hello everyone. Wondering if anyone on here knows about guinea pig & allergies. Someone told me they were worse than cats and my daughter (who wants a gp) is severely allergic to cats. Anyone have insight? Also, how badly do they stink? LOL. We have a 125 lb. dog and fish. We've had hermit crabs before. I've had iguanas in college. But, this is new territory as an animal goes. Also, how kid friendly are they? I have 11 kids here minimum everyday. Thanks in advance. Stephanie--mom to 7
I severely allergic to cats as well (not to mention dogs and rabbits - I have both). Cats are by far my worst allergy. We had a guinea pig and a hamster growing up. We learned, very quickly, that I was actually allergic to the cedar shavings in the cage. We switched to pine bedding and it got quite a bit better then we discovered the other stuff available - I think its called critter care or something. Problem solved! **Also, you have to clean them several times a week to keep them from smelling!
Thanks for letting me know. She''s exceedingly clean (severe OCD) so not worried about the cleaning part. More worried about the "loosing interest" part. LOL. May have to try this guinea pig thing. Have a great weekend. Stephanie--mom to 7
My husband is very allergic to cats and we have had guinea pigs for years; they don't seem to bother him. As far as bedding, we have tried everything and I think the best odor control is this stuff at Petsmart called Soft Granule Bedding by Kaytee. It has a low dust level as well. You can take a cat litter scoop and scoop their cage out daily and I have even trained a few to use a litter box in the corner. But really as long as I changed their bedding weekly, washed the cage with soap and water, sprayed it with a vinegar/water solution and let it air dry, the odor wasn't bad. As far as friendliness, they all have their individual personalities. I think you would be good either getting a "used" one where the owner knows them well or a baby(maybe babies) you can handle a lot. They are not good for really little kids but fine with older ones as they are prey animals, so they are quite nervous. I like to have 2 at a time because they are very social animals. I really like them as pets; be prepared to have them squealing everytime you chop veggies or rattle a plastic bag though!
I learned 2 thIngs about GPs the hard way. 1. Yes, they can be very allergenic. Although as stated, not sure if it was actually the pet or bedding...it wasnt around long enough to find out. Which brings me to... 2. They dont have long life spans. We only had ours a few months. My son, the "animal whisperer" told me one evening Snowflake wasnt acting right. I wasnt about to take him to the overnight critter hospital! So i made a vet appt the next day, and Snowflake was dead by 11am when we went to take him to the vet. I have never, NEVER seen a child as upset as my son was that day. :cry:
It is true that they are delicate sometimes and it might be too late by the time they show that something is wrong. They are like many other animals in that they can't show weakness b/c they might be "picked off" or something. The average life span is probably 3-5 years. I say probably b/c 3 is on the lower end. My last one died at 5 and her companion is still around 1 year or so later. Sometimes they can go 7 years or even a little longer I think.
I have had cats all of my life with no problems with allergies. I got a Guinea Pig a couple of years ago and within a day I was sneezing and my eyes were running every time I picked it up. I had to take it back. You never know, she may not be allergic at all to the GP.
