Guinea Pig's Stomach looks like it is pulsating or she is breathing very quickly?

[kalexis]

I'm currently in a situation where I can't take my guinea pig to the vet (it is 3am here and the vet opens in 6 hours). But my guinea pig has started not eating her veggies today, and now her stomach is moving extremely quickly, and almost looks like it is pulsating. She is not moving around much, but she is still eating and drinking. Whenever I see her she looks very puffed up almost like a ball and extra fluffy.
I am not sure if this is a respiratory issue or a bloating issue. But I started giving her a low half dose of children's liquid simethicone in case it is bloat. I also gave her a stomach massage for about 10 minutes. I plan on continuing doing these until the vet opens or her symptoms subside.
Everyday I give my 2 pigs lettuce, bell pepper, and cilantro. They also have hay constantly, and a recommended amount of pellets. She was fine yesterday, but has been making weird sounds like she is hiccuping the past week about once a day.
Is there anything else I can do to ensure she is bloated? If she is bloated what else can I do for her until I can get her into the vet?

 

[kalexis]

She is also moving a little bit, but has been in her hut most of the day. Main issue is her stomach is moving extremely quickly. I also see no discharge from her eyes or nose

 

[Wiebke]

She is also moving a little bit, but has been in her hut most of the day. Main issue is her stomach is moving extremely quickly. I also see no discharge from her eyes or nose

Hi!

Please have her vet checked as soon as you can tomorrow morning, including her heart.

Is the breathing just quick or is it laboured? Is your piggy eating normally or not? Is she lethargic?
Here are our care tips for what you can do for her in the meantime: Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

 

[Tiamolly123]

I hope she's OK Kalexis

 

[kalexis]

Update:
She has an appointment for 9am tomorrow. Nothing has changed, if anything she is eating and moving around more. Her breathing is still very fast (well it could be a normal rate) but every time she takes a breath her stomach goes out abnormally far, which I have never noticed and almost looks like it is pulsating. Today I heard a click near her nose every time she took a breath and I know that can be a sign of a URI. To me it doesn't look like she is struggling to breathe it just looks fast with stomach movement. When I look at her she usually looks puffed up as well. She is not moving as much as usual, but is still moving and eating. In the mean time I am making sure she stays warm and giving her vitamin C. I'll update with what the vet says!

 

[Wiebke]

Update:
She has an appointment for 9am tomorrow. Nothing has changed, if anything she is eating and moving around more. Her breathing is still very fast (well it could be a normal rate) but every time she takes a breath her stomach goes out abnormally far, which I have never noticed and almost looks like it is pulsating. Today I heard a click near her nose every time she took a breath and I know that can be a sign of a URI. To me it doesn't look like she is struggling to breathe it just looks fast with stomach movement. When I look at her she usually looks puffed up as well. She is not moving as much as usual, but is still moving and eating. In the mean time I am making sure she stays warm and giving her vitamin C. I'll update with what the vet says!

As she is not moving as much, are you monitoring her weight daily?
Over 80% of the diet is hay, so your piggy can eat actually very little and lose weight very fast if you are only looking at veg and pellets.
If you can provide a weight chart and know whether your piggies is still keeping its weight or not, this can then help your vet in their assessment.

I would also not be fixated on a respiratory illness or pneumonia because you are not mentioning any of the key symptoms for a serious illness in that area; just because respiratory illnesses are fairly common, it doesn't mean that you are dealing with one.
A klick in the nose is just a minor obstruction from a bit of hay dust stuck in the nose.

All the best for tomorrow!

 

[kalexis]

Update: She had x-rays done and has pneumonia showing in one lung.
She has been prescribed Doxycycline twice daily. I really hope all goes well.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Aw, fingers crossed for a speedy recovery, poor little mite x

 

[kalexis]

Hello everyone! Tuesday evening I noticed my pig Rosie (5 months old) was not moving much, breathing heavily and very fast (it almost look like her stomach was pulsating), and barely ate. I immediately took her off of her CareFresh and onto fleece because I thought it might be better for her airways. On Wednesday she was more active and ate normally, but I could still see her stomach moving very quickly and started hearing clicking noises around her nose/chest area. I got her in for a vet appointment Thursday morning. No discharge from eyes or nose. No fever.

The doctor took x-rays and said she had pneumonia in one lung. She left me with Doxycycline and I have been told to use it twice daily and a revisit in 2 weeks. The dose is .2 mL (10mg/mL). She weighs 6.69 ounces so I think this is the correct dosage.

