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2) Lethargy
Is your cavy curled up in a corner all the time? Do they move around slowly and show little interest in playing? These are signs of illness.
3) Bathroom problems
After a week or so, you should be familiar with how your pet’s feces and urine look. If the urine becomes very white and cloudy or the feces watery, these are serious signs and you need to consult a vet.
Other clear signs of illness are strange wheezing noises, discharge for the eyes and/or nose and hair loss.
Here are some explanations for the symptoms you may see in your guinea pig.
Urine/Feces Problems
If you see signs of diarrhea your pet may be seriously ill and could easily dehydrate. On the other hand, they may just be reacting to a new food or too many leafy greens. (In some cases, antibiotics can cause diarrhea.) When a quick check determines that they have not had a food change or leafy greens recently, then a call or visit to the vet is definitely called for. Should you decide that the problem might be diet based, wait forty-eight hours to see if the situation improves with adding more hay to the guinea pig’s diet. If the problem persists, call or go to see your vet. The animal may have a bacterial infection.
Constipation in guinea pigs is less common but might occur. If you notice that your cavy is having trouble going to the bathroom, add more produce and leafy greens to their diet.
Any type of bleeding, from the rectum or anywhere else is a sign that you need to see the vet.
Too much calcium in a guinea pig’s diet can lead to kidney stones. You can detect a calcium overload if you see that the animal’s urine is a white milky color. If the urine is pink, then it has blood in it and signals bladder or kidney problems. Again, call a vet right away.
Hair Loss/Skin Rashes
Loss of hair, dry scalp or scaly skin indicates a serious problem in guinea pigs. Here are some explanations for these symptoms.
Lice and mites live in guinea pig hair and skin. Check their scalp and skin for signs of lice, which look like tiny white worms. Mites show up as small bumps along strands of hair. Ordinary fur mites are relatively harmless, though they do cause itching and eventual scratching that might make hair fall out. When faced with this sort of problem, ask your vet for the right kind of shampoo to use and follow the bathing instructions in the previous chapter. Bathe all of your guinea pigs even if only one of them shows signs of lice or mites. Also, clean out the cage thoroughly.
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