Care Management and Health Monitoring of Laboratory Guinea Pigs at Animal House of Faculty of Biology, Gadjah Mada University Laksmindra Fitria(a*), Slamet Raharjo(b), Nastiti Wijayanti(a), Tuty Arisuryanti(a), Siti Isrina Oktavia Salasia(b)
(a) Faculty of Biology, Gadjah Mada University, Jalan Teknika Selatan, Sekip Utara, Yogyakarta 55281
* laksmindraf[at]ugm.ac.id
(b) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Gadjah Mada University, Jalan Fauna No.2, Karang Malang, Yogyakarta 55281
Abstract
Guinea pigs or Cavia porcellus (Linnaeus, 1758) is one of laboratory animals commonly used in biomedical research. Although not as popular as rats and mice, guinea pigs actually having more physiological similarities to humans, one of which is the inability to synthesize endogenous vitamin C. In Indonesia, the use of this animal in research is limited as animal facilities that provide laboratory guinea pigs are rare. Therefore, we conducted this study to initiate the provision of laboratory guinea pigs. Individual for starters were obtained from conventional farming, and then acclimatized at the Animal House of Faculty of Biology GMU. Acclimatization is a crucial step because animals will be challenged to undergo laboratory lifestyles. These changes can cause stress that impacts on the health. Care management in accordance with The Laboratory Guinea Pigs reference book, consisted of: housing, handling, diet, environmental conditions, sanitation, and health monitoring. Modifications were made to adjust the conditions refer to the principles of animal welfare and ethics. Results showed that conventional guinea pigs can be raised for laboratory guinea pigs after acclimatization and controlled breeding. Physiological disorders found during acclimatization particularly vitamin C deficiency and loss of appetite due to diet changes. Health problems mainly affected skin especially parasitic disease such as scabies and infection related to environmental hygiene such as fungal infection or dermatophytosis. The medical treatments were administration of antiparasitic such ivermectine combine with antiinflamatory and vitamins, antifungal such as ketoconazole or miconazole topically.
Keywords: guinea pigs, laboratory animals, care management, health problems
