Nutrition, health and welfare of Norwegian pet guinea pigs

Abstract

We examined aspects of husbandry, health and welfare of pet guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus, GP) in Norway. An online questionnaire (with 100 questions) was completed by 284 GP owners. Crossbreeds were the most common (36.6%). Most GPs were between one and four years of age (67.2%). The sex ratio was about 50-50%. Animals were mainly housed indoors (64.1%) and only nine GPs had less space than 0.72 m2. The incidence of stereotypic or negative behaviours was low. Nearly all GPs (93.3%) had ad libitum access to hay. Complete extruded or pelleted feeds were most commonly fed (80.6%). Almost 60% of the participants reported that their GP is fed fresh vegetables daily which may explain why 63.7% of the respondents never fed vitamin C supplements. Ectoparasites (21.1%) were the most prevalent health problems, followed by coughing and/or sneezing (19.7%), abscesses (12.7%), and overgrown nails (11.6%). The only significant associations were that GPs over 3 years had more than two simultaneous health problems (P < 0.005). Ovarian cysts were also more frequent among these animals (P < 0.005). The most commonly utilized source of husbandry information was the internet (80.3%).