You may want your guinea pig to enjoy everything you eat. If you wonder, can guinea pigs eat onions? It is straight away NO. Onions will be the worst food to feed your guinea pig.
No matter how onions are prepared and how you offer them to your piggie, onions contain toxic substances that can kill your guinea pig.
If you are not a guinea pig owner, you may never understand how much demanding guinea pigs are. They used to squeal for snacks; however, they have a sensitive stomach that does not tolerate anything out of bounds, for example, onions.
Onions are not the regular diet of guinea pigs, and it can never be because of the harmful impact it generates. Let us see how much damage onions can cause to your guinea pig.
Can guinea pigs eat red onion?
Can guinea pigs eat onions? What about red onions? No, guinea pigs can’t eat red onion. Based on facts, onions are bad for guinea pigs because of two main ingredients.
Thiosulfate and disulphide compounds are the two main ingredients responsible for the toxic effects of onions. On only guinea pigs, these compounds are toxic for other pets too.
Besides these toxic compounds, onions contain many other bad compounds for the health of guinea pigs. For example, onions contain calcium and sugar that is present more the requirement of guinea pigs. Your guinea pigs will get sick of this much high sugar and calcium.
Your guinea pigs can have many health problems if they eat onions. The potential health risks include urinary issues, anemia, digestive problems, and even death if these issues are not treated on time. Let us discuss all the possible side effects of feeding onion to your guinea pig.
Can guinea pigs eat purple onion?
Can guinea pigs eat onions? What about purple onion? No, guinea pigs can’t eat purple onion. If you feed only a small amount of onion to your guinea pig, it can also lead to serious problems. You should see the signs and symptoms if your guinea pig consumes onion.
First, you will see the eyes and nose running. In most cases of onion toxicity, guinea pigs salivate too much. You may find it difficult to note the salivation in your little piggie.
However, you can observe vomiting after your guinea pig consumes onion. You can easily differentiate it from normal behavior because guinea pigs don’t normally vomit. Once your guinea pigs start vomiting, health starts deteriorating, and following complications may appear.
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Urinary difficulties
Onions contain calcium that is very harmful if fed in excess. High calcium in the blood creates the risk of developing kidney stones. The stone can block the urinary passage in the kidney or bladder.
It can be extremely painful if not treated. When the kidney does not function, it causes further problems to develop.
Digestive complications
I have mentioned that guinea pigs have a sensitive stomach and can’t handle high sugar contents. You may wonder if onions don’t taste sweet but contain high sugar content.
Excess sugar intake creates several digestive issues and associated problems like high blood sugar levels.
Anemia
One of the serious concerns of feeding onions is anemia. The disulfide compounds present in onion damage the red blood cells, leading to anemia and other respiratory problems.
Death
If you keep feeding onions to your guinea pigs, it will worsen the situation. The progressive damage to the vital organs of the body will eventually cause the death of your guinea pigs.
In most cases, death occurs when you don’t pay attention to your guinea pig’s health situation. to prevent it, you need to prevent your guinea pig from eating onion.
What to do if your guinea pig eats onion?
Can guinea pigs eat onions? Even small amounts of onion can cause serious implications; therefore, you need to act quickly to neutralize the harmful effects of onions on your guinea pig’s health. Suppose you suspect your guinea pig is eating onion.
In that case, the first thing you do is to prevent your guinea pig from eating further onion and observe the signs and symptoms, such as nasal or eye discharge, vomiting, or increased respiration.
If your guinea pig shows even the slightest of signs, you need a veterinarian to see your Guinea pig. You can call the emergency services or take your guinea pig to your veterinarian. Onion poisoning is not something you can treat. You need a professional to deal with a sensitive issue.
Conclusion – Can guinea pigs eat onions?
Do you will still wonder, can guinea pigs eat onions? Onions are toxic to feed your guinea pigs, and you need to avoid them from your guinea pig at any cost.
