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helppp craigs 'hooting'

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Craig David

Craig David

Teenage Guinea Pig
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hi guys

just had craig out in the run. put him away and noticed he was breathing funny and making an involuntary hooting sound like out of breath noise like a human being winded but milder. iv heard him do it once before and i linked it to when i had been dusting around the cage.

i have just interestingly put some hay (dust free but still dusty) in his cage and i give it a bit of a shake. craig started making the noise shortly after. i brought him back out of his cage into the living room and the noise seemed to calm down, checked his nose and eyes all look clear. put him back in the cage and he started doing the noise again. been going on for about 5 mins.

his behaviour seems normal otherwise he eating and drinking fine no other symptoms as yet. ill keep an eye on him in the night

anyone any ideas?
 
hayfever...?
could have a dust allergy...
just try removing the hay out of his cage... see if it makes a difference...?
if it keeps up obv. see a vet tomorow... :)
x
 
thank you, yes I'm wondering if it is the hay although he doesnt normally make that noise. but saying that i did give the hay a good shake to make if fluffy. he did it a few months ago and i paniced its a bit of a scary unknown noise. but when he did it before i had been dusting in the living room.

hhm its a strange one. ill see if he still doing it tomorrow and obv then i will take to the vet. xx
 
A piggy making a hooting sound is a classic symptom of a heart problem. One of my pigs, Poppet, did this for about a year before she died. Sadly, heart problems are not very well known amongst UK vets and although I asked for her to be checked out (x-rayed) the vet said that a heart problem was not the cause.

I would recommend that your pig is checked for a heart problem also. Heart disease is a silent killer so the symptoms won't get any worse until it's too late.
 
I would take him to the vets and ask for him to be checked over. It may be that there is nothing they can diagnose, but at least you will have peace of mind that you have done all you can.

There is a very long thread about heart pigs on guinea lynx: http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25375&start=0

Essentially, a heart condition can be medicated in a very similar way to human heart conditions. Medication has to be given twice a day for the rest of the pig's life. Gradual weight loss is another symptom that you need to look out for. Do you weigh your piggy weekly? It would be a good idea.

I think that few UK vets really know about heart problems in guinea pigs and the condition often goes undiagnosed. There is also the fact that medicating a pig twice a day for the rest of its life is quite intrusive.
 
thank you xx i will keep weighing craig and keep my eye on him hes stopped hooting theres no hooters this morning i know that if i took him to the vets they wont know thats not a cop out - i do take my pigs to the vets when they need to go but i also know that most of the time i have been they dont know what the problem is and have more a less said to me if the pigs are eating/drinking then they dont need to go to a vet which i know is rubbish but i think they genuinely dont know what they are doing unless you get a special vet. Iv only heard him do it twice before the first time was about 3 months ago and like i said he started immediately after i had been dusting right near his cage as he was in the living room. and again last night i had literrally just shook some fresh hay in the cage, when i took him away from the cage it stopped and when i put him back in it started again so not sure if its the dust. Is there anything else i would need to look out for heart problems? xx

these little pigs baffle me sometimes. xx 8)
 
Hiya

I had two hooting piggies in the winter. Both were checked by my vet for heart and other problems and then went on Baytril to treat any respiratory infection. One has stopped hooting altogether since being treated. The other hoots occasionally. Neither have heart issues but both are older piggies (5+).

I have taken a note of the environment on all occasions, so temp change, humidity etc and the ONLY thing I have found to cause it in the second piggie was dusty hay, literally within minutes of feeding it or after I have cleaned them out. Now they are back on dust free hay she has not hooted and I always leave the shed door open when I am cleaning them out.

I have also found that Nose Relief from vets UK has cleared any hooting usually within 12 hours. I have this available at all times in case and so far the episodes of hooting have all but gone. So it may,as you say, just been an allergy?
 
http://www.guinealynx.info/records/viewtopic.php?t=42 This link has examples of the 'hooting' sound you may be talking about. Can you not just take him for a check up anyway, the vet should see you, your paying money for the service so don't let them put you off when you know there's something up yourself. Nobody knows your piggies like you do, so when something's not right you know. Also didn't Craig have a little problem with URI's recently? If so they can be indicative of heart problems if they occur frequently. Good luck with Craig, I hope he's okay and it's nothing more than an allergy or similar, let us know how he goes. You could try contacting Laura at the guinea pig helpline as well. She can give you some really good factsheets you can print off and could take to the vet with you, if you think they don't realise what they are dealing with [email protected]
x>>
 
Hello thanks for all your help everyone.

craig had a few sneezeys a while back but i think thats cus he was next to the radiator and he normally in a room without any heating, whatever it was seemed to clear. to be honest i always react when any of them sneeze haha my boyfriend goes mad at me haha.

iv not heard a hoot tonight/today. I'm going to speak to pebble and see what she suggests shes normally got some good ideas x

thanks all xx
 
hi carrot parsnip

the link * posted craig sounded like the first video. but it did literally clear up in like 5 mins. if he was doing it constantly he would be whizzed down to the emergency vet.

x
 
iv just spoke to pebble, i know what I'm looking out for now. i feel more confident on what i need to look out for. cant see any other symptoms (touch wood) xx

going to keep my eye on him for now xxxxx
 
I just remembered that my Treacle also hooted now and again. To be honest, I do suspect heart disease to some extent but the main thing that I took away from the Guinea Lynx thread was that if a heart problem is not bothering the piggie then don't treat it.

Signs of a serious problem are: unsteady walking, inability to 'dart', tiredness, sleeping soundly so that you have to wake them up to feed them, for example, hooting, respiratory infections that will not go away and gradual weight loss.

Treacle was a good weight when she died and I felt that if she had a heart problem it was only slight and not worth treating as she was enjoying life to the full. She lived until she was over five.
 
I just remembered that my Treacle also hooted now and again. To be honest, I do suspect heart disease to some extent but the main thing that I took away from the Guinea Lynx thread was that if a heart problem is not bothering the piggie then don't treat it.

Signs of a serious problem are: unsteady walking, inability to 'dart', tiredness, sleeping soundly so that you have to wake them up to feed them, for example, hooting, respiratory infections that will not go away and gradual weight loss.

Treacle was a good weight when she died and I felt that if she had a heart problem it was only slight and not worth treating as she was enjoying life to the full. She lived until she was over five.
 
thanks for that. craig is always darting around haha he doesnt like being stroked hes very ticklish so if you give him a little tickle he popcorns or darts off

its horrible not knowing what the problem is, isnt it. looks like your piggy lived to a good age xx
 
Forgot to mention.....dry air can cause this type of symptom...especially during winter with the central heating on. Routinely I put shallow trays of water near the radiators to keep the humidity up.

When Grommie and Bailey had prolonged episodes I use a vapour bath: put a kitchen towel in a small tupperware box, add few drops of olbas oil and vicks menthol bath and pour in hot water. Then put on a lid with holes punched in and stand it next to the piggies cage.

x
 
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