Respiratory infection?

[Honey&maple]

Hi guys.
My piggy has been given antibiotics for a respiratory issue as she’s been breathing different the past 2 days . The vet said her lungs don’t sound too crackly but she can tell she’s breathing harder . She said if these antibiotics don’t work it could be a heart problem but more likely to be an infection. She said her heart sounded okay but it can be hard to hear mumurrs because their hearts are so fast in the first place.

Has anyone experienced a respiratory infection with no mucus or breathing noises?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi guys.
My piggy has been given antibiotics for a respiratory issue as she’s been breathing different the past 2 days . The vet said her lungs don’t sound too crackly but she can tell she’s breathing harder . She said if these antibiotics don’t work it could be a heart problem but more likely to be an infection. She said her heart sounded okay but it can be hard to hear mumurrs because their hearts are so fast in the first place.

Has anyone experienced a respiratory infection with no mucus or breathing noises?

Hi

Mucus in the eyes and nose is a symptom of a well developed un- or under-treated bacterial respiratory infection in the upper respirator tract (URI - sinuses, throat and bronchia); that is also where the crackling and rasping happens. Ideally, it should never get as far as ny mucus with prompt treatment.

If the problem sits deeper (in the lung, which means a lower respiratory infection, or LRI) there will be less sound. Sometimes, a clicking in the chest/lung area is the only indication of a pneumonia (or rather a fluid build up in the lungs) apart from more laboured breathing.

Your vet is doing the sensible approach to address first the more easily ruled out problems (a respiratory infection) before tackling a potential heart problem, which can pretty difficult to diagnose; as I know from my own piggies. Please conduct the full course of antbiotics and review if there is no change by the end. Antibiotics take several days to build up to full efficiency and then fade again over several days after the end of the course.

Please switch from the usual on weekly weigh-in on your kitchen scales to weighing daily first thing in the morning for best day-to-day comparison (the daily weight swing of about 30-40g is always lowest by then) and so you can plan any level of support for the coming day. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat; that is why laboured breathing comes with the potential of a dimished or lost appetite. You cannot check the hay intake by eye but it makes over three quarters of what a piggy eats in a day. We speak of weight loss from 50g onwards - just the difference between a full and an empty bladder is 10g!
Add to that the potential appetite dampening effect of an antibiotic and you can understand why any breathing issues can come with a double whammy on the appetite. Right now, you just want to keep an eye on it with your weighing so you can step in with top up feeding when actually needed.
You can try and soften the impact on the gut with free 'poo soup' and/or a probiotic. Either give the probiotic 1 hours before or 2 hours after the antibiotic.
Probiotics & Live Gut Microbiome Transfer ('Poo Soup'); Recovery Formula Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links and Transfer Recipe

All the best.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

Mucus in the eyes and nose is a symptom of a well developed un- or under-treated bacterial respiratory infection in the upper respirator tract (URI - sinuses, throat and bronchia); that is also where the crackling and rasping happens. Ideally, it should never get as far as ny mucus with prompt treatment.

If the problem sits deeper (in the lung, which means a lower respiratory infection, or LRI) there will be less sound. Sometimes, a clicking in the chest/lung area is the only indication of a pneumonia (or rather a fluid build up in the lungs) apart from more laboured breathing.

Your vet is doing the sensible approach to address first the more easily ruled out problems (a respiratory infection) before tackling a potential heart problem, which can pretty difficult to diagnose; as I know from my own piggies. Please conduct the full course of antbiotics and review if there is no change by the end. Antibiotics take several days to build up to full efficiency and then fade again over several days after the end of the course.

