Guinea Pigs are cuddly pets that are full of personality and excitement. They live for around 7-9 years and unlike pets like dogs, rabbits, or cats, guinea pigs need minimal grooming though they are simple to care for.
Grooming your guinea pig is also a good way to interact with them and bond with your pet. It is also the time when you get to examine your pet for changes in its overall health.
Your furry pet needs to feel secure when you’re handling it and grooming it. I wrote a guide to learn how to trim your cavy nails without getting a bite.
Guinea Pig grooming includes nail trimming, brushing the coat, and occasional bathing. A lot of the guinea pig owners have noticed that with a bit of training, they were easily able to learn how to groom their guinea pigs at home.
It can be easily understood how often you should be grooming your pet and what will make grooming your pet easier. Here are some basic essential checks and tips on the areas you should groom.
Why do you need to groom your guinea pig?
Generally, a well-groomed guinea pig is a happy guinea pig, and this is my complete guide to raising the perfect pet with love. No hair in its eyes, clear skin and fur, well-clipped nails, and nicely cleaned teeth, all these make for a guinea pig that is comfortable and well-behaved.
However, adverse side effects can occur if you neglect to groom your pet. If you don’t tend to your guinea pig’s grooming needs on a regular basis, a number of issues may arise which will result in expensive vet bills and aggressive behavior of your pet.
Not grooming your guinea pig regularly can lead to a lot of serious situations like:
- Long hair can lead to a variety of skin issues and discomfort. Hair hanging over your furry pal’s eyes might restrict vision and alter its capabilities and behavior. If they aren’t brushed or washed regularly, your pet might suffer matting which can be excruciatingly painful.
- Overgrown nails are very painful as long nails can grow into paw pads and cause infections. Long nails will cause your guinea pig’s toes to bend and create discomfort. This is a cheap nice nails clipper that I use personally.
- Double coating from irregular brushing can lead to extra coating while your pet can also suffer heatstroke stress.
- Grass seeds, if not detected while grooming can lead to severe infection and even abscesses. A lot of cases have occurred where guinea pigs had to lose an eye because of undetected grass seed.
- If not groomed regularly, your pet might have dental diseases that can lead to teeth loss, bad breath, reduced appetite, and more. If untreated, it can even lead to organ damage.
- Fleas, mites, and ticks are common parasites that can prove to be fatal for your pet. These parasites thrive on the bodies of pets that are dirty and aren’t groomed properly.
All these issues are detrimental to your guinea pig’s mental wellbeing as they can cause great discomfort and pain to their bodies. By grooming your guinea pig regularly, you can improve your pet’s mental and physical health.
Benefits of grooming your Guinea Pig
- A guinea pig that looks nice and smells nice all the time will be free from any discomfort and it will behave well.
- Grooming reduces the risk of skin, ear, eye, teeth, and nail infection while also ensuring your pet is pain-free and disease-free.
- Grooming your pet yourself or taking it to a vet for grooming will make it more used to being handled by others. It will make your guinea pig feel less stressed during vet checks.
- Grooming also leads to increased sociability as it becomes a positive experience for both you and your guinea pig.
- Reduces the medical bills as grooming your guinea pig regularly will prevent diseases and any underlying health issues.
Grooming your guinea pig can also be a time for you to lovingly bond with your pet. Now you can enjoy taking care of your guinea pig while adopting a few of the above mentioned tips for a healthy and happy pet.
Lydia King is a huge animal lover and has always been fascinated with learning about the animal kingdom. She enjoys writing about anything animal related from scientific information about rare species to animal references in pop culture.
