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Is this normal or abnormal breathing?

Haha I know! It gets confusing. So here we call the big sweet ones, bell peppers. The red, green, yellow, and orange ones are all "bell peppers". If you said "red pepper" here, I think most people would think of a small spicy pepper like a chili pepper.
 
Katie A said:
Wait, so should he not have much (or any) veggies right now while having the soft poo and on antibiotics? Besides some bell pepper?
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I would give veggies you know he has been fine on - pepper is a good one for giving a vit c boost and it doesnt seem to cause loose poop.

Cucumber is a good one if he isnt going to his water bottle much for hydration.

When they are ill, i usually pop in some parsley too (it is high calcium but my pigs love it and it will always tempt a poorly pig to eat)


Lettuce can really bring on soft poops in my two (probs coz they gorge!) And grass is another soft poop causer.


So, yes, by all means feed veg but just watch out which ones might be causing soft poop.
 
Just gonna re-post this so it's all in one....

Haha I know! It gets confusing. So here we call the big sweet ones, bell peppers. The red, green, yellow, and orange ones are all "bell peppers". If you said "red pepper" here, I think most people would think of a small spicy pepper like a chili pepper.

Hmm okay! He's only taking a few teeny tiny nibbles of any veggie right now (even the peppers that he usually loves). I'll get some non green peppers and some parsley. Neither of my piggies really like cucumber (silly boys). I'll be weighing him soon and see how that is going. And I guess I'll do another round of syringe if he still doesn't touch his dinner or see him eat any more hay.

Thank you ! Thank you! :)
 
Katie A said:
And I guess I'll do another round of syringe if he still doesn't touch his dinner or see him eat any more hay.
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Yes, definitely do another syringe if he isnt at the hay as he needs the fibre to keep the gut moving.


Here in the uk, the sweet peppers we tend to just name by colour (red pepper, yellow pepper, green pepper)

They are known as bell peppers here but it isnt really a spoken used term.


And chilli peppers are simply called chillies. Or chilli peppers or maybe by the name of the pepper like scotch bonnet if it's a special chilli in the dish.


I think that's right about chillies though i never buy them, dont like them at all so i might be wrong there.


The colourful peppers (red, orange, yellow) have lots more vit c than the green. The red can stain their pee red so dont be alarmed if you see that . .,.
 
Haha! I've enjoyed this little lesson on all the different names for the same peppers! I'll go pick up some colorful ones so he can get some more vitamin c. They are never as thrilled about the green ones. Lol.

And just weighed him. His weight has stayed the same for the last two days! Yay! He also just ate some veggies! I'll probably do another syringe as he's still not too into the hay yet, but we are getting there!

And thanks for the explanation about the anti-inflammatory. I was very confused about what he was trying to see with that one as he seemed really convinced leo was all good to go. Hmm in your case it also seems like the f10 might have been the thing that saved her since the pain med seems more of a quick temporary fix and not really for killing anything that was causing infection. Guess will never know for sure though! I'm gonna be super nervous in 2 weeks when the vet wants to pull the antibiotics again. I know he can't stay on them forever but he declined so quickly once off them. Eeek!
 
Katie A said:
Haha! I've enjoyed this little lesson on all the different names for the same peppers! I
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Lol yes! I went off at a bit of a tangent there - i do hope Leo enjoys peppers after all that 🤣


Brilliant news about the weight! Keep it up, Leo!
 
Haha I enjoyed the pepper thing! I love to travel and I love learning about different things from different countries. I've never been to Scotland, but did go briefly to London a few years ago. :)

Leo is hanging in there! He is always worse in the morning, but perks around around noon when I give him the pain medicine. How is little Ebony today?
 
Katie A said:
How is little Ebony today?
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Tip top! Lively as anything, eating constantly and keeping up a constant chit chat to her cagemate.

Which is fantastic but I'm still going to take her to the vet weds just to see if he will prescribe some rheumucam/loxicom for me to have in the house on standby.

She still has a click in her breathing and i think that will always be there. I think she will always be fragile and susceptible to flare ups.


I'm glad leo has turned the corner. Is he self feeding enough to maintain weight, or are you still syringe feeding?
 