Please switch from the usual on weekly weigh-in on your kitchen scales to weighing daily first thing in the morning for best day-to-day comparison (the daily weight swing of about 30-40g is always lowest by then) and so you can plan any level of support for the coming day. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat; that is why laboured breathing comes with the potential of a dimished or lost appetite. You cannot check the hay intake by eye but it makes over three quarters of what a piggy eats in a day. We speak of weight loss from 50g onwards - just the difference between a full and an empty bladder is 10g!
Add to that the potential appetite dampening effect of an antibiotic and you can understand why any breathing issues can come with a double whammy on the appetite. Right now, you just want to keep an eye on it with your weighing so you can step in with top up feeding when actually needed.
You can try and soften the impact on the gut with free 'poo soup' and/or a probiotic. Either give the probiotic 1 hours before or 2 hours after the antibiotic.
Probiotics & Live Gut Microbiome Transfer ('Poo Soup'); Recovery Formula Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links and Transfer Recipe

All the best.

PS: Please contact your vet promptly if the breathing is getting worse despite the antibiotic.

 

[Honey&maple]

PS: Please contact your vet promptly if the breathing is getting worse despite the antibiotic.

Thank you I will do , I keep on checking on her every few hours. She’s been breathing like this for about 4 days and it’s stayed the same . She’s had 2 doses of antibiotics now . I’m really hoping it helps her and it’s not a different issue that won’t get fixed with antibiotics

 

[Honey&maple]

Thank you I will do , I keep on checking on her every few hours. She’s been breathing like this for about 4 days and it’s stayed the same . She’s had 2 doses of antibiotics now . I’m really hoping it helps her and it’s not a different issue that won’t get fixed with antibiotics

I’ve also got bisolovon powder for her as well. The vet said to use this but it seems silly when she doesn’t sound mucusy but like you said it might not be as noticeable

 

[Wiebke]

I’ve also got bisolovon powder for her as well. The vet said to use this but it seems silly when she doesn’t sound mucusy but like you said it might not be as noticeable

Your vet is obviously doing all they can to clear the airways as much as possible if it is an URI or LRI in order to ease and free up the breathing.

All the best.

 

[weepweeps]

I hope the AB work and it’s just an infection

 

[Honey&maple]

Your vet is obviously doing all they can to clear the airways as much as possible if it is an URI or LRI in order to ease and free up the breathing.

All the best.

What would be the signs of her breathing getting worse ?

 

[Wiebke]

What would be the signs of her breathing getting worse ?

Looking more laboured with the sides visibly heaving (diaphragmic breathing). Laboured breathing will also come with in an increasing loss of appetite since the need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat (although a dampening or loss of appetite can also be caused by antibiotics impacting on the gut microbiome - however, your dosage should not be high enough in your case).

 

[Honey&maple]

Looking more laboured with the sides visibly heaving (diaphragmic breathing). Laboured breathing will also come with in an increasing loss of appetite since the need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat (although a dampening or loss of appetite can also be caused by antibiotics impacting on the gut microbiome - however, your dosage should not be high enough in your case).

Yeah she already has laboured breathing and can see her sides moving visibly, just harder to know if it’s getting worse or not . But she’s still getting up to eat and drink so that’s a good sign . I have been taking videos to help compare too

 

[Honey&maple]

Looking more laboured with the sides visibly heaving (diaphragmic breathing). Laboured breathing will also come with in an increasing loss of appetite since the need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat (although a dampening or loss of appetite can also be caused by antibiotics impacting on the gut microbiome - however, your dosage should not be high enough in your case).

how long does Baytril normally take to work as she’s had 4 doses of it now and she’s not getting any better but not worse . Is it too early to call the vets . She’s booked in on Theusday for a review but unsure whether it’s worth taking her sooner .

 

[Wiebke]

how long does Baytril normally take to work as she’s had 4 doses of it now and she’s not getting any better but not worse . Is it too early to call the vets . She’s booked in on Theusday for a review but unsure whether it’s worth taking her sooner .

Hi

Please finish the course and contact your vets then. Never break off an antibiotics course early because you will contribute to resistancy issues that way. Only contact your vet promptly if there is a really bad reaction to the antibiotic.

And in your case, contact your vet early if there is a noticeable deterioration in the breathing. The antibiotic is only coming up to full efficiency now.