Anyways, what I'm mainly here for is any advice on what else I should be doing? I know this can be fatal, but I want to make sure I do everything I can.

Currently I am:
-Giving her extra vitamin C.
-Changed her bedding to fleece and cleaning daily. Snuggle sacks and comfy areas.
-Monitoring her water/food intake, and weight.
-Docycycline dose twice daily.
-Low stress, I separated her and her cage mate temporarily because her cage mate kept trying to chase her out of houses as soon as she got sick all day Wednesday and wouldn't leave her alone (which is unusual). I feel like this was stressing her out so I split them up for the time being. The vet said they could stay together, but they are still near each other but different 2x4 cages due to all of the chasing.

What else can I do for her? Should I get a heating pad or a humidifier? I read that sudafed could be used, but I am unsure of the dose. Any advice for a piggy with pneumonia is appreciated! Thank you.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello everyone! Tuesday evening I noticed my pig Rosie (5 months old) was not moving much, breathing heavily and very fast (it almost look like her stomach was pulsating), and barely ate. I immediately took her off of her CareFresh and onto fleece because I thought it might be better for her airways. On Wednesday she was more active and ate normally, but I could still see her stomach moving very quickly and started hearing clicking noises around her nose/chest area. I got her in for a vet appointment Thursday morning. No discharge from eyes or nose. No fever.

The doctor took x-rays and said she had pneumonia in one lung. She left me with Doxycycline and I have been told to use it twice daily and a revisit in 2 weeks. The dose is .2 mL (10mg/mL). She weighs 6.69 ounces so I think this is the correct dosage.

Anyways, what I'm mainly here for is any advice on what else I should be doing? I know this can be fatal, but I want to make sure I do everything I can.

Currently I am:
-Giving her extra vitamin C.
-Changed her bedding to fleece and cleaning daily. Snuggle sacks and comfy areas.
-Monitoring her water/food intake, and weight.
-Docycycline dose twice daily.
-Low stress, I separated her and her cage mate temporarily because her cage mate kept trying to chase her out of houses as soon as she got sick all day Wednesday and wouldn't leave her alone (which is unusual). I feel like this was stressing her out so I split them up for the time being. The vet said they could stay together, but they are still near each other but different 2x4 cages due to all of the chasing.

What else can I do for her? Should I get a heating pad or a humidifier? I read that sudafed could be used, but I am unsure of the dose. Any advice for a piggy with pneumonia is appreciated! Thank you.

Hi!

I have merged your threads as we have a 1 thread =1 case rule on here which allows us refer back to what has been done and said before and allows you to give you the best ongoing support that is tailored to your specific situation. We jump between a lot of threads in just one day, never mind a number of them, so it is much easier for us and ultimately better for Rosie and you to keep all relevant information together.

The good news is that the pneumonia is just one-sided, which means that Rosie has still got some breathing capacity, so she has not totally lost her appetite and thirst.
Doxycycline is a safe antibiotic that is mostly targeted at respiratory problems when it comes to guinea pigs. Because of the fast metabolism in guinea pigs, antibiotics are often best given in two smaller dosages than just one large one.

You can continue with giving extra vitamin C as a booster for 3 weeks.

You can also give a pinch of probiotics either 1 hour before or 1-2 hours after the antibiotic to bolster the gut fauna.
Alternatively you can make poo soup from her companion's just dropped healthy poos. Place her somewhere outside the cage and give her some of her veg or herbs to eat; this usually triggers poo dropping. soak the poos in a little water and then syringe the water to Rosie straight away to make sure that the microbiome reaches the gut still alive. It may be a bit gross, but it mimics natural behaviour. This is actually more effective than any probiotic when done absolutely fresh and can help with the appetite during antibiotic treatment.

Please do NOT home treat with decongestants. You can try and see whether a bowl with steaming water may help if you are relying on air conditioning, which is drying air (like in winter radiator air) but in warm already more humid summer air, there is naturally more moisture.
Only use a snugglesafe if temperatures are falling below 20 C or if your piggy is feeling very cold to the touch (circulatory issues).

Step in with syringe feeding top-up if your girl is losing her appetite/more than 50g weight. Please never squirt any medication or syringe feed into the mouth at full speed, but only gently and in amounts that Rosie can hold in her mouth without any risk that it is getting into her already compromised airways (0.3-0.5 ml).
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Please take a deep breath - if Rosie really had one of the killing respiratory illnesses, she would have gone down very quickly and would not have been able to wait several days to see a vet! The fact that she has been comparatively stable for several days and has not lost all her appetite (as is typical for any severe respiratory illness, including penumonia) should give you all the hope for a good and complete recovery.

