Can guinea pigs eat avocado, this nutritious fruit that’s a part of our cuisine?
Avocados contain vitamins, minerals, folates, and fatty acids that the human body needs the most, so you might think that feeding guinea pigs avocado is a good idea.
Yet, not everything healthy for humans is good for guinea pigs.
For that reason, guinea pig owners should think twice before adding this healthy fruit to their guinea pig’s diet.
Let’s find out whether guinea pigs can eat avocado and whether this fruit has health benefits for them.
Can Guinea Pigs Eat Avocado?
Let’s immediately answer the question can guinea pigs eat avocado.
The answer is a very clear and loud no, guinea pigs cannot eat avocado.
This fruit is not safe for guinea pigs.
The truth is, your guinea pigs eat avocado if you give it to them, but you will be putting them in danger of developing serious digestive problems that can be life-threatening for them.
In the following sections, you will learn why you should not include avocado in your guinea pig’s diet.
Is Avocado Good For Guinea Pigs?
Despite being nutritious and healthy for humans, avocado isn’t safe food for guinea pigs.
Apart from nutritional contents, avocado contains a toxic substance called persin, concentrated in leaves, skin, pit, bark, and a minimal amount in the avocado’s flesh.
Although persin is not harmful to humans, the sensitive guinea pig’s digestive system cannot process this substance and it causes diarrhea and serious digestive issues in your guinea pigs.
Avocado is Toxic For Guinea Pigs
As mentioned, avocado contains a high quantity of persin, which is poisonous for your guinea pigs.
Looking over that much toxic nature of avocado, specifically for guinea pigs, we highly recommend you not to add this fruit to their diet plan.
It can cause fluid accumulation around the lungs and heart of your pet.
The toxic content in avocado persin is an oil-soluble compound that can be fatal for guinea pigs and few other animal species.
Few other avocado poisoning symptoms in guinea pigs could be diarrhea, vomiting, and difficulty breathing.
Before learning in the depth of avocado’s hazardous nature for guinea pigs, let’s take a look at avocado nutrition stats.
What is the Nutritional Value of Avocado?
As per USDA National Nutrient Database, 100 gm of avocado contains 160 kcal and the following amount of nutrients:
- protein 2 g
- carbs 8.35 g
- sugar 0.66 g
- folates 81 µg
- vitamin K 21 µg
- vitamin E 2.07 mg
- vitamin A 7 µg
- vitamin C 10 mg,
- vitamin B6 0.257 mg
- fat 14.66 g
- dietary fiber 6.7 g
- calcium 12 mg
- iron 0.55 mg
- magnesium 29 mg
- phosphorus – 52 mg
- potassium 485 mg
- sodium 7 mg
- zinc 0.64 mg
- copper 0.19 mg
- selenium 0.4 µg
You can see that avocado contains many vitamins and minerals, but fatty acids and carbs are not suitable for your little guinea pig’s health.
What Happens When Guinea Pigs Eat Avocado?
Avocado is poisonous and thus life-threatening for guinea pigs.
Even if it weren’t the case, you wouldn’t want to include avocado in your pet’s daily diet for several other reasons.
Let’s check out why you should not give avocado to your guinea pig.
Avocado Slows Down the Digestion of Guinea Pigs
Guinea pigs have a tender digestive system and can easily get affected by eating something inappropriate or hard to digest.
The excess amount of fatty acids present in avocados can cause severe digestion problems in your guinea pigs.
Even cats and dogs cannot tolerate fatty acids!
However, avocado is especially dangerous for guinea pigs because it slows down their digestive process.
Avocado Affects Weight
Guinea pigs can quickly build up weight and become obese; hence, the carbs and fatty acid-enriched avocados are harmful to them.
That is another reason why you would want to avoid avocado in y our guinea pig’s diet (if it weren’t poisonous for these small animals).
Also, other vegetables and fruits high in carbs, protein, calories, and fat shouldn’t become a part of your guinea pig’s daily diet.
Avocado Creates Cardiovascular Problems
Avocados are fattening, so we must consider that obesity leads to cardiovascular problems.
Avocado is not a good fit for your pet as this fruit may cause a severe problem with your piggy’s blood vessels and cardiovascular system.
Avocado Creates Urinary Problems
Avocado, and all other vegetables and fruits rich in calcium and sodium, can create urinary problems in guinea pigs.
Therefore, you would keep avocado away from your pet because guinea pigs would become unable to urinate if they had avocado in their daily diet.
Pancreatitis, another hazard of feeding avocado to guinea pigs, would also be fatal to your guinea pig.
Therefore, as you can see, even if avocados weren’t toxic to these small animals, you wouldn’t want to feed your guinea pig avocado because the risks of eating avocado would outweigh its benefits.
Can Guinea Pigs Eat Avocado Skin?
