Heavy breathing

[rubes]

My guinea pig started breathing quite heavily about 2 weeks ago he has always been quite a heavy breather as he does have allergies to certain hay which makes him sneeze however it was a lot heavier and slower. I thought it may be due to old age he is 7 or due to his allergies but we were going on holiday and he was being ket with a vet nurse so we let her know and she said she’d keep an eye on him. His breathing whilst at hers went back to normal and i thought maybe it was a URI and he just got better. However he has been back at ours for a few days and it has gone back to being heavy. I have a feeling it is something in our house that is causing it I'm about to disinfect his whole cage and give him clean bedding just to make sure but does anyone have any ideas of what could trigger this? we are planning on taking him to the vets but they are fully booked atm and he is acting normal in every other way and not struggling to eat or drink as he’s not out of breath. I’ve owned guinea pigs for 14 years and this is the first time i’ve seen this so just wanted to know if anyone else has seen this? and if anyone knows what could be triggering it. thanks

 

[Wiebke]

My guinea pig started breathing quite heavily about 2 weeks ago he has always been quite a heavy breather as he does have allergies to certain hay which makes him sneeze however it was a lot heavier and slower. I thought it may be due to old age he is 7 or due to his allergies but we were going on holiday and he was being ket with a vet nurse so we let her know and she said she’d keep an eye on him. His breathing whilst at hers went back to normal and i thought maybe it was a URI and he just got better. However he has been back at ours for a few days and it has gone back to being heavy. I have a feeling it is something in our house that is causing it I'm about to disinfect his whole cage and give him clean bedding just to make sure but does anyone have any ideas of what could trigger this? we are planning on taking him to the vets but they are fully booked atm and he is acting normal in every other way and not struggling to eat or drink as he’s not out of breath. I’ve owned guinea pigs for 14 years and this is the first time i’ve seen this so just wanted to know if anyone else has seen this? and if anyone knows what could be triggering it. thanks

Hi

I am very sorry. See whether a bowl of steaming water is making the breathing worse or better.

Check with the nurse which hay brand she uses.
Check for house dust, hay dust, pollen, air humidity (does it differ from your nurse's?) and other possible irritants.
Irritants to Avoid Around Guinea Pigs

 

[fluffysal]

Do you use fleece or disposable bedding?
I'm not very experienced and its probably not relevant but one of mine used to sneeze a lot until I switched to liners.

 

[rubes]

Hi

I am very sorry. See whether a bowl of steaming water is making the breathing worse or better.

Check with the nurse which hay brand she uses.
Check for house dust, hay dust, pollen, air humidity (does it differ from your nurse's?) and other possible irritants.
Irritants to Avoid Around Guinea Pigs

thankyou i’ll try the steaming water and check for all those things! x

 

[rubes]

Do you use fleece or disposable bedding?
I'm not very experienced and it’s probably not relevant but one of mine used to sneeze a lot until I switched to liners.

yeah he used to sneeze a lot until about 4 years ago we moved him to fleece and has sneezed in ages thankfully

Do you use fleece or disposable bedding?
I'm not very experienced and its probably not relevant but one of mine used to sneeze a lot until I switched to liners.

yeah he used to sneeze a lot until about 4 years ago we moved him to fleece and has sneezed in ages thankfully

 

[Wiebke]

yeah he used to sneeze a lot until about 4 years ago we moved him to fleece and has sneezed in ages thankfully

yeah he used to sneeze a lot until about 4 years ago we moved him to fleece and has sneezed in ages thankfully

If nurse is using a different hay, it may be worth giving that a trial?

I used to holiday sit a friend's guinea pig whose breathing always cleared up within a few days on my own (not dust extracted) frm hay but returned back home on the hay my friend used.