Sneezing Guinea Pig, Now On Topical Treatment

[Parnassus]

My sow is 8-10 months old, and she sneezed yesterday. I brought her to our cavy-savvy vet yesterday afternoon. By the time we arrived, she had developed some eye goopies (I'm sure that's the scientific term for it).

The vet checked her thoroughly and said her lungs are clear, but her nose sounds a little 'nasaly' (again, definitely the scientific term ;-) ). So, we started her on some eye drops called "Tobramycin Opthalmic Solution USP", which we're administering 1 drop per eye 3x per day for 10-14 days as the vet directed. If her symptoms remain the same or get worse, the vet said we'll need to bring her in again to start a more serious treatment plan. The hope is that we're just experiencing some 'bad air' in the city right now (we had a lot of dry forest fires recently, the sky was completely gray from the smoke all over the city and surrounding areas all last weekend).

I'm working from home today to monitor her symptoms. I'm so worried. We just lost her mate last week to a likely case of bloat (see this thread for more details). I'm not sure if I should relax knowing we're following the vet's directions or continue hovering like a hawk. We're still recovering over the loss of her mate and I don't think I can handle losing her, too.

Details:
I had her checked out after her cage mate passed away and we even ran a blood test and everything looked great.
The next day, we had forest fires in and around our city. She had a little wetness on her nose. I kept an eye on it and it dried up by the end of the day and is still dry today.
Smoke overtook our city and surrounding areas all weekend, but she remained symptomless.
A few days ago, I heard her push some air out of her nose like it was tickled. That was a new noise for her, so I kept an ear out for it and it happened once more.
The next evening, that silent puff of air happened a few times over a few hours, so I decided to call the vet in the morning.
Right before I called the vet, she definitely sneezed. We booked an appointment for that afternoon and I brought her in.

Now we're on the treatment plan and hoping for the best.
This morning, she did that silent air puff a few times in a row after I opened her hay bag to refresh her hay. We use Oxbow's Timothy hay and it isn't a new bag, we're getting to the end of it. Should I crack open a new bag? This bag seems to have a more "confetti" like quality than usual. I try to shake the smaller bits out of the handfuls before putting more hay in the cage.
She definitely sneezed just recently when she was only relaxing on her cozy fleece bed, no apparent triggers for that one.

We just started treatment yesterday evening, should I try to be more patient?
Is there anything else I can do to help this along?
The vet didn't seem concerned about her environment or diet, but if there's anything I can do to help avoid a URI, I'd like to make sure we do it.

 

[Wiebke]

Please be more patient. Antibiotics take at least 1-2 days to kick in. If there is smoke pollution, it also takes time to clear it out of the air and the lungs.
You can place a bowl of steaming water next to the cage and see whether that is easing the breathing. if you wish, you can give a bit of additional vitamin C for the time being to boost the immune system.

Sneezing can often be just from an irritant in the environment (air, A/C on full blast, hay, bedding, perfumed products like air fresheners, scent sticks or toiletry products etc.) If the snuffly nose continues, your vet may consider prescribing a mucus thinning product to ease the breathing. The UK brand is called bisolvon.

 

[Dindypig]

We have a a little lady, Holly, who has a recurring sniffle and sneezes. She has a course of Bisolvon to deal with it.

 

[Parnassus]

Thanks for the advice, all seems to be going well for her now, and she hasn't sneezed once today. I'm breaking up her Oxbow Vitamin C cookies to give an extra bit in addition to the daily cookie through the treatment. She sure doesn't mind that!

For Bisolvon treatment, is that taken orally? Any known side effects?

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for the advice, all seems to be going well for her now, and she hasn't sneezed once today. I'm breaking up her Oxbow Vitamin C cookies to give an extra bit in addition to the daily cookie through the treatment. She sure doesn't mind that!

For Bisolvon treatment, is that taken orally? Any known side effects?

Bisolvon is a powder that you usually give on a bit of veg. However, your vet may want to use a comparable US brand. I have never heard of any side effects. If the breathing has normalised, you won't need it anyway.

 

[Parnassus]

Update:
We've had to switch treatment to Bactrim (trimethoprim sulfa; SMZ-TMP; sulfamethoxazole trimethoprim; tribressin) and have been doing a two-week treatment of this, wrapping up our last dose this Friday. (We give probiotics 1 hour before the antibiotics to avoid gut upset. Side note: She pretends to hate it and almost seems to like having us force feed her... we're learning a lot about our guinea pig's personality through all this!)

Her symptoms are still the same, except her nose is whistling a bit more than usual. The vet has said that if the two-week course doesn't resolve the symptoms, we're going to switch out Timothy hay for something else and see if she's developed an allergy. Per her last vet appointment, her lungs are still clear, but her nose is still stuffy.

I've noticed her eyes are watery around the hay, but clear if she's having pellet time away from the hay. It seems crazy to think she's allergic to her main food source, but if she is, what's the best alternative to Timothy hay? I've read that Orchard is the next best thing. Is there another kind worth considering?

