Pathobiology and Population Sciences, The Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, United Kingdom.
Clinical Science and Services, The Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2024 Mar 27;19(3):e0299464. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299464. eCollection 2024.
Guinea pigs are popular as domestic pets but there is limited information on the health of the wider pet population. This study aimed to report demography, commonly diagnosed disorders and mortality of guinea pigs under UK primary veterinary care.
Diagnosis and mortality information on guinea pigs was extracted from anonymised UK primary-care clinical records in VetCompass.
From 51,622 guinea pigs under primary veterinary care during 2019, a specific breed was not recorded in 50,098 (97.05%). Of guinea pigs with information recorded, 23,206 (47.33%) were female and 25,828 (52.67%) were male. There were 1,020 (2.08%) neutered and 48,014 (97.92%) entire. Median adult bodyweight overall was 1.05kg (interquartile range [IQR] 0.90-1.19, range 0.40-2.66). From a random sample of 3,785/51,622 (7.33%) guinea pigs, the most prevalent disorders were overgrown nail(s) (n = 1,005, 26.55%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 25.15-27.99), dermatophytosis (228, 6.02%, 95% CI 5.29-6.83) and corneal ulceration (189, 4.99%, 95% CI 4.32-5.74). Among the 30 most common disorders, females showed predisposition for 3 disorders and males showed predisposition for 5 disorders. The disorder with the youngest age of affected animals was dermatophytosis (1.11 years) while weight loss had the oldest age of affected animals (4.64 years). From 757 recorded deaths, the median age at death overall was 4.03 years (IQR 2.56-5.44, range 0.17-10.00). Among deaths with a recorded cause, the most common causes of death were anorexia (n = 82, 13.87%, 95% CI 11.19-16.93), collapsed (58, 9.81%, 95% CI 7.54-12.50) and peri-anaesthetic death (20, 3.38%, 95% CI 2.08-5.18).
These results can assist veterinarians and owners by providing demographic, disorder and mortality benchmarks that support improved clinical care and welfare outcomes in guinea pigs. Many common disorders in guinea pigs were husbandry related.
豚鼠作为宠物广受欢迎，但有关更广泛宠物群体健康的信息有限。本研究旨在报告英国初级兽医护理下豚鼠的人口统计学、常见疾病和死亡率。
从 VetCompass 中匿名的英国初级兽医临床记录中提取了豚鼠的诊断和死亡率信息。
在 2019 年接受初级兽医护理的 51622 只豚鼠中，有 50098 只（97.05%）未记录特定品种。在有记录信息的豚鼠中，23206 只为雌性（47.33%），25828 只为雄性（52.67%）。有 1020 只（2.08%）已绝育，48014 只（97.92%）为未绝育。整体成年体重中位数为 1.05 公斤（四分位距 [IQR] 0.90-1.19，范围 0.40-2.66）。从 51622 只豚鼠的随机样本中（3785 只，7.33%），最常见的疾病是指甲过长（n = 1005，26.55%，95%置信区间 [CI] 25.15-27.99），皮肤真菌病（228，6.02%，95%CI 5.29-6.83）和角膜溃疡（189，4.99%，95%CI 4.32-5.74）。在 30 种最常见疾病中，女性易患 3 种疾病，男性易患 5 种疾病。受影响动物年龄最小的疾病是皮肤真菌病（1.11 岁），而体重减轻的动物年龄最大（4.64 岁）。在 757 例记录的死亡中，总体死亡的中位年龄为 4.03 岁（IQR 2.56-5.44，范围 0.17-10.00）。在有记录死因的死亡中，最常见的死因是食欲不振（n = 82，13.87%，95%CI 11.19-16.93），虚脱（58，9.81%，95%CI 7.54-12.50）和围麻醉期死亡（20，3.38%，95%CI 2.08-5.18）。
这些结果可以为兽医和主人提供人口统计学、疾病和死亡率方面的基准，有助于改善豚鼠的临床护理和福利结果。豚鼠的许多常见疾病与饲养有关。
