Difficult birthing in Guinea Pigs

Dystocia is a term used to describe a sow’s (female guinea pig) inability to give birth. Broken down the word means difficulty (dys) in labour (tocia).

There are a number of complications that can result in the sow having difficulty in giving birth, but by far the most common is a female guinea pig whose pelvis is too narrow.

Guinea pigs naturally have a very narrow birth canal, and if the baby is too large, it will cause problems. Historically, we used to think that breeding too late was the main cause, but more recent research suggests that the situation is much more complex, and that breeding too early is at least as much of a problem.

There are a few other risk factors too:

The gestation (time between conception and birth) can range between 59-72 days in the guinea pig, so it can be hard to time exactly when they are going to give birth. Guinea pigs also don’t tend to make nests and when they go into labour it can be very rapid with the whole event being over in 30-45 minutes.

This means that they don’t give you an awful lot of warning that they are going to give birth so difficulties and problems can be hard to spot.

A sow that has been continuously and unsuccessfully straining for more than 10-20 minutes or intermittently for greater than 2 hours is typically experiencing dystocia – time to call your veterinary practice.

If you are worried about dystocia, timely and prompt treatment is required by your veterinary team. Treatment will vary with the underlying cause, so the first hurdle will be for the team to identify the underlying cause of dystocia. After they know this, they will help guide you in what treatment options are available.

If your guinea pig has dystocia she may require supportive therapy – this includes fluids and hydration, sometimes given into the vein or bone by the veterinary team to help her. She may also require treatment for low calcium and low glucose levels. She may also need warmth, nutritional support and analgesia (pain relief) and antibiotics.

Sometimes an injection of oxytocin can be given to help kick start contractions – however there are a number of reasons that this might not be the best choice for your guinea pig. Reasons include the pubic symphysis being closed, the foetus is too big and stuck, if the foetus is in the wrong position and more.

She may require a caesarean section- this is the surgical removal of the babies. This can be quite a risky procedure if the sow is already exhausted, stressed and struggling from other issues like toxaemia or infection – but it also might be your only option and many are completed successfully with good outcomes.

Sadly, if your guinea pig is very unwell, they may not make it through treatment despite the best attempts of your skilled veterinary team.

The main preventative measure is making sure your sow doesn’t get pregnant too early or too late. Talk to your vet for advice if planning to breed!