Guinea pigs are social animals and they are smart enough to recognize, remember and bond with you over time. They can whistle, run to you or….give you a stare.
These pocket-size human companions do enjoy spending time with you.
When you are gone, guinea pigs will miss you as they have decent memory and get emotionally attached to their owners.
And for the record – guinea pigs are smart!
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How do guinea pigs miss their owners?
Guinea pigs have quite a wide range of emotions.
I had a positive experience myself with how my guinea pigs recognized me and knew exactly when I came and that’s me and not someone else.
It comes down to their individual personality of course, how they will show you and depends on the strong bond you have.
I had two guinea pigs – two cute loaves – a male was my first and later came in a female.
Male, Chaki, was my favorite boy and he knew it.
He was jealous of anything that touches me, if I let him out on the couch, he would immediately jump on my lap – which means he saw me as a safe place.
Many guinea pig owners can confirm, cavies will come to the fences of the enclosure or the cages door and look up.
When you come in the house or in the room, they will whistle or start their zoomies (aka popcorning), just like dogs.
Female I had though was much quiter but also because it turned out she was pregnant when I bought her – so she was preoccupied with some other matters 🙂 And we didn’t have that much time to bond with her.
When you have a strong bond, you are naturally a large part of their daily routine and if you’re not there, they miss you and the positive intercations.
I would absolutely say that I loved my guinea pigs and that guinea pigs feel love and they were very affectionate.
Signs and Facts That Can Prove Cavies Miss their owners
Guinea pigs have great memory and are quite smart
Their good memory is natural as in the wild they would have to forage for food and remember where they found something tasty or if there was a predator and simply how to get back to the burrow.
Remembering for guinea pigs is not just about visuals as they have mediocre eyesight, they remember the smell.
Guinea pigs short memory is about few minutes and long-term memory is about 2 months. But they build strong associations with smells, vision and sounds.
Indeed, domestic ginea pig might also even outperform their wild conspecifics taking advantage of their adaptation to a man-made environment.
NIH study
Living as a pet they rely on you to make sure they receive all nutrients to keep their brains healthy.
Vitamin C is especially important for piggies memory.
Signs your guinea pig misses you:
- hasn’t touched the food while you were gone but immediately start eating when you came
- recognizes your voice and runs towards you
- jumps on you and “cuddle” or even grooms you or nibbles your nails or clothes
- doesn’t run away or hide
- licks you
- follows you around
- squeaking and whistles when you’re back
- wasn’t active while you were gone and becomes hyperactive when you’re back
While it is very cute that guinea pigs will miss you, you should not leave them alone for more than 12-24 hours.
If you are going on vacation it is best to find a pet sitter or relocate your piggies to a family member.
It will be very good if they already know this family member.
This way there will be always someone to make sure their cage is clean, the room has comfortable temperature
Do guinea pigs know their owner? Do they know your face?
Guinea pigs remember facial expressions of their siblings to better communicate with them.
As social creatures, they need to remember who they live with from day 1.
In the wild they leave in groups of 10 to have better chance of survival.
When they live in enclosure, they will remember you as a part of their group and your face.
Although they can see from a few feet, their eyesight is not as good as ours so they probably don’t see you and your face exactly as it it.
…I have a very grim story on how I know for fact that my male cavy knew I was the owner.
When he got extremely sick, I would take him daily to the vet for injections and IV.
One day the doctor said it will be the last time, as my boy only has a few hours.
I was devastated but I sat down with him, he put his head on my head and we spent hours like that. He was still breathing. I think he knew that I was crying and upset.
I had to leave the room for 1 min.
And that moment he left over the rainbow bridge.
I think of it as if he tried to protect me and while I was there our bond kept him going a little bit.
How to make sure your guinea pig recognizes you?
1) Quality time
Spend time with your pet to form close bonds through feeding, playing, grooming on daily basis.
It is the best way to make sure your cavy will miss her pet parents.
Bonding with small pets is not just sweet.
Guinea pigs see strong bonds as a survival mechanism and long-lasting bonds are very natural for them.
I had a partner while I adopted 2 guinea pigs but as I was feeding them, brushing, always talking to them, caring for them, they only were excited about seeing me, not my partner (at that time) as he simply never took time to give these intelligent animals some love.
2) Firts interaction matters
When planning to bring home a new guinea pig make sure everything is prepared beforehand:
- a pet shop will have all you need: a nice spacious cage, water bottles, timothy hay or Orchard Grass, food, a house or something small pet can use as hiding places.
It is best to adopt or buy baby guinea pigs so you will have more time and you will be the person they know since early days.
Scientific studies show that guinea pigs remember what happened to them in their first weeks.
As guinea pigs are naturally prey animals they may take a couple of days to be shy and explore, sniff around, and be not as active as they will be once they are used to the place.
3) Hand feed
If you will hand feed your little piggy, it will help them memorize your smell and your ritual.
Give them treats to help them stay healthy but also to strengthen good behavior or whenever they did recognize you.
Little pigs see feeding as quality time, just as playing with toys, so don’t just give food and leave, give something with your hands and wait to see the reaction.
