Mastering Guinea Pig Health Checks: A Nose-to-Toes Guide Part 1: Females
Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue offers lots of free services to guinea pigs in LA and their owners. One of those services is the free health checks and nail trims. I’ve probably done more guinea pig health checks than most vets, considering I’ve been in this 'bizniz' for over 24 years and thoroughly examine thousands of guinea pigs each year - whether they’re our own rescued pigs or ones brought in by their owners.
It struck me a while ago, during the training of a new volunteer, that I grabbed two guinea pigs for the session: one boy and one girl, to teach how to perform gender-specific health checks. And I wondered, why on earth have I never addressed this before? While the majority of health checks are the same for both genders, there are specific issues I look for in boys and girls. There is the default check, and then, depending on the sex, I examine specific areas.
Let me explain how I do my health checks. I feel terrible if I miss something, so I always try to do a very thorough job. You don’t have to be a vet or guinea pig expert to learn this properly. In fact, learning to health-check your guinea pigs and knowing where to look and what to feel for can be lifesaving. My purpose during our free health checks is to find issues or potential problems and alert the owner of anything I may find, so they can take action and visit a vet if needed for diagnosis and treatment.
Believe it or not, even after 24 years, I’m still learning. My health checks reflect this - the areas I zoom in on reflect that. Foot fungus is a good example. About eight years ago, I figured out that dry, scaly, and cracked skin on the bottom of the footpads wasn’t normal. I noticed it looked like a type of fungus and started applying ringworm cream to affected feet - and it worked! Before, I had followed general guidance that dry feet were normal. Now we know it’s not and that untreated fungal issues can lead to Bumblefoot, a painful condition.
Regular health checks are crucial - they save lives. Often, I find things that range from minor, which the owner can treat with over-the-counter products, to life-threatening issues that need immediate veterinary attention. So, pay attention, my lovely guinea pig family, as I’m about to spell it out from A to Z.
General Health Checks - Male & Female
I usually start a health check with looking at certain areas and after that, I carry out the gender specific checks.
Face
Check nostrils for crusting, boogers, or wetness. Check the eyes for crusties and check the eye tissue by gently lifting the eyelids up and down to look at the color of the soft tissue inside the eye socket. It should have a gentle pink tone. If the color is darker than that it may indicate an infection, or other eye issue.
nose fungus & Ringworm Images
Teeth
Check the front incisors, especially the gum line. Sometimes food matter can get stuck in between the gums and the teeth (older pigs, usually) and this has to be removed. Top and bottom teeth should be the same length.
Ears
Ear flaps should be clean and free of sebaceous buildup on the edges. Check for fungus, Ringworm loves the face and tends to appear on the nose, ears and above or right underneath the eyes. The inside and outside of the ear itself should be free of fungus that can look dry, greyish or white patches (fungal bloom).
Clean the inside of the ear. Guinea pigs shed dead skin that can build up look and feel like dry ear crust. And sometimes it can be more paste like with a greasy feel to it. All of that is normal and you should be able to remove that with a Q-tip and a drop of mineral or olive oil applied to the top part of the inner ear folds. This will rehydrate the skin and makes it easier to clean out. Never go inside the ear canal with a Q-tip or put oil directly.
Neck
Feel under the neck and along the jaw for lumps. Check for labored breathing by holding the guinea pig’s side to your ear where the lungs are located. Some URI’s can be heard and this is a raspy kind of sound.
Coat
Part the hair and check for parasites like lice and mange mites (lice can be seen with the naked eye). Look for scabs, dry skin (without hair loss), or shorter hairs—indicators of lice. See if your guinea pig has what looks like a “V” shape in the coat on the back, which may suggest lice.
Feet
Feet should, in general, be soft and smooth. Look for fungal issues between the toes. This will look like whiteish, sometimes flaky skin with an inflamed pink color to it. Check the bottom foot pads, as well. The skin should be soft and smooth, no flaky skin or grey color (on dark skin pigs) Look for spurs (calluses) on aging pigs – these can be removed.
Lumps & Lymph Nodes
Guinea pigs have five Lymph Nodes that we need to check. One right in the middle of each of the four “armpits” and one dead centre in the middle of the neck. The lymph nodes that are located in the armpits of the front legs can easily be felt and feels like a large kidney bean. There should not be any swelling. The center of the neck has the Thyroid Gland and the Cranial Cervical Lymph Node. Feel the area for any swelling of any kind. There should be none.
Lipomas are benign fatty tumors and guinea pigs usually have a bunch of them when they get a little older. You can often find those right behind the armpit lymph nodes. The skin should be loose, and you can gently pull it away from the body all along the side and at the same time feel for lumps. Lipomas, as a rule, are not attached to the body and I like to call these “floaters”. If a growth is attached to the body your pig should be seen by a vet to be diagnosed.
Feel all over the body, inch by inch, and feel for any growths or lumps. Sebaceous cysts are quite common and quite harmless. Small ones can be left as long as they don’t burst. These are fairly easy to identify because when you press on the top of the cyst it will feel a bit like a memory foam mattress. Cysts like this can appear on any part of the body.
Mammary Tissue
Check the mammary tissue located right underneath the nipples - and in case you did not know, boy guinea pigs have nipples too! The tissue underneath the nipples and the nipples themselves should not be swollen.
Arthritis
Arthritis can develop in older pigs and usually affects the back legs more than the front. I covered this in more depth back in issue 78. Your guinea pig’s feet should be able to bend up and down easily - you can test this while holding the guinea pig. Animals with arthritis will have limited flexibility and in some severe cases the arthritis has caused the joints to fuse leaving the animal with a stiff foot and swollen ankles. Walking can be affected, and some appear to hop. Pain control is an absolute must in these cases. I have found that CBD cream applied to the earflap work miracles and usually results in a visible improvement, better appetite, spark in the eye and increased mobility.
