Guinea pigs are lovely little critters in your household, especially if you are a teenager learning to become responsible for something other than yourself. That said, sometimes a guinea pig may accidentally pee on you, especially if you have been playing with it for a long time. So, one of the most commonly asked questions is whether a guinea pig’s pee is harmful.
Guinea pig pee is not necessarily harmful to humans, but it is common sense to know that it contains germs, so thoroughly wash your hands if your guinea pig has pee stuck on its coat or accidentally pees on you.
In addition, it is essential to clean their cages regularly, as living in unsanitary conditions can cause health issues for you and your guinea pig. This is especially true if your guinea pig lives in your bedroom.
Given that information, we will discuss further the subject and other similar questions, like if you can get sick from breathing in guinea pig urine, how to eliminate the odor, and much more. We believe in educating yourself on whatever pet you have, so we create helpful articles for you!
Is Guinea Pig Pee Toxic to Humans?
Guinea pig pee is not necessarily toxic to humans. However, according to Public Health, all rodents, including guinea pigs, can carry infectious viruses and diseases despite being healthy. Some infections include the following:
- Rat bite fever
- Leptospirosis
- Lymphocytic choriomeningitis
- Hantavirus
Although these diseases are rare, taking care of yourself after handling your animal, touching their cage, providing them food, replacing the water, or cleaning their cages is imperative. Here are some ways you can eliminate any sicknesses for yourself:
- Wash your hands thoroughly after handling your rodent, cage, or equipment. Ensure you wash your hands before eating, drinking, smoking, or touching your face. This is especially true if you get rodent pee on your skin.
- Supervise any children who handle your fur baby and ensure they wash their hands after handling them.
- Do not kiss your rodents or put them close to your face.
- If you have a cut, scratch, or sore, cover it with a waterproof bandage.
- Clean and promptly cover any bites or scratches you may have received from your rodent.
Can You Get Sick From Breathing in Guinea Pig Urine?
You can get sick from breathing in guinea pig urine, but only when you have not cleaned the cage properly. Guinea pig urine contains ammonia, which is toxic at high levels. The smell of ammonia comes from the urea, a large urine component.
Because of this, ammonia in the air can cause issues in the lungs, throat, eyes, and skin. Therefore, cleaning your guinea pig’s cage at least once a week is imperative.
However, some people still have issues smelling guinea pig urine after thoroughly cleaning the cage. If this is the case for you, consider using different bedding that absorbs more odor. We recommend getting wood pellets, which soak the moisture better and do not make a big mess. One person mentioned that it took them months to change it out officially.
Do Guinea Pig’s Pee Smell Bad?
Guinea pig pee does not necessarily have a foul odor, but because it contains ammonia, it will innately smell a certain way. There are many ways to help with this issue, though. We will discuss some methods down below:
1. Potty Train Your Cavy
One of the biggest ways to eliminate the guinea pig pee smell is by potty training them. That way, your fur baby will not be tempted to pee and poop all over their cage, which will help you clean the cage more quickly and eliminate a lot of the issues at hand, as changing their litter box will become easier to do.
2. Use Vinegar, Water & Unscented Dish Soap
Suppose you want to clean your guinea pig’s cage naturally. In this case, we highly recommend using a vinegar and water spray. You make this spray by adding a 1:1 ratio of water and vinegar with a few drops of dish soap in a spray bottle.
Once you complete that, spray the guinea pig’s cage and allow it to sit there for roughly 10 minutes before wiping it down. This will help disinfect the surface area and keep it from smelling bad.
3. Fragrance-free Enzyme Cleaner
Enzyme cleaner uses non-pathogenic bacteria to eliminate any odor that might not want to come off. For example, if you smell poop or pee on a mattress, then enzyme cleaner will help remove the stain and smell on that mattress.
Note: Getting a fragrance-free enzyme cleaner is imperative as guinea pigs have sensitive lungs or asthma. Also, make sure it is guinea pig-safe beforehand. Avoid using bleach, harsh chemicals, scented cleaners, baking soda, fragrance diffusers, fragrance plugs, etc.
How Often Do Guinea Pigs Pee?
Guinea pigs pee multiple times a day, sometimes every 15 minutes or several times in an hour. Their standard urine production is 3.5 to 4.5 ml a day.
However, with large cavies, you can expect them to pee up to 45 ml a day. This depends on a few factors. The first is if you feed your guinea pig many fruits and vegetables with high water content. In this case, you can expect them to pee more often that day. Another thing to consider is if your critter has not peed or pooped at all in one day, then it is imperative to take them to the vet as something might be wrong with them.
Lastly, if you are holding your guinea pig and it starts becoming restless or fidgeting a lot while holding it, it is best to put it in its cage, as it may need to relieve itself.
What Are Other Ways to Eliminate the Smell of Guinea Pig Pee?
There are other ways to eliminate the smell of guinea pig pee. Some of these options are extremely simple to get or do. Let us go over them in more detail below.
1. Provide Your Guinea Pig With Frequent Baths
Although guinea pigs are excellent at grooming themselves, giving them frequent baths is always helpful. We recommend a bath once every two months or slightly more often if their coat looks extra oily. It will help clean your pig, and you can check for many health concerns, including hair loss, dental problems, pests, lumps, and bumps.
2. Invest in an Air Purifier
Air purifiers are just that; they help you purify the air of many things, including dust, pet dander, mold, smoke, bad smells, etc. They work by removing the room’s bad air and pushing clean air back in. An air purifier will help your situation, especially if you or your guinea pig have asthma or lung issues. Here is an excellent one by Levoit that covers a little over 1000 square feet.
3. Provide Regularly Grooming for Your Guinea Pig
In addition to bathing your guinea pig, make sure to groom it regularly. This consists of clipping its nails to prevent curling and brushing its hair. For example, if it sheds quite frequently, brushing it every other day is wise. However, if it has short hair, you can brush it once a week.
4. Check the Enclosure Daily
We have established that you should clean the enclosure in this article above but check the enclosure daily. This could be several things, such as making sure your cavy is not marking their territory everywhere by peeing and pooping all over the place. Another thing to ensure is that the water bottle is not leaking or that the food has not gotten out of the bowl and is scattered everywhere. Ensuring your pet’s cage is kept clean will also help keep odors away.
5. Feed a Healthy, Balanced Diet
Ensuring your guinea pig has a healthy and balanced diet is essential to helping them avoid smelling urine. Guinea pigs need vitamin C in their diet, so make sure you provide them with plenty of fruits, vegetables, pellets, and constant Timothy hay.
6. Monitor Your Guinea Pig’s Health
Sometimes, guinea pigs’ pee stinks due to an underlying medical condition. If you notice a stench that you can not easily ignore, it would be best to take the guinea pig to a veterinarian’s office. Also, make sure you see the color of the pee.
Typical urination colors are clear/light yellow, orange, and pinkish/reddish. However, abnormal urination color would be cloudy white, meaning there may be a bladder issue or too much calcium, and dark red, which could be from internal bleeding.
Final Thoughts
To summarize everything, guinea pig pee is not necessarily harmful unless there is a lot of ammonia smell and you are breathing it in constantly. However, having a lot of ammonia is likely caused by a lack of cage cleaning. To be safe, wash your hands after handling these little critters due to the potential to carry diseases. We hope you learned quite a bit from this article. If you have any more questions regarding guinea pigs, please check out our other articles, as we are here to help you in any way possible!
