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Took guinea pig herd to the vet today. All have URI 🥺

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Tara95

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The two newbies have a great appetite and are very lively but I did notice a little sneeze every now and then but nothing dramatic thought a vet check wouldn't hurt especially to confirm their sex and have then inspected as one of them had a little lump on the belly which is infact the umbilical cord.

I feel bad about this one but for a a few weeks I've heard a sound that sounds like a hiccup coming from Bear. It was very occasional so I didn't think anything of it as I know some guinea pigs do this. It would disappear and I wouldn't hear it for days. Her weights good, she's eating and drinking and is lively and didn't have laboured breathing (that I could hear anyway) eyes looked clear and so did nose so I didn't think it could possibly be a URI.

Winston, I didn't think there was anything wrong with him, good weight, lively, popcorning, eating and drinking constantly no tell tale sign. I had a bad feeling as his eye looked very slightly watery today so I feared it was a haypoke ( as I know lots of members constantly have them and I've never had one -touch wood) I was also paranoid about his back teeth for some reason as I can't see them and he used to bar bite constantly when he was seperated) turns out he doesn't have haypoke or dental issues (phew) but has an URI!

So 4/7 are on URI meds! and the other 3 didn't go to the vets but now I'm thinking they could potentially have it without symptoms like Winston!

Anyway, I feel so much better after having a vet check! It's always worth it!
 
flowerfairy said:
Goodness that sounds like quite a visit. At least it wasnt a dental or indeed hay poke. Hope they recover quickly. Mistletoe had this in the past but soon recovered.

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Aww Mistletoe is so beautiful! ❤️ Was it a quick recovery? Not sure how long the antibiotics will take to kick in or atleast improve the symptoms slightly. I would've thought they'd be more signs like not as lively or off food or something obvious 🥺 glad mistletoe recovered well! and thank you ❤️
 
Bill & Ted said:
Wishing all your poorly piggies a speedy recovery x
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Thank you, it's hard to think of them as poorly when they're constantly screaming the house down for food and running round the cage all the time like there's nothing wrong with them. I guess these animals are too good at hiding illness! X
 
Mistletoe recoverd after about a week. She was still the chief whistler (whistletoe) and took it all in her stride as I am sure yours will.

They all got it when they moved (briefly) into the fully insulated, heated shed! All recovered after about a week or less then too.
 
flowerfairy said:
Mistletoe recoverd after about a week. She was still the chief whistler (whistletoe) and took it all in her stride as I am sure yours will.

They all got it when they moved (briefly) into the fully insulated, heated shed! All recovered after about a week or less then too.
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Aww that's good to know. Mine are on it for about 10 days! Hopefully that'll do the trick. Glad she had such a quick recovery!
 
Merab's Slave said:
Hope every pig recovers quickly now and getting meds into them all isn’t too stressful for you.
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Thank you! I'm hoping it won't be as they took it really well earlier! I've made their cage a bit smaller so I can catch them easily before work. How're your pigs doing? Xx
 
I've been advised to put pro-c Probiotic in the water whilst the guinea pigs are on antibiotics. Does anyone else have experience of this?
 
Ohh that's a good idea I didn't think about putting it on their food! Whats the quickest place to get it from? Would pets at home do it? They started their first course of antibiotics last night is there an immediate rush to get it ASAP? Can they have too much Probiotic? Would there be any harm in putting it in their water as well as I know the babies are constantly drinking. Thank you everyone for your help and advice :)
 
Tara95 said:
Ohh that's a good idea I didn't think about putting it on there food! Whats the quickest place to get it from? Would pets at home do it? They started their first course of antibiotics last night is there an immediate rush to get it ASAP? Can they have too much Probiotic? Would there be any harm in putting it in their water as well as I know the babies are constantly drinking. Thank you everyone for your help and advice :)
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Yes PAH sell it, or Amazon (if you've got Prime, it'll arrive next day).
I would get it within the next couple of days to be safe.
I would not add it directly to their drinking bottles, doing so can make the water taste different and could stop them from drinking.
You can give it a few times a day, the instructions on how to make it up are on the packet, but Pro C is a powder so you can sprinkle it on food.
 
Or, if their tummies do get upset by the antibiotics and you have to syringe feed critical care, then you can add it directly to the syringe feed.

just ensure you don’t give probiotic and antibiotic at the same time, give the probiotic either a couple of hours before or a couple of hours after the antibiotic dose
 
Thank you will do. :) They really hate being given their medicine. I've been teeth chattered at for the first time today by a few pigs. They really don't like me anymore haha and are hiding when I come in the room. I feel like all that hard work getting them to bond and receive strokes has just been blown. I wish there was a less stressful way for them to take their medicine. Do you know how long the antibiotic will take to kick in to see some improvement?
 
Tara95 said:
Thank you will do. :) They really hate being given their medicine. I've been teeth chattered at for the first time today by a few pigs. They really don't like me anymore haha and are hiding when I come in the room. I feel like all that hard work getting them to bond and receive strokes has just been blown. I wish there was a less stressful way for them to take their medicine. Do you know how long the antibiotic will take to kick in to see some improvement?
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It will take several days before it starts to work but you’ll need to give it at least a week to really get working on the infection
 
I think I've misunderstood the seriousness of a URI. When I've been researching it on here and googling it. It suggests there is often a high chance of death and it's often long and painful and recurring, either damaging the respiratory system permanently or resulting in death? I'm really confused as my piggy's do not have the specific symptoms associated with the seriousness. They do not have a dry nose, they have clear eyes, most or them do not have coughs and the ones that do it's very occasional. They are all good weights and eating well and lively. Screenshot_20210205-185925~2.webp they have non of these symptoms apart from the occasional cough or sneeze.
Would they really have died of this if treatment was not given quickly is there still a high chance of death? Confusing. Is there anything else I can do?
 
Mine didnt all have those symptoms just the raspy breathing, that was only 3 of of them. I gave all of them meds just in case.
 
Tara95 said:
I think I've misunderstood the seriousness of a URI. When I've been researching it on here and googling it. It suggests there is often a high chance of death and it's often long and painful and recurring, either damaging the respiratory system permanently or resulting in death? I'm really confused as my piggy's do not have the specific symptoms associated with the seriousness. They do not have a dry nose, they have clear eyes, most or them do not have coughs and the ones that do it's very occasional. They are all good weights and eating well and lively. View attachment 166822 they have non of these symptoms apart from the occasional cough or sneeze.
Would they really have died of this if treatment was not given quickly is there still a high chance of death? Confusing.
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Please don’t panic. URIs can be a serious illness if left untreated but you have got them to the vet and started on treatment quickly.
Keep an eye on them and if at the end of the course they aren’t better then they can be given another course or try a different antibiotic.
 
Ok thank you guys, I'm not going to panic I'm just going to focus on treating the guinea pigs. They're all Young and healthy so I shouldn't be worrying. Although at the vets yesterday Tiger weighed 250g and cinder weighs 260g at 8 weeks. They must've weighed alot less than that when they first arrived as they never stop eating and drinking, I imagine they weren't much more than 200ishgrams. Is this a normal weight? It's scary to think Winston got neuteured when he was a week older than them, and I'm sure he was 650grams to be neuteured (now he's 1000g)
 
Please be aware that there can be a lot of different things wrapped up under the name of URI. A few are real nasties that can kill in a matter of hours but they are not classic URI bacteria but things like bordetella (kennel cough), pneumococcus or streptococcus which you are NOT deling with.

URI specifically is a bacterial respiratory infection that mainly affects piggies will a weaker immune system, like the young, stress, ill, pregnant and the old and frail or the neglected. While healthy companions can test positive for the presence of URI bacteria, their immune system is able to fend off an illness. It is typically the young and newly bought where several factors come together - exposure in close confinement, a not yet fully developed immune system and stress from losing their family group and having their lives upturned several times plus the stress from getting used to the complex and alien environment of a pet home.

A good general hay based diet and good general care will go a long way to beat it but because of overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics we have in the last 2-3 years seen an increasing resistance and the need to test to which antibiotics your URI is reacting in some cases.

Just stick with it. By the sound of it, none of yours in any acute danger and they will hopefully all make a good recovery.
Keep in mind that many guinea pigs are sadly kept in sub-standard conditions and will never see a vet. :(
 
Tara95 said:
Thank you! I'm hoping it won't be as they took it really well earlier! I've made their cage a bit smaller so I can catch them easily before work. How're your pigs doing? Xx
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My lot are all fine and happy - hoping this will continue.
Thank you.
 
Wiebke said:
Please be aware that there can be a lot of different things wrapped up under the name of URI. A few are real nasties that can kill in a matter of hours but they are not classic URI bacteria but things like bordetella (kennel cough), pneumococcus or streptococcus which you are NOT deling with.

URI specifically is a bacterial respiratory infection that mainly affects piggies will a weaker immune system, like the young, stress, ill, pregnant and the old and frail or the neglected. While healthy companions can test positive for the presence of URI bacteria, their immune system is able to fend off an illness. It is typically the young and newly bought where several factors come together - exposure in close confinement, a not yet fully developed immune system and stress from losing their family group and having their lives upturned several times plus the stress from getting used to the complex and alien environment of a pet home.

A good general hay based diet and good general care will go a long way to beat it but because of overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics we have in the last 2-3 years seen an increasing resistance and the need to test to which antibiotics your URI is reacting in some cases.

Just stick with it. By the sound of it, none of yours in any acute danger and they will hopefully all make a good recovery.
Keep in mind that many guinea pigs are sadly kept in sub-standard conditions and will never see a vet. :(
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Thank you that was very informative and reassuring, I feel much better. Winston looks completely fine to me I haven't heard him cough or wheeze once in the whole time I've had him yet he's on antibiotics. He seems really healthy 1000g at 5-6 months, lively eating well. They all have a good diet and have haybox hay, limited pellets, fresh grass (apart from recently with the weather) They mainly have daily vegetables and not fruit with limited calcium veg such as Parsley. The two new arrivals I can understand having antibiotics and Bear as she does have a very occasional cough/hiccupping sound but otherwise is healthy. Tempted to take Winston off as he's been on so many antibiotics before when he has his infection for Neutering but maybe it's worth it as a precaution and won't do him any harm I guess although he hates the medicine. Thank you for your time ☺️
 
She's an exotic vet and she's really good but as it was Covid I didn't see as she took the 4 Guinea pigs into a different room and just told me quickly what they had afterwards. There were only two slots available and she managed to fit in full health checks and nails trims for 4 pigs so she was running a bit behind. I presumed she listened to their chest?
 
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