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My guinea pig is breathing very fast and her breaths sound crackly.

Car.nelian

Car.nelian

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi, I just got home and my guinea pig, Mona, is breathing very heavily, enough that it’s moving her sides, and her breaths sound like they’re crackling. She’s not showing much interest in her food, but she’s taken a few pieces of lettuce from me. I just got done treating her for a UTI a few weeks ago, and she’s been acting normally since then. I’m gonna call my vet first thing tomorrow morning, but I’m really scared. Is there anything I can do to help her right now?
 
Car.nelian said:
Hi, I just got home and my guinea pig, Mona, is breathing very heavily, enough that it’s moving her sides, and her breaths sound like they’re crackling. She’s not showing much interest in her food, but she’s taken a few pieces of lettuce from me. I just got done treating her for a UTI a few weeks ago, and she’s been acting normally since then. I’m gonna call my vet first thing tomorrow morning, but I’m really scared. Is there anything I can do to help her right now?
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She is still breathing out of her nose, and she not showing any signs of a URI. She also ate the majority of her breakfast this morning.
 
Please have her seen by a vet asap.

If her interest in hay is reduced, then you need to syringe feed her and ensure you weigh her daily so you can monitor she is getting enough.

I hope she is ok
 
Piggies&buns said:
Please have her seen by a vet asap.

If her interest in hay is reduced, then you need to syringe feed her and ensure you weigh her daily so you can monitor she is getting enough.

I hope she is ok
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I’m gonna try to get her in tomorrow morning. I have some critical care in my freezer downstairs, but i’m not sure if i need it right now. I’ve been holding her since i posted this abs trying to hand feed her and she’s taken a few pieces of lettuce. She hasn’t moved very much, and her breathing is exactly the same as before. She keeps kinda closing her eyes, before perking up again. I’m gonna try staying up with her tonight, so i’m with her in case she gets worse.
 
Car.nelian said:
I’m gonna try to get her in tomorrow morning. I have some critical care in my freezer downstairs, but i’m not sure if i need it right now. I’ve been holding her since i posted this abs trying to hand feed her and she’s taken a few pieces of lettuce. She hasn’t moved very much, and her breathing is exactly the same as before. She keeps kinda closing her eyes, before perking up again. I’m gonna try staying up with her tonight, so i’m with her in case she gets worse.
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I know it’s difficult in the US, but is there an emergency vet you can get her to?
If she isn’t eating hay, then she needs critical care. Why is it in your freezer? It shouldn’t be stored in there.
Eating lettuce isn’t enough - they need fibre to keep the guts functioning and lettuce is just low nutrition and mostly water.
 
I know that she had some earlier today, and I’ve been offering some to her. It’s in my freezer because that’s where my vet told me to keep it when I needed it for my other guinea pig Michi. She had a bad URI when I first got her. And the only emergancy vet in my area doesn’t see guinea pigs, only dogs and cats. I called them a little bit ago.
 
Car.nelian said:
I know that she had some earlier today, and I’ve been offering some to her. It’s in my freezer because that’s where my vet told me to keep it when I needed it for my other guinea pig Michi. She had a bad URI when I first got her. And the only emergancy vet in my area doesn’t see guinea pigs, only dogs and cats. I called them a little bit ago.
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Make sure you weigh her daily as it’s the only way to know she is getting enough hay/fibre/critical care.

That’s curious. Is it already made up? Guinea pigs shouldn’t eat anything that has been frozen.
Any that has been made up can be stored in a fridge but then needs to be thrown away after 24 hours. It shouldn’t be frozen.
Bags which have been opened, then the powder can be kept a cool, dry, place but it has a shelf life from that point so would need to be thrown away shortly after.
Unopened bags kept in a cool, dry place until the use by date.
 
It’s not already made up, still in the powder form. Honestly, I don’t think that it’s still good at this point but I’d have to go check the bag to make sure. And yes, I’ll weigh her daily.
 
Car.nelian said:
It’s not already made up, still in the powder form. Honestly, I don’t think that it’s still good at this point but I’d have to go check the bag to make sure. And yes, I’ll weigh her daily.
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It definitely shouldn’t be in the freezer. Once opened the pack needs to be kept somewhere dry for 7 days and then thrown away. You won’t be able to tell what damage has been done to it’s nutrient content by looking at it.
If you’ve put it in the freezer and it’s been opened for longer than 7 days, then throw it away and instead mix her normal pellets with water to form a slurry and feed that to her instead.
 
Update: I just got back from the vet. They’re gonna keep her for the rest of the day, and they had her in an Oxygen room when I left. Once she’s a bit more stable, they’re gonna try to get x-rays to see what’s going on.
 
The X-rays showed that she either has fluid filling up her lungs, or a large mass that is growing inside of them. I have her on some antibiotics, and I’m taking her to another vet that has a wider variety of resources soon. They did give her an injection of Baytril while at the vets office earlier today, and she ate the majority of her veggies and some hay at dinner. She also told me to not try syringe feeding at this time, because it might end up hurting her with how bad her breathing is.The doctor pretty much told me that it’s a 50/50 shot as to whether or not she’ll get better with the medication, we just gotta hope for now.
 
I’m so very sorry to hear this. My thoughts and prayers for you and your beloved piggy.
 
I’m sorry your piggie is poorly. I hope it’s an infection and it clears up with the medication.
 
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