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Guinea pig wheezing - how urgently does he need to be seen?

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splashydragon

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We bought guinea pigs two weeks ago and they are around four months old. They've seemed completely happy and healthy but this morning I noticed one of them was making a funny sound when he breathed. I thought he was snoring at first, but it's definitely not that because he is awake and moving around.

I've managed to get an appointment at an exotic pet specialist but they can't see him until tomorrow morning. The receptionist assured me that that would be soon enough but I'm terrified that it's too long and he's going to die. The wheezing started this morning and I've seen some information online which said that a guinea pig can die within 48 hours of contracting an infection. I have no way of knowing when the infection began.

I have called a few other local vets but they aren't taking on new clients so I don't think I have much chance of getting anything sooner than tomorrow morning. Is this fast enough? I am so worried.
 
If he is struggling to breathe or if things deteriorate before his appointment then it would be best to go to an emergency/out of hours vet this evening.

In the meantime and during a period of illness switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh him daily (each morning) so you can more closely monitor hay intake. Hay intake can’t be judged by eye so the weight checks are an important measure.

I hope he is ok

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
 
I haven't even weighed them yet. I didn't realise I was supposed to until a few days ago and was wondering what to put them in for weighing. His appointment is in 20 hours - would I be able to notice weight loss that quickly? I'm going to weigh them both tonight but they're not fully grown yet so I don't know how much they should weigh.

I noticed that he is more bony feeling than my other guinea pig but when I looked online it didn't seem to be anything unusual. His appetite is great and he is still active, confident and inquisitive. I think they are both noticeably bigger than when we got them two weeks ago.

What would struggling to breathe look like? At the moment it's like a creaking noise or wheezing. It's not constant - he seems to have stopped again now and i keep panicking that it means he's not breathing. He is definitely breathing because I keep checking, but he's done a few sneezes over the last few hours.
 
Do you think he might not be eating enough hay then? We put a large heap of it in a cat litter tray which gets changed every day. There is often poo in there and the tray below is wet, presumably with urine, so should I be changing the hay more frequently than daily? I don't know how long it stays clean enough for them.
 
There is no amount that they should weigh at each age, what you are looking for is weight gain while they are young. It won’t necessarily be consistent each week but an upward trend while they are growing.

I can’t say whether he might not be eating though. It’s just that generally speaking when a piggy is unwell the first thing they reduce is their hay intake. That then shows on the scales.
Hay is 80% of their daily food intake so it shows quite quickly if they don’t eat enough.
Its a good idea to get into the habit of their routine weight checks. Sometimes weight loss can be the earliest sign of a brewing illness, sometimes before other symptoms show.

It’s best to weigh first thing in the morning but ultimately what is important is that you always weigh at same time of day - that way you are comparing like with like and in the same place in the feeding cycle.

I personally remove and replace hay twice a day.

These guides will help
Weight - Monitoring and Management
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely (videos)

Struggling to breathe would be things such as sucking their sides in

This guide may help you
How Soon Should My Guinea Pig See A Vet? - A Quick Guide
 
Thank you so much, that is very helpful. I might swap to changing hay twice daily then to make sure it is clean enough for them.

The wheezing noise has stopped again which has reassured me slightly. He doesn't seem to have any difficulty breathing so perhaps I can calm down and wait to see what the vet says tomorrow.
 
Are they housed on woodshavings? George used to sneeze a lot until we changed to fleece. Might have been coincidence 🤔
 
Aww how adorable! They're on fleece liners. I put old towels down in the areas they mostly hang out and change those when soiled. So hopefully not a bedding issue?

I'm now wondering whether I have stored the hay incorrectly. I've been keeping it in the lean to. It is unheated and I have noticed condensation on the plastic of the hay bag. Could this be a problem? No rain can get in and we have electrical items out there which are fine but it is more damp than indoors.
 
I can't comment on the hay storage, how do you wash your fleeces? Do you use fabric conditioner?Btw, still take him to the vet tomorrow as it's always worth getting them checked out. Also I'm sure you are aware that he needs a piggie friend to hold his paw when you take him.
 
splashydragon said:
Aww how adorable! They're on fleece liners. I put old towels down in the areas they mostly hang out and change those when soiled. So hopefully not a bedding issue?

I'm now wondering whether I have stored the hay incorrectly. I've been keeping it in the lean to. It is unheated and I have noticed condensation on the plastic of the hay bag. Could this be a problem? No rain can get in and we have electrical items out there which are fine but it is more damp than indoors.
Click to expand...

Hay will run the risk of going mouldy if it is kept in damp conditions and where condensation is forming.
Hay should always be kept in dry.

I store my hay in my shed where my piggies live, it isn’t heated but it is perfectly dry. I get two types - one comes in boxes and the other is a bale from a local farm, so no plastic packaging.
 
The fleeces are washed in the washing machine with normal washing powder and no fabric softener.

I am taking them to the vets because I am still concerned it could be an infection. He's popcorning around at the moment and seems fine but he's made that noise on and off all day and seems to be sneezing. The appointment is for both because I assume if one has it, the other one will too.

I haven't noticed condensation in the bag, I got mixed up. But the tiled floor it is sitting on has condensation and it generally gets damp out there. We've only had the hay two weeks and I haven't noticed any mould or smell. I've just bought some new hay anyway which I will keep indoors from now on.

I will let you know what the vet says tomorrow. Thanks for all of your help!
 
If the sun is getting on your hay it will sweat and cause damp and condensation. If the room is not damp this may be the cause. I would decant the hay into a box.
 
:agr:

Any hay which is in plastic which could get sun on it etc, is a risk of going mouldy over time.

Generally, a noise coming from the hope is a sign of an obstruction. Piggies have narrow airways and hay dust etc can cause them to hoot. Sneezing is the way of clearing it out. It should clear after a few hours in the case of a hay dust obstruction. If it doesn’t then see a vet.
Noises from the chest tend to point to infection.
With that said, it is always safest to get a vet check particularly with new piggies and those from pet shops as there is always a chance they have picked something up.
 
He has an infection and has three weeks of antibiotics. We're going back in three weeks to check if he's better and see whether the course needs to be extended. Poor little thing. He was very brave at the vets 😊

Vet said the noise is coming from the nose and that there is green mucus in both nostrils. His brother doesn't have any signs of illness but I have been told to start giving him the antibiotics too if he shows any symptoms.

The bill today was £130 and I've had a brief look on the forums and seen that a lot of people don't take out insurance and save each month instead. I've had a quote of £30 a month which gives cover up to £2000 per piggy per year. But other members mentioned that just a scan could be around £1000. So what do most people do in that situation? Do guinea pigs regularly get these infections? I'm just wondering how often I'm likely to need to pay for this treatment.
 
With hindsight I wold have been better taking out the insurance most years on some of my guinea pigs but you never know. So much is not covered by the insurance which is also off putting. Now I have elderly guinea pigs in when I really need the insurance and of course they don't cover them over the age of 5. We had a hay poke last week the bill was £168!
 
It’s a tricky situation and you can’t know which one is going to work out best for you unfortunately.
If I had insurance for my animals (I have six animals) then I would have ’wasted’ an absolute fortune in premiums which have never been needed. Instead all the money is sat in my bank account ready and I know it is there to cover any eventuality without any restrictions
 
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