Hi all, I’ve had to post many times about illnesses with my pigs it seems it’s never ending! I had my guinea pig snoop undergo surgery for an amputation, then to have pneumonia! I’m treating him and he’s fortunately making a speedy recovery! However, my other guinea pig seems to be as ill as I’ve ever seen him. There’s crackling/wheezing only sometimes in his lungs, he’s sleeping loads and not running when needing to be picked up (he’s timid so he usually does), he’s losing his voice slightly when he’s not elderly, he’s pretty much becoming a shell of himself. He’s lost all personality. He’s eating and drinking normally and his appetite hasn’t gone. I’m giving him some antibiotics and inflammation medication. Does anyone know what this could be? I’ve never had any issues with him since getting him 2 years ago.
-
Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement
URI?
- Thread starter ew3lsh
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2009
- Messages
- 54,140
- Reaction score
- 39,048
- Points
- 3,350
Does sound like a URI sadly. Hopefully the ABs will do the trick. Sorry you are having a tough time with it,
It can feel relentless but you are doing all you can for your little ones.
It can feel relentless but you are doing all you can for your little ones.
I did think so, it came on so suddenly, one day being fine then the next day he was so lethargic and constantly hiding. I’m thinking if getting a nebuliser as snoop needs one for his pneumonia, would that help with a uri too?
Hi
I am very sorry for your never-ending string of illnesses.
Please have him vet checked in case he has caught his companion's bug but to make sure that it is not something unrelated.
Please also switch to weighing daily first thing in the morning on your kitchen scales. Be aware that over three quarters of the daily food intake is actually hay, which you quite simply cannot control by eye alone.
Hay/fresh grass makes over 80% of the daily food intake, which you cannot control by eye, only with scales. If you mention lethargy, then it is very important that you monitor the weight and not just watching your piggy chewing.
All the other foods together - veg, fresh and dry forage, pellets and treats - only replace the supplementary role that wild forage used to have in the diet that their wild ancestors evolved on.
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
Respiratory illnesses generally impact on the appetite in two different ways:
- The need to breathe comes before the need to eat and only thirdly the need to eat. This means that any difficulty with breathing will quickly also impact on the appetite and thirst, seeing how narrow and small guinea pig airways are.
- Antibiotics can also affect the digestive bacteria in the gut, making any serious respiratory problem a double whammy for the appetite.
All the best.
Just to follow up here, if I get a nebuliser, can I get one from amazon? Is there anything specific I need to get with it? Does anyone have any links to good ones (I live in England if using amazon as it’s cheap and I have prime). I’ve never been in this situation before so I’m not entirely sure what to do.