 

[Honey&maple]

Hi

Please finish the course and contact your vets then. Never break off an antibiotics course early because you will contribute to resistancy issues that way. Only contact your vet promptly if there is a really bad reaction to the antibiotic.

And in your case, contact your vet early if there is a noticeable deterioration in the breathing. The antibiotic is only coming up to full efficiency now.

Oh thank you! That’s reassuring , I was just expecting to see a change already!

 

[Wiebke]

Oh thank you! That’s reassuring , I was just expecting to see a change already!

There may be no change, so your vet can rule out a potential respiratory infection and go after the less easy to diagnose problems. But you have to give these things their due time.

 

[Honey&maple]

There may be no change, so your vet can rule out a potential respiratory infection and go after the less easy to diagnose problems. But you have to give these things their due time.

Yeah that’s what I’m worried about . Because if I’m treating something that isn’t the issue . The proper issue is going to be getting worse in the meantime . For eg maybe her heart.

 

[Honey&maple]

My Guinea pig is now on day 5 of antibiotics . Her nose has started to make sniffly noises everytime she breathes (not crackly or anything ) but she wasn’t making much noise before. Is this normal ? Her breathing looks the same .

 

[Wiebke]

My Guinea pig is now on day 5 of antibiotics . Her nose has started to make sniffly noises everytime she breathes (not crackly or anything ) but she wasn’t making much noise before. Is this normal ? Her breathing looks the same .

It sounds like there is a very small obstruction in the nose, like a little pollen. Guinea pigs are not much in the way of mouth breathers and their airways are very small and narrow so everything immediately sounds much mor dramatic compared to s slightly stuffy human nose.

What you can do is give the clinic a ring an book your girl in for the day after the end of the round of antibiotic. As long as there is no noticeable deterioration - and you haven't reported any - it is always better to stick with any treatment and then with that box ticked to proceed to the next step. Lots of half finished treatments and courses can cause more problems than they do not solve.

I appreciate that it is not at all easy for you to be patient and to take it step by step. Diagnosing can be much more in the way of a whodunnit than you would think but it is never good for a vet - or a detective - to jump straight onto a suspicious character and to not carefully check out all the other obvious suspects first.

 

[Honey&maple]

It sounds like there is a very small obstruction in the nose, like a little pollen. Guinea pigs are not much in the way of mouth breathers and their airways are very small and narrow so everything immediately sounds much mor dramatic compared to s slightly stuffy human nose.

What you can do is give the clinic a ring an book your girl in for the day after the end of the round of antibiotic. As long as there is no noticeable deterioration - and you haven't reported any - it is always better to stick with any treatment and then with that box ticked to proceed to the next step. Lots of half finished treatments and courses can cause more problems than they do not solve.

I appreciate that it is not at all easy for you to be patient and to take it step by step. Diagnosing can be much more in the way of a whodunnit than you would think but it is never good for a vet - or a detective - to jump straight onto a suspicious character and to not carefully check out all the other obvious suspects first.

So it could be a seperate problem with the nose and it’s just a coincidence with her breathing . I know I am sticking with the treatment I just unsure if this nose issue is related and means she’s getting worse . Even though it’s not that bad .

 

[Wiebke]

So it could be a seperate problem with the nose and it’s just a coincidence with her breathing . I know I am sticking with the treatment I just unsure if this nose issue is related and means she’s getting worse . Even though it’s not that bad .

See whether the nose issue disappears again on its own after some hours.

 

[Honey&maple]

See whether the nose issue disappears again on its own after some hours.

she’s still got the noise and it’s been way over a few hours so starting to think it’s related to the breathing .

 

[Honey&maple]

she’s still got the noise and it’s been way over a few hours so starting to think it’s related to the breathing .https://m.youtube.com/shorts/oAAaX0yGQXo

 

[Honey&maple]

I’ve tried to upload a video . You can’t hear the noise on it as it’s only when you hold her to your ear . But I managed to get an YouTube upload of what she’s like tonight .

 

[Honey&maple]

18 June 2024