No, you should not feed avocado skin to your guinea pigs.
Although avocado is nutritious, contains a substance that’s toxic to guinea pigs, and this substance, persin, is concentrated in avocado leaves, bark, flesh, and even in the avocado skin.
That’s why your guinea pigs shouldn’t eat avocados at all.
Is Avocado Pit Safe for Guinea Pigs?
No, the avocado pit is not safe for guinea pigs.
As a matter of fact, never feed avocados to your pets, as all parts of avocado are toxic to guinea pigs.
Which Food To Avoid Giving to My Guinea Pig?
Onions & Leeks
Onions and leeks are vegetables that cause intestinal disturbance and cause gas in the body of guinea pigs.
Garlic
There is no proper research or evidence about the benefits of garlic for guinea pigs, so it would be better to keep garlic away from your piggy’s diet.
Unripe Tomatoes
Unripe tomatoes are toxic for guinea pigs; primarily, their stems and leaves are harmful to them.
Dairy Products
Any kind of dairy product, including milk, cheese, yogurt, and cream, is harmful to your little pet as the guinea pig’s body cannot digest processed food.
That is the same reason why you cannot feed commercial food products to your pets, as well as meat, chocolate, bread, and anything else that is baked, cooked, fried, roasted, etc.
Chocolate
Chocolate, coffee, candy, or other foods that contain caffeine are hazardous for the health of guinea pigs.
These small pets cannot digest such food.
Nuts
Guinea pigs cannot digest nuts because of their fragile digestive system.
Cooked Foods
Processed foods are highly toxic to guinea pigs’ sensitive little bodies.
They cannot process any types of processed food at all.
Mushrooms & Potatoes
Vegetables like potatoes and mushrooms may cause a blood disorder in your guinea pigs.
Meat
Guinea pigs are herbivorous, and their body is made to digest plants and herbs only, so any kind of meat isn’t suitable for them.
Cores, Pits, and Seeds of Fruits & Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables which are even good for a guinea pig’s health shouldn’t be given to them with cores, pits, and seeds.
These parts are hard to chew on and present a choking hazard for your guinea pigs.
Besides, some seeds, such as apple seeds, can be poisonous to your pet.
Therefore, never give any seeds to your pet.
Which Vegetables Are Safe for Guinea Pigs?
Broccoli
Broccoli is perfect for guinea pigs’ health.
It contains a high amount of vitamin C and vitamin A, which are quite beneficial for guinea pigs.
Carrots
Guinea pigs love carrots, and it’s a portion of healthy food for them.
Carrots contain a high amount of vitamin A, but also a high amount of sugar and oxalate it.
The excess amount of sugar might lead to diabetes while oxalate can cause bladder and kidney stones in your guinea pig.
Hence, make sure that your guinea pigs eat carrots only occasionally in moderate amounts.
Tomatoes
Although the unripe or green stalk of tomato is harmful to guinea pigs, you can feed your pet with this fruit.
Learn more about tomatoes, serving sizes, and hazards for your guinea pig’s health here.
Spinach
Same as carrots, you can serve spinach to guinea pigs but only occasionally.
Spinach also contains a high level of oxalate that can cause bladder and kidney stones in your pet’s body.
Cucumber
This vegetable is healthy for guinea pigs, and guinea pigs love cucumbers.
The skin, flesh, and seed (little quantity) can be served to guinea pigs, and they can easily digest them.
Asparagus
Asparagus contains vitamin C, which is suitable for guinea pigs but also contains oxalate and phosphorus, so you should feed this vegetable to your piggy once or twice a week in moderate amounts.
Parsnip
Guinea pigs find parsnip a pretty delicious meal and, luckily, you can feed them parsnip frequently.
Squash
Another vegetable you can feed your guinea pigs is squash.
Peas & Green Beans
Both peas and green beans contain vitamin C and phosphorus.
Guinea pigs can have them occasionally in moderate amounts.
Red Peppers
A high amount of vitamin C in red peppers is great for your guinea pig’s health.
You can frequently serve them to your pet.
Corn
Corns are high in vitamin C but also contain a high level of starch.
Thus, feed your guinea pig corn but once or twice a week.
Romaine Lettuce
This leafy green vegetable is great for your guinea pig’s diet and you can serve it to your pet daily.
Which Fruits Guinea Pigs Can Eat?
Although you shouldn’t let your guinea pigs eat avocados, there are many types of fruits these small animals can eat. Here is a list of some fruits that every guinea pig owner can give to their pets.
Apples
Apples contain fiber, which makes them great for your guinea pig’s healthy daily diet.
Oranges
Vitamin C is perfect for guinea pigs’ health.
Oranges are an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin A.
However, be careful when giving acidic fruits to your pet, as citruses can harm a guinea pig’s mouth.
For that reason, always give oranges in limited quantities and only occasionally.