It struck me a while ago, during the training of a new volunteer, that I grabbed two guinea pigs for the session: one boy and one girl, to teach how to perform gender-specific health checks. And I wondered, why on earth have I never addressed this before? While the majority of health checks are the same for both genders, there are specific issues I look for in boys and girls. There is the default check, and then, depending on the sex, I examine specific areas.
Let me explain how I do my health checks. I feel terrible if I miss something, so I always try to do a very thorough job. You don’t have to be a vet or guinea pig expert to learn this properly. In fact, learning to health-check your guinea pigs and knowing where to look and what to feel for can be lifesaving. My purpose during our free health checks is to find issues or potential problems and alert the owner of anything I may find, so they can take action and visit a vet if needed for diagnosis and treatment.
Believe it or not, even after 24 years, I’m still learning. My health checks reflect this - the areas I zoom in on reflect that. Foot fungus is a good example. About eight years ago, I figured out that dry, scaly, and cracked skin on the bottom of the footpads wasn’t normal. I noticed it looked like a type of fungus and started applying ringworm cream to affected feet - and it worked! Before, I had followed general guidance that dry feet were normal. Now we know it’s not and that untreated fungal issues can lead to Bumblefoot, a painful condition.
Regular health checks are crucial - they save lives. Often, I find things that range from minor, which the owner can treat with over-the-counter products, to life-threatening issues that need immediate veterinary attention. So, pay attention, my lovely guinea pig family, as I’m about to spell it out from A to Z.
General Health Checks - Male & Female
I usually start a health check with looking at certain areas and after that, I carry out the gender specific checks.
Face
Check nostrils for crusting, boogers, or wetness. Check the eyes for crusties and check the eye tissue by gently lifting the eyelids up and down to look at the color of the soft tissue inside the eye socket. It should have a gentle pink tone. If the color is darker than that it may indicate an infection, or other eye issue.
nose fungus & Ringworm Images
Teeth
Check the front incisors, especially the gum line. Sometimes food matter can get stuck in between the gums and the teeth (older pigs, usually) and this has to be removed. Top and bottom teeth should be the same length.
Ears
Ear flaps should be clean and free of sebaceous buildup on the edges. Check for fungus, Ringworm loves the face and tends to appear on the nose, ears and above or right underneath the eyes. The inside and outside of the ear itself should be free of fungus that can look dry, greyish or white patches (fungal bloom).
Clean the inside of the ear. Guinea pigs shed dead skin that can build up look and feel like dry ear crust. And sometimes it can be more paste like with a greasy feel to it. All of that is normal and you should be able to remove that with a Q-tip and a drop of mineral or olive oil applied to the top part of the inner ear folds. This will rehydrate the skin and makes it easier to clean out. Never go inside the ear canal with a Q-tip or put oil directly.
Neck
Feel under the neck and along the jaw for lumps. Check for labored breathing by holding the guinea pig’s side to your ear where the lungs are located. Some URI’s can be heard and this is a raspy kind of sound.
Coat
Part the hair and check for parasites like lice and mange mites (lice can be seen with the naked eye). Look for scabs, dry skin (without hair loss), or shorter hairs—indicators of lice. See if your guinea pig has what looks like a “V” shape in the coat on the back, which may suggest lice.
Feet
Feet should, in general, be soft and smooth. Look for fungal issues between the toes. This will look like whiteish, sometimes flaky skin with an inflamed pink color to it. Check the bottom foot pads, as well. The skin should be soft and smooth, no flaky skin or grey color (on dark skin pigs) Look for spurs (calluses) on aging pigs – these can be removed.
Lumps & Lymph Nodes
Guinea pigs have five Lymph Nodes that we need to check. One right in the middle of each of the four “armpits” and one dead centre in the middle of the neck. The lymph nodes that are located in the armpits of the front legs can easily be felt and feels like a large kidney bean. There should not be any swelling. The center of the neck has the Thyroid Gland and the Cranial Cervical Lymph Node. Feel the area for any swelling of any kind. There should be none.
Lipomas are benign fatty tumors and guinea pigs usually have a bunch of them when they get a little older. You can often find those right behind the armpit lymph nodes. The skin should be loose, and you can gently pull it away from the body all along the side and at the same time feel for lumps. Lipomas, as a rule, are not attached to the body and I like to call these “floaters”. If a growth is attached to the body your pig should be seen by a vet to be diagnosed.
Feel all over the body, inch by inch, and feel for any growths or lumps. Sebaceous cysts are quite common and quite harmless. Small ones can be left as long as they don’t burst. These are fairly easy to identify because when you press on the top of the cyst it will feel a bit like a memory foam mattress. Cysts like this can appear on any part of the body.
Mammary Tissue
Check the mammary tissue located right underneath the nipples - and in case you did not know, boy guinea pigs have nipples too! The tissue underneath the nipples and the nipples themselves should not be swollen.
Arthritis
Arthritis can develop in older pigs and usually affects the back legs more than the front. I covered this in more depth back in issue 78. Your guinea pig’s feet should be able to bend up and down easily - you can test this while holding the guinea pig. Animals with arthritis will have limited flexibility and in some severe cases the arthritis has caused the joints to fuse leaving the animal with a stiff foot and swollen ankles. Walking can be affected, and some appear to hop. Pain control is an absolute must in these cases. I have found that CBD cream applied to the earflap work miracles and usually results in a visible improvement, better appetite, spark in the eye and increased mobility.
