Guinea Pigs BB_Ch6 Flashcards
The three suborders of the order Rodentia are:
- Sciuromorpha - squirrels
- Myomorpha - mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, lemmings and voles
- Hystricomorpha - chinchillas, degus, guinea pigs
- Which Family are guinea pigs in?
- Caviidae
How many digits do Guinea Pigs have?
4 digits on front feet
3 on their back feet.
What kind of teeth do Guiena Pigs have?
hypsodontic
What type of epithelium does the guinea pig stomach have?
Glandular epithelium only
What is the approximate gut transit time for guinea pigs?
20 hours
With coprophagy, that gut transit time can be extended to ___________.
60 to 70 hours
What are the two names for the reflex involving the “cocking” of the pinna in response to a sharp sound?
Preyer or pinna reflex.
What is the effect of ypophysectomy on growth rate of guinea pigs.
None. Pituitary gland does influence growth rate.
Guinea pigs, along with what two other non-rodent species, are strict herbivores and cecal fermenters?
Rabbits and horses
What is the primary fatty acid produced by fermentation in the guinea pig gut?
Propionic acid
How are young guinea pigs inoculated with autochthonous flora?
Ingestion of maternal feces
True or false. Guinea pigs have an os penis.
True
At about what time does the pubic symphysis separate in the female during gestation? What hormone is responsible for this separation?
last week of gestation
relaxin
Approximately how far does the pubic symphysis separate?
2.5-3 cm
What is the average litter size of guinea pigs?
5
Intensively bred sows develop what type of skin problem?
hair loss
What placenta type do guinea pigs have?
labyrinthine hemomonochorionic
Guinea pig young are precocious or altricious?
Precocious
Below which weight is survival of a newborn doubtful?
60 grams
Name four species for which Bordetella bronchiseptica is a commensal organism.
Rabbits, dogs, primates, rats, mice, swine, cats, turkeys
Definitive diagnosis of B. bronchiseptica occurs through aerobic culture of the organism on which two media?
Sheep’s blood and MacConkey’s agar
Reservoir for Streptobaccillis moniliformis?
wild rats
What are the two serovars for Streptococcus pneumoniae in guinea pigs?
4 and 19 F
True or false. Streptococcus pneumoniae is zoonotic.
True
In guinea pigs, salmonellosis usually results in enlargement of which two organs?
Liver and spleen
True or false. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is associated with an acute, highly fatal septicemia as well as chronic emaciation in guinea pigs.
True
Clostridium difficile produces what exotoxins?
A and B exotoxins - bind to receptors on epithelial cells
Describe the enzyme immunoassay is available for identification of C. difficile toxin.
Detects exotoxin A in feces
Guinea pigs are susceptible to both human and bovine strains of _______________.
Mycobacterium
- were historically used as a diagnostic aide
- spontaneous cases very rare
- transmission os disease from humans or cattle is unlikely
The organism most likely found in cases of bumblefoot is ________________. What other pathologic lesions are associated with chronic cases?
Staphylococcus aureus
- chronic cases associated with amyloid in liver, adrenals, spleen, and pancreatic islets
In the guinea pig, where do Chlamydophila multiply?
Conjunctival epithelial cell cytoplasm
- Chlamydophila caviae
- intracytoplasmic inclusions
- 4-8 week old
Guinea pigs infected with Chlamydophila caviae make good models for which two types of human infections of Chlamydophila?
Conjunctival and genital
Describe herpesviral infection in guinea pigs
- Guinea Pig Cytomegalovirus – GPCMV
- usually subclinical, or weight loss, lymphadenopathy
- Hartley guinea pigs more suceptible than strain 2
- large, eosinophilic, uusually intranuclear inclusion bodies in ductal epitheliam cells of submaxillary salivary gland 5 days-3 weeks after exposure
- inclusion bodies may also be in brain, lung, kidney, spleen, pancreas, thymus, liver
What the two herpes like viruses found in guinea pigs that are not primary pathogens but may complicate research?
- Guinea Pig Herpes Like Virus (GPHLV) - from primary guinea pig kidney cell cultures
- Guinea Pig X Virus (GPXV) - from leukocytes of strain 2 guinea pigs
Which virus should be included on a differential diagnosis list for lameness?
Poliovirus
- RNA enterovirus
- some antigenic cross-reaction with GDVII strain of mouse poliovirus
- depression, lameness in one or more limbs, flaccid paralysis, weight loss, death over 2 weeks
- diagnosis by positive ELISA using TMEV/strain GDVII mouse virus antigen combined with histopath of CNS and lumbar spinal cord lesions
A “wasting syndrome” in guinea pigs characterized by anorexia, severe eweight loss, diarrhea, and high mortality. Grossly, intestinal segments are reddened. Histologically, there is epithelial loss at the tips of the villi. What is your top differential and how would you definitively diagnose?
Coronavirus-like Particle (CVLP)
- definitive diagnosis by detecting particle in feces by electron microscopy, histologic signs, and exclusion of other protozoal and bacterial enteropathies
Eimeria caviae is often seen as a co-infection with what organism?
Balantidium coli
What disease is a primary risk for guinea pigs if exposed to rabbit urine?
Ecephalitozoon cuniculi
- affects canids, rabbits, rats, mice, NHPs, guinea pigs, and other species
- guinea pigs resistant to large spore doses, and disease does not usually cause clinical disease
Which protozoal disease is usually concomitant with an Escherichia coli enterotoxemia?
Cryptosporidium wruiri
- coccidia of guinea pigs
- usually subclinical
- clinical signs most aften seen in young (< 300g or < 16 weeks)
- prepatent period is 2 weeks, and infection usually cleared by 3-4 weeks post-ingestion
True or false. Balantidium caviae is non pathogenic.
True
Klossiella cobayae has a predilection for which internal organ?
Kidney
Found on fecal floatation of feces from a guinea pig.
Paraspidodera uncinata
- cecal worm and only common helminth of the guinea pig
- eggs seen in feces
- inhabits but does not penetrate cecal and colonic mucosa
- worms mature in 45 days, life cycle 51-66 days
- infectious 3-5 days after shedding
What ascarid carried by raccoons an infect guinea pigs?
Baylisascaris proyonis
- ova remain viable for years in soil, and weeks to months in straw
- eggs resistant to most chemical disinfectants
- ZOONOTIC
- migration of larvae in CNS cause progressive neurologic disease: torticollis, ataxia, anorexia, stupor, hyperexcitability
Name and describe the mites which infest guinea pigs.
Chirodiscoides caviae
- usually asymptomatic
- heavy infectations can be seen on hair shafts
Trixacarus caviae
- intensely pruritic
- severely affected animals self-mutilate, lose weight, run, bump into objects, convulse and die
- ZOONOTIC
- T. caviae may result in a ____________________________ pyoderma.
- Staphylococcal
- The zoonotic lesions caused in people by T. caviae are transient, pruritic _______________ lesions.
- Papulovesicular