Calming medication

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Cat302008

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Hi, I what calming medication can o give my guinea pig? I want to give her a good groom and cut her fur and it stresses her out.
 
How long have you had your piggy?

You cannot give her a medication to calm her down. Grooming etc can be stressful for them as a lot don’t like being touched, but working on building her trust would be the first step. After that, it is about taking it slowly and steady and at her pace. Only do as much a she can tolerate at one time, try again the next day etc.
The guides below may help

Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely
An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting
 
Thanks for your reply, I have read on here that people use rescue remedies and metacam ?
 
As above, metacam is a vet prescribed painkiller/anti-inflammatory. It’s not going to help your piggy relax to be groomed. Most piggies don’t like being touched/groomed but using the piggy whispering tips in the guides I linked in in order to try to encourage your piggy to trust you would be the first step. Both my piggies trust me etc, but neither like being touched or groomed. To groom my long haired piggy is a long process using herbs as treats and working gradually. I cannot fully groom him in one sitting as he doesn’t like it.
Guinea pigs have very sensitive airways so any kind of strong smelling/relaxation remedy/plug in calming type device would be bad for guinea pigs.
 
I recently got my first long haired piggy (3 years old) and she hates the brush and looked so frightened it surprised me. Her previous owner had kept her in very good condition so I assumed she must like being brushed but perhaps her cries were ignored or maybe I'm just clumsy. Anyway we chopped off as much as we could - but being careful not to cut off any whiskers or eyebrows. Mine live indoors so she doesn't need all that floof for warmth and in all honesty she's much happier now. If yours live outside or somewhere chilly they might still need the longer coat for warmth though?

I got the OH to hold her and bribe her with tasty treats while I chopped lumps off (working bum to head) - she still fretted but she didn't cry because I didn't comb through beforehand, thus the end result is somewhat 'amateur' but all her knots were at the ends of the hairs so rather than unpick I just cut them off. We didn't do her face, her fluffy legs or underneath as this was all fine. The brush and comb now run pretty smoothly thorough what's left, although she doesn't really need brushing now so everyone is happy - until nail-trim day (aaaargh! :roll: )

My son used to hate haircuts and I took the same approach there - as short as we could manage so we didn't have to do it too often!

Louise before and after:
Louise side view.webp Louise's big face.webp her face now looks massive!
 
I have a long haired piggy, Priscilla who hates being groomed.
She will scream as if being horribly tortured before I’ve even touched her.
I wear PPE Priscilla Protective Equipment) - that is long sleeves because she nips.
She will get through a lot of herbs, I am permitted to trim her bum for no more than 15 seconds before she wriggles.
It takes a lot of time and patience and I’m not giving up the day job.

AE811FA7-8C27-49DD-BEBA-2B98F0AE5EAE.webp
 
We don't support home treating on spec on the forum. If you are considering a rescue remedy style treatment you should discuss this with your vet as it's important to check that it is safe and worthwhile
 
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