Mymble has a URI! I’ve never experienced this before.

[Tinka]

Hi everyone. So I recently brought a new piggy home from someone’s “oopsie” litter. She’s a little over three months old and was living in... not the greatest conditions. It was basically a rabbit hutch with a wire bottom and cedar/pine shavings, so I knew pretty much right away there could be some issues. I quarantined her, scheduled a check up, but noticed the next day that she had a little bit of crust on her nose that wasn’t there before. So instead of waiting, I went to the vet that same day and got the news I was pretty much expecting- URI.

The vet gave her a vitamin C injection and prescribed 0.4 cc of Tribissen 2x a day and gentamicin sulfate eye drops 3x a day. She seems to be in good spirits despite being a little sneezy still. She eats constantly, drinks, poops normally, and is even popcorning and getting the zoomies. Still, I’m worried out of my mind. I’ve had guinea pigs (Mymble is my 3rd) for the past 6 years and was lucky enough to never run into this illness until now. Do guinea pigs tend to do well with treatment? I’m scheduled to go back to the vet on Saturday to re-check her and extend the antibiotics if needed. I really don’t know what to expect. She is in a different room than Tuulikki, my other guinea pig, and has her own food to minimize cross contamination, but I’m still worried about her catching it. Can y’all tell I’m just a complete mess? Not sure how to put my mind at ease.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi everyone. So I recently brought a new piggy home from someone’s “oopsie” litter. She’s a little over three months old and was living in... not the greatest conditions. It was basically a rabbit hutch with a wire bottom and cedar/pine shavings, so I knew pretty much right away there could be some issues. I quarantined her, scheduled a check up, but noticed the next day that she had a little bit of crust on her nose that wasn’t there before. So instead of waiting, I went to the vet that same day and got the news I was pretty much expecting- URI.

The vet gave her a vitamin C injection and prescribed 0.4 cc of Tribissen 2x a day and gentamicin sulfate eye drops 3x a day. She seems to be in good spirits despite being a little sneezy still. She eats constantly, drinks, poops normally, and is even popcorning and getting the zoomies. Still, I’m worried out of my mind. I’ve had guinea pigs (Mymble is my 3rd) for the past 6 years and was lucky enough to never run into this illness until now. Do guinea pigs tend to do well with treatment? I’m scheduled to go back to the vet on Saturday to re-check her and extend the antibiotics if needed. I really don’t know what to expect. She is in a different room than Tuulikki, my other guinea pig, and has her own food to minimize cross contamination, but I’m still worried about her catching it. Can y’all tell I’m just a complete mess? Not sure how to put my mind at ease.

Hi!

Please take a deep breath!

URI is perfectly curable; problems are arise where it is untreated or undertreated as that can lead to death or permanent damage. You have seen a vet promptly and your piggy is not ill in any way and displaying any acute symptoms that you would expect to see mentioned.

Please keep in mind that any vet will treat for URI if there is the least doubt of its possibility and rather err on the side of caution than not. I would not expect any problems. tiny crusts by the nose can also be the result of some muck that has been inhaled being sneezed out and drying off, especially as you are not reporting any of the more typical symptoms - mucussy yellow/green crusts around eyes and nose are a symptom of a well developed URI; they are not a symptom of the onset of one. However, not having seen the crust, I cannot say what is exactly the case.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

 

[Tinka]

Hi!

Please take a deep breath!

URI is perfectly curable; problems are arise where it is untreated or undertreated as that can lead to death or permanent damage. You have seen a vet promptly and your piggy is not ill in any way and displaying any acute symptoms that you would expect to see mentioned.

Please keep in mind that any vet will treat for URI if there is the least doubt of its possibility and rather err on the side of caution than not. I would not expect any problems. tiny crusts by the nose can also be the result of some muck that has been inhaled being sneezed out and drying off, especially as you are not reporting any of the more typical symptoms - mucussy yellow/green crusts around eyes and nose are a symptom of a well developed URI; they are not a symptom of the onset of one. However, not having seen the crust, I cannot say what is exactly the case.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

This does make me feel a lot better. Thank you. She does seem like a vibrant little spirit. I wish I had taken a picture of her nose, but I definitely will in the future if she develops more crustiness. Her eyes also look really bright and healthy, but I am giving her drops so that could be why. Her only lingering symptom right now is I can hear her sneeze every so often.

 

[Wiebke]

This does make me feel a lot better. Thank you. She does seem like a vibrant little spirit. I wish I had taken a picture of her nose, but I definitely will in the future if she develops more crustiness. Her eyes also look really bright and healthy, but I am giving her drops so that could be why. Her only lingering symptom right now is I can hear her sneeze every so often.

Hi!

Again, sneezing is NOT a classic URI symptom. URI is bacterial infection and not like a human viral cold.

While sneezing guinea pigs can carry URI bacteria if they have been exposed to them, it is in many cases more often a reaction to irritants in a complex pet home, hay and bedding dust or dry radiator/air conditioning indoors air. Guinea pigs also often sneeze at the end of a 'piggy wash' in order to clear their nose. Sneezing as a symptom of URI means the kind of every few minutes for hours on end, NOT a one-off sneezing fit and not the very occasional sneeze.

However, it is important that you conduct the full course of antibiotics once you have started because they build up over the course of several days for full efficiency.

Please take the time to read the information on URI symptoms in the green link in my first post; the normally listed symptoms are often not clearly explained as to which stage of the illness or in which form exactly they will turn up if they are a URI symptom. You will find our additional information guide links very helpful for the kind of background detail that would be too much to repeat in every single post because they tell you exactly what to look out for and when to seek help.

Please also do not put stuff in your piggy's eyes on spec unless your vet has prescribed it. Overtreating on spec if you suffer from pet anxiety can be very counterproductive because it is for your own fears and not necessarily for the benefit of your piggy if you throw the kitchen sink at them every time there is the least hint of a problem. Guinea pigs have a milky eye cleaning fluid, which can occasionally spill and they have a watery tear fluid if there is an irritant or injury in the eye, which dries to a translucent crust.
Here is a guide to the body quirks of guinea pigs so you can learn better what is normal and what not: Guinea pig body quirks - What is normal and what not?