Observe their body language and needs, preferences and try to adjust their diet and enclosure to it.
Of course as they are pets, they become attached to us as a food source.
But if you spend extra time with them and often let them run free and play, they will grow also emotionally attached to you.
Read also: Can Guinea Pigs Eat Parsnips? Safe serving, Risks & Benefits
4) Get a cage mate
Another way to make sure your cavy is happy and will remember you is to make sure it is not lonely.
When they are in a group, with a sibling or mother, study shows that they are more curious and active.
They recognize their family and “friends” even if it different guinea pigs breed, they can still bond well.
They will however get upset when their family members die but not for too long.
5) Move slowly
Surviving is the most important thing that is encoded in these little pigs.
You need to rememberthat when you approach them or you’re around their cage or playing with them.
Move slowly and try to get down, closer to them first, if you want to interact.
6) Have a routine
It is best when you are consistent in little things.
Feeding, grooming, playing should be around same time and in safe area for piggies.
They are creature of habits and associations so a routine helps them better memorize you, have better experience with you and as a result miss that great time with you.
7) Don’t be loud
This is especially important if the new owner of a cavy is a child.
Don’t make loud noises or be aggressive, use soothing voice when talking to this little creature.
Kids can be loud, spontaneous, use lots of face expression.
For a new piggy it can be quite stressful and subconsiesly they see noise as a threat.
8) Talk to your guinea pig
It may sound silly for some people as guinea pigs can’t talk back, but it actually makes sense.
Simply because if we systematically talk to your pets, they will learn to identify owner’s voice.
9) Slowly introduce pick up times
Guinea pigs probably stress the most about being picked up.
Do not force it on your new pet and coscistenlty try it with some positive reinforcement, in a safe space, without any loud noises.
It may also be not the first thing you will use to bond with your little friend.
Remember that they understand the size and we are giants for them so our goal is to make pick up a good experience.
If when you approach the cage and open it to pick up the piggy it shows some strange behavior like trying to hide, run or you can hear its teeth chattering – back up.
Do guinea pigs recognize their mothers and siblings?
The bond with their mother is particularly strong when they are still babies.
Not only guinea pigs see their mother as a protector and learn from her, but they can recognize her smell, use noises to communicate with her and even tell by urine if it’s their mother or not.
Once they grow up, they need their mother less, but they will still recognize her.
Same goes for siblings – a guinea pig will recognize its family.
And they don’t need even to be related. So if you have a few piggies from different family they can still recognize and miss each other.
As their are social animals, they process death of another cavy hard. They can be depressed and sad.
But if you will stick to the routine you had, remove all the things that can smell like passed companion, give it a treat and show care, they can move on as they don’t analyze the past or think about it like humans.
How long does it take guinea pigs to learn their own name?
The younger your guinea pig is, the easier is to learn for them, but normally a guinea pig will learn the name in a week.
They do not understand the words but they understand associations.
So if you call your cavy by name and then interact with her/him, they will connect the dots.
The maximum it can take around 2 months as it is guinea pigs long-term memory span.
But as they do have personalities, sometimes they can remember and understand their names and simply ingore you 🙂
Signs your guinea pig remembers its name when you call it:
- they run to you
- they react with face impressions or turn their heads to look at you
- whistle and make sounds
- express happiness by zooming around
- stop what they we doing
- obedience
In my experience, I’m not quite sure if my piggies knew the name or were reacting to me coming home.
One thing they knew for sure is when I open the fridge door haha – the whistles!!
FAQ
Do guinea pigs get attached to owners?
Guinea pigs get attached to owners in different ways: emotionally and as a part of their survival they depend on new owners to provide safety, water, and food.
But they do form bonds and love to interact so emotional attachment is also important for their overall health.
How long can a guinea pig remember something for?
A guinea pig can remember something for a couple of minutes in short-term memory or a few months in long-term memory.
But if the memory and routine is reinforced as an ongoing process, the cavy will keep it in active memory.
Do guinea pigs remember trauma?
Guinea pigs can remember trauma for a little time but eventually they will forget about it as long as no smell or object can remind them of it.
Adult guinea pigs will unlikely remember trauma that happened in a first week of their life.
They can also be scared of something that would seem dangerous in nature (like when you try tor grab their butt they may think it’s a hungry owl).
Do guinea pigs get sad when you leave?
Guinea pigs can feel sad when their owners leave as they see you as a part of positive, happy, routine and they can sure miss that.
As creatures of habit though they can adapt to new situation or a new home.Â
Do guinea pigs know I love them?
Guinea pigs understand care and love. They are very smart and they can learn to associate you with good time and affection and start missing you when you’re not around.
I’m convinced that guinea pigs are great and popular pets and just like dogs or cats they do miss their owners, they can recognize us and show love.
If you provide good care, love, and try to organize the best life for these small pets (or any others in fact), they will repay you.
These cuddly pets are capable to form strong bonds as it was necessary for them evolutionary. Now they build a vital connection with us – pet parents.
They are used to live in a small community and being their owners meaning being a part of their community.
I hope you will see your cavy is your new friend!
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