Runny nose and noisy breathing not responding to treatment

[Wizzy]

So for a while now Pepper has had noisy breathing- sounding a bit like a squeak when she breathes, she was hooting on and off so we took her to the vets. The vet said she sounded quite congested so she was on Baytril 0.2ml twice a day for a week. She improved a bit but her breathing was still squeaky and my other pig developed 1 crusty eye so we took them both back to the vet on Friday. The vet prescribed Rexy 0.25ml for a week and said to give Pepper 0.2ml for another 3 days. Rexy seems back to normal, but Pepper hasn’t improved so i extended her antibiotics to 2 weeks, which will be on Thursday. She’s not lethargic, her weight is stable and she’s eating lots. It’s just her whistly breathing and runny nose but that’s on and off. She seems to get better when i clean their cage and then gets worse again after a day or two. I’m very lost here and not keen to keep going back to the vets if the antibiotics don’t do anything.

 

[Siikibam]

@Wiebke @VickiA

 

[Wiebke]

So for a while now Pepper has had noisy breathing- sounding a bit like a squeak when she breathes, she was hooting on and off so we took her to the vets. The vet said she sounded quite congested so she was on Baytril 0.2ml twice a day for a week. She improved a bit but her breathing was still squeaky and my other pig developed 1 crusty eye so we took them both back to the vet on Friday. The vet prescribed Rexy 0.25ml for a week and said to give Pepper 0.2ml for another 3 days. Rexy seems back to normal, but Pepper hasn’t improved so i extended her antibiotics to 2 weeks, which will be on Thursday. She’s not lethargic, her weight is stable and she’s eating lots. It’s just her whistly breathing and runny nose but that’s on and off. She seems to get better when i clean their cage and then gets worse again after a day or two. I’m very lost here and not keen to keep going back to the vets if the antibiotics don’t do anything.

Hi!

Good that Rexy is better; she sounds like she had a classic URI.

If Pepper is not responding to treatment, you and your vet may consider other problems - rhinitis or a sensitivity to an irritant. Allergies are rare in guinea pigs, but they occasionally happen. Unfortunately you are very much in trial and error territory in finding out what is causing the symptoms.
Irritants to Avoid Around Guinea Pigs
Also check for hay dust, pollen etc.

 

[Wizzy]

Thanks for the reply. One thing i did think of... Pets at home ran out of woodshavings last week, and they told me it was because they company that usually supplies them had gone out of business. They seemed to find a new supply and i got some more from them the next week. Thinking back to it... after i started using these woodshavings her symptoms seemed to show up. Could it be because of the woodshavings? I just want to make sure i’m not missing anything. If it was a bad uri, or pneumonia- surely 2 weeks of antibiotics would’ve helped her or if not she would’ve gotten worse? Are there certain brands of hay that can cause irritation? I will try switching to a different brand of woodshavings and hay. Thank you!

 

[Wizzy]

Hi!

Good that Rexy is better; she sounds like she had a classic URI.

If Pepper is not responding to treatment, you and your vet may consider other problems - rhinitis or a sensitivity to an irritant. Allergies are rare in guinea pigs, but they occasionally happen. Unfortunately you are very much in trial and error territory in finding out what is causing the symptoms.
Irritants to Avoid Around Guinea Pigs
Also check for hay dust, pollen etc.

Also, one more thing. If it is rhinitis, how would that be treated and is there anything i can do in the meantime?

 

[Wiebke]

Also, one more thing. If it is rhinitis, how would that be treated and is there anything i can do in the meantime?

There is no standard treatment for guinea pigs as it is comparatively rare. And there is nothing you can do at home.

 

[Wizzy]

There is no standard treatment for guinea pigs as it is comparatively rare. And there is nothing you can do at home.

Okay thank you. Just to check i haven’t missed anything... If it was a bad uri or pneumonia wouldn’t the antibiotics have worked now, as it’s been almost 2 weeks? Or would’ve she at least gotten worse? As it’s been pretty much persistent. She doesn’t seem affected by it at all

 

[Wizzy]

Okay thank you. Just to check i haven’t missed anything... If it was a bad uri or pneumonia wouldn’t the antibiotics have worked now, as it’s been almost 2 weeks? Or would’ve she at least gotten worse? As it’s been pretty much persistent. She doesn’t seem affected by it at all

She also coughs quite infrequently, when she’s eating.

 

[Siikibam]

She also coughs quite infrequently, when she’s eating.

Coughing while eating is quite common. Some piggies are greedy and eat too fast! As for the other point I’m afraid I don’t know. Someone more knowledgeable will be along in good time to answer.

 

[Wizzy]

What really baffles me is that antibiotics just won’t fix it... she improved slightly when she was on them the first week, and now we’re approaching 2 weeks her breathing doesn’t seem much better. She seems to sneeze and then get better for a few minutes and then it all starts again. I can’t keep going back to the vet if the antibiotics are doing nothing but i desperately want her to be better!

 

[Wiebke]

What really baffles me is that antibiotics just won’t fix it... she improved slightly when she was on them the first week, and now we’re approaching 2 weeks her breathing doesn’t seem much better. She seems to sneeze and then get better for a few minutes and then it all starts again. I can’t keep going back to the vet if the antibiotics are doing nothing but i desperately want her to be better!

It sounds like an allergy or sensitivity to me, especially with the sneezing, which is a telling symptom you haven't mentioned before.
However, all we can do is guess - and only as well as you report symptoms - but we canNOT diagnose or replace a hands-on vet examination.

If antibiotics haven't brought a change to the better or worse, then it is clearly not a respiratory infection of any sort and your vet and you will have to look for other potential problems. As a vet, you always start with the most standard potentially fatal/damaging problem and then investigate in those relatively few cases where the standard treatment is not working as you have to guess your way through those, medically speaking, and have to find what works best by trial and error with medication used for other species.
We cannot do that for you, nor should you do that on spec with home quacking.

 

[Wizzy]

It sounds like an allergy or sensitivity to me, especially with the sneezing, which is a telling symptom you haven't mentioned before.
However, all we can do is guess - and only as well as you report symptoms - but we canNOT diagnose or replace a hands-on vet examination.

If antibiotics haven't brought a change to the better or worse, then it is clearly not a respiratory infection of any sort and your vet and you will have to look for other potential problems. As a vet, you always start with the most standard potentially fatal/damaging problem and then investigate in those relatively few cases where the standard treatment is not working as you have to guess your way through those, medically speaking, and have to find what works best by trial and error with medication used for other species.
We cannot do that for you, nor should you do that on spec with home quacking.

Thank you, i will ring the vet this afternoon and see what he says. I just hope it’s something that can be cleared up quickly. Do allergies appear/ change as a guinea pig ages or are they born with it? As i can’t think of what it might be.But anyways, i’ll see what the vet suggests. Thank you!

 

[Wizzy]

Bit of an update:
Took both the guineas bag to the vet and saw a guinea pig specialist- who explained to us the possibility of an allergy or heart issues but also said that because Rexy also had symptoms of a uri and Pepper had improved a little bit... it was most likely a deep set uri. He listened to Peppers heart and lungs and said they both sounded fine. He also gave us 2-3 weeks worth of Baytril, and a higher dose for both of them as the previous vet had misjudged the severity of the uri. Hopefully all will be fine soon