Rearing orphan pups

Hand rearing a guinea pig pup can be an extremely rewarding experience but is not a job to be taken on lightly. The task ahead is difficult, exhausting and there is no guarantee of success. However hard you try, you are a poor substitute for a pups natural mother and despite the best efforts of human volunteers the death rate among orphaned pups is often high.

Guinea pig pups can require hand rearing if they are true orphans due to maternal death, or because the mother is unable to feed her pups. Pups only suckle a few times a day – they are left in the nest for the rest of the time and ignored by their mother. This avoids drawing attention to the nest (a survival strategy).

Assisting a mother guinea pig to feed can be attempted if the mother is not easily stressed, try attaching the pups to a teat one at a time while holding the mother guinea pig on your lap wrapped in a towel. A surrogate mother is also an option, which will give the pups a higher chance of survival.

Mothers with a new litter can take 24 hours to start producing milk. If the pups have not been fed for 48 hours, then mis-mothering can be diagnosed. Unfed pups will have thin tummies and wrinkled skin. Check also that the kits have pink rather than blue skin colour. They will also cry if they are not being fed. If the pups are pink with round tummies, warm, bright and active then it is likely that they are being fed.

Occasionally a mother will abandon one or more pups in the litter. The pup may look perfectly normal but the chances are that it has some serious defect which would prevent it from living a full and active life. Letting it die may seem cruel, but it is nature’s way, and in these situations, it may be kinder to ask your veterinarian to euthanize the pup.

The most common causes of failure and death are pneumonia due to inhalation of food/water into the lungs and diarrhea due to failure to establish a normal gut flora (the mother’s milk is not only the best source of nourishment but also provides the gut bacteria essential for their digestion).

Guinea pig pups are born precocial, so fully furred and with teeth, this means they can see, hear and move about very soon after birth. There are not any guinea pig milk replacement products in the UK and as guinea pig pups are quite mature when born they can start on solids immediately. Weigh the pups each day and record the weights to ensure that the pups are eating enough and gaining weight. It is common for pups to lose a small amount of weight over the first two days and start gaining from the third day.

Critical care formula is the best thing to feed the pups with, offer a small amount every two hours but also ensure that they have fresh leafy vegetables, hay and pellets to nibble on if they choose to. Most pups will feed from a spoon but if not, the critical care can be fed using a syringe, being careful to avoid aspiration pneumonia.

Water can be offered from a spoon too but again can be syringed if this proves difficult, again being careful to avoid aspiration into the lungs.

Baby guinea pigs should be able to take 1-2 ml of critical care formula per feed and be fed 4-6 times a day with a break overnight of 6-8 hours. Weigh the pup regularly and increase the amount fed if they are failing to gain weight.

If using a syringe to feed, place the pup on a towel so that it feels more secure and holding its head in one hand use the other hand to syringe the critical care formula in through the side of the mouth. Guinea pigs have a gap between their incisors and premolars called the diastema which is the perfect place to insert the end of a 1 ml syringe. Stop between mouthfuls to allow the pup to swallow and help avoid aspiration from over filling the mouth.

It is important that they have a high fiber diet to reduce the chance of gastrointestinal upset so fresh hay must always be available.

A water bottle and bowl filled with fresh water should be available at all times, monitor the amount of water given and hand administer if necessary.

After each feed, wipe the pup’s bottom with a damp cloth or cotton wool to stimulate urination and defecation (the mother’s tongue usually does this). This will need to be done until the pup is about 10-14 days old.