The effects of diet on anatomy, physiology and health in the guinea pig

Given the increasing popularity of the guinea pig as a pet, it is perhaps surprising that relatively little is published as to their husbandry and dietary requirements. Indeed, a review of the literature currently available to owners, scientists and clinicians alike has found it to be scarce, highly...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Witkowska, Agata, Price, Jennifer, Hughes, Chloe, Smith, Dulcie, White, Katie, Alibhai, Aziza, Rutland, Catrin S.
Format: Article
Published: OMICS International 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39808/
_version_ 1848795917971357696
author Witkowska, Agata
Price, Jennifer
Hughes, Chloe
Smith, Dulcie
White, Katie
Alibhai, Aziza
Rutland, Catrin S.
author_facet Witkowska, Agata
Price, Jennifer
Hughes, Chloe
Smith, Dulcie
White, Katie
Alibhai, Aziza
Rutland, Catrin S.
author_sort Witkowska, Agata
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Given the increasing popularity of the guinea pig as a pet, it is perhaps surprising that relatively little is published as to their husbandry and dietary requirements. Indeed, a review of the literature currently available to owners, scientists and clinicians alike has found it to be scarce, highly variable, and at times overtly contradictory. This review and data collection collates the husbandry and dietary information available and discusses the variable information available and the differing practices published in the literature in relation to the guinea pig. A questionnaire was also used to gather owner-reported data on feeding regimens from both the UK and Poland in order to better understand the range of feeding habits that owners employ. Despite the lack of information available in comparison with that available for other companion and livestock animals, advances in knowledge are being made. With guinea pig numbers increasing in many countries and owners seeking husbandry and veterinary advice and interventions, it is imperative that we understand guinea pig health and welfare issues. The data and review gives novel insights into how guinea pig husbandry affects health and welfare.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:39:43Z
format Article
id nottingham-39808
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:39:43Z
publishDate 2017
publisher OMICS International
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-398082020-05-04T18:23:18Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39808/ The effects of diet on anatomy, physiology and health in the guinea pig Witkowska, Agata Price, Jennifer Hughes, Chloe Smith, Dulcie White, Katie Alibhai, Aziza Rutland, Catrin S. Given the increasing popularity of the guinea pig as a pet, it is perhaps surprising that relatively little is published as to their husbandry and dietary requirements. Indeed, a review of the literature currently available to owners, scientists and clinicians alike has found it to be scarce, highly variable, and at times overtly contradictory. This review and data collection collates the husbandry and dietary information available and discusses the variable information available and the differing practices published in the literature in relation to the guinea pig. A questionnaire was also used to gather owner-reported data on feeding regimens from both the UK and Poland in order to better understand the range of feeding habits that owners employ. Despite the lack of information available in comparison with that available for other companion and livestock animals, advances in knowledge are being made. With guinea pig numbers increasing in many countries and owners seeking husbandry and veterinary advice and interventions, it is imperative that we understand guinea pig health and welfare issues. The data and review gives novel insights into how guinea pig husbandry affects health and welfare. OMICS International 2017-01-01 Article PeerReviewed Witkowska, Agata, Price, Jennifer, Hughes, Chloe, Smith, Dulcie, White, Katie, Alibhai, Aziza and Rutland, Catrin S. (2017) The effects of diet on anatomy, physiology and health in the guinea pig. Journal of Animal Health and Behavioural Science, 1 (1). 1000103/1-1000103/6. Guinea-pig Anatomy Physiology Diet Health Genetics https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/the-effects-of-diet-on-anatomy-physiology-and-health-in-the-guinea-pig.pdf
spellingShingle Guinea-pig
Anatomy
Physiology
Diet
Health
Genetics
Witkowska, Agata
Price, Jennifer
Hughes, Chloe
Smith, Dulcie
White, Katie
Alibhai, Aziza
Rutland, Catrin S.
The effects of diet on anatomy, physiology and health in the guinea pig
title The effects of diet on anatomy, physiology and health in the guinea pig
title_full The effects of diet on anatomy, physiology and health in the guinea pig
title_fullStr The effects of diet on anatomy, physiology and health in the guinea pig
title_full_unstemmed The effects of diet on anatomy, physiology and health in the guinea pig
title_short The effects of diet on anatomy, physiology and health in the guinea pig
title_sort effects of diet on anatomy, physiology and health in the guinea pig
topic Guinea-pig
Anatomy
Physiology
Diet
Health
Genetics
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39808/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39808/