Crackling but normal?

[Augustisstressed]

I have a two year old Guinea pig named Sherlock and this morning around 7 EST, he started making a crackling noise but I don’t believe he is grinding his teeth. He is at his normal weight, he’s eating normally, he’s always been a bit lethargic but he still plays. I only noticed it today and I made this account just to see if this should be an emergency visit? He and his cage buddy Watson are my first Guinea pigs! They both get along great. Should I call the vet or am I overthinking?

 

[Claire W]

Hello and welcome to the forum. If your boy is crackly, this warrants a vet visit asap as it could be an upper respiratory infection (URI) which will require treatment x

 

[Bill & Ted]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I would definitely get a vet check if he is still doing it now. the vet will check his lungs to see if he has any infection in his respiratory tract

 

[Wiebke]

I have a two year old Guinea pig named Sherlock and this morning around 7 EST, he started making a crackling noise but I don’t believe he is grinding his teeth. He is at his normal weight, he’s eating normally, he’s always been a bit lethargic but he still plays. I only noticed it today and I made this account just to see if this should be an emergency visit? He and his cage buddy Watson are my first Guinea pigs! They both get along great. Should I call the vet or am I overthinking?

Hi

If the crackling does not disappear within a few hours or comes back, then you may want to see a vet.

Any loss of appetite/weight and looking very off/ill will make it an emergency. In this case see a vet as soon as possible and step in with syringe feeding and watering support immediately. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat - a piggy whose need to breathe is so bad that they stop eating and drinking is a very ill piggy indeed.

Guinea pig airways are very small narrow, and guinea pigs are not much in the way of mouth breathers, so even the least obstruction is very audible, so it is not at all easy to tell the difference.
Have you just opened a new bag of hay? Used perfumed/scented products etc. ?
See whether a bowl of steaming water may help to easy symptoms especially if yu are experiencing a cold spells and the heating has cranked up and made the indoors air very dry.

As with every health concern, please switch from the weekly weigh in and health check to weighing daily on your kitchen scales (cheap online or supermarket ones will do) first thing in the morning for best day to day comparison. Hay makes over three quarters of the daily food intake which you cannot control by eye so a piggy can lose a lot of weight without you noticing - the poo output is generally running 1-2 days behind the food intake.

As are you are based the US or Canada, URI is unfortunately much more likely compared to the UK. Sadly many of the shop bought piggies are infected with or have been exposed to the bacteria and could carry a reservoir that can come up again if the immune system is lowered for some reason.
Our forum is UK based but with we have members and enquiries from all over the world. It would help us a lot if you please added your country - nothing more if you wish - to location in your account details (click on your username on the top bar). This will allow us to automatically adjust any advice to conditions, differences when it comes to vet access, medical and other brands and climate etc. It helps both sides while still protecting your privacy.

Please take the time to read these links here; you may find them helpful since they contain all the practical how to and step by step advice, including how to improvise during an unforeseen emergency:
How Soon Should My Guinea Pig See A Vet? - A Quick Guide

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Recommended exotics vets in the USA and Canada: Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List
(These are the small animal specialists with experience with guinea pigs but they are also very expensive; with general vets you take your potluck as to whether they have experience with piggies or not since guinea pigs and other small pet rodents are classed 'exotics' and don't usually feature much on a general vet's curriculum. Vet fees are generally higher in North America anyway although the UK is fast catching up now, sadly).

All these links are part our of very useful new owners resource. You may want to bookmark this link, especially if you are in a different time zone: Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive Information Collection

All the best. Unfortunately, without access to your piggies, we have to always err on the side of caution. Regulations re. self-help and access to medication are also much stricter in the UK than the USA.

 

[Augustisstressed]

Thank you everyone under this thread, you’ve all been super helpful and I will be trying get a meeting with my vet as soon as possible to check for any signs of infection! Wish me and Sherlock luck <3

Hi

If the crackling does not disappear within a few hours or comes back, then you may want to see a vet.

Any loss of appetite/weight and looking very off/ill will make it an emergency. In this case see a vet as soon as possible and step in with syringe feeding and watering support immediately. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat - a piggy whose need to breathe is so bad that they stop eating and drinking is a very ill piggy indeed.

Guinea pig airways are very small narrow, and guinea pigs are not much in the way of mouth breathers, so even the least obstruction is very audible, so it is not at all easy to tell the difference.
Have you just opened a new bag of hay? Used perfumed/scented products etc. ?
See whether a bowl of steaming water may help to easy symptoms especially if yu are experiencing a cold spells and the heating has cranked up and made the indoors air very dry.

As with every health concern, please switch from the weekly weigh in and health check to weighing daily on your kitchen scales (cheap online or supermarket ones will do) first thing in the morning for best day to day comparison. Hay makes over three quarters of the daily food intake which you cannot control by eye so a piggy can lose a lot of weight without you noticing - the poo output is generally running 1-2 days behind the food intake.

As are you are based the US or Canada, URI is unfortunately much more likely compared to the UK. Sadly many of the shop bought piggies are infected with or have been exposed to the bacteria and could carry a reservoir that can come up again if the immune system is lowered for some reason.
Our forum is UK based but with we have members and enquiries from all over the world. It would help us a lot if you please added your country - nothing more if you wish - to location in your account details (click on your username on the top bar). This will allow us to automatically adjust any advice to conditions, differences when it comes to vet access, medical and other brands and climate etc. It helps both sides while still protecting your privacy.

Please take the time to read these links here; you may find them helpful since they contain all the practical how to and step by step advice, including how to improvise during an unforeseen emergency:
How Soon Should My Guinea Pig See A Vet? - A Quick Guide

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Recommended exotics vets in the USA and Canada: Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List
(These are the small animal specialists with experience with guinea pigs but they are also very expensive; with general vets you take your potluck as to whether they have experience with piggies or not since guinea pigs and other small pet rodents are classed 'exotics' and don't usually feature much on a general vet's curriculum. Vet fees are generally higher in North America anyway although the UK is fast catching up now, sadly).

All these links are part our of very useful new owners resource. You may want to bookmark this link, especially if you are in a different time zone: Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive Information Collection

All the best. Unfortunately, without access to your piggies, we have to always err on the side of caution. Regulations re. self-help and access to medication are also much stricter in the UK than the USA.

Hello! Thank you so much, I am in Canada currently and it’s been difficult getting care for them as this isn’t the first time I’ve needed to make a vet visit. I have opened a new bag of hay but it’s a brand I use often with him. I did use a scented candle but kept the fumes away from the little guy. Luckily he seems to be pooping well and eating and drinking well, I will weigh him today. This helped a lot and I will be calling into the vet to look on coming in the second they are available.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you everyone under this thread, you’ve all been super helpful and I will be trying get a meeting with my vet as soon as possible to check for any signs of infection! Wish me and Sherlock luck <3

Hello! Thank you so much, I am in Canada currently and it’s been difficult getting care for them as this isn’t the first time I’ve needed to make a vet visit. I have opened a new bag of hay but it’s a brand I use often with him. I did use a scented candle but kept the fumes away from the little guy. Luckily he seems to be pooping well and eating and drinking well, I will weigh him today. This helped a lot and I will be calling into the vet to look on coming in the second they are available.

Could you please add your country so it appears on the left with every post you make. We have several forum members from your country, so I am well aware how difficult vet access often is.

You can do a little tester yourself. Hold your ear against your piggy's nose, throat and then chest. This will help you to very roughly evaluate where the crackling is coming from - the sinuses, the throat and bronchia or the lungs. The critical one is the lungs (pneumonia; any clicking from there is a sign of pneumonia and counts as an emergency.