Husband allergic to our Guineas .. Should we rehome them?

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jaclyndee

Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hi everyone

Our Chloe and Hannah are making my husband have quite bad trouble with his breathing ... We know it is them that are causing the problem because for the summer months we housed them outside (they are normally indoor guineas) and his problems disappeared.

We both know that this health should come first, and we should find homes for them, but we are finding this difficult because we are so attached to them, and also worried they might end up somewhere where they are not cared for properly!

I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas as to how we can reduce the allergens that are bothering him, be it the Guineas themselves, their bedding or hay or whatever, so we can possibly keep them. We have made a start on this today and ordered a good quality Hepa filter which we will keep near their cage.

By the way, the bedding we use is Megazorb and their hay is Meadow Hay, and Oxbow Timothy Hay Pellets.

Any suggestions would be great, thankyou :)
 
:( Sorry to hear that.

Could it be the hay and not the piggies? Meadow hay makes me cough and sneeze and I thought at one point it was the pigs.
 
Depending on how bad it is, could he take anti allergy tablets?
I have hayfever but if I handle the piggies a lot they give me a rash and they make me sneeze so I take antihistamines occasionally through the winter and everday during summer as they're needed for my hayfever anyway...just a thought x
 
guinea pigs can cause allergies in people, your husband could always have tests done to see if they are the problem, but the waiting list is probably long. what a horrible situation to be in x
 
hi,

You say they are normally indoor piggies, has he had the problem before in winter months?

Is he a hayfever sufferer? I think it could be the hay. If they're indoor maybe try switching to simple fleece for the bedding, with ray racks instead.

Hope his symptoms ease.

If they are usually outdoors, could you possibly look at amending the hutch so they are warmer during the winter? Putting it in a shed, or garage, or porch area and making it thermal and cosy with heat pads etc?

I know alot of people here have outdoor piggies, so maybe worth asking what they do to keep them snug and warm during the cold.

Hope you don't have to give them up 8...
 
Hi everyone and many thanks for your replies, which I have read with interest.

I ended up finding this wonderful section in the "Cavy Spirit" Website, and thought I would let you know their suggestions.

What I'm going to do, is to withold their hay for a fortnight and just give them their Timothy Hay Pellets (which they absolutely love) .. Next I am going to forget about the Megazorb, and place Puppy Training Pads in the cage which I will replace on an everyother day basis, and also ive just ordered some wheat grass seed and I am going to grow them fresh grass to replace the dusty hay ... If after the fortnight, my husbands symptoms get better or even disappear, I will know it was the hay or bedding that was the problem and not the little Piggies themselves .. Oh! and I will probably give them both a nice warm bath to wash out any allergens from the bedding or hay that their coats could be harbouring.

I will let you know how things go .. Keep your fingers crossed for me! :)
 
I'm not sure you should remove all their hay, it's an essential part of a guinea's diet. They have to have it else you will end up with piggies with dental problems. Someone else may be able to advise on this.

Also Puppy pads need to be used under fleece really, the piggies could chew them otherwise :)
 
Something else I could do, is to go and buy some Timothy Hay compressed cubes and dampen them down with some water to keep any dust at bay. Ive heard from other piggy owners before that their pets seem to really enjoy the damp hay more, rather than eating it dry and dusty.

Ive tried the fleece option before, but I found the laundering process very labour intensive, as both my piggies are long haired and their moulting completely clogged the fleece within a matter of a day, plus they both seem to have a large urine output. I will put down the wee pads and observe them for chewing, somehow I think they will be ok, and there is always something for them to nibble on in their cage.
 
Ive found that the hay and wood shavings make me sneeze around my piggies.

If you decide you will have to keep them outside use some heat pads underneath, when I had my piggies outside I had a box in the sleeping air filled with hay with a heatpad underneath some paper then the hay on top,
I think my piggies got a bit to hot in there as I found them just outside the door, Also I had an old carpet and some tarpaulin draped over the front at night.
 
Poppy'sMum said:
I'm not sure you should remove all their hay, it's an essential part of a guinea's diet. They have to have it else you will end up with piggies with dental problems. Someone else may be able to advise on this.

Also Puppy pads need to be used under fleece really, the piggies could chew them otherwise :)
Click to expand...

heya - would the timothy hay pellets not be ok for their diet and teeth? I've never heard of these but thinking they must be some form of condensed hay?
xx
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top