strange behaviour in my piggie

[jesse1234]

hi, new here, just looking for some advice. i have a 2 year old rescued guinea pig named oswald, and he has been concerning me for he past hour or so. he's never had any health issues or concerns prior. when he's eating his hay, not when eating pepper or anything else, he makes a sort of low pitched rattling sound. he did it once relatively loudly, and then the next few times he ate he made it quietly, or hardly at all. it isn't consistent. it isn't hoarse or weak at all, it's just very low. he's been laying a lot, but i can't really tell if it's anything more than usual. the sound has really made me frantic, he's my baby and i'm very alert with him. he's been eating and drinking and he has a vet appointment scheduled for tomorrow. he looks fine, but i'm so concerned i can't really tell what's serious and what isn't. anybody have any similar experiences?

 

[jesse1234]

i'm not sure if i can add video, but if i can, i got a video go the sound. i'm hoping it's just his teeth maybe, and they need a trim and thats all.

 

[Merab]

Welcome to the forum
The best advice we can give is to go to the vet.
If there is any health concern a vet will either reassure you or give you a diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Does your vet who knows guinea pigs?

Let us know how you get on tomorrow.
Will be holding you in my thoughts

Welcome to the forum

 

[jesse1234]

@Merab's Slave hes never been to the vet before, because i've not had him for very long, i've gone to a certain vet in the past with my hedgehog and last guinea pig who has since passed, and i disliked them and i am going to a different one this time. they have 4.6 stars and seemed to know a lot about guinea pigs on the phone call, the woman suggested multiple things it could be right away, which reassured me they have solid knowledge.

 

[Merab]

Sounds positive- hope it goes well

 

[Rivervixen]

Good luck, big hugs for you and your piggie

 

[Betsy]

Sounds positive for a vet visit. Let us know how you get on. Whereabouts do you live? Could you add your rough location to your profile?

 

[jesse1234]

@Betsy i'll be honest i'm not sure how to navigate that much. i live in western new york. i know this is the uk forum but it seemed like the friendliest and quickest one

 

[Lorcan]

@Betsy i'll be honest i'm not sure how to navigate that much. i live in western new york. i know this is the uk forum but it seemed like the friendliest and quickest one

Welcome! We're mostly in the UK I believe but we have members from all over.

 

[Betsy]

@Betsy i'll be honest i'm not sure how to navigate that much. i live in western new york. i know this is the uk forum but it seemed like the friendliest and quickest one

You are right this is the friendliest forum! To add your location find your name on the top right, click on it and add your location there. If you are on a phone, find the 3 stripes top left, click on that, then click in your name and add your location.

 

[Lady Kelly]

The forum doesn't host videos but you can upload to any other hosting website and share the link here. YouTube and Facebook tend to be the most common ones

 

[jesse1234]

so update: oswald went to the vet and turns out he has either bronchitis or pneumonia ( but very early on! the vet said i caught it right at the start, and it doesn't seem like he has been in any pain, which i agree with, because he hasn't acted anything out of the ordinary. he is now on 3 medicines for 2 weeks, so hopefully those work and it doesn't progress at all and he fights this off before it starts to actually effect him.

 

[Betsy]

Well done on catching it early before it really starts to take affect. It shows what a good piggy slave you are.

 

[jesse1234]

update: he's been on his medicines and for two days was acting very well on them, third day is today, and he won't eat his peppers, which has never happened before. he ate his spring mix and some pellets and is still eating his hay and drinking, but wouldn't eat any peppers. i hope he's just being picky and doesn't feel like eating them. his behaviour seems to be pretty standard, he has been squeaking sort of randomly while staying in place, and then moves after, which he does sometimes anyways, but usually not much. he hasn't done that an excessive amount, but he's been doing it more frequently than usual. i also noticed his poops have been a little smaller and lighter brown. i read that antibiotics can do that, so i am trying not to worry too much about that. i'm just updating to see if all this together should make me concerned? the vet told me to call if he seems to get worse in 3-5 days, but i can't really tell if this is him 'getting worse' or not, because none of these minor changes seems to correlate much with bronchitis or pneumonia.

 

[jesse1234]

My 2 year old guinea pig Oswald recently has been diagnosed with either bronchitis or pneumonia. He is on 0.85 ml of Enrofloxacin (Baytril) once a day for 14 days, 0.4 ml of Metacam (Eloxioral) once a day for 10 days and 0.13 ml of Doxycycline twice a day for 14 days. He has been on these for 3 days and I haven't noticed any major changes other than he hasn't eaten any peppers, but continued to eat everything else, so it may be unrelated. I am just curious if anybody has experience on these medications or if I should look out for anything specific. Thank you in advance!

 

[Wiebke]

My 2 year old guinea pig Oswald recently has been diagnosed with either bronchitis or pneumonia. He is on 0.85 ml of Enrofloxacin (Baytril) once a day for 14 days, 0.4 ml of Metacam (Eloxioral) once a day for 10 days and 0.13 ml of Doxycycline twice a day for 14 days. He has been on these for 3 days and I haven't noticed any major changes other than he hasn't eaten any peppers, but continued to eat everything else, so it may be unrelated. I am just curious if anybody has experience on these medications or if I should look out for anything specific. Thank you in advance!

