Stuck in a snotty pig loop- swab arranged!

[Emx93]

So little marshmallow is driving me round the bend now with intermittent sneezing and snot! With the occasional nasal clicking thrown in! We did 22 days of sulfatrim for the snot and several weeks of baytril for her abcess during which the intermittent nasal stuff has continued. Vet checked Wednesday--chest clear, no snot! Typical! Aside from the first vet trip she's been 100% fine on the vet table and at no point has her chest not sounded clear thankfully! Snot and sneezing reappeared last night with some nasal clicking (symptoms have been pretty intermittent throughout but are present more than they are not) so today I've emailed to suggest a swab which the vet agrees will be the best idea and the gold standard to see if there is in fact any infection since symptoms would usually be more consistent and if there is what antibiotic will work given sulfatrim and baytril haven't so far! We've also tried bisolvon, metacam and nebulising. I'm very much hoping the swab shows no bugs and it's nothing to worry about but after loosing 2 last year to respitory stuff with in one case months of inconsistent symptoms I am choosing to be extra safe and get some swab reassurance!

I have chosen to swab at home to save a wasted journey if she hides the snot again! I'm picking the swab kit up tomorrow eeeek anyone have any tips for swabbing? My vet says I need to be extra careful to only get the snot and nothing else around the nose on the swab piggies!

 

[Wiebke]

So little marshmallow is driving me round the bend now with intermittent sneezing and snot! With the occasional nasal clicking thrown in! We did 22 days of sulfatrim for the snot and several weeks of baytril for her abcess during which the intermittent nasal stuff has continued. Vet checked Wednesday--chest clear, no snot! Typical! Aside from the first vet trip she's been 100% fine on the vet table and at no point has her chest not sounded clear thankfully! Snot and sneezing reappeared last night with some nasal clicking (symptoms have been pretty intermittent throughout but are present more than they are not) so today I've emailed to suggest a swab which the vet agrees will be the best idea and the gold standard to see if there is in fact any infection since symptoms would usually be more consistent and if there is what antibiotic will work given sulfatrim and baytril haven't so far! We've also tried bisolvon, metacam and nebulising. I'm very much hoping the swab shows no bugs and it's nothing to worry about but after loosing 2 last year to respitory stuff with in one case months of inconsistent symptoms I am choosing to be extra safe and get some swab reassurance!

I have chosen to swab at home to save a wasted journey if she hides the snot again! I'm picking the swab kit up tomorrow eeeek anyone have any tips for swabbing? My vet says I need to be extra careful to only get the snot and nothing else around the nose on the swab piggies!

All the best! It is always tricky when you are up against something that doesn't react to standard treatment.

 

[Emx93]

All the best! It is always tricky when you are up against something that doesn't react to standard treatment.

Thankyou I am hoping it is not an infection anymore since the non snotty days are there as well as the snotty ones it is more my little niggle after what happened with the others that is making me do the swab to be on the safe side!

On a side note has anyone ever swabbed their piggy at home, I have picked up the swab today and its huge! Not sure how I'm supposed to get just the snot on that and nothing from around the nose! My hamster is seeing the exotic vet next Saturday so I may wait for then to get further guidence since I am on 12h nights from tomorrow till Wednesday anyway and it will take 2 of us! There was no snot this morning anyway, she's a bit hit and miss with it! I'm not sure if I have the right person but @Qualcast&Flymo was it you who's swabbed a snotty pig at home?


That will definitely not fit up a piggy nose!

 

[Bill & Ted]

@alpacasqueak piggie Cleo has intermittent snotty problems too, hope you find out what the cause is, good luck

 

[Emx93]

@alpacasqueak piggie Cleo has intermittent snotty problems too, hope you find out what the cause is, good luck

Thankyou marshmallow had a uri Feb 2021 and then the odd snuffle in between but lots and lots of snot and clicking in December, it has improved somewhat just become more inconsistent rather than gone away kind of thing hoping it's just a case of hay up the nose or something or that she's become sensitised to allergens after the uri, we don't have any known allergens they are on vetbed with washable bed pads underneath, we don't spray perfumes etc near that room and they have good quality dust free hay etc but i would imagine any hay has a little dust at least her little eyes aren't currently sore! She's had a few rounds of chloramphenicol/ isathal drops as her eyes get sore every time she gets snuffly! It is thankfully more an annoyance than an actual problem at the moment (aside from the first few days post op when she was extra clicky and snotty and I had to nebulise before every syringe feed or she got more clicky and struggled to eat)

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Have you tried Bisolven? It’s excellent for reducing mucous xx

 

[Emx93]

Have you tried Bisolven? It’s excellent for reducing mucous xx

Thankyou, yes we have and nebulising and metacam, it's very on and off snot and the chest is clear xx

 

[Qualcast&Flymo]

Thankyou I am hoping it is not an infection anymore since the non snotty days are there as well as the snotty ones it is more my little niggle after what happened with the others that is making me do the swab to be on the safe side!

