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Nosebleeds and wheezing.

mochiandcaitlin

New Born Pup
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Evening everyone :)

My guinea pig Mochi is 4 years old and for the past 3/4 weeks, she has been to see the vets due to having a nose bleed from one nostril and has had what sounds to be wheezing coming from her nose. She has been to the vets twice and has been on a weeks course of antibiotics (co-trimoxazole), meloxicam and bisolvon powder (anti mucolytic). There seems to be an improvement with the nose bleeds, they are not as frequent but my concern is the wheezing noise coming from her nose. I will be making an appointment for the vets tomorrow to discuss next steps in treatment. Has anyone had any similar experiences with their own guinea pigs and if so, how did things go in terms of diagnosis/treatment?

Thank you! ☺️
 
Evening everyone :)

My guinea pig Mochi is 4 years old and for the past 3/4 weeks, she has been to see the vets due to having a nose bleed from one nostril and has had what sounds to be wheezing coming from her nose. She has been to the vets twice and has been on a weeks course of antibiotics (co-trimoxazole), meloxicam and bisolvon powder (anti mucolytic). There seems to be an improvement with the nose bleeds, they are not as frequent but my concern is the wheezing noise coming from her nose. I will be making an appointment for the vets tomorrow to discuss next steps in treatment. Has anyone had any similar experiences with their own guinea pigs and if so, how did things go in terms of diagnosis/treatment?

Thank you! ☺️

Hi and welcome

Personally, I am more worried about the bleeding; that is definitely not normal. The wheezing comes most likely from partially swollen nasal passages. Guinea pig airways are very small and piggies are not much in the way of mouth breathers (if they do, they are in acute respiratory distress). This means that even the smallest obstruction is always very audible in wide range of sound effects.

Since antibiotics, anti-inflammatories/painkiller and mucus-thinning powder haven't brought any real success, the next step would be a scan of the nose/head to check for some more unusual things like polyps, teeth growing the wrong way into the nose or, in the very worst case scenario, a potential brain tumour (which are thankfully rare but they do happen; a one-off bloody sneeze was all the warning I got with a piggy of mine).

I sincerely hope that it is one of the more easily to fix problem but you will unfortunately need to see your vet again. They have acted correctly in addressing the common angles first. Now you get into the wider field of the not quite standard with some more unusual and not quite as nice things that are very much out there.

All the best.
 
Hi Wiebke,

I will take everything onboard and will speak to the vet about these next steps. I love my little one lots so will do anything to ensure she is healthy and happy. I will keep you posted on what happens next. It has been on my mind about what it could possibly be the matter both in terms of polyps and teeth to brain tumours.

Thank you.
 
Hi everyone.

Mochi passed away this afternoon at 4:23pm. 💔

She had an Xray done and needle aspiration. The Xray showed a large mass within the nasal cavity that had caused bone destruction. The mass could of been an abscess or tumour, nothing could be ruled out but regardless she would of struggled as she had the bone destruction caused by the mass in the first place. I was given a few options such as CT, testing the mass to see if it was an abscess or tumour (if it was an abscess, it would of had to be crossmatched to find a suitable antibiotic) or the third option which was to euthanise her. Due to how much she has been struggling and would of struggled with these treatment options due to the bone destruction, she passed away in my arms. The pain I am feeling is awful. I will miss my sweet baby so much.

Thank you.
 
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