Black mucus but no other symptoms?

[Io341]

Hi guys, me again

I've got two piggies, one a little over a year and one somewhere around 5-6 months, who have been producing black mucus from their noses but have no other symptoms! Nova, the younger, has been to the vet twice now and has had two courses of baytril (0.15ml twice daily) and with the second round, 0.15ml anti-inflammatory once a day. The vet has said that they are in perfect health otherwise, and neither have a history of respiratory issues at all, and Holly is fully grown at 1.07kg, and Nova has just reached 700g.

Any clues at all to what may be causing this? It's causing them no issues, I just worry about their breathing becoming impacted with any possible build up. We have fleece bedding, so no irritation there, and we just have no clue why this has started (been maybe a month on and off?) so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Siikibam]

How long was he on the antibiotics and did you see any improvement?

 

[Io341]

How long was he on the antibiotics and did you see any improvement?

she was on them for a week each time, and no- didn't seem to do much, hence the second round, it seems to vary day by day honestly.

 

[VickiA]

Are they going anywhere particularly dirty? The only time I’ve seen dirty discharge from piggy noses has been from piggies who’ve been digging or burrowing outside or getting very dirty and dusty from going under or behind furniture etc.

 

[Io341]

They do tend to burrow in hay when they eat it? For some reason both of them love sticking their heads under they hay and moving it around...

 

[VickiA]

They do tend to burrow in hay when they eat it? For some reason both of them love sticking their heads under they hay and moving it around...

Unless the hay is very dirty that is unlikely to be the cause.

 

[Io341]

Unless the hay is very dirty that is unlikely to be the cause.

Ah ok- no clue then as they don't go outside unless it's summer.

 

[Free Ranger]

I've been in the garden today digging around and wow, when I blew my nose it was horrendous... but I'm guessing if you're in Scotland your piggies aren't outside yet! If they've both got it and they're different ages and not related (?) I'd be considering something environmental or something infectious.

In people you can apparently get fungal infections of the sinuses which can cause black-looking snot - but this is not common and you'd be looking at getting a sample to prove that I think before any treatment. I have black mould in the bathroom (who doesn't!) and I sometimes see black mould on things like onions so I'm guessing this type of thing is pretty common in the environment - although why it would grow up a nose beats me. Antibiotics wouldn't make any difference to a fungal infection. Do they produce more mucous than usual? How difficult would it be to get a little bit on a swab if the vet could give you one? I'm not talking about sticking anything up their nose (I think that would hurt them and risk damage) but you can get swabs like long cotton buds in a tube of gel-type stuff for taking samples of bacteria in the environment so I'm guessing they should be able to use something similar for fungus... hopefully just touching it at the end of the nose when it looks moist and black? I'm not a vet so obviously I might be completely wrong here but that would be my next step - calling the vet and asking about getting a swab and sending off a sample to be tested for fungus.

Good luck little piggies!

 

[Io341]

Of course now I'm asking, it's practically gone, but when it comes back, I can definitely try to get a sample and get it tested. They aren't related, so probably environmental, so thanks for the help!

 

[Io341]

A little update, we went the environmental standpoint and took out a few of their toys to see if it was any of those, and seemed to get a reaction from the willow sticks when reintroduced, so those are gone, but that was a few days ago and all the mucus after was gone. But... it's back for an unknown reason with absolutely no environmental changes besides a quick trip to the lawn, but there was no digging, and this has never happened with grass before. I am confused!