Guinea pigs eat and drink a lot. If you are a guinea pig owner, you would know that they always need something to munch on. While we provide a constant supply of hay to our piggies, they may still look for other things to chew on. Guinea pig owners often complain about their furry friends eating the bedding, substrate, plastic, card boxes, etc. Similarly, if you have placed a guinea pig peed pad, in your piggies’ cage, chances are they will chew on it—perhaps they have eaten a chunk of it. And that is why you are here on this post “guinea pig eating pee pad.”
Discovering your guinea pigs have eaten corners of the pee pad could freak you out, at first. But if you share your query on online guinea pig forums or consult a veterinarian, you will know that your piggies are not alone. Every other pet guinea pig has eaten something that they were not supposed to eat at some stage of their life.
Most of these times, guinea pigs turn out to be just fine. They might have experienced some level of tummy troubles and showed minor signs of sickness in the form of a change in pee color, or poop color and consistency; but most of the time, these signs subsided within 12 to 24 hours and piglets were just fine.
So, you should stop panicking, calm yourself down, and continue reading. In this article, we are going to discuss what can you do if your piglet has eaten a pee pad and how you can avoid it.
Guinea Pig Has Eaten Pee Pad: Should I Be Worried?
Guinea pig eating pee pads is a common occurrence. Most of the time, guinea pigs remain unaffected, especially when the amount of pee pad consumed is very small. In case your guinea pig has eaten more than a nibble of pee pad, they may experience gastrointestinal upset for about 12 to 24 hours. The guinea pig poop and pee color might change in this case, showing your guinea is sick.
If the guinea pig has eaten way too much of the pee pad, it would be a guinea pig emergency and you should immediately take your guinea pig to a veterinarian. You might also want to take the pee pad or its packaging with you so that the vet could see if any harmful element was used in its manufacturing.
Guinea Pigs Can’t Vomit! Due to a lesser muscular diaphragm, they are just unable to push the food upward to their throat. On top of that, their longer esophagus also makes it hard for guinea pigs to throw up.
Guinea Chewing on Pee Pad: What Should You Do?
- First things first, you need to relax. Panicking won’t do any good.
- If your guinea pig has eaten only a small amount of the pee pad, you should not worry.
- You should closely observe your guinea pig for about 12 to 24 hours.
- Note if there are any changes in the guinea pig poop or pee color.
- If the signs of sickness do not subside within 12 to 24 hours, take your guinea pig to a veterinarian.
- If your guinea pig has eaten a large amount of the pee pad, you should immediately take them to a veterinarian.
- Never try to induce vomiting in guinea pigs. There is no way to induce vomiting in guinea pigs.
How Can You Stop Guinea Pig From Eating Pee Pads?
Guinea pig pee pads work wonders in taking care of all the guinea pig pee and keeping them dry and clean. Guinea pigs pee a lot; they pee about every 15 minutes. So keeping guinea pigs and their cage clean is a hectic task for guinea pig owners. And if you slack a little, the pee would start producing ammonia, making your guinea pigs smell (they don’t usually smell).
With a guinea pig pee pad, you don’t have to worry about cleaning your guinea cage clean over and over again. The pee pad soaks up all the pee and keeps your guinea dry and the cage clean. In short, guinea pig pee pads are important for an ideal guinea pig cage setup. So, you just cannot go on to remove the pad from the cage on discovering that your guinea pig likes to chew on the pee pad.
Here’s what you can do to prevent your guinea pig from eating a pee pad.
- Tuck the edges of the pee pad under or cover it with the bedding. With this, there is always a chance that the guinea pig would burrow under the bedding and finds its way to the pee pad.
- To stop piglets from burrowing underneath the fleece, you can try to fix it with bulky items or secure it with clips to the side of the correx.
- Cover the pee pad with a kitchen roll or cardboard—the guinea pig would eat it instead but it is all fibers and won’t harm your piglets.
- You can make a fleece cover for the pee pads. Here is how:
- Take two fleeces and sew them together, with one side open.
- Slip the pee pad inside the cover.
- Close the open side using a flap that goes under the fleece.
- You should also try changing the pee pad brand. It might be the pheromones in the pee pad that is making your piglet go crazy for it.
- If you are unable to find a way to prevent your guinea pig from eating the pee pad, you can remove it from the cage and use cotton towels instead.