If you can, please put Rosie's cage next to her friend or even just divide the cage so they can stay in contact and you are not breaking the bond. Make sure that you continue to mix them.

 

[kalexis]

Thank you for all the info and merging threads! (sorry I am new to this forum)

I am using AC and it is about 21-22 C in my apartment, so I will try some steaming water next to her cage and see if that helps with dry air. I'm guessing this is not cold enough for snuggle safe use.

If I use probiotics is there a certain brand I need to use? Or would any liquid probiotic be okay?

Thank you so much for all the information! I will put a divider in-between them for now and also try out the poo soup!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you for all the info and merging threads! (sorry I am new to this forum)

I am using AC and it is about 21-22 C in my apartment, so I will try some steaming water next to her cage and see if that helps with dry air. I'm guessing this is not cold enough for snuggle safe use.

If I use probiotics is there a certain brand I need to use? Or would any liquid probiotic be okay?

Thank you so much for all the information! I will put a divider in-between them for now and also try out the poo soup!

There is not much in probiotic brands, to be honest; with the exception of fibreplex.

 

[kalexis]

Does anyone know what to do is she is not drinking water? Should I syringe water in her mouth?
She seems to be eating. She finished most of her veggies and moved onto hay and pellets.

 

[Siikibam]

I think you can syringe some in, just be careful not to do too much at a time. Does she normally drink much?

 

[Betsy]

When you syringe the poop soup in that will be giving her some water. When Velvet had bladder sludge, I syringed probiotics in once a day (as much as she would take) for two weeks to flush it out so yes you can syringe water. She would take more probiotic mixed with water than just plain water so the vet said that it was OK.

 

[Wiebke]

Does anyone know what to do is she is not drinking water? Should I syringe water in her mouth?
She seems to be eating. She finished most of her veggies and moved onto hay and pellets.

If she is eating veg on her own, then she is NOT dehydrated as she is getting enough fluid from her food. Drinking in guinea pigs differs greatly. Your piggy will only be in danger of dehydrating after she stops eating food altogether because the need to drink comes before the need to eat.

Please NEVER force water down a piggy that is still eating and not wanting it. You can offer it in a syringe, but only as much as she is willing to suckle from the syringe, not more.

 

[kalexis]

Normally she does drink from her water bottle several times a day, and I haven't seen her touch it in 2 days so I syringed her about 6mL (2mL every few hours) a day just so she got something. I mixed it with a little amount of Child Life Vitamin C so she would take it. I also run some water over her veggies for a bit of extra water.

Also she gained 10 grams since her vet visit yesterday. I'm sure weight can vary throughout the day, but I'm glad she hasn't lost any weight. She doesn't seem to be doing much better or worse yet. I just gave her 4th dose of Doxycycline. I may go to a different vet next week just to get a second opinion on the medication and dosage. I'm not entirely sure when things should begin to look better, or if they should at all any time soon. Sadly there are no exotic vets around me, the closest exotic vet is 4 hours away and I'm sure the drive there and back would do more harm than good for her.

 

[kalexis]

Update: She's on day 5 of her antibiotics and I noticed her pop-corning and running around a bit more. She is also eating pretty normally. I haven't seen her drink, but I did see her walk over to her water bottle twice today for just a second a she walked away! The pulsing on the sides of her stomach looks a little less than it was as well. Her weight is the same as well!

Bad news is I accidentally popped off the plastic piece around the syringe hole when I put the syringe in the hole and pulled the syringe out. I think I stuck the syringe in the hole too far and it got stuck. All of the medicine spilled everywhere and I have very little left after that. Calling the vet first thing tomorrow to get more.

 

[Wiebke]

Update: She's on day 5 of her antibiotics and I noticed her pop-corning and running around a bit more. She is also eating pretty normally. I haven't seen her drink, but I did see her walk over to her water bottle twice today for just a second a she walked away! The pulsing on the sides of her stomach looks a little less than it was as well. Her weight is the same as well!

Bad news is I accidentally popped off the plastic piece around the syringe hole when I put the syringe in the hole and pulled the syringe out. I think I stuck the syringe in the hole too far and it got stuck. All of the medicine spilled everywhere and I have very little left after that. Calling the vet first thing tomorrow to get more.

Great news!

Sorry about the medication spill. It happens.