Guinea Pig Awareness Week (GPAW) is a week of activities dedicated to improving the health and welfare of guinea pigs.

This year the theme is the three C’s, Comfort, Care and Companionship.

Comfort:

Whether your guinea pigs live indoors or outdoors, in terms of their living space, the RSPCA advises that your piggies need the following:

A secure space that’s large enough for them to exercise and high enough to stand up fully on their back legs – a minimum of 1.5m length x 1m width for a pair or trio.

A secure shelter where they can rest, feel safe and protected from predators and extremes of weather and temperature.

If you’re keeping your guinea pigs outside, their hutch should be sheltered from direct sun and wind. In temperatures below 15°C, you may need to bring them inside unless they have a weatherproof enclosure.

If you’re keeping your guinea pigs indoors, they’ll need accommodation that’s well-ventilated and away from direct heat sources (such as radiators or sunny windows) and draughts. Room temperatures of 15-20°C are ideal.

A great way to keep your guinea pigs feeling safe is to provide them with plenty of tunnels and hiding places in their housing

Guinea pigs like to play, so make sure there are plenty of toys in their housing. This is also good exercise and important for their physical health.

Care:

Ensure that your guinea pigs are protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease.

Check their teeth regularly to make sure they aren’t overgrown, as their teeth grow continuously. Feeding them a high fibre diet can prevent tooth overgrowth and subsequent complications.

Always make sure flooring is covered with soft, comfortable material, to prevent pododermatitis, which are pressure sores that can develop on the soles of their feet from walking on hard surfaces.

Guinea pigs are herbivores which means they are entirely vegetarian and need high levels of fibre in their diet.

Fibre keeps their digestive systems and their teeth healthy. Feeding lots of good quality feeding hay is the best way to ensure your guinea pigs are getting enough fibre in their diet.

Guinea pigs can’t make their own vitamin C, so they this supplemented in their diet. Guinea pigs need vitamin C for healthy skin, joints and blood vessels.

Move away from Muesli! If your guinea pigs are currently on a muesli style diet, it would be best to transition them over to a nugget diet.

Guinea pigs are also natural foragers, so a great way to keep them entertained is to hide food

Foods to avoid include Iceberg lettuce, mushrooms, potatoes, avocado, onions, garlic, muesli and nuts & seeds

Companionship:

Guinea pigs should not live alone as they love the company of other guinea pigs. Single sex groups or pairs are ideal, and littermates make the best companions. Male and female guinea pigs can live together but to avoid your guinea pigs mating, it is important to have the male neutered first

Guinea pigs might be small, but their personalities are not! They are gentle but are full of life and character! Understanding guinea pig behaviours will help you have a great relationship with them.

If you have any questions about looking after your guinea pigs or if you are thinking about getting guinea pigs as a pet and would like some advice, then we are here to help.

Contact us on 01606880890 or 01606717969 or visit https://guineapigalliance.com/guinea-pig-care-guide for more information.

Is your dog worried when coming to the vets? We know that visiting the vets can be a stressful experience for some patients. New smells, sounds and strangers can be overwhelming. Here at Hollybank Vets, our Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVNs) run free socialisation clinics to help your dog get used to coming to visit, and hopefully realise it isn’t such a scary place to be!

Our socialisation clinics are short, positive visits where nothing ‘scary’ will happen. This can reduce stress for future visits from routine health checks, to emergency visits ensuring your dog can get the treatment they need without additional worry.

Your dog will get to spend some time with an RVN and explore the consult room at their own pace. Some dogs won’t make it into the consult room on their first visit and may prefer to stay in the waiting room. We can practice getting on the scales, enjoy lots of treats or even play with some toys.

As your dog becomes more comfortable with the sessions, our RVNs will introduce new experiences, such as listening with the stethoscope, pretending to give an injection and checking their ears, all in preparation for when they come for a real vet visit.

We recommend coming monthly for the socialisation clinics as too often can be overwhelming, but if leaving too long between visits, then your dog can forget the progress they have made.

Meet Freddie: A 5-year-old border collie that has been coming to visit our RVN Alicia.

“We noticed Freddie was timid coming to the vets when he was younger, so we suggested delaying his castration and working on him being more confident. Castrating a nervous dog can sometimes make them more anxious, as testosterone helps give them confidence.

Freddie had become very wary about being examined so he started coming for monthly socialisation clinics, where we have been working on getting him more comfortable coming into the vets, being examined and having his vaccinations.

He is now happy coming into reception and the consulting rooms to have a fuss and some treats, Freddie loves gravy bones! He also enjoys playing fetch and tug of war with us. We have slowly worked up to getting him used to his chest being touched and putting the stethoscope on him and are working on simulating an injection (without the needle).

Freddie’s owners have also been great with him at home, working on muzzle training in case he needs to wear one. They even have a stethoscope to help desensitise him to having his heart listened to.”

If you think your dog would benefit from a socialisation clinic then please contact us on 01606 880 890 or 01606 717 969