Running like a rabbit

[Black piggies]

I'm getting to know a new guinea pig, silver agouti ridgeback. I had 7 piggies as a child and she's my 4th as an adult. All previous pigs were standard short hair.

All my other pigs have run like a dog, alternating legs. My new pig runs like a rabbit, 2 front paws down, then 2 back paws down etc. Vet says her legs are fine.

Is this a normal variation in piggies? Are agouti's part bunny? Or maybe she was in a small hutch before being at the rescue, and didn't learn to run Just curious

 

[Wiebke]

I'm getting to know a new guinea pig, silver agouti ridgeback. I had 7 piggies as a child and she's my 4th as an adult. All previous pigs were standard short hair.

All my other pigs have run like a dog, alternating legs. My new pig runs like a rabbit, 2 front paws down, then 2 back paws down etc. Vet says her legs are fine.

Is this a normal variation in piggies? Are agouti's part bunny? Or maybe she was in a small hutch before being at the rescue, and didn't learn to run Just curious

Hi!

Your other piggies are trotting while your new piggy is galloping at full speed. Just a different gear and nothing to do with breed and especially not with rabbits, which are not even classed as rodents (they are classed in their own order as lagomorphs together with hares and pika).

But when running at top speed, piggies use their back legs as springs, the way bunnies and a number of other unrelated species do - kangaroos are the very extreme of this very economic long distance at high speed way of running. It is the efficiency of the movement that has been independently discovered by different four-legged species needing to cover distances on the ground but not in more enclosed tunnels or gaining safety by climbing and jumping, like squirrels do.

The wild ancestor species of our domesticated guinea pigs (deliberately bred out ca. 3000-6000 years ago as farm/food animals in South America) are agouti coloured to help them blend into the dense undergrowth.

It is not quite as pronounced because guinea pigs are designed to live in thick undergrowth and move in a single column along established paths whereas rabbits are more out cropping out in the open and and need to use their top speed more in order to evade predators; this means that their back legs are much shorter than those of bunnies but the principle is the same.

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

As @Wiebke says, if she is using her hind legs together like a rabbit when running at top speed, this is a natural movement but if she is bunny hopping all the time, even when going at a slower pace, it is a sign that something isn't quite right, it can be the result of arthritis in knees, hips, spine, etc, or some other damage in these areas, or can be caused by some kind of abdominal pain or discomfort.

 

[Wiebke]

Bunny hopping instead of walking is a sign of illness or pain; it can also be a symptom of scurvy.
Does she walk normally or is she constantly hopping? You are mentioning only running.

 

[RosieLily]

Your piggy may be galloping, but like mentioned above, it could be a sign of pain. My Rosie was “bunny-hopping” when she was in pain due to bloat. Medicine fixed her up quickly.

 

[Black piggies]

Thanks, very interesting info in the replies!
I don't think I've seen her run full pelt. She walks normally and the hop is when she's going very slightly faster. A month ago local vet removed large ominous cancer from dewlap and a few days ago Simon at Northampton gave antibiotics for possible URI. Both vets checked her over and feel she's looking pretty good at the moment. She's starting 0.3ml loxicom twice a day so that might help. She has good nuggets and veg, she won't need vitamin c drops as well? Could previous deficiency leave weak legs? She's about 3.
Thanks.

 

[weepweeps]

My personal experience with a piggy hopping like a rabbit was pain related. I’d get her checked over again just to be on the safe side.

 

[Black piggies]

OK thanks, as I say she has known issues re the possibility of secondaries and she's just been seen, but will book a checkup again soon. Maybe get a video of it for the vet. Many thanks.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks, very interesting info in the replies!
I don't think I've seen her run full pelt. She walks normally and the hop is when she's going very slightly faster. A month ago local vet removed large ominous cancer from dewlap and a few days ago Simon at Northampton gave antibiotics for possible URI. Both vets checked her over and feel she's looking pretty good at the moment. She's starting 0.3ml loxicom twice a day so that might help. She has good nuggets and veg, she won't need vitamin c drops as well? Could previous deficiency leave weak legs? She's about 3.
Thanks.

Hi!

Hopping when walking instead of trotting is NOT normal. But I must admit if Simon can't find anything amiss, then I am stumped! Have you mentioned the hopping instead of walking or have you just described it as the same 'running' issue as in this thread? It makes a difference in perception.
PS: Simon wouldn't have missed other symptoms of scurvy.

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

Thanks, very interesting info in the replies!
I don't think I've seen her run full pelt. She walks normally and the hop is when she's going very slightly faster. A month ago local vet removed large ominous cancer from dewlap and a few days ago Simon at Northampton gave antibiotics for possible URI. Both vets checked her over and feel she's looking pretty good at the moment. She's starting 0.3ml loxicom twice a day so that might help. She has good nuggets and veg, she won't need vitamin c drops as well? Could previous deficiency leave weak legs? She's about 3.
Thanks.

If she had vitamin C deficiency in her previous home it may have damaged the cartilage, even if there are no other signs of scurvy, which can take a while to repair. I would ask the vet if they think this is a possibility

 

[Black piggies]

Hi!

Hopping when walking instead of trotting is NOT normal. But I must admit if Simon can't find anything amiss, then I am stumped! Have you mentioned the hopping instead of walking or have you just described it as the same 'running' issue as in this thread? It makes a difference in perception.
PS: Simon wouldn't have missed other symptoms of scurvy.

I didn't mention it to Simon because the local vet said her legs are fine and there was a lot to discuss with her recent cancer op. Both vets thought she was in good form generally.
OK.. I am going to do better observations of whether she's "hopping when walking instead of trotting". She has a long tunnel in her cage and I think she runs normally down that. But going about the cage she seems lollopy to me. Will get a video to show vet if she's hopping when walking. Thanks

Amazing rabbits aren't rodents!

 

[Wiebke]

I didn't mention it to Simon because the local vet said her legs are fine and there was a lot to discuss with her recent cancer op. Both vets thought she was in good form generally.
OK.. I am going to do better observations of whether she's "hopping when walking instead of trotting". She has a long tunnel in her cage and I think she runs normally down that. But going about the cage she seems lollopy to me. Will get a video to show vet if she's hopping when walking. Thanks

Amazing rabbits aren't rodents!

If you could get a video to show to the vets, that would be great and could help them assess the issue.

PS: A rabbit gut looks more similar to that of a horse than that of a guinea pig... Biology is full of surprises!

 

[Black piggies]

I'm googling photos of that, learn something new every day! My son has had impaction so I'm interested in gut systems lol.