On a side note has anyone ever swabbed their piggy at home, I have picked up the swab today and its huge! Not sure how I'm supposed to get just the snot on that and nothing from around the nose! My hamster is seeing the exotic vet next Saturday so I may wait for then to get further guidence since I am on 12h nights from tomorrow till Wednesday anyway and it will take 2 of us! There was no snot this morning anyway, she's a bit hit and miss with it! I'm not sure if I have the right person but @Qualcast&Flymo was it you who's swabbed a snotty pig at home?
View attachment 195901

That will definitely not fit up a piggy nose!

Yes, I did do a swab to get some mucus for lab testing. That was Zebedee 4 years ago when we were running out of antibiotics to try to cure his URI. The vet gave me a swab like yours to use if he sneezed anything out. They didn't tell me to put it up his nostril. He rarely sneezed but the one time he did when I was with him, I grabbed the swab and got the mucus on it before he could wipe it off. It must have worked because they managed to culture it and find which bug it was and therefore which antibiotic was best.

 

[Emx93]

Yes, I did do a swab to get some mucus for lab testing. That was Zebedee 4 years ago when we were running out of antibiotics to try to cure his URI. The vet gave me a swab like yours to use if he sneezed anything out. They didn't tell me to put it up his nostril. He rarely sneezed but the one time he did when I was with him, I grabbed the swab and got the mucus on it before he could wipe it off. It must have worked because they managed to culture it and find which bug it was and therefore which antibiotic was best.

Thankyou they've not said to stick it up the nose just put it to the nose when swab is present to to be careful not to get anything other than snot on the swab I'm hoping it'll give us an answer as to whether or not there is a bug and if so which antibiotic since baytril and sulfatrim have not made much difference!

 

[Qualcast&Flymo]

I have to confess that , what with trying to hold a wriggly pug in one hand and manoeuvre the swab with the other, the swab slipped and touched more than just the mucus - I think it touched my clothes too. But the results of the culture were clear despite that ...

 

[Emx93]

I have to confess that , what with trying to hold a wriggly pug in one hand and manoeuvre the swab with the other, the swab slipped and touched more than just the mucus - I think it touched my clothes too. But the results of the culture were clear despite that ...

Thankyou for the reassurance fingers crossed we get some concrete answers

 

[Bill & Ted]

Thankyou marshmallow had a uri Feb 2021 and then the odd snuffle in between but lots and lots of snot and clicking in December, it has improved somewhat just become more inconsistent rather than gone away kind of thing hoping it's just a case of hay up the nose or something or that she's become sensitised to allergens after the uri, we don't have any known allergens they are on vetbed with washable bed pads underneath, we don't spray perfumes etc near that room and they have good quality dust free hay etc but i would imagine any hay has a little dust at least her little eyes aren't currently sore! She's had a few rounds of chloramphenicol/ isathal drops as her eyes get sore every time she gets snuffly! It is thankfully more an annoyance than an actual problem at the moment (aside from the first few days post op when she was extra clicky and snotty and I had to nebulise before every syringe feed or she got more clicky and struggled to eat)

My Ginger used to get the odd clicky spells, not snot though. My vet just put it down to dusty hay and narrow nasal passages. Hope you find out what is causing it x

 

[Wiebke]

All the best for the lab test! I hope that you can get to the bottom of it after all the traditional approaches haven't worked.

 

[Merab]

Hope you can find an answer.
Hugs

 

[alpacasqueak]

Sorry little Marshmallow’s having troubles bless her, Cleo’s having one of those days today!
With her she has teeny nasal passages and is very sensitive to hay dust/certain hays, which is why after months of trying different ones I use timothyhay.co.uk’s orchard grass and nothing else these days! (Although she’s ok with readigrass, and even hay cookies! But give her a bit of meadow or timothy hay and she’s pretty much guaranteed to get congested and noisy). Which then makes it worse for her with her heart murmur when she can’t get enough oxygen in, and is much quieter than she used to be behaviour-wise on those days.
Her chest’s always been clear on every vet trip! So we’ve never had her on antibiotics, just metacam/loxicom and bisolven these days, which definitely helps to get the snot out a bit and make her more comfortable but obviously she now has a nebuliser too bless her.
I don’t really sweep her cage, I have a hand held hoover, to avoid dust particles flying around more and always open windows in the morning for a bit of fresh air, especially with the heating being on a lot at the moment. I avoid massive hay piles on her bad days like I give the other two, so she can’t bury herself in it as much and make it worse (just small handfuls around the cage etc), also avoid very enclosed beds as that seems to make her worse too. I change their fleece more regularly than I do the other cage too, just to try and help her avoid breathing in the dusty bits.
Erm, think that’s about it! But she works me hard the little snotty beauty! She’s much better than she used to be now I know more about how to help with her and her issues, but obviously we still have bad days so we just have to learn to live it and help her out as much as I can, but think it’ll be a lifelong thing!
Never swabbed a piggy sorry but think I’d try the after a sneeze thing that @Qualcast&Flymo has done if you can catch her at the right sneezy time!
Sending massive hugs, hope you can find out if there’s going on with the swab. Big kisses to Marshmallow and her mateys xx

 

[Emx93]

Sorry little Marshmallow’s having troubles bless her, Cleo’s having one of those days today!
With her she has teeny nasal passages and is very sensitive to hay dust/certain hays, which is why after months of trying different ones I use timothyhay.co.uk’s orchard grass and nothing else these days! (Although she’s ok with readigrass, and even hay cookies! But give her a bit of meadow or timothy hay and she’s pretty much guaranteed to get congested and noisy). Which then makes it worse for her with her heart murmur when she can’t get enough oxygen in, and is much quieter than she used to be behaviour-wise on those days.
Her chest’s always been clear on every vet trip! So we’ve never had her on antibiotics, just metacam/loxicom and bisolven these days, which definitely helps to get the snot out a bit and make her more comfortable but obviously she now has a nebuliser too bless her.
I don’t really sweep her cage, I have a hand held hoover, to avoid dust particles flying around more and always open windows in the morning for a bit of fresh air, especially with the heating being on a lot at the moment. I avoid massive hay piles on her bad days like I give the other two, so she can’t bury herself in it as much and make it worse (just small handfuls around the cage etc), also avoid very enclosed beds as that seems to make her worse too. I change their fleece more regularly than I do the other cage too, just to try and help her avoid breathing in the dusty bits.
Erm, think that’s about it! But she works me hard the little snotty beauty! She’s much better than she used to be now I know more about how to help with her and her issues, but obviously we still have bad days so we just have to learn to live it and help her out as much as I can, but think it’ll be a lifelong thing!
Never swabbed a piggy sorry but think I’d try the after a sneeze thing that @Qualcast&Flymo has done if you can catch her at the right sneezy time!
Sending massive hugs, hope you can find out if there’s going on with the swab. Big kisses to Marshmallow and her mateys xx

Thankyou marshmallows heart is thankfully free from murmors we use timothy hays Orchard grass too along with their soft timothy, might try just the Orchard grass! I'm thinking it's likely not to be an infection at this point too but I like to be safe after poor flower (though she never had snot!) marshmallow never used to be a snotty pig bless her but who knows with piggies! She didn't have much snot when I just checked her and definitely not enough to swab think ill wait for a sneezy day! Nebulising helps when she's extra clicky but I've never noticed it do much for discharge just seems to soothe her a bit! Didn't really notice any change with metacam and bisolvon but she hasn't had anything on her chest except for perhaps the first time last February but she didn't have snot then! Sending hugs to snotty Cleo! Xx

 

[alpacasqueak]

Glad her heart’s working well Yeah it’s great hay, these lot all love it and definitely a lot less dusty than others, we used to have the soft timothy too before Cleo’s issues started and I started experimenting!
Being dozy with seizure brain, just remembered the first time she started her snottiness not long after she came we did have a fortnight of Sulfatrim just to be safe, but obviously did bugger all! Definitely better to be on safe side with these piglets!
Cleo doesn’t really get very snotty on the outside, just gets very congested and then can’t breathe through her nose, so ends up gasping when she’s having a really bad day. But then she tends to have a big sneezing fit and gets it up a bit after the bisolven or when she’s worse nebulising her. She has metacam for a few days after her symptoms have stopped too, just to keep any inflammation down etc.
Glad it helps Marshmallow a bit with the nebuliser bless her, Cleo tends to get quite watery eyes when she’s having her issues but not too bad thankfully.
It’s very frustrating though, I wish I could help her more and make it go away forever! Horrible to see them looking so miserable struggling poor liccle piggies. Cleo says thank you! Sending them back to Marshmallow! Hope you can get some answers anyway Have a good night xx