The Laboratory Guinea Pig

Abstract

Guinea pig is considered as a symbol of a scientific experiment. Guinea pig is more popular as a pet animal than a research model these days. However, these animals are still popular among the research community as an excellent model for tuberculosis, asthma, scurvy, and otology-related research. This chapter covers the important as well as unique anatomical as well as physiological details of guinea pigs useful for researchers, students, and veterinarians. The important features of the digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular, urogenital, and nervous systems have been covered. This chapter also covers the housing and husbandry requirement of guinea pigs. The husbandry part covers the important and key aspects of reproduction, housing, and nutrition. Major anatomical and physiological differences with other species of laboratory animals have also been explained under different sections.