 

[helen105281]

I would try Orchard grass, I know Timothy can affect some humans too, and mine were sneezing a bit the other night after they had their timothy. You could also ask your vet about an anti-histamine, in the UK we can use children's Piriton. There is also a product called Bisolvon which can help clear any mucous from the nasal passages, not sure if your vet would stock that?

 

[Parnassus]

Thanks!

We're going to switch out Timothy hay for Orchard grass and start giving a children's anti-histamine dose every 12 hours. The vet wants us to check in after a few days of this and see if things improve. Here's hoping we solve the great sneezing mystery!

 

[helen105281]

The only problem with doing both at the same time is you won't know which one has worked? maybe swap the hay for a couple of days and if that doesn't help dd the anti-histamine in then?

 

[GPTV]

Think I would leave a few days between the hay swap & the introduction of the anti-histamine too.

Is this current batch of hay the same quality as previous batches?

Occasionally a really dusty or bitty batch of hay comes along. Is it being stored in the same way?

If its kept in a plastic bag it can be susceptible to temperature fluctuations, causing condensation in the bag which then produces mould spores to form &you get mouldy/fousty hay.
This then upsets their respiratory system &causes URI's.

Try doing the "sniff test" yourself with their hay. If it smells fresh, sweet &grassy its ok. If it smells old, musty, mouldy or dusty &makes u cough /sneeze then its no good &just throw
It away.
I had a duff batch once when I had a cold &nearly lost one of my girls with respiratory problems. I threw out the whole bale &then she soon recovered.

Try &give some coarser hay if possible too to help keep their teeth healthy.

Oops. Just read again its confetti like. I'd just throw it &start a new bag.

Also if they're bedded on sawdust or wood shavings I'd try something else as the wood can react with urine which can cause problems. Try something such as Fitch, fleece, shredded paper etc. See if this makes a difference?
How are they now?
Xx

 

[Parnassus]

We have switched out the hay for a few days and I only heard her puff air from her nose once within the first 24 hours, before we could vacuum up around the cage as well. I haven't heard ANY sneezing since! We haven't started on the anti-histamine, but it looks like we may not have to do that at all.

When we made the switch, I came back into the room, and she was propped up against the side of the cage, wheeking at me, so I came over to pet her, and she puddled immediately! I like to think it's her way of saying thank you. It seems like her spark has come back. I've never seen her respond like this to the Timothy hay.

On the coarser hay note to keep teeth healthy, what should I try? What's a good Timothy hay alternative? (Note: She never ate the stocks of the Timothy hay, she would dig around for the grass and sometimes eat the seed heads only.)

Also, we use Oxbow Vitamin C supplement. We can't not give her supplements, so I'm wondering if we should bother trying to eliminate that as well? Is there a good alternative here? From what I know, this is the only guinea pig specific choice out there.

Surprisingly, there isn't a lot on the internet about guinea pigs being allergic to Timothy hay. About to call the vet and give the status update.

Notes:
We use fleece bedding and fleece accessories
We strictly buy Oxbow brand everything for hay and supplements

 

[helen105281]

You could try Oxbow orchard grass or oat hay? So they do a meadow hay? I would keep up the supplement for now if she has had no issues in the past. It may be that she was allergic to that particular batch of Timothy hay. I know different cuts of hay vary depending on the time of year.

 

[Parnassus]

And she's sneezing again, about once per day.

We started in on the anti-histamine yesterday (which she loves the taste of, the little weirdo! She tries to steal the syringe from me.) So far, it seems like it helps.

Is it possible that she's allergic to the Timothy hay & has seasonal allergies?

 

[lexi468]

My guinea pig has seasonal allergies. His vet recommended boosting the vit.c (I use a liquid supplement here in the US). He also said sometimes he may need a humidifier. My pig is also incredibly sensitive to his fleece being dirty. So I change it quite frequently, or he starts sneezing. I cover his cage at night, and I used to cover it completely but had to stop because his hay dust being stuck in the cage made him sneeze. So it is totally possible she has seasonal allergies, and I think it's more common in gpigs than people think!

 

[gizzy]

My Bella has cronic breathing probs, she somtimes hoots quite loudly.
But l seem to have sorted the probled , l recentaly descoverd a H.E.P.A air filter
I bough a while ago, l have had it swiched on for nerly 2 days and fingers crosed
She hasent made a peep
Though it is early days, l will post in a few days and tell you how she is getting on

 

[Parnassus]

We're one week in to the two week anti-histamine doses. Sneezing continues.

Also, my boyfriend accidentally got children's Benadryl (anti-histamine) in one of her eyes. Ugh. We flushed it with a couple drops of the URI meds, but I can't find anything else online about the subject. Anyone else have a treatment mishap like mine?

 

[lexi468]

Does her eye seem to be bothering her? Mine wiggles around so much it's hard not to get stuff in his eye.

 

[Parnassus]

Does her eye seem to be bothering her? Mine wiggles around so much it's hard not to get stuff in his eye.

I checked it this morning and all looks normal. She isn't squinting or blinking excessively. So glad we're not the only ones! We've upgraded our technique to burrito/hold like a baby to the chest so to avoid eyes all together. Wish she spoke English so I could point out that won't happen if she complies with taking meds!