Are Guinea Pigs Suitable Pets for You?
Before committing to owning any pet, we need to understand if we can provide what they need for a good quality of life and to strive to allow them their best lives. The pages on this website will help you to better understand whether you should take on the responsibility of guinea pig ownership. The Kind to Cavies Start-up Plan, devised as a type of tick-list, will help to ensure you have thought through guinea pig ownership, from whether you have the right space, through to finding a petsitter (more on petsitting on here).
Guinea pigs are a long-term responsibility
It is important to say at this point that properly caring for piggies is higher maintenance than generally appreciated. A common belief is that they require less care because they are smaller than cats and dogs, but this isn't the case. There is lots of cleaning and general care involved; diet needs to be appropriate and high in quality; they can experience sudden rapid deterioration in their clinical condition and health issues can become very complicated, requiring complex veterinary investigation and long-term treatment, which can become very costly - think consultation fees, scans, medicine, surgery....pet plans and insurance are very wise choices! Guinea pigs can live a long time - many live to between six and eight years of age, some much longer. When sick, they require a lot of investment in terms of your time, care and funds. I have cancelled a holiday before now in order to to care for a very poorly piggy. Do you already have, or plan to get other pets in the future? Guinea pigs are prey animals - cats and dogs are predatory species so consider whether you are able to keep your piggies safe from fear or predation.
Responsibility for guinea pig welfare belongs to grown-ups
Although guinea pigs are commonly thought of as great children's pets, unless grown-ups really want piggies too, I would not recommend them pets for kids. The responsibility and legal duty for the wellbeing of any pets belongs to adults. Children can lose interest in caring for small pets and are not always able to judge when an animal needs to be left alone - not all guinea pigs like being handled for example. Long-term, loud noise levels could cause piggies to become scared and withdrawn, so careful thought is needed regarding whether you have quiet space in your home for them. To protect delicate piggy bodies, children need to be supervised and sitting when handling piggies. If handling is not done safely, piggies can jump and fall, or be dropped, causing injuries or worse. They should be picked up slowly and gently, no grabbing, scruffing or squeezing. Provide full support under the front and back of the body. Fully-supported, they can then be held safely cradled against the body or sitting on the lap. In the UK, we have a legal obligation to provide our pets' needs under the Animal Welfare Act (2006).
Not sure?
If you aren't sure about becoming owners for companion guinea pigs, fostering guinea pigs could be an option; local/national animal charities, for example the RSPCA (England, UK), offers fostering opportunities. The other alternative is to sponsor rescue guinea pigs to continue learning more about them.