Is a guinea pig's breathing permanently affected after URI? Or am I just being impatient for him to recover?

[spookypercy]

My ~6mo boar has had a URI for a few weeks; the vet said it was never in his lungs, just his head. He was on Orbax for almost two weeks; it didn't totally solve his URI so the vet put him on Azithromycin once a day for two weeks. He'll get his fifth dose today. He's probably 95% better - his energy is fantastic and he's popcorning and eating and drinking like he was before the infection. The only thing I notice is a *tiny* bit of sniffling still and some occasional sneezing (definitely more than my other guinea pig but not an absurd amount). There's been an extremely miniscule amount of clear discharge from his nose.

Will this ever go away? Is it possible that some guinea pigs just have more sensitive noses to their environment? Is it damage from the URI? I'm just unsure as to why he still has these symptoms when he's so much better and has been on antibiotics for so long. He's on clean fleece bedding, and I've been giving him orchard grass hay to see if that helped...he smelled his old timothy hay though and tried really hard to get to it, so I mixed the two because I figured if he wants it that bad, I'm not going to deprive him of it (even though I personally hate the timothy hay and the orchard grass bothers me much less). He also has lots of cozy places to curl up and hide, including homemade "snuggle sacks." I'm in Florida, so I do keep a fan on, but I don't keep it on super high in the room where his enclosure is, and again, there are plenty of areas where he can curl up if he's chilly. There are cats in the house, as well as my dog (he's very much a mutt but he's small and doesn't shed like labs, corgis, beagles, etc. do). Obviously my piggies are kept safe from the other animals, but I don't know if the fur or dander bothers them.

I will add, when I got him about two months ago he sneezed much more than my other newer guinea pig but didn't develop the lethargy and other symptoms that prompted me to take him to the vet until a few weeks ago (when he started the Orbax). I'm not sure if maybe that's his norm or if he caught the URI when he was at the store and it just took a while for it to get worse.

 

[Wiebke]

My ~6mo boar has had a URI for a few weeks; the vet said it was never in his lungs, just his head. He was on Orbax for almost two weeks; it didn't totally solve his URI so the vet put him on Azithromycin once a day for two weeks. He'll get his fifth dose today. He's probably 95% better - his energy is fantastic and he's popcorning and eating and drinking like he was before the infection. The only thing I notice is a *tiny* bit of sniffling still and some occasional sneezing (definitely more than my other guinea pig but not an absurd amount). There's been an extremely miniscule amount of clear discharge from his nose.

Will this ever go away? Is it possible that some guinea pigs just have more sensitive noses to their environment? Is it damage from the URI? I'm just unsure as to why he still has these symptoms when he's so much better and has been on antibiotics for so long. He's on clean fleece bedding, and I've been giving him orchard grass hay to see if that helped...he smelled his old timothy hay though and tried really hard to get to it, so I mixed the two because I figured if he wants it that bad, I'm not going to deprive him of it (even though I personally hate the timothy hay and the orchard grass bothers me much less). He also has lots of cozy places to curl up and hide, including homemade "snuggle sacks." I'm in Florida, so I do keep a fan on, but I don't keep it on super high in the room where his enclosure is, and again, there are plenty of areas where he can curl up if he's chilly. There are cats in the house, as well as my dog (he's very much a mutt but he's small and doesn't shed like labs, corgis, beagles, etc. do). Obviously my piggies are kept safe from the other animals, but I don't know if the fur or dander bothers them.

I will add, when I got him about two months ago he sneezed much more than my other newer guinea pig but didn't develop the lethargy and other symptoms that prompted me to take him to the vet until a few weeks ago (when he started the Orbax). I'm not sure if maybe that's his norm or if he caught the URI when he was at the store and it just took a while for it to get worse.

Hi!

Sometimes it can be very difficult to work out whether you are actually dealing with a URI or a sensitivity to the environment, whether that is hay or house dust, pollen or a household irritant etc... It is very much trial and error once your vet and you have excluded a URI. Symptoms of an irritation can be very similar to that of a throat or nasal infection.

See whether changing the hay brand (dust extraction quality can vary quite a bit) or removing potential irritants in the room can help: Irritants to Avoid Around Guinea Pigs

Please be aware that guinea pig airways are very narrow and small and that they are not great mouth breathers. This means that the least obstruction is always very audible and can come in a wide range of sounds.

All the best!