HEALTH CARE FILE
Guinea Pigs should live for approximately 4 to 7 years, perhaps even longer, but in order to have a good quality of life they need to be well cared for. Providing them with clean dry warm accommodation, the correct food, and plenty of exercise, with a wee place to hide if they feel the need to, plus lots of love and handling is the best start.

To make sure your gps stay healthy you must check them thoroughly every day, and the best way to do this is to handle them daily, so that any signs that all is not well will be picked up very quickly. Remember to always wash your hands before and after handling your gps. It's important to to know how your gp looks when its healthy, in order to recognise anything out of the ordinary, either with its appearance or behaviour.

Healthy gps have a good appetite, drink well and should be active and noisy, and always happy to see you, it usually means wee treats for them.

Basic signs of illness are a dull expression, sunken eyes, listlessness, lack of appetite and thirst. More noticeable signs are sneezing, coughing, wheezing, a nasal discharge which may be rubbed off on front feet, and reddened hot ears which indicate fever. Any of these symptoms requires medical attention quickly.

Any sign of diarrhoea or convulsions is also very serious, as is heat sickness this can kill a gp very quickly because they have no sweat glands to perspire and reduce their body temperature. Signs of this such as panting, lying on the side or flat out on their belly, drooling with white tears in the eyes, are classic symptoms of overheating, act quickly by cooling the gp in lukewarm water then visit the vet as soon as possible.

To prevent your piggie from becoming sick follow the simple steps below:

Each day when you let your gp out the cage to exercise:-

1. Check your gp's coat is in good condition, gently move the fur so you can see the skin below, the fur should feel soft, with no unpleasant smell, remember to check its tummy and between the back legs. If there is any matting on the fur, or a whiff of smelliness, give your gp a gentle wipe down with a soft sponge dipped in lukewarm water, check that there is no wound causing the offensive smell, if there is take your pet to the vet.
You can avoid skin problems if you bathe your gps on a monthly basis, you can buy a special anti-fungal shampoo designed for gps, work it well into the coat, then rinse off all the soap thoroughly. If your gps have mites (fleas) you must use an anti-parasitic shampoo, these shampoos can be bought from most petstores, making sure to work the lather well behind the ears, and slightly on the tips of the ears, ( be very careful not to get soap inside the ears) if you dont cover all these areas correctly your gp could be re-infested within days.
However the mite which causes a Sellnick infestation cannot be treated in such a way, and requires proper vetinerary intervention as the condition is life-threatening, if not treated or prevented.
As I have stated before, if in doubt about any aspects of your gps health or diet requirements, please get proper medical help and advice via your local vet.

1.1. All male gps (boars) may have a sticky patch of fur on the base of their backs, this is due to the grease gland they have here, which they use to mark their scent, so if this patch of fur is very sticky with sawdust or similar sticking to it, you can give it a quick wipe with a moist soapy sponge.

2. Lots of animal books recommend that you weigh your gp every week, if your gp has gained weight, you could be feeding it to much, or its not getting enough exercise. Or if your gp is losing weight and not eating very well then that's a sure sign that its ill.

2.1. Personally we did not bother weighing our two wee darlings to often, Sophie was definitely overweight, she was a compulsive eater, we did try to give less food, but it usually meant poor Leia lost out, as Sophie ate twice as fast as Leia.

3. Check your gp's ears, they should look clean with no bite marks or scabs on them, if you have two or more gps living together you may perhaps notice small bite marks etc, on their ears, don't worry to much if it looks clean and heals quickly, again if there is a smell or a discharge or both, then medical help will be required.

4. Examine your gp's eyes, they should be bright and shiny, you can avoid eye problems by being very careful which type of sawdust you use, ( large shredded sawdust will be the safest to buy) very fine sawdust particles can block the teat duct. Sometimes a skin complaint near the eye can end up with the gp accidentally scratching the eye surface, if there is a cut visible on the eye, an antibiotic eye ointment will be needed, apply to the eye until it clears up, keeping a close watch on this in case an abscess develops, if there is any discoloration of the eye, or your not happy with the injury, get the vet to look at it.

5. Check the gp's teeth, to do this put your gp on its back on your lap, hold it firmly till it settles down, most gps do not like to be put on their backs like this, its not natural for them so they may wriggle a lot, once they have settled, gently pull the lips back to reveal the teeth, make sure the front or incisor teeth are not overgrown. If they are they will need cut by a vet or someone experienced in this, it isn't painful and is quickly done, to prevent the teeth overgrowing give your gp a gnawing block such as a piece of thick twig or a log with the bark left on.  Hard foods such as Brussels sprouts and most root vegetables will help the wearing-down process.

6. Look at your gp's claws by gently picking up each foot between your finger and thumb, to see the length, if they are curling sideways they are needing trimmed, this can be done with a pair of clippers bought from any pet shop. It is usually safer to watch an expert do this the first time, then you can try to clip their claws yourself the next time, but if you feel afraid or unsure, get someone else to do it for you.

6.1. We took Sophie and Leia to the vet the first time their claws were needing clipped, it only took a couple of minutes, and cost us £6.00, (£3.00 each), we decided that it would cost to much to take them back to the vet every time, so Mum started clipping but the girlies played up every time, they kept pulling their feet away, so it took Mum a lot longer.

7. Your gp should be alert and move about in a normal way, if your gp has a sudden loss of balance, holds its head to one side, and perhaps goes round in circles, unable to walk in a straight line, it could be showing symptoms of middle ear disease, then urgent medical help is required.

8. Have you noticed your gp eating its own droppings, yes so have we, gross or what, but there is a perfectly normal reason for this. Protein is what the gp is absorbing, and its called Coprophagy, apparently the protein content is essential for the gp's health. It's perfectly natural and they wont transmit diseases by doing so, so don't get to upset by this, gp's are doing what comes naturally.

If I have failed to mention any conditions regarding gps health, sign my guestbook and let me know and I will add it to this page.