Guinea pigs are squeaky and cute and bring such joy to our lives—that is, until they pee on the brand-new sofa or cushion cover or their home environment starts to smell a little whiffy. These rodents’ urine smells can quickly build up and become quite pungent, especially intact male cavies’ pee.
In some cases, all that’s required is a good old-fashioned deep clean of your guinea pig’s home. In other instances, you have to gather commercial cleaning products or household products like baking soda to tackle tough stains.
In this post, we share 10 ideas for getting rid of guinea pig urine smells and stains and making your home smell fresh and clean again.
The 10 Tips for Removing Guinea Pig Odors and Stains
1. Deep Clean Your Guinea Pig’s Cage
If the smell is coming from your guinea pig’s cage or hutch, your standard cleaning procedures might not do, so a deep and thorough clean is in order. Remove your guinea pig from the cage, and put them somewhere safe. Take everything out—bedding, toys, food dishes, water bottles, etc.—and wash it all thoroughly with a pet-safe disinfectant, including the base of the cage.
2. Do Daily Checks
A few simple daily checks and spot cleans can go a long way toward keeping your guinea pig’s home smelling fresh. Check for wet, soiled bedding, remove it, and wipe down the area. Also, get rid of the remnants of vegetables and other spoiled foods that your guinea pig hasn’t touched.
3. Clean Your Guinea Pig As Required
Sometimes, it’s necessary to bathe or clean your guinea pig, especially a male. Males mark their territory by leaving behind a scent from the grease glands located above the anus. Females have the same gland, but generally produce less discharge. Over time, this secretion can build up in their fur, causing matting and an unpleasant smell, as well as discomfort, so a gentle bath may be in order. Guinea pigs should only be bathed if necessary, though, as they clean themselves pretty well.
Never use human shampoo or conditioner; bathe your guinea pig gently with a pet-safe shampoo specially designed for them. They’re likely to be quite stressed out when you bathe them, given their somewhat nervy temperaments, so be slow and gentle, and only do so if absolutely required. Place the guinea pig at the bottom of an empty bucket or basin with a washcloth under them to stop them from slipping about.
Scoop warm (not hot) water onto their back, and gently rub in the shampoo, avoiding their head. Rinse them well, then towel them dry. You can also carefully blow dry on the lowest heat and speed settings, but only if it doesn’t cause them stress and make sure not to hold it too close to their skin to avoid burns. Alternatively, instead of bathing the whole guinea pig, oftentimes it’s only necessary and much less stressful to just clean the bottom area, which can be done using a wet cloth and a little bit of shampoo.
4. Use Baking Soda and Vinegar on Your Furniture
If your guinea pig has peed on your sofa or mattress, don’t panic—there’s an easy way to get rid of the stain and smell using simple household items. Mix equal parts distilled white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Spray it on the urine spot, then cover the area with baking soda. Leave for a few hours, then vacuum up the baking soda. Try it out on a small area of the furniture first to see if it leaves a stain or causes discoloration.
5. Use a Commercial Cleaner
Another option for peed-on furniture is to buy a commercial pet enzymatic cleaner. These are specially formulated to deal with pet urine or feces stains on your furniture and can be found in hardware stores, supermarkets, and online.
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6. Choose Appropriate Bedding
Good bedding choices for your guinea pig’s home are essential when it comes to odor control. You’ll want to go for something pet-safe, absorbent, and preferably with odor-control powers. If you’re using bedding from around your home, such as fleece (a great choice for guinea pigs) or towels, make sure it is washable, and freshen it up regularly.
Avoid using newspaper and dusty bedding, as these can be harmful to your guinea pig and don’t absorb odors well. Change your chosen bedding regularly; how often you do this depends on how smelly your cavy tends to get and how many you have. Some people have to clean the hutch or cage every few days, while others can get away with doing it once per week.
7. Invest in an Air Purifier
If guinea pig smells are a consistent problem, besides getting down to the root cause and addressing it, you might want to consider getting an air purifier. Although they won’t do much by way of tackling strong or overpowering urine smells (only deep cleaning can solve this problem), they can help neutralize more general pet smells and control dander, allergens, bacteria, and viruses. However, never use essential oils or diffusers that can be harmful.
8. Feed Them a Healthy, Balanced Diet
Feeding your pet properly is a big step toward reducing the unpleasant smells your guinea pig may produce. It helps keep their gut in balance, and providing plenty of fresh water helps maintain their hydration. They eat an herbivore’s diet, based on hay and fresh grass that should be available at all times, as well as a small amount of commercial pellet food, a tablespoon per guinea pig per day with as much as one cup of fresh vegetables and even less fruits, due to the high sugar content. Also, guinea pigs need vitamin C, which is added to their pellet food, because they can’t make vitamin C themselves.
9. Monitor Your Guinea Pig’s Health
Guinea pigs are usually clean animals, and although their urine and feces have a smell, it shouldn’t be too unpleasant if their hutch is regularly cleaned and they are healthy. If there is a sudden smell or a very different odor around your guinea pig or their urine or feces, it’s best to get them checked out by a vet because there could be an underlying health issue that needs to be treated.
10. Groom Your Guinea Pig Regularly
In addition to occasional bathing if you have an especially stinky male cavy and of course, maintaining the cleanliness of their environment, grooming regularly is a good way to help keep those general guinea pig smells at bay. Groom them once or twice a week to get rid of dead hair and skin and to check for parasites and any skin wounds, irritation, or lesions.
Conclusion
Although guinea pig odors are not very common in healthy animals living in clean, well-kept environments, they may occur from time to time. Oftentimes, it’s a simple case of their environment needing a good cleaning and keeping up with regular cleaning routines. If your guinea pig smells different or unpleasant, or there is a change in the odor of their urine or feces, it’s time to get them to a vet to find out what’s going on.
Featured Image Credit: Lost_in_the_Midwest, Shutterstock
Contents
- The 10 Tips for Removing Guinea Pig Odors and Stains
- 1. Deep Clean Your Guinea Pig’s Cage
- 2. Do Daily Checks
- 3. Clean Your Guinea Pig As Required
- 4. Use Baking Soda and Vinegar on Your Furniture
- 5. Use a Commercial Cleaner
- 6. Choose Appropriate Bedding
- 7. Invest in an Air Purifier
- 8. Feed Them a Healthy, Balanced Diet
- 9. Monitor Your Guinea Pig’s Health
- 10. Groom Your Guinea Pig Regularly
- Conclusion
