Guinea pigs are popular companion animals but are frequently kept in conditions that fail to meet their needs for space, social interaction, and diet. Understanding their requirements is key to good welfare.
Guinea pigs are frequently sold with inappropriate cages and inadequate care information, resulting in high rates of preventable welfare problems. Vitamin C deficiency is common because owners do not know guinea pigs cannot make their own, leading to painful scurvy that is easily prevented with fresh vegetables. Dental disease follows from insufficient hay provision. Isolation causes chronic stress in this deeply social species — a lone guinea pig is a distressed guinea pig. Small cages prevent the running bouts that guinea pigs display when content. These welfare failures are largely the result of inadequate buyer education rather than deliberate neglect. Pet retailers, breeders, and rescue organisations all have roles to play in improving the information guinea pig owners receive.