Long term runny nose

[LizzyHoy]

Hello,

I'm looking for advice about my guinea pig Denise (aged 5 and a half). She has an ongoing runny nose. I took her to the doctor 6 months ago when she also had weight loss, the doctor said she had a high temperature and gave her medicine. About a week later her temperature was better, and after a while she put the weight back on again.

She has probably had this runny nose for a few months - I have kept an eye on her and she seems relaxed and happy, with normal behaviour and eating. Her weight is normal and not reducing as far as I can tell. As it has gone on for a long time I don't think it is a serious infection as of course guineas tend to deteriorate rapidly if they have respiratory infections, and Denise hasn't done this.

She lives with another guinea pig who hasn't shown any symptoms of illness.

I've attached a picture, if you look closely you can see that the fur above and below her left nostril is wet. She sneezes quite often (although she has always sneezed a lot compared to my other guinea, even before her runny nose). She sometimes wipes her nose with her paw.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Wiebke]

Treatment for rhinitis/sinusitis?

@helen105281 @Abi_nurse @Jaycey @Freela

 

[Betsy]

Christian had a runny nose and it turned out that he had a blocked tear duct so the only way out for his tears was through his nose. Is this something your vet has considered? Of course this is only a suggestion. I'm not saying it's what your piggy has as it can be a number of things and we can only speculate on what it could be.

 

[LizzyHoy]

The vet didn't mention it when I went a while ago. In fact the vet didn't seem concerned about her runny nose - I was a bit panicky as I thought it might be a serious respiratory infection.

How did your vet work out that it was the tear duct? Is there anything I can look for?

 

[eileen]

My late freya. had a persistent clear runny nose.the vet suggested antibiotic for 3 weeks.use bisolvan when discharged caused irritation.twice daily nebulization with f10.this treatment managed the condition well.

 

[LizzyHoy]

My late freya. had a persistent clear runny nose.the vet suggested antibiotic for 3 weeks.use bisolvan when discharged caused irritation.twice daily nebulization with f10.this treatment managed the condition well.

Was twice daily nebulization unpleasant for Freya? I think Denise would find that more stressful than the stress caused by her runny nose.

 

[Betsy]

The vet didn't mention it when I went a while ago. In fact the vet didn't seem concerned about her runny nose - I was a bit panicky as I thought it might be a serious respiratory infection.

How did your vet work out that it was the tear duct? Is there anything I can look for?

Rachel my wonderfully brilliant vet (she is leaving next week - I will miss her!) listened to his lungs, then put his nose next to her ear and she said his lungs were clear and his breathing sounded normal. Then she stood back and looked at him for a bit and then gently pulled away the skin at the bottom of his eye above the nostril that was running (not recommended that you do it) and showed me that it was a bit swollen so she gave him a course of metacam for a week and it cleared up. I only gave 0.3ml once a day as it was to be used as an anti inflammatory not a pain killer.

 

[Betsy]

Hope you and your vet can get to the bottom of the problem soon. It must be so uncomfortable for your piggie to have a permanently runny nose.

 

[LizzyHoy]

Thanks @Betsy - I hope it can be sorted soon as well. Don't worry I won't be pulling her skin myself(!) but will remember the suggestion to mention to the vet.

I have heard of guinea pigs having allergies, maybe it could be that?

 

[eileen]

Freya became quiet used to the nebulization,it gave her a lot relief from her symptoms.your vet should be able to help you with a diagnosis for your piggies.

 

[Abi_nurse]

I would try to see if you can get a culture swab of the nasal discharge to see if it's an infection or just inflammatory (more like a sinusitis type issue). How long was the antibiotic course because sometimes just a week wouldn't be enough to remove an infection if it were there. I know she's not systemically poorly but a upper respiratory infection could linger on for a long time without causing severe illness.

 

[Natli]

Hello,

I'm looking for advice about my guinea pig Denise (aged 5 and a half). She has an ongoing runny nose. I took her to the doctor 6 months ago when she also had weight loss, the doctor said she had a high temperature and gave her medicine. About a week later her temperature was better, and after a while she put the weight back on again.

She has probably had this runny nose for a few months - I have kept an eye on her and she seems relaxed and happy, with normal behaviour and eating. Her weight is normal and not reducing as far as I can tell. As it has gone on for a long time I don't think it is a serious infection as of course guineas tend to deteriorate rapidly if they have respiratory infections, and Denise hasn't done this.

She lives with another guinea pig who hasn't shown any symptoms of illness.

I've attached a picture, if you look closely you can see that the fur above and below her left nostril is wet. She sneezes quite often (although she has always sneezed a lot compared to my other guinea, even before her runny nose). She sometimes wipes her nose with her paw.

Thanks for any advice!

Hi I don’t suppose you could let me know what happened with your piggies sneeze/runny nostril situation in the end? I have exactly the same problem with mine, my pig Harry has sneezed continuously for 2/3 months with clear discharge from 1 nose. But is acting normal in himself. Metacam didn’t sort it, 3 weeks of antibiotics haven’t stopped it. And now the vets are saying the only thing they can think of is to give him an anaesthetic and look high the nose for to see if there are any polyps or anything. But this is £500 I don’t have. So any ideas your vet had in the end would be great to know please and whether it got resolved.
Thanks

 

[Natli]

Hi I don’t suppose you could let me know what happened with your piggies sneeze/runny nostril situation in the end? I have exactly the same problem with mine, my pig Harry has sneezed continuously for 2/3 months with clear discharge from 1 nostril. But has been acting normal and happy in himself. Metacam didn’t do anything and neither has a 3 week course of antibiotics. now the vets are saying the only thing they can think of is to give him an anaesthetic and look high the nose for to see if there are any polyps or anything. But I don’t have the £500 they said it would cost to do this. So any ideas your vet had in the end would be great to know please and whether it got resolved.
Thanks

 

[Wiebke]

Hi I don’t suppose you could let me know what happened with your piggies sneeze/runny nostril situation in the end? I have exactly the same problem with mine, my pig Harry has sneezed continuously for 2/3 months with clear discharge from 1 nose. But is acting normal in himself. Metacam didn’t sort it, 3 weeks of antibiotics haven’t stopped it. And now the vets are saying the only thing they can think of is to give him an anaesthetic and look high the nose for to see if there are any polyps or anything. But this is £500 I don’t have. So any ideas your vet had in the end would be great to know please and whether it got resolved.
Thanks

Hi

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