Plums
Plums contain vitamin C, as well as A, E, K, and potassium.
All these nutrients are healthy for guinea pigs.
Yet, don’t forget to keep the pit of plum away as it’s harmful to your guinea pig and hard to digest.
Apricots
One or two slices of apricots are also healthy for guinea pigs, but more than that can be dangerous for them as apricots are high in sugar level.
Bananas
You may add variety to your piggy’s diet by feeding them a few banana slices once or twice a month.
Banana can add vitamin C to your guinea pig’s body, but it can cause digestive distress because of its components.
Melons
Melons can be a rejuvenating treat for your little pet and contain a sufficient amount of calcium and vitamin C.
Any of the wide variety of melons such as Honeydew, watermelon, and cantaloupe, is beneficial for your guinea pigs’ good health.
Blueberries
Blueberries are high in vitamin C, but they also contain a large amount of sugar, which is not suitable for your piggy’s health in any way.
So guinea pigs can have this fruit occasionally in limited amounts.
Strawberries
Strawberries are another source of vitamin C for your little pet but feed them this delicious fruit in moderation.
Cranberries
Unlike blueberries and strawberries, cranberries are beneficial and healthy for guinea pigs.
The high amount of vitamin C and a minimal amount of sugar make this fruit the best for guinea pigs.
You can feed cranberries twice or thrice a week to your pet.
Pears
Although pears are acidic, you can feed them to your guinea pigs a few bites a week.
Cherries (Sour & Sweet)
Guinea pigs love cherries.
Both sour and sweet cherries contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Cherries are good snacks for guinea pigs if given to them occasionally.
Peaches
Peaches are an excellent fruit for guinea pigs because the nutrients they contain are suitable and balanced for these little pets.
Peaches contain vitamin C, magnesium, and other healthy minerals that are beneficial for guinea pigs.
Keep in mind that more than one slice of peach in a week can be unfavorable for guinea pigs.
Kiwi
Another great source of vitamin C and potassium in your guinea pigs’ bodies is kiwi.
However, this fruit can help prevent bladder stones in the body of guinea pigs.
Grapes (Red & Green)
Guinea pigs love the sweetness of grapes, and they like to have them.
Nonetheless, remember how small and sensitive your piggy is, so one grape is more than enough for your guinea pig at a time.
Be careful, as excess grapes may cause guinea pigs to lose appetite, vomiting, lethargy, and kidney failure.
Why is Vitamin C Important for Guinea Pigs?
Vitamin C is essential for guinea pigs’ health.
Without the required amount of vitamin C, your guinea pigs can develop scurvy.
If left untreated, scurvy is a fatal disease that causes much pain and suffering to guinea pigs.
To prevent scurvy, make sure to always feed your guinea pigs with enough hay, guinea pig pellets enriched with vitamin C, as well as raw and fresh vegetables and fruits a guinea pig can eat, that are safe for your pet’s health.
Remember that it could be harmful to add vitamin C supplements to your guinea pigs’ diet without a veterinarian’s recommendation.
What is the Ideal Diet for Guinea Pigs?
Guinea Pigs are herbivores and their diet is quite simple.
They need unlimited amounts of hay or even fresh grass, fresh and clean water, guinea pig pellets enriched with vitamin C, and raw and fresh fruits and vegetables that are on the safe list and beneficial for these small aminals.
Hay
Hay is a regular daily part of your guinea pig’s healthy diet.
Mostly, their diet should include timothy hay because it’s high in fiber and low in calcium.
Likewise, clover or Lucerne hay contains too much calcium and protein, so never feed them this hay.
The excellent quality, dry, and sweet-smelling hay is beneficial for guinea pigs’ teeth and gastrointestinal health.
Be careful with the dirty and dump hay that contains much dust.
It can cause allergies for you and make much trouble for your little rodent.
Such hay can cause serious illness in your guinea pig.
Also, remember that mowed grass in your yard cannot be an alternative to hay in your piggy’s diet.
Fresh Water
Check your guinea pig’s water frequently and replace it with fresh and clean water.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, feeding your guinea pig with avocado is not a good option and guinea pig owners should know which types of fruits and vegetables to avoid feeding to their pets.
This fruit is dangerous for guinea pigs.
The best thing that can happen after eating avocado is that your guinea pig will develop digestive problems such as diarrhea and, in the worst-case scenario, will die an agonizing death.
Even if that were not the case, there are many other reasons why you should never feed avocados to your guinea pig.
Remember, your pet needs, health, safety, and well-being depend on you.
Although a healthy guinea pig diet consists of an unlimited amount of hay and grass, you also need to make sure to include healthy raw and fresh fruits and vegetables in your pet’s diet.
Therefore, hay, fresh water, and safe fruits and vegetables are what your pet needs.
If you have any suggestions or comments on this topic, feel free to comment down below.
