Do Teddies Have Below Average Life Expectancy?

[Liv]

Hi,
I'm curious to hear other people's experience with teddy longevity.
I had to take my teddy Bhalu to the vet this morning because of an irritated eye (likely entropion). We were chatting and the vet said she always wondered whether teddies don't live as long as in her experience they seem to develop age-related health issues, particularly kidney failure, around the age of 4 years. It is something I've also been wondering about as my first batch of teddies all passed away at the age of 5 (mostly from organ failure), while all my smooth shorthaired piggies lived to be 7-9 years old. Is it likely that the teddy mutation also affects other vital features? Different dog and cat breeds vary largely in their average life expectancy so I'm assuming the same must be true (but not as well documented) for piggies? What is your experience, teddy owners?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
I'm curious to hear other people's experience with teddy longevity.
I had to take my teddy Bhalu to the vet this morning because of an irritated eye (likely entropion). We were chatting and the vet said she always wondered whether teddies don't live as long as in her experience they seem to develop age-related health issues, particularly kidney failure, around the age of 4 years. It is something I've also been wondering about as my first batch of teddies all passed away at the age of 5 (mostly from organ failure), while all my smooth shorthaired piggies lived to be 7-9 years old. Is it likely that the teddy mutation also affects other vital features? Different dog and cat breeds vary largely in their average life expectancy so I'm assuming the same must be true (but not as well documented) for piggies? What is your experience, teddy owners?

You can call yourself blessed, having had had so many long-lived piggies!

My teddy Nerys has just passed away at the end of August at the grand old age of 8 years (sudden massive eye infection/general frailness); her sister lived to nearly 6 years old (one of her kidneys went wrong). Nerys' second teddy companion, Nesta, has turned 5 years this month and is still going very strong - at her current rate, she should be good for another 2-3 years if nothing untowards happens! All three are unwanted ex-children's pets that I have adopted from a rescue.

The official average life expectancy for all guinea pigs is 5-7 years, but with the current indiscriminate mass breeding (whether that is via shops, backyard breeders or rescues taking mostly in piggies originating from that same pool in whatever form), any piggy over 4 years of age is a blessing, as far as I am concerned.

The guinea pigs of my childhood tended to live longer; we would consider 5-6 years as middle aged, but at that time there were not as many breeds (or guinea pigs!) around, and local independent shops would get their piggies from local breeders. Rescues hardly ever had guinea pigs.

Some breeds come with genetic issues; most prominent is satin disease (osteodystrophy) and lethals from roan/dalmation pairings. Whether your experience is dependent on the source of your teddies or not I cannot say, but I have not noticed a specific trend on this forum, not have I noticed a specific tie with kidney problems.

 

[Liv]

You can call yourself bleesed, having had had so many long-lived piggies!

My teddy Nerys has just passed away at the end of August at the grand old age of 8 years; her sister lived to nearly 6 years old (one of her kidneys went wrong). Nerys second companion, Nesta has turned 5 years this month and is still going very strong - at her current rate, she should be good for another 2-3 years if nothing untowards happens! All three are unwanted ex-children's pets I have adopted from a rescue.

The official average life expectancy for all guinea pigs is 5-7 years, but with the current indiscriminate mass breeding (whether that is via shops, backyard breeders or rescues taking mostly in piggies originating from that pool), any piggy over 4 years of age is a blessing, as far as I am concerned.

The guinea pigs of my childhood tended to live longer; we would consider 5-6 years as middle aged, but at that time there were not as many breeds (or guinea pigs!) around, and local independent shops would get their piggies from local breeders. Rescues hardly ever had guinea pigs. Some breeds come with genetic issues; most prominent is satin disease (osteodystrophy) and lethals from roan/dalmation parirings. Whether your experience is dependent on the source of your teddies or not, but I have not noticed a specific trend on this forum, not have I noticed a specific tie with kidney problems.

That's reassuring, thank you!

 

[PiggieWigs12]

My very first teddy mr frodo got to 11 years old and fed of heart failure.

Bilbo got to 9, heart failure again.

Pogle got to 7, post op complications.

My current teddy Barry is almost four and in perfect health.

Just bad luck maybe

 

[Liv]

My very first teddy mr frodo got to 11 years old and fed of heart failure.

Bilbo got to 9, heart failure again.

