I’ve been sick

Opiggy

Opiggy

Junior Guinea Pig
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For the past week I have been sick and I avoid touching or being near my pigs because I know they have sensitive respiratory systems. However because of this while I have been sick all I have done is feed them and clean their cage at the end of the day. Do you think they are ok after such little interaction. And how much interaction should they have normally when you am not sick.
 
This guide helps explains what can pass between species and what is highly unlikely to pass between species.
If you have a cold, then the chances of you passing anything to them is incredibly low.

Wiebke

Thread 'Contagion - Inter-species transmission and pet care during owner illness/pregnancy (incl. Covid)'

1 Covid and Monkey pox Tansmission Risk Assessment re. Guinea Pigs
- Covid
- Monkey pox
2 Ill owners: Contagion and Transmission Risks
3 Human Pregnancy or Immuno-depression and Guinea Pig Care
4 Transmission of Illnesses Between Guinea Pigs and Other Pet Species (Zoonosis)
- Ringworm (multispecies)
- Bordetella (from dogs or rabbits)
- E.cuniculi (from rabbits)
- Fly strike (eggs/maggots from...
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In terms of are they ok with little interaction.
Yes they are absolutely fine. They get their essential companionship from each other,
not from humans. Of course they doesn’t mean to say you would want to not interact with them at all, it’s just that as long as their basic needs are met, they are absolutely fine with you not cuddling them etc
 
Opiggy said:
For the past week I have been sick and I avoid touching or being near my pigs because I know they have sensitive respiratory systems. However because of this while I have been sick all I have done is feed them and clean their cage at the end of the day. Do you think they are ok after such little interaction. And how much interaction should they have normally when you am not sick.
Click to expand...

Hi

Hi

I m very sorry that you have been badly ill.

You have done the sensible thing that we do recommend. Don't go and cuddle or kiss your piggies when you are ill with an infection There are a few things that can potentially transmit. Strep throat, salmonella, potentially norovirus... Guinea pigs don't get flu, but they can die from streptococcus and pneumoccus infections (virulent pneumonia) as well as bordetella (kennel cough) from dogs with fatal consquences.

Your piggies have each other for round the clock company and they will get used to picking up their normal routine again quickly. It is OK to just have them ticking over while you are very poorly.
Mine had to do that for two weeks while I was very ill with Covid and needed a sit down and rest twice just for cutting a whole cucumber into enough slices. But they all survived the experience!


Interaction with humans can be a lot more than just cuddling sessions (which can be somewhat boring for piggies) and happen on many different levels when you make the effort to enter their world instead of just them your world. :)
Wiebke

Thread 'Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs'

1 Company and interaction
- Company of their own kind is the best enrichment
- Human interaction
2 Excercise
- Daily run time and exercise
- Race and obstacle courses
- Outdoors time and how to bring it indoors
3 Sensory enrichment
- Things for the nose and the palate
- Working to get their daily food
- Romping and burrowing in soft...
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We do have a very helpful New Owners information collection into which over 15 years with literally tens and tens of thousands of questions have gone into plus ownership that in some cases dates back half a century have gone into. You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read again as you will pick up on different things at different levels of experience.
Wiebke

Thread 'Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners'


Contents Overview
1 What This Collection Is About
2 Guinea Pigs as Pets
- Family and Classroom Pets
- Sourcing Your Guinea Pigs, Common Pitfalls and Your Customer Rights
- Pet Owners with Anxiety: Practical Tips for Sufferers and Supporters
- Naming your Guinea Pigs and Finding Out the Breed
- Guinea Pigs as a Species: Facts, Development and Social Aspects...
 
Alright! Thanks so much! Also one of my pigs has recently been have a weird wet cough that I hear like once a day I’m not always in the room with them so maybe it happens more. It happens when I give them food I think he is just eating to fast
 
Opiggy said:
Alright! Thanks so much! Also one of my pigs has recently been have a weird wet cough that I hear like once a day I’m not always in the room with them so maybe it happens more. It happens when I give them food I think he is just eating to fast
Click to expand...

That sounds like a typical greedy eater cough and is nothing to worry about. ;)

Make sure that you look after yourself as you recover.
 
As long as piggies have their basic needs met (fed, watered, poop pick - although this isn't essential if you feel so bad you can't do it) they will be fine. They have each other for stimulation and to chat to.
 
Sorry you haven’t been well.
Hope you are much better now.
I echo the advice and reassurance given about your piggies.
 
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