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Weird crackling noises / uri?

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scottymac

New Born Pup
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Hi all,
About 45 mins ago i noticed my 2 year old boar, Gary, was making weird crackling noises when breathing, also noticed he seemed to be sleeping when he'd normallybe making a fuss for his dinner. He had been absolutely fine all day up til this point.
I phoned a vet and, not having an emergency clinic, the booked him in for 9:45 tomorrow morning but I'm worried about leaving it that long.
He has been eating hay and has just eaten some veggies but seems to be abit freaked out by his breathing and our other piggie, jesus, keeps running over to him, all concerned.
Is it safe to wait 12-13 hours for our preferred vet or should i just bite the bullet and call the emergency vet (at a different practice)?
 
I would possibly wait till your appointment tomorrow. But if he appears to go downhill then get him to the emergency vet. Is the emergency vet experienced in treating guinea pigs? How much did he weigh last time? Perhaps also weigh him now and see where he is. I’ll tag @Piggies&buns
 
scottymac said:
Hi all,
About 45 mins ago i noticed my 2 year old boar, Gary, was making weird crackling noises when breathing, also noticed he seemed to be sleeping when he'd normallybe making a fuss for his dinner. He had been absolutely fine all day up til this point.
I phoned a vet and, not having an emergency clinic, the booked him in for 9:45 tomorrow morning but I'm worried about leaving it that long.
He has been eating hay and has just eaten some veggies but seems to be abit freaked out by his breathing and our other piggie, jesus, keeps running over to him, all concerned.
Is it safe to wait 12-13 hours for our preferred vet or should i just bite the bullet and call the emergency vet (at a different practice)?
Click to expand...

Hi!

If possible wait until tomorrow morning but be prepared to have him seen asap if he deteriorates quickly over the course of the night. I would recommend to check once in the middle of the night.

Try and see whether a bowl of steaming water next to cage is easing the breathing a little.
All the best!
 
None round here seem madly experienced tbh. Have been told that gary should weigh about 1kg (although at 6 months a different vet reckoned he'd end up at 1.2kg), he was around 1.3kg last time he was weighed, id guess about the same now. He's mostly trying to sleