Crackly breathing

[Wizzy]

hello! both my pigs had bad uris that came in may and didn’t go away until august (as many of you are likely to remember) they were on baytril for 5 weeks and sulfatrim for 6, came off the antibiotics and were mainly better apart from some nose discharge and occasionally whistly breathing. that seemed to completely go away with time. Now i’ve noticed one of my pigs has crackly breathing this evening- she seemed to cough rather a lot as well. her main symptom with the previous uri was a very crusty eye. there’s none of that at all but there is the tiniest amount of discharge- barely any though! she’s lost 10g in weight, but as far as i was aware their weight can differ from about 30g throughout the day? is it possible that her uri has come back or she’s just got something stuck in her throat? the hay has been quite damp this week because it rained but it is as dry as i can make it. i switched to haybox hay a few months ago.

 

[Wizzy]

Forgot to mention: Pepper is 5, and weighs 1125g. She’s always been a bit of a snuffly piggy.

 

[Siikibam]

Sneezing or coughing is a way for them to clear their airways - when they clean themselves, drink or eat too fast, or have something stuck in there. How long has it been going on this time?

I think there is no harm in taking her in to be checked over again. I hope it’s nothing

PS A worrying weight to lose is 50g and consistently. I would also consider weighing her daily at the same time to see how she’s doing.

 

[Wizzy]

Sneezing or coughing is a way for them to clear their airways - when they clean themselves, drink or eat too fast, or have something stuck in there. How long has it been going on this time?

I think there is no harm in taking her in to be checked over again. I hope it’s nothing

PS A worrying weight to lose is 50g and consistently. I would also consider weighing her daily at the same time to see how she’s doing.

it’s just started- i put them in a little box while i clean their cage and it started then. about 30 minutes ago. i hope it’s nothing too!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

If in doubt, please have them checked.

Older piggies can struggle a bit with their airways, especially in drier indoors air (radiators) but since their immune system is no quite as flexible or strong, it can also mean that an existing reservoir of bacteria could make a comeback or that a persistent URI may have left some permanent damage. But it takes a good vet and a good stethoscope to decide what exactly is going on.

See whether a bowl of steaming water right by her cage will alleviate the raspy breathing a little.

 

[Merab]

Hope your piggy is ok.
Holding you in my thoughts

 

[Wizzy]

Hi!

If in doubt, please have them checked.

Older piggies can struggle a bit with their airways, especially in drier indoors air (radiators) but since their immune system is no quite as flexible or strong, it can also mean that an existing reservoir of bacteria could make a comeback or that a persistent URI may have left some permanent damage. But it takes a good vet and a good stethoscope to decide what exactly is going on.

See whether a bowl of steaming water right by her cage will alleviate the raspy breathing a little.

Thank you! we went to the vet 8 times between may and july and the last 4 times they kept telling us nothing was wrong! I may have to find a better vet. Is the crackly breathing more likely to be an infection then rather than just an obstruction? I know an obstruction is usually hooting and i wasn’t sure if crackly breathing was the same. What could the coughing mean?

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you! we went to the vet 8 times between may and july and the last 4 times they kept telling us nothing was wrong! I may have to find a better vet. Is the crackly breathing more likely to be an infection then rather than just an obstruction? I know an obstruction is usually hooting and i wasn’t sure if crackly breathing was the same. What could the coughing mean?

Sorry, but I don't think there is anything wrong with your vet. Guinea pigs are prey animals and as such they can perfectly well suppress their breathing when out of their comfort zone. If there is nothing to hear, then a vet can't hear it; if there was a major obstruction like a full-on infection or a pneumonia they would hear it.

It took me 2 years of vet visits and a specialist vet with a really good stethoscope listening to Ffraid for at least a quarter of an hour to give me a diagnosis for her off and on crackly breathing. In her case, it was upper and lower lung disease stemming from a not fully healed out URI in early life (which I knew she'd had some time before coming to me). Anyway, Ffraid still lived to the ripe old age of ca. 8 years and died from a circulation collapse in the wake of a heat spike, which her body was no longer flexible to cope with a ouple of years after her diagnosis and no further antibiotics on recommendation of the vet as we could have either put her on regular strong ABs and risk building up resistance or leave things as they were and only treat if things got a lot worse. Thankfully, her breathing got never any worse.

I cannot comment on the coughing as I have insufficient information from you. Has that happened during or after eating her dinner?

 

[Wizzy]

Sorry, but I don't think there is anything wrong with your vet. Guinea pigs are prey animals and as such they can perfectly well suppress their breathing when out of their comfort zone. If there is nothing to hear, then a vet can't hear it; if there was a major obstruction like a full-on infection or a pneumonia they would hear it.

It took me 2 years of vet visits and a specialist vet with a really good stethoscope listening to Ffraid for at least a quarter of an hour to give me a diagnosis for her off and on crackly breathing. In her case, it was upper and lower lung disease stemming from a not fully healed out URI in early life (which I knew she'd had some time before coming to me). Anyway, Ffraid still lived to the ripe old age of ca. 8 years and died from a circulation collapse in the wake of a heat spike, which her body was no longer flexible to cope with a ouple of years after her diagnosis and no further antibiotics on recommendation of the vet as we could have either put her on regular strong ABs and risk building up resistance or leave things as they were and only treat if things got a lot worse. Thankfully, her breathing got never any worse.

I cannot comment on the coughing as I have insufficient information from you. Has that happened during or after eating her dinner?

Thank you! and it was after- while she was eating hay. i usually feed them small amounts of veggies throughout the day, and mostly hay in the evenings.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you! and it was after- while she was eating hay. i usually feed them small amounts of veggies throughout the day, and mostly hay in the evenings.

Most coughing happens from greedy eating when things go down the wrong way a bit. it happens in a one-off bout.
URI coughing happens very regularly over prolonged periods of time; it is a symptom in a well set-in and advanced URI but not typically a symptom of the onset.

Please also be aware that hay dust can cause raspy breathing if your piggy is sensitive to a particular brand of hay. My Taffy had that - she sounded like she had a throat infection but the antibiotic wouldn't clear it - I had to switch back to using the old hay brand in her cage, which did the trick for her.

 

[GuineaCrazy20]

The vet would hear if there was any wheezing or any issues with the breathing. However what do use on your cage floor ? If you use fleece it could be a build of hay dust or just dust in general. Change of hay ? Suggest a deep clean, new bedding, and make sure in no drafts, if indoor keep in warm area, obs not to hot nor told cold. It's getting cold now and indoor guineas are use to house hold temperatures so any colder than normal weather can make them sick. Few snuggly blankets to snug into of a night. Other than the above recommendations take back to vet a different vet and if you get the same responce then definitely no respiratory problems and has to be just dust or the hay.