Aww so happy to hear that Ebony is feeling great again! It is always so nice to see them happy and enjoying themselves. :)

Leo is confusing me a bit. Sunday he was nibbling hay and I saw him drink water for the first time in a few days. However, yesterday he didn't touch his water bottle or hay. He will nibble on a little veggies and a few pellets but that is all. So basically back to full time syringe feeding. He is still making a hooting noise and coughing a lot too. His energy is low, but I wouldn't call it lethargic. He's been on the antibiotic for 3 full days now. Unsure if I need to give him a few more days or call the vet again.
 
How much improvement should I be seeing if the antibiotic is working? His breathing is still really heavy. He won't eat much on his own, but he is hungry as he grabs at the syringe when I feed him. He is coughing a lot and doesn't have much energy. Also not drinking any water on his own. Started the antibiotic on Friday evening.
 
Katie A said:
How much improvement should I be seeing if the antibiotic is working? His breathing is still really heavy. He won't eat much on his own, but he is hungry as he grabs at the syringe when I feed him. He is coughing a lot and doesn't have much energy. Also not drinking any water on his own. Started the antibiotic on Friday evening.
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Any improvement is good. It depends very much on what he has and how well he is individually responding to any treatment. There are no nice charts for a serious illness/operation and recovery; it is very much in the way of going along with the flow in a small kayak through choppy waters. ;)

Just keep on feeding. Re. heavy breathing, could you contact the clinic for a diuretic to help drain any fluid from his lungs?

Fingers still firmly crossed. Him showing first signs of interest in food means that the breathing has eased enough for the need to drink and the need to eat starting to come back again even if he may not yet have the strength to do so on his own.
 
Hi! Thank you for the fast response! How would I know if he has fluids in his lungs? Each time I go to the vet they just say heart and lungs "sound clear"....but not so sure I'm trusting them anymore.
 
Katie A said:
Hi! Thank you for the fast response! How would I know if he has fluids in his lungs? Each time I go to the vet they just say heart and lungs "sound clear"....but not so sure I'm trusting them anymore.
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The the lungs would sound congested to a stereoscope. Otherwise you'd need a scan or x-ray, which is rather expensive. It can be that it is something internal pushing on the organs.

Unfortunately, it is not something we can do more than just speculate based on experiences of our own. :(
 
I just called the vet and they want me to bring him in tomorrow. So hopefully they can give him something! Thank you! I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Update...I ended up canceling today's appointment because the other vet called me this morning in response to the breathing videos I sent last week. She was concerned about him and wants to see him again to better check his chest and possibly do a chest x ray. They are booked until Tuesday, so I am going then. I'm just happy they actually called about the videos! I was not expecting any response to those. Really didn't see much happening at today's appointment besides being told again to get them off fleece and onto newspaper to "cure" his breathing issues.
 
Just catching up on this again - that sounds like a vet that is going to take some positive action!

Fingers crossed leo holds up well til he can be seen! Great news :tu:
 
Yes! I still can't believe she actually viewed the videos! Was not expecting that at all! He actually ate a bit of veggies this morning. I'll just keep on syringe feeding him for as long as he needs. :) How's Ebony?
 
Tip top again today. Took her to the vet for her pre booked appt and she was twittering away quite the thing. But she still has this nasal clicking.

Vet said it's chronic rhinitis. I got a bottle of loxicom with a 2 year shelf life til opened to be used if she has a flare up so that's put me at ease a bit.

It isnt easy to get an appt when it's an absolute emergency (not with the vet i want anyway) so that could bridge us over. And he recommended i keep up the f10 nebuliser. She does love that!
 
Fingers firmly crossed that you can finally get somewhere!
 
Awww that is awesome! So happy she is still feeling great! She sounds so adorable. Whew yeah, it can be really challenging to get vet appointments these days. Hopefully that nebulising will keep her all good to go!
 
Hey again! I have a question about critical care feeding. I'm worried that I'm turning Leo into a little critical care monster. Lol. He's eating small amounts of veggies and a tiny bit of hay and a few pellets. He still isn't touching his water. I've been feeding him every 2-3 hours during the day and every 5 - 6 hours during the night. He's wheeking for food again, but still isn't eating much on his own. However, I don't know if that is because he's breathing heavy and doesn't feel like eating or if it is because I'm over feeding him critical care. When I give him the syringe food he gulps it down so I know he's hungry. I'm also offering him as many water syringes as he'll take. It is really hot here right now so I'm scared of not giving him enough water. I just don't know when to stop the critical care food. I don't want him to become dependent on it, but also don't want his guts to stop working if I cut down on it! How do you know when to stop?
 
Put the made up critical care into a dish and get him self-feeding again to start with. Sometimes it's the tastier things like reddi grass or fresh grass/herbs that will get them started eating again


Ps - did you see that other thread i posted about 'polishing' your guinea pig?!


Critical care of the guinea pig: a veterinary nurse's guide part 2



Under nutritional support. Anything's worth a try!



Oh - that is so weird. I had access to the whole article yesterday - now it has a pay wall on it so i guess it wasnt ok to share it here. Oops.
 
Hmm okay, I'll give that a try! He is eating veggies again. He'll eat pea flakes and vitamin c treats too. Just not hay or water. :/
 
I'm very sad to report that Leo just passed away. He was doing great yesterday. Today he seemed a tad worse, but was still taking syringe feeding. I walked in to find him look like he was seizing. Then he passed. Thanks again everyone for all your help! As sad as I am about him, I now have to think about my other piggie and this brings me to my next worry....how can I help my other piggie find a friend? I'm going to email the local rescue, but I don't think they offer any piggie dating services.
 
Oh @Katie A - i am so sorry to learn of your news. I havent been on this site for a few days and i was literally thinking of you a few minutes ago as i was nebulising Ebony and wondering how Leo was doing.

He is at peace now, and you can take comfort in having done all that it was possible to do.


If the rescue has any newly weaned baby boars, that would likely be the easiest match.

I have never tried to bond adult boars and I'm afraid my first try at adult sows didnt go well - that is how i ended up getting baby ebony after belle wasnt having any of it with adult friends - she wanted to exercise her power!


Lots of experienced members on here to help you through though - and have a read of the bonding guides which show you how to set things up for the best chance of success.


All the best and so sorry about Leo😟
 
Thank you so much! I just talked to a rescue and they won't accept my cage size. I have a 2 x 5. :/ So I have to either add a loft or expand to a 2 x 6. So might take me a week or so to get that sorted. But the good news is they do offer some bonding services to see if he will connect with any of their rescue piggies.
 
Oh that is great news - bonding at the rescue will give a better chance of success than home bonding as they have the experience so it takes a lot of stress of you if you can bring home a matched companion.
 
Thank you so much! I'm still so confused as to what caused that drastic change. Saturday he was doing better. He was wheeking for food, playing with Odi, eating on his own, being fiesty, etc. I knew something seemed off Sunday when he didn't get excited over his antibiotic. He LOVED that stuff. But he was still taking syringe food and water. He had also been gaining weight and not losing. I just guess his little body could not take anymore. Poor little boy.

Odi seems okay currently. He is still eating and not too deep into depression. Gonna take me a few days to figure out how to add another 1 x 1 to my cage. Their cage literally takes up half my bedroom so gonna be hard to squeeze it in. Lol. I'll let you know how the adoption journey goes. Hoping I can get Odi a companion soon. They were such a good pair. Never had any arguments.
 

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Okay, so yesterday I went to the guinea pig rescue with Odi. The first piggie he met was an adult boar who was about a year old. That did not go well. Odi is a very sweet, shy, timid, laid back boy and that pig was too much for him. They ended up fighting after about 15 minutes when Odi couldn't take his bullying any longer. Haha. Then the second one he met was a 6 week old baby. That was basically an instant match. The little pig kept hiding under Odi's fluffy hair and they were resting together.....Brought them both home and Odi is the happiest I've been him in a week since losing Leo. They spend all day chasing each other around and talking. I'm happy that Odi is happy but I'm really emotionally struggling. I know from the bereavement guide that it was the right thing to do for him. I just want Leo back so badly and I'm so devastated that he's gone. I just feel absolutely nothing for this new piggie. And I feel bad that I feel that way....
 
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