guinea pig seems depressed

My Guinea Pig Seems Depressed. Symptoms and Solutions.

In Behavior by Ana M

When a guinea pig seems depressed, this can happen because of a variety of reasons. It is a common behavior among new guinea pigs, guinea pigs who just lost their companion or guinea pigs who are sick. We are going to discuss each of these reasons and talk about the solutions for keeping a guinea pig happy.

What are guinea pig depression symptoms?

The usual guinea pig depression symptoms include being lethargic and sluggish. Also, a guinea pig can stop eating, playing, start over grooming and become non-interested in the surrounding environment. Another striking sign of a depression in guinea pigs is when a piggy spends a lot of time sitting in one spot.

What is a guinea pig’s depression sound?

Many guinea pig owners have noticed that their pets are making a chirping noise when feeling sad. After a cage mate passes away, guinea pig tends to make this type of sound late at night.

guinea pig seems depressed

Are guinea pigs affectionate?

Guinea pigs are very affectionate animals. You can build a strong owner-pet relationship with time. They respond well to handling once becoming confident around you. Guinea pigs are very social indeed, that is why it is recommended to have two guinea pigs. Unfortunately, when one of the companions passes away, the other can feel sad, depressed and lonely.

Can a guinea pig sense sadness?

Although, there is no scientific proof that guinea pigs have similar emotions as us humans, many owners have noticed that piggies react to their owners emotions.

Moreover, guinea pigs are prey animals and can sense that the owner (who is meant to protect them) is scared or sad and feel the same way.

Why does my guinea pig have depression?

However, some pet owners are convinced that animals can’t mimic human emotions, depression defined as feeling lethargic and sluggish can be present due to multiple reasons.

These reasons are:

  • A newly adopted or bought guinea pig is feeling sad/depressed;
  • A guinea pig is feeling down after a cage partner died;
  • A guinea pig is ill or had an injury;

How to treat guinea pig’s depression?

The first step to cure guinea pig depression is to identify its cause. If you have noticed that a new guinea pig is feeling sad, then it is probably due to a stress and change of the environment.

Typically, a new guinea pig tends to hide and make rare appearances. Although it is normal for them to be skittish at first, if you noticed that a guinea pig is sleeping continuously and refuses to be petted, then a piggy might be depressed.

Moreover, a guinea pig who was in a group at the pet shop or a rescue, might feel lonely when you bring it home. Consider getting two guinea pigs from the same shop/rescue to minimize the stress.

To cure guinea pig depression, make sure that the cage is of optimal size, try switching things up, provide your pet with new toys and spend some quality time together.

– My guinea pig is feeling depressed after a companion has passed away, what can I do?

Guinea pigs are very social animals and are very affectionate towards each other. Hence, when one of them dies, it leaves a massive impact on the another guinea pig’s life.

One of the solutions is getting a new friend for a remaining guinea pig. There is no guarantee if your pet will accept a new friend, it solely depends on your guinea pig’s personality, but you might give it a try.

Guinea pig is feeling depressed because of the illness/injury.

Being depressed, lethargic, not active in combination with not eating food can indicate that your pet is ill or had an injury. In this case scenario you have to carefully assess other symptoms. Is your pet limping, not moving and refuses to eat? These symptoms can account for a bumble foot or overgrown toenails.

A loss of appetite along with the sluggish behavior can be a sign of the dental problems like malocclusion. To find more information on why your pet might have stopped eating, read this article.