eye and respiratory issues

[hannahpiggies]

one of my guinea pigs (phoebe) who i only had for a couple of days has one of her eyes half closed and it appears she can’t open it all the way, this started today. yesterday i took my piggies to the vet because they were sneezing and coughing and they said they were both fine. i couldn’t tell who was sneezing and coughing, but i think it was only phoebe. she is sneezing quite often like about every 5-10 minutes. she was laying on her stomach a couple minutes ago and she made a strange noise. it was like wheezing/ gasping for air, it sounds like stomach rumbling almost. i think she might have hay poke and the fluid from her eye could be going into her respiratory system? she is eating, drinking, and has been running around. although both my piggies through out the day sleep a lot and don’t move much when they can see me. but most the time when i’m not in my room i hear them running around. i think i should take her back to the vet, but i don’t know if i will be able to soon. will she be okay if i wait a couple of days? i don’t want to, but i might have to. i don’t know if i’m just over reacting, but i have been stressing out over every little thing they do since my other two piggies passed away so unexpectedly.

 

[hannahpiggies]

also i noticed the eye thing after she woke up from sleeping, and i remember other guinea pigs i had in the past would have a squinted eye after waking up and it would go away in a couple of hours. the noise she made only happened once and it sounded like human stomach rumbling and she was twitching a little bit while making it. i think i’ll keep a close watch on her and see how she is tomorrow but i’m just so scared.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Is the coughing and sneezing coinciding with when they are eating?
If they eat too fast then that can make them cough.
Sneezing can be because of hay dust irritating the airways. Piggies have narrow airways so any obstruction is heard much more clearly.
Coughing and sneezing are not usually the first signs of respiratory issues (wheezy or laboured breathing or clicking from the chest or hearing noises when you put your ear to their chest are thongs that needs urgent attention). However, given the seriousness of respiratory infections and how quickly things can deteriorate you should always see a vet promptly for any respiratory concerns, excessive coughing or sneezing.

A milky white discharge from the eye can be the normal cleaning fluid that they have.
Watery discharge, squinting, cloudiness in the eye, could be haypoke.
Green/yellow eye discharge can occur in an established respiratory infection
Again though, if you are concerned you should also see a vet for a diagnosis of your particular case

Please switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh them daily while you have health concerns so you can be sure they are definitely eating enough hay (you cannot judge hay intake by eye).

 

[hannahpiggies]

Is the coughing and sneezing coinciding with when they are eating?
If they eat too fast then that can make them cough.
Sneezing can be because of hay dust irritating the airways. Piggies have narrow airways so any obstruction is heard much more clearly.
Coughing and sneezing are not usually the first signs of respiratory issues (wheezy or laboured breathing or clicking from the chest or hearing noises when you put your ear to their chest are thongs that needs urgent attention). However, given the seriousness of respiratory infections and how quickly things can deteriorate you should always see a vet promptly for any respiratory concerns, excessive coughing or sneezing.

A milky white discharge from the eye can be the normal cleaning fluid that they have.
Watery discharge, squinting, cloudiness in the eye, could be haypoke.
Green/yellow eye discharge can occur in an established respiratory infection
Again though, if you are concerned you should also see a vet for a diagnosis of your particular case

Please switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh them daily while you have health concerns so you can be sure they are definitely eating enough hay (you cannot judge hay intake by eye).

the sneezing isn’t happening a lot and almost every time it was when she was eating. the vet listened for any congestion and said they were both okay. that was 24 hours ago and since the sneezing was the only thing i’m pretty sure it’s not a respiratory infection but i will continue to monitor it.

the only thing i can see is her eye is squinted and there’s no discharge. however she is scratching it so i’m concerned that there could be something in it that’s bothering her. i’m going to watch her the rest of the day carefully. hopefully her eye irritation goes away on its own soon even though i’m pretty sure it’s rare to happen. if in the morning the eye is still squinted or if it starts to leak discharge i will definitely bring her to the vet.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Definitely keep an eye for any respiratory issues. Are they pet shop piggies? We sometimes see things like this crop up with new piggies when they come to a new environment.

Obviously we cannot diagnose anything and can only advise you to see a vet as soon as you can for any issue.
Eye issues are considered urgent, and in the Uk priority is given to them so they are seen by a vet often the same day. Should there be something in the eye it will continue to cause irritation and potentially get worse until the item is removed. One of the times mine have had haypoke (and there have been a few!), he was squinting and his eye was watering. I could not see anything on the eye (other than some clouding starting to occur) but he was seen by the vet half an hour after I saw his discomfort. Nothing foreign object was visible but when the vet lifted his eyelid, a 1cm grass seed was wedged underneath his eyelid and caused him pain every time he moved his eye. The thing was huge, I was so surprised if had got wedged up there!

 

[hannahpiggies]

Definitely keep an eye for any respiratory issues. Are they pet shop piggies? We sometimes see things like this crop up with new piggies when they come to a new environment.

Obviously we cannot diagnose anything and can only advise you to see a vet as soon as you can for any issue.
Eye issues are considered urgent, and in the Uk priority is given to them so they are seen by a vet often the same day. Should there be something in the eye it will continue to cause irritation and potentially get worse until the item is removed. One of the times mine have had haypoke (and there have been a few!), he was squinting and his eye was watering. I could not see anything on the eye (other than some clouding starting to occur) but he was seen by the vet half an hour after I saw his discomfort. Nothing foreign object was visible but when the vet lifted his eyelid, a 1cm grass seed was wedged underneath his eyelid and caused him pain every time he moved his eye. The thing was huge, I was so surprised if had got wedged up there!

oh wow! thanks for the advice, i’ll take her to the vet asap!

 

[hannahpiggies]

update: i spoke to the vet and they said to wipe her eye down with a cotton ball and warm water and if it doesn’t get better by thursday or friday to bring her in. her eye is looking better, but it’s not completely better yet.