Pogle got to 7, post op complications.

My current teddy Barry is almost four and in perfect health.

Just bad luck maybe

11! That's amazing!

 

[gizzy]

In my experience Teddy,s have a very good longevity, l have had many that have lived a very long time

 

[Julesie]

My teddy was roughly my oldest living piggie. I say roughly as we dont know his exact age. He was a rescue but they guessed his age was anywhere between 4 to six at the time and I had him for another two and a half years.

I've found that Aby's are the guinea pigs that die the fastest that I own. I've lost all of my Aby's around 2 years of age. My current piggie is an Aby and she's 2 at the moment. I just hope I don't lose her any time soon. They seem to struggle from heart problems.

My longest living piggie is my boar Romano who is a coronet and I've had him since 2012 when he was 12 weeks old in July. He's still alive and hasn't had any health conditions so far and knock on wood still won't.

 

[Liv]

My teddy was roughly my oldest living piggie. I say roughly as we dont know his exact age. He was a rescue but they guessed his age was anywhere between 4 to six at the time and I had him for another two and a half years.

I've found that Aby's are the guinea pigs that die the fastest that I own. I've lost all of my Aby's around 2 years of age. My current piggie is an Aby and she's 2 at the moment. I just hope I don't lose her any time soon. They seem to struggle from heart problems.

My longest living piggie is my boar Romano who is a coronet and I've had him since 2012 when he was 12 weeks old in July. He's still alive and hasn't had any health conditions so far and knock on wood still won't.

Wow, I didn't know that about Abys, never had any.

 

[Wiebke]

Wow, I didn't know that about Abys, never had any.

There are no fast and hard rules with any breeds! I have had several abys that have lived a perfectly normal, healthy lifespan, one even despite being rescued from a never cleaned breeding pen with four full boars and despite having spent the first year of her life being constantly pregnant (my vet's guess was four rather than three nonstop litters, seeing the state of her poor body) - yet, Taffy lived to a very good 6 years old!

It all depends on the background/inbreeding and any genetic issues that are being handed down or caused by careless breeding. The only breed that is somewhat shorter lived are skinny pigs due to their faster metabolism.
All furry breeds have the same chance of of living to a good old age. My rescue piggies are quite a range of breeds and cross breeds. In my experience, the background/breeding conditions/ancestry is far more important than the actual breed.

PS: The longest livest documented guinea pig at 17 years of age is a coronet boar called Sweetie from Australia that passed away in 2014.
Yet my own coronets, who have all been rescued from various breeding hellholes, have just about made it towards 5 years. My current one, Carwyn, is 4 years old now, but has already lost his dad and his two brothers, which were rescued from the same place.

 

[Liv]

All furry breeds have the same chance of of living to a good old age.

Good, I want to believe that! I still wish they could all live longer, though. It's always so hard to say goodbye.

 

[Wiebke]

Good, I want to believe that! I still wish they could all live longer, though. It's always so hard to say goodbye.

It never gets any easier or less painful although you get better at dealing with grieving process over time. I try to live by the maxim to give mine a good life every day as I cannot control how long they will live. The time they have got to spend here with me is a daily blessing - whether that is just a few weeks or most of their lives, and whether they come here as babies or as pensioners. In can't control how long they live and what they ultimately die from. As long as I know that I have given them happiness and spared them any unnecessary suffering, I am very sad when they go, but I can let them go without feeling bad about it. Each piggy is unique, and so is each bond.

PS: I have grown up with guinea pigs and have had them for a number of years as an adult, too.

 

[Liv]

It never gets any easier or less painful although you get better at dealing with grieving process over time. I try to live by the maxim to give mine a good life every day as I cannot control how long they will live. The time they have got to spend here with me is a daily blessing - whether that is just a few weeks or most of their lives, and whether they come here as babies or as pensioners. In can't control how long they live and what they ultimately die from. As long as I know that I have given them happiness and spared them any unnecessary suffering, I am very sad when they go, but I can let them go without feeling bad about it. Each piggy is unique, and so is each bond.

PS: I have grown up with guinea pigs and have had them for a number of years as an adult, too.

I was also very lucky to grow up with guinea pigs and they taught me a lot about grief and letting go. It is incredibly rewarding to make a positive difference in an animal's life. Seeing them do happy piggy things is so heartwarming