Urgent! Uri?

[drewj]

I seriously believe my new Guinea pig has a URI. I have called the vet and made an appointment. I've called serveral actually. The ealiest any of them can see her is Monday the 13th (it's Thursday the 9th) and I just want to know is there is anything I can do until then to keep my Guinea pig from passing. She is still eating and drinking okay. So far the only symptoms I've seen/heard were a slight wheez when she breaths OCCASIONALLY, it doesn't happen every time, and she sneezes a LOT. her nose is not crusty, her eyes are not crusty. She just has those two symptoms and I just want to be super cautious. Is there anything I can do to keep her okay?

 

[Adelle]

Hi! Sorry to hear your little one is poorly. Could you add your location to your profile so that any advice can be tailored to your location, and you could check the recommended vet locator for vets nearby.

Your piggy could well have a URI, or just irritation in the nose- but it will be impossible to tell unless you see a vet. URI's can progress fairly quickly so i would say 4 days is too long to wait. You are ideally looking at within the next 24 hours max.

Keep your piggy warm, away from any drafts. Make sure she stays hydrated, offer extra cucumber. You could also place a bowl boiling water with a couple drops of albas oil in it, next to the cage to break up any mucous (keep out of piggys reach to prevent scalding).

Is any pink areas on her nose/lips/gums still as pink as they normally are? If so then this shows her lungs are still oxygenating everything okay (which is essential.)

 

[Wiebke]

I seriously believe my new Guinea pig has a URI. I have called the vet and made an appointment. I've called serveral actually. The ealiest any of them can see her is Monday the 13th (it's Thursday the 9th) and I just want to know is there is anything I can do until then to keep my Guinea pig from passing. She is still eating and drinking okay. So far the only symptoms I've seen/heard were a slight wheez when she breaths OCCASIONALLY, it doesn't happen every time, and she sneezes a LOT. her nose is not crusty, her eyes are not crusty. She just has those two symptoms and I just want to be super cautious. Is there anything I can do to keep her okay?

Please monitor her weight/food intyake daily by weighing her at the same time in the feeding cycle. Be prepared to step in with syringe feeding and watering top up if she loses more than 30g in a day or 50g in two days.

Guinea pigs can't breathe through their mouths, so any obstruction of the airways is always very audible and - if the breathing becomes raspy/crackly or laboured - the need to breathe comes before the need to drink and thirdly the need to eat. Our guide has tips on what you can to with what you have got at home in an emergency. Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

A bowl of steaming water next to the cage can help ease the breathing. Please replace it from time to time.

since we have members from all over the world, we find it very helpful in tailoring any advice to what is really available and doable where you are in terms of climate, vet access and brands etc. if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. thank you!

I hope that it is just some pollen or hay dust etc. that is stuck in her nose and is irritating it

 

[drewj]

I

Hi! Sorry to hear your little one is poorly. Could you add your location to your profile so that any advice can be tailored to your location, and you could check the recommended vet locator for vets nearby.

Your piggy could well have a URI, or just irritation in the nose- but it will be impossible to tell unless you see a vet. URI's can progress fairly quickly so i would say 4 days is too long to wait. You are ideally looking at within the next 24 hours max.

Keep your piggy warm, away from any drafts. Make sure she stays hydrated, offer extra cucumber. You could also place a bowl boiling water with a couple drops of albas oil in it, next to the cage to break up any mucous (keep out of piggys reach to prevent scalding).

Is any pink areas on her nose/lips/gums still as pink as they normally are? If so then this shows her lungs are still oxygenating everything okay (which is essential.)[/QUOT

Hi! Sorry to hear your little one is poorly. Could you add your location to your profile so that any advice can be tailored to your location, and you could check the recommended vet locator for vets nearby.

Your piggy could well have a URI, or just irritation in the nose- but it will be impossible to tell unless you see a vet. URI's can progress fairly quickly so i would say 4 days is too long to wait. You are ideally looking at within the next 24 hours max.

Keep your piggy warm, away from any drafts. Make sure she stays hydrated, offer extra cucumber. You could also place a bowl boiling water with a couple drops of albas oil in it, next to the cage to break up any mucous (keep out of piggys reach to prevent scalding).

Is any pink areas on her nose/lips/gums still as pink as they normally are? If so then this shows her lungs are still oxygenating everything okay (which is essential.)

Yes everything looks normal. She looks physically fine. She just keeps sneezing and occasionally sounds like she has snot in her nose. It's not every time she breathes though. It's more like every once in awhile. Like when we humans are getting a cold & when we breathe in, it makes a peculiar noise. She makes a sound like that every once in a while. But thank you so much for the advice.

 

[drewj]

Please monitor her weight/food intyake daily by weighing her at the same time in the feeding cycle. Be prepared to step in with syringe feeding and watering top up if she loses more than 30g in a day or 50g in two days. Guinea pigs can't breathe through their mouths, so any obstruction of the airways is always very audible and - if the breathing becomes raspy/crackly or laboured - the need to breathe comes before the need to drink and thirdly the need to eat. Our guide has tips on what you can to with what you have got at home in an emergency. Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

A bowl of steaming water next to the cage can help ease the breathing. Please replace it from time to time.

Aince we have members from all over the world, we find it very helpful in tailoring any advice to what is really available and doable where you are in terms of climate, vet access and brands etc. if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location.

I hope that it is just some pollen or hay dust etc. that is stuck in her nose and is irritating it

I live in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, thanks for the advice though. I'm definitely gonna use it.

 

[Wiebke]

I live in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, thanks for the advice though. I'm definitely gonna use it.

Do you have A/C? That can also sometimes cause problems, but it rather sounds to me like something small has gone up her nose and definitely not like a fully developed URI.

 

[drewj]

Do you have A/C? That can also sometimes cause problems, but it rather sounds to me like something small has gone up her nose and definitely not like a fully developed URI.

I do have A/C and that's probably the problem. It's pretty close to their cage.

 

[drewj]

She is still eating really well. I just gave her a little bit of a bell pepper and she ate it all and now she's in her cage eating some pellets & drinking her water. She sneezed twice in the 20 minutes that it took for her to eat her pepper. Everything looks pretty normal though besides the sneezing. She hasn't been wheezing as much as she was earlier.

 

[Keiko The Pig]

I suggest turning your AC off or if possible relocate her cage away from it. Definitely keep monitoring her food/hay intake, perhaps do a full cage clean to get rid of any dust that might be bothering her and if you use fleece than avoid heavily scented detergents or air out the fleece a couple days after washing before using it (this is what I do. I make sure the fleece has no scent before putting it into their cage)

 

[Wiebke]

If you cannot move the cage, please protect it by placing a fleece over the exposed sides to prevent your piggies being hit by the full blast. Sudden changes in temperature and/or humidity can also contribute towards a URI.