Hi!

Metacam is the commonly used analgesic (painkiller and anti-inflammatory) for guinea pigs.
Doxycyline is on the list of safe antibiotics; it is typically prescribed for more severe respiratory illnesses. So you are in safe hands.
Guinea Lynx :: Medications

I would recommend to support the guts with 'poo soup' and a probiotic both to make sure that Oswald is keeping his strength. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat. Any adverse reaction to any antibiotic is therefore a double whammy with respiratory illnesses. The good news is that since Oswald is still eating he has got every chance for making a full recovery!

Please monitor his weight daily at the same time. Over 80% of the daily food intake is hay, so you can miss a lot of weight loss in a very short time by just looking at veg (about 10%) and pellets (1 tablespoon per day equals about 5%). Hay is often the first food group that is impacted when a piggy is ill.

You may find the advice in this guide here helpful. We have bundled all the necessary informationand links for emergencies and crisis care together, including information on poo soup, probiotics and weight management during a major illness.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

 

[jesse1234]

i think he might be squeaking before he poops. a lot of things i'm reading are saying this is some sort of bladder issue, but could it be corresponding to his medications?

 

[jesse1234]

@Wiebke do you know if any of these medicines can cause problems with defecating for them? my guy seems to be struggling to poop, he is squeaking whenever he tries to go.

 

[Lady Kelly]

I've not known of squeaking when pooping being linked to any medications but bear in mind his immune system will be lowered and if he has been sitting around more he will be prone to picking up a UTI as well. I would call your vet for some advice on whether to bring him in again at the moment

 

[Wiebke]

I've not known of squeaking when pooping being linked to any medications but bear in mind his immune system will be lowered and if he has been sitting around more he will be prone to picking up a UTI as well. I would call your vet for some advice on whether to bring him in again at the moment

@Lady Kelly has given the same advice as I would. The antibiotic should hopefully take care of any infectious issues once it kicks in.

 

[jesse1234]

@Wiebke is it okay to try to do the poop soup with him if he is unwell? he's my only pig

 

[Wiebke]

@Wiebke is it okay to try to do the poop soup with him if he is unwell? he's my only pig

No, poo soup doesn't work with single piggies; you need a healthy companion for that!

In this case I would recommend to stick with probiotics for the time being and switch to fibreplex in case Oswald is really losing his appetite, which is hopefully not going to happen. Fibreplex has worked for piggies of mine whose appetite has been completely wiped out by a strong antibiotic we could not move off from in make or break situations.

 

[jesse1234]

@Wiebke would this do the trick? i can't find any probiotics near me that i could pick up other than this

 

[jesse1234]

these are the ingredients

 

[jesse1234]

I am checking a store for Bene bac but I am not sure if it'll be in store. If it isn't, I am going to get the product I showed above.

 

[Wiebke]

I am checking a store for Bene bac but I am not sure if it'll be in store. If it isn't, I am going to get the product I showed above.

All the best! I guess it will do in a pinch.

 

[jesse1234]

I was unable to find any probiotics for small animals. I purchased the digestive support and also some human non-dairy probiotics, because I read on another website that those are okay if they are approximately 1.5 billion per capsule, and I got ones that are 10 billion. My plan was to use about 1/4 of the capsule, but I am not sure if I should move forward with both or just one. If just one, which would be better? If anybody knows.

 

[Wiebke]

I was unable to find any probiotics for small animals. I purchased the digestive support and also some human non-dairy probiotics, because I read on another website that those are okay if they are approximately 1.5 billion per capsule, and I got ones that are 10 billion. My plan was to use about 1/4 of the capsule, but I am not sure if I should move forward with both or just one. If just one, which would be better? If anybody knows.

Use the digestive support

 

[jesse1234]

I gave him about 1/4 of the tablet because I did it without reading this first, I am not going to give him anymore of the tablet. He ate about 3/4 of the digestive support, so hopefully I see some change. Thank you so much to anybody who has wieghed in, especially @Wiebke , you have been a hero today. The vet is closed and nobody was providing a lot of solid advice so you helped a lot.

 

[jesse1234]

My 2 year old pig is on Digestive Support biscuits right now as a means to rebuilt the bacteria in his stomach that his antibiotics have been depleting and caused him to have issues going to the bathroom. He was straining to go initially but now he seems to not be going regularly at all and he has not eaten his digestive support yet today. I was considering crumpling it up if possible and administering through a syringe with water directly into his mouth. Is that a plausible plan? I also am planning on giving him critical care food if he continues to not eat as much. I gave him his spring mix and a cherry tomato and he ate the tomato and a few pieces of his spring mix, which he usually eats immediately. When should I consider giving him critical care? The vet cannot weigh in because they're closed until Tuesday, and are the only exotic vet anywhere near me.