No Relationship Between Perceived Health Anomalies and Perceived Experimental Success in Retired Breeder Male Hartley Albino Guinea Pigs

ABSTRACT Guinea pigs used in our laboratory for cardiac research sometimes exhibit physical abnormalities. These issues may abate or intensify during the time they are housed in our facility. After using a guinea pig for research, experimentalists note the apparent health of an animal based on visible features and/or abnormal electrophysiology of the heart. There was an existing anecdotal observation that the health of the Guinea Pigs, and subsequently the experimental success rate, had a seasonal variation; therefore we sought to determine if there is a time of year in which our guinea pigs are more likely to be perceived as unhealthy, and whether any determined monthly pattern correlates with an experimentalist’s ability to complete an experimental protocol. An electronic log was created to record the perceived health of the animal and the ability to complete the experiment successfully. Irregular symptoms included, but were not limited to, severe weight or hair loss and irregularities with the heart found post thoracotomy or during baseline electrophysiological recordings of whole-heart preparations. Animals that did not exhibit significant weight or hair loss, or other ailments were considered “healthy”. Overall, our results indicate that there are no monthly variations in perceived Hartley Albino guinea pig health or correlations with experimental completion rates, suggesting mild hair or weight loss that is common when shipping animals may not significantly affect the ability to conduct ex vivo whole-heart electrophysiological studies.