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Advice please!

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joanne marie

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Hi all quite worried what is this noises my guinea pigs making in the attached?
 
You will need to upload video to YouTube first and then post a link to it here.

If she is making noises while she is breathing, then that can be one of two things - either there is something irritating her airways such as hay dust or she is having issues with breathing/fast breathing/heaving sides (potential URI).
We cannot know which one it is and can only advise you to see a vet if you are concerned about her breathing
 
Thanks, I took her the vets the other day to get them to listen to her chest and they said it was clear, no eye discharge and good appetite, I think they might be mistaken and it is an infection, just called the emergency line and no answer, it seems a bit better now am I safe to wait until morning to call my vet?
 
I’m afraid it’s not our place to say whether it’s safe to wait until tomorrow as we cannot know what is wrong. If you are concerned then we can only advise you to continue trying to get hold of the vet
 
I'm always at the vets for one thing or another with my piggies, quite often when I go I get the feeling the vets think I'm overreacting about nothing, but I would rather be safe than sorry every time!
 
joanne marie said:
Thanks, I took her the vets the other day to get them to listen to her chest and they said it was clear, no eye discharge and good appetite, I think they might be mistaken and it is an infection, just called the emergency line and no answer, it seems a bit better now am I safe to wait until morning to call my vet?
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If she has been seen by your vet today and they were happy that it didn't sound serious, then I would think that it can wait until tomorrow.

Pleas be aware that guinea pig airways are very small and narrow and that the least obstruction, like for instance a little hay dust, can be very audible. In most cases hooting is caused by something small in the nasal passages. It will hopefully disappear within a few hours or end with big nose-freeing sneeze.

We can however only speculate based on your comments.
 
My Zorro was doing this a few weeks ago, I was also very concerned, turned out it was a very mild case of bloat.

Obviously I'm not saying this is exactly it, but Zorro was hooting and still eating, and I remember the hooting being quite fast too. The vets wanted to be sure it wasn't anything else so they kept him in for observation for the night and it passed, the next day they were sure it was just a mild case of bloat that was causing him discomfort and we were given metacam for when it happens again and to give light belly rubs to ease his symptoms.

It barely happens now, we completely cut out kale and broccoli (they never got it often anyways but we did like a mini test and tried each vegetable and saw what was triggering it). He quite likes belly rubs now, so he doesn't mind it when we rub his tummy. I think it only happens now when he's hidden a vegetable somewhere and we haven't found it and then he's decided to eat it when it's not in the greatest condition and causes a slight tummy upset!

His appetite wasn't affected and neither were his poos, but you could tell he was getting annoyed with the hooting when he wanted to go to bed!
 
Wiebke said:
If she has been seen by your vet today and they were happy that it didn't sound serious, then I would think that it can wait until tomorrow.

Pleas be aware that guinea pig airways are very small and narrow and that the least obstruction, like for instance a little hay dust, can be very audible. In most cases hooting is caused by something small in the nasal passages. It will hopefully disappear within a few hours or end with big nose-freeing sneeze.

We can however only speculate based on your comments.
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Ah thank you that's really useful to know. Took her again today and they are still adamant her Airways are clear, but as she has lost a little bit of weight they have agreed to give her 2 lots of antibiotics so fingers crossed
 
Neesy95 said:
My Zorro was doing this a few weeks ago, I was also very concerned, turned out it was a very mild case of bloat.

Obviously I'm not saying this is exactly it, but Zorro was hooting and still eating, and I remember the hooting being quite fast too. The vets wanted to be sure it wasn't anything else so they kept him in for observation for the night and it passed, the next day they were sure it was just a mild case of bloat that was causing him discomfort and we were given metacam for when it happens again and to give light belly rubs to ease his symptoms.

It barely happens now, we completely cut out kale and broccoli (they never got it often anyways but we did like a mini test and tried each vegetable and saw what was triggering it). He quite likes belly rubs now, so he doesn't mind it when we rub his tummy. I think it only happens now when he's hidden a vegetable somewhere and we haven't found it and then he's decided to eat it when it's not in the greatest condition and causes a slight tummy upset!

His appetite wasn't affected and neither were his poos, but you could tell he was getting annoyed with the hooting when he wanted to go to bed!
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Thank you so much I think it could definitely be that as I took her again today and the vet is still saying her Airways are fine, she does eat quite fast and eats a lot more than my other 2 girls so that would make sense!
 
3 pound in 2 weeks, however I have been trying to cut down on the amount of hard feed that that gets as she is getting quite overweight so it could be down to that
 
joanne marie said:
3 pound in 2 weeks, however I have been trying to cut down on the amount of hard feed that that gets as she is getting quite overweight so it could be down to that
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Are you sure she‘s lost 3lbs in two weeks? That is 1350g…..that amount of weight loss would kill a guinea pig
Its best to quote weights in grams
 
Ok, that is a significant amount to lose and at that point you step in and syringe feed.
Hay is the largest part of their diet and if they lose weight then it’s because they are not eating enough hay, and this is why you step in with syringe feeding.

You say you are cutting down hard feed. They should have just one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day.
How much pellets are you giving?

You say she is overweight? What makes you think that? Have you checked her heft?
 
The vet said she is overweight. And in regards to pellets she gets at least 4 times that every day as do my other girls to take or leave it as they wish. She has a constant supply to hay and she eats it all day so that cannot be the reason, I am here in the house with them 24/7 as I work from home.
 
joanne marie said:
The vet said she is overweight. And in regards to pellets she gets at least 4 times that every day as do my other girls to take or leave it as they wish. She has a constant supply to hay and she eats it all day so that cannot be the reason, I am here in the house with them 24/7 as I work from home.
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Losing weight is due to not eating enough hay, it needs to make 80% of their daily food intake so as soon as they stop eating enough their weight drops.
Veg is around 15% of the daily food intake (one cup per pig per day) so does not have a significant impact on their weight.
They should never be left with constant access to pellets all day as it does and will impact hay consumption. Pellets will artificially fill them up and cause them to not eat enough hay. One tablespoon of pellets per pig per day only. They should only be around 5% of the daily food intake. Pellets (and unfiltered drinking water) contain a lot of calcium which can lead to health problems such as bladder problems and dental issues.
 
What is her weight now? 4 tbsp per piggy? That's a lot and unnecessary. Hay should make up 80% of her diet as it helps with the wearing of the teeth as well as their digestion. It's what they've adapted to eat. Veg should make up 15% of their diet and pellets are a tiny 5%. So cut down all piggies to 1tbsp of pellets and encourage them to eat as much hay as possible. (This will also save you some money as you won't need to buy pellets as often).
 
They don't have constant access to pellets they have constant access to hay. I only give them pellets in the evening now but she puts more weight on when she had access to pellets all day than now when she doesn't. Thanks for your advice, I will cut down on the pellets so she is encouraged to consume a larger amount of hay. I will keep weighing her to see if there is an improvement.
 
Engel said:
What is her weight now? 4 tbsp per piggy? That's a lot and unnecessary. Hay should make up 80% of her diet as it helps with the wearing of the teeth as well as their digestion. It's what they've adapted to eat. Veg should make up 15% of their diet and pellets are a tiny 5%. So cut down all piggies to 1tbsp of pellets and encourage them to eat as much hay as possible. (This will also save you some money as you won't need to buy pellets as often).
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Thank you I will do that, although she won't be impressed as she loves them lol!
 
joanne marie said:
They don't have constant access to pellets they have constant access to hay. I only give them pellets in the evening now but she puts more weight on when she had access to pellets all day than now when she doesn't. Thanks for your advice, I will cut down on the pellets so she is encouraged to consume a larger amount of hay. I will keep weighing her to see if there is an improvement.
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Yes access to a lot of pellets all day would cause unhealthy weight gain. Hopefully now she doesn’t have a lot of pellets, her weight will settle to a healthier level. Definitely stick to just one tablespoon per piggy to make sure they all eat plenty of hay.
Make sure you check her (and all of the piggies) heft as that is the guide for what is healthy for their individual body type. The number on the scales doesn’t tell you that.

Weight - Monitoring and Management

My piggies only get pellets three evenings a week (they have forage on the other days) and they only get them for about half an hour before I remove any they haven’t eaten, so they then only have hay to eat until the morning

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
 
Piggies&buns said:
Yes access to a lot of pellets all day would cause unhealthy weight gain. Hopefully now she doesn’t have a lot of pellets, her weight will settle to a healthier level. Definitely stick to just one tablespoon per piggy to make sure they all eat plenty of hay.
Make sure you check her (and all of the piggies) heft as that is the guide for what is healthy for their individual body type. The number on the scales doesn’t tell you that.

Weight - Monitoring and Management

My piggies only get pellets three evenings a week (they have forage on the other days) and they only get them for about half an hour before I remove any they haven’t eaten, so they then only have hay to eat until the morning

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
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Thank you that's really useful
 
Out of curiosity how much does your pig weigh?

Lots of animals are being bred to have shorter faces. It's already started with hamsters in the US, I wonder if pigs may be starting to be bred like this too? My one girl, Autumn has a shorter yet wider head than the other pigs and she makes the odd noise when excited but she's completely healthy (I had her checked by the vets).
 
joanne marie said:
And I dont understand that in itself as she has a great appetite which makes me suspect a uri
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Hi

How much have you cut down on your pellets and for how any days/weeks so we can put that into perspective?

In an overweight guinea pig, on reduced feed, that would be a tolerable weight loss whereas in a normal guinea pig, it is significant. Any weight loss in chunky piggies is initially much greater because it is the yellow fat around the organs that comes off as well and not just body substance.

How much does your piggy weigh now?
 
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