Some tangential remarks. In the United States, these animals are indeed called "guinea pigs," but pet stores and pet books encourage people to use the name "cavy" instead. I think this is because their scientific name is Cavia porcellus, and because "guinea" is now considered an ethnic slur.
In some South American countries, the name is "cuy" (pronounced "coo-eee") which sounds related to "cavy," especially if you imagine the "v" pronounced as "u." They are used for food. I've been told that it is common to keep live cuys in the corner of a kitchen. I've seen shown them penned in by a simple board. Guinea pigs don't do much climbing or jumping. I imagine the name "cuy" is onamatopoetic, because they do make a noise which I always imitated as
"burka-burka-burka-burka-burka, skooEEEEEK, skooEEEEK, skooEEEEK."
They make pretty good pets. We used to raise them. They are bigger, big enough to "pet," aren't as stinky as hamsters.
Finally, anyone who is interested in guinea pigs and wants to read something very funny in English should take a look at
It may be challenging because the main character speaks in Irish-American dialect. The central idea is that a Mr. Morehouse is sent a pair of guinea pigs by rail. When they arrive the station agent insists that "pigs is pigs" and wants to charge him the freight rate for pigs. Morehouse refuses to accept the shipment. The agent is stuck with two guinea pigs who need to be fed--and keep multiplying.
