Pet shops also still sell unsafe bedding, such as sawdust, and meshed cages, which increase the risk of respiratory infections and trapped limbs, respectively [ 26 ]. For example, the opportunistic bacterial pathogen Staphylococcus aureus thrives on wire bars, particularly when improperly sanitised, and may cause pododermatitis, and even dust-extracted sawdust is irritable to airways [ 27 ]. Sawdust is also commonly made from pine and cedar, which often contain chemicals from when the wood was treated in production; when the sawdust is soiled, these chemicals produce fumes that are harmful in close proximity [ 21 ].
Domestic guinea pigs are obligate herbivores and require dietary stability as a welfare need and for optimal health [ 26, 28 ]. Their diet should be mainly hay, enriched with fresh vegetables and pellets to support their dental anatomy and health [ 15, 28 ]. Commercial pellets should be given in small portions, as anecdotal evidence suggests that, given the choice, guinea pigs tend to prefer pellets, which increases the risk of an imbalanced diet from selective feeding [ 29 ].
Ascorbic acid( vitamin C) assists in collagen production, wound healing, and skin, joint and blood vessel health. It is an absolute dietary requirement for guinea pigs due to their absence of the hepatic enzyme L-gulonolactone oxidase, which converts glucose into ascorbic acid [ 13, 17 ]. Owners often provide vitamin C through fresh vegetables( Figure 2), commercial pellets and supplements added to drinking water [ 30 ]. cause [ 31 ]. The survey further reported that, on average, 75 % of guinea pig consultations in a month involved advice on and treatment of diet-related issues.
Although guinea pigs have been, and remain, a very common laboratory animal, much of the more robust studies generate conclusions to further human medicine or relating to other animal species rather than making specific suggestions on guinea pig welfare [ 32, 33 ]. Guinea pigs also aided the development of certain human vaccines, and their tissues and organs are often used as a model to study human disease [ 34 ].
If owners seek advice from non-veterinary sources, the information can be inaccurate [ 13 ]. This is not to suggest that guinea pigs should be used as laboratory animals in the development of their own welfare evidence, only that reliable studies are limited. However, welfare-related literature is becoming more available in recent years, based on literature reviews rather than live guinea pigs [ 35 ].
This article aims to evaluate empirical research on guinea pig diet and accommodation. It will appraise the quality of care via the findings and other evidence, and identify gaps in the research. As VNs are often at the forefront of nursing guinea pigs with husbandry-related illnesses, it will also outline how VNs can contribute to the future of guinea pig care.
Literature review
A literature review was conducted during January to May 2023 to explore diet and accommodation for guinea pigs and gain a better understanding of what is best practice and what is the reality.
To avoid overlooking relevant and valuable research, the ' PICo’( population, intervention and context) approach was used to define the research topic [ 36, 37 ]. Seven databases were searched and six primary papers were chosen after using inclusion and exclusion criteria, which also illustrate the scope of the review, to refine the initial results to only the most relevant and up-to-date studies [ 38 ]. The papers were critiqued via a modified Caldwell [ 39 ] framework, the PICo approach( Table 1, page 25), and the inclusion and exclusion criteria shown in Appendix 1 [ 40-45 ]. Older sources were used to reference established concepts within the discussion, as finding literature on an underinvestigated topic was difficult.
Figure 2. A guinea pig eating fresh vegetables.
Appropriate owner education on diet may be lacking, as 40 % of pet guinea pigs are believed to be fed incorrectly, according to a UK survey of veterinary surgeons and RVNs, with poor owner knowledge being the leading
The RCVS Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Nurses [ 46 ] states that RVNs must use evidence-based nursing to inform patient care. Research critique is fundamental to finding high-quality evidence while deciding whether it would be safe and practical to translate the evidence to patient care in practice [ 47 ]. As it is compatible with many epistemological approaches, thematic analysis was used to ensure the main relevant findings were covered [ 48 ].
24 Veterinary Nursing Journal