URI/Allergies.. I don’t know!

[Lymaine]

Help

We got Norman from the adoption section of pets at home a few weeks ago. Noticed that might he was hooting. Took him back to pets at home where the vet listened to his chest and couldn’t hear anything. They put him on baytril for 5 days. On day 4 I took him off woodshavings and put him on fleece and he instantly stopped. He didn’t do it for over a week.
He began living with his new cagemate with no issues. A few days ago I put a bit of woodshavings under some hay in the fleece lined house and he began to hoot. Took it away and he stopped.

I removed all woodshavings from the room, hoovered and dusted and no issues for a day or two… this morning he is hooting and wheezing!
I have a vet appointment in an hour but I just don’t know what this is! The pets at home vet said it could be allergies and the woodshavings situation made me think so… I did open a new bag of hay in there last night so is it that?

He’s only 9 months old. My anxiety is skyrocketing over the cost of the vets (I already have an unpaid bill from my last piggy who was 5.. they were unable to save him) and the stress of if he is prone to URIs.
I’m worried if they put him on yet more antibiotics he’ll get an upset tummy. I don’t know what to do

FYI- my vets are good (they’re a farming vets so used to all sorts of animals) but they are not a piggy specialists. There are not any near me. They have treated all my piggies.

 

[Siikibam]

Sorry to hear your boy is unwell. Allergies in piggies are possible but rare. Some URIs are stubborn and need a longer course or different antibiotics. Good luck with the vet.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Anxiety is a terrible thing but you need to try anything you can to stop your mind racing ahead down all the worst case scenario routes. If it was a URI the baytril might not have been strong enough or prescribed for long enough to bring it under control. That could be why symptoms initially improved and then came back again, it may be nothing to do with the wood shavings.

Do you have any coping mechanisms for anxiety? If so, now is the time to roll them out as you need to wait for your vets verdict (seriously, going to a vet you trust is half the problem solved.

Please do keep us updated as we are here to support you as well as your piggies

 

[Lymaine]

Anxiety is a terrible thing but you need to try anything you can to stop your mind racing ahead down all the worst case scenario routes. If it was a URI the baytril might not have been strong enough or prescribed for long enough to bring it under control. That could be why symptoms initially improved and then came back again, it may be nothing to do with the wood shavings.

Do you have any coping mechanisms for anxiety? If so, now is the time to roll them out as you need to wait for your vets verdict (seriously, going to a vet you trust is half the problem solved.

Please do keep us updated as we are here to support you as well as your piggies

Thank you. I’m trying but right now my heart is racing and my hands are shaking. It’s horrid. My beautiful Freddie died in February after a long battle with stones (and over £300 vets bills) then his cage mate Elvis died in May after battling URIs. By that time we’d gotten Elvis a new friend Branston. We then had to get Branston a friend so got Norman and now Norman is already at the vets! We had a good couple years before the previous two started needing any treatment so I thought a good couple years ahead of squeaks and healthy babies only to get a poorly one. Absolutely breaking my heart right now. So scared we’re in for more problems

 

[Lymaine]

Ok update.. we went to the vets and he has a slight URI. He is on baytril and metacam for a week. I also showed her the massive boar glue clod on his back that I haven’t been able to remove (said about in another post). She removed it with clippers and as it was welded to the skin it did pull a bit of skin off so he has a sore now which she also gave me some stuff to clean once a day with. Poor baby, he really cried when she was getting it off it obviously hurt but it’s such a good thing she did because the skin had started dying underneath it! She said she’d never seen anything like it. Such a huge amount and so welded like that!
I was worried he’d be in pain from the sore but since he’s come home he is popcorning with his cagemate (yes I have been watching to make sure the cagemate is not bothering the wound) and no sign of hooting or wheezing since!

 

[Siikibam]

Glad he’s on meds. Hopefully that will sort him out.

I would have just left the boar glue fall off by itself. It’s called that for a reason!