
leave any small mammal outside its cage unattended. The larger species, such as
the rabbit and the ferret, may be given increased liberties, but should always be
supervised.
It is important that the cage be arranged in such a manner as to allow the animal
access to food and fresh water at all times. Your small companion will also need
room to play, to sleep, etc. To meet its daily exercise requirements, a multitude of
toys and accessories should be available. By nature these animals require "chew
toys" at all times. Your local pet store will be able to assist you. Always supervise
the use of different toys and chews so as to prevent a hazardous situation form
developing.
NUTRITION
You must offer your small companion pet a balanced and nutritious diet. A wide
range of suitable specially prepared diets is available from your local pet store. It
is this food which should be given on a daily basis. A small amount of fresh fruits
and vegetables may complement the basic diet.
Guinea pigs require a supplemental form of vitamin C. Dwarf rabbits may benefit
from higher fibre levels in their pellets (at least 18%). Alfalfa, timothy hay,
dandelions and clover are ideal supplements for most rabbits, guinea pigs and
chinchillas, however a handful of grass may prove disastrous if it has been treated
with an insecticide.
HYGIENE
It is imperative that the cage be kept clean. The use of an absorbing litter will
greatly ease your work. Pine shavings are very popular with most types of small
mammals. Remove any wet bedding, stale food and droppings daily. The cage
should be cleaned thoroughly on a regular basis with a suitable disinfectant.
Remember to always rinse and dry the cage thoroughly. You must wash your
hands before and after handling your small friend. The same applies when
cleaning the cage. A well maintained cage will decrease the chances of sickness,
and become practically odor-free.
HANDLING
The smaller the animal, the more important it is to be attentive when handling it.
Several small mammals have the reputation of escaping quickly, and many can be
very difficult to find! Moreover, some species are more aggressive than others.
You should ask permission to handle the animal you chose before you buy. This
exercise will allow you to learn the proper way of handling the animal.
CARE
Never forget that to adopt a companion animal is to become responsible for its
well being. It is recommended to consult a specialized veterinarian as certain
species require periodic vaccinations, and many will benefit from post-purchase
examinations.
SHOPPING LIST
Housing Unit
Retreat or hiding place
Suitable Substrate
Food
Food Dish
Water Dish
Treats, Chews and Toys
Vitamins
Reference books
BEFORE PURCHASING
-Determine to whom the animal is destined, and the principal reasons (observation
or play) motivating your purchase. These two factors will determine your choice.
-Consult a specialist so as to make the right choices when it comes to the proper
diet and most appropriate cage.
This information is not a substitute for a good book. Visit your pet store or local
library for a wide selection of books on the reponsible care and maintenance of
companion animals.
1996 THE PET INDUSTRY JOINT ADVISORY COUNCIL OF CANADA
Section D. Cavy Preventive Health Care, Disease Treatment
and Related Items
Common Health Problems: Is Rabies a Threat to My Pet?
Rabies is not only a threat to your pet but to you as well. A fatal, viral disease, rabies affects the brain and
nerves. The main source of rabies comes from infected wildlife, such as foxes, raccoons, skunks, bats, and
coyotes. Usually transmitted through bites from rabid animals, rabies also can be spread through contact with
broken skin.
The most common sign of rabies is an unexplained change in behavior. A friendly pet may turn aggressive or
act strangely, with no apparent cause. However, a wild animal may act tame and not be afraid when
approached by people. It is important to know that once a rabid animal starts to exhibit abnormal behavior, it
will continue to do so. It may take two to six months before showing signs, but once it does, it is an
irreversible process, and the animal will die in a matter of days. Today, no treatment for rabies exists. Not
every animal (including humans) that comes in contact with a rabid animal will contact rabies.
If you think one of your animals may have rabies, be extremely careful and avoid all contact with it. Isolate
the pet from other animals and humans and call your veterinarian immediately. The doctor will need to know
whether your pet has been vaccinated. By law, you must report this disease in order to protect the public.
Notify both your veterinarian and animal control. If you live in Canada, also call the local police and the health
control office. The best prevention for your pet is a annual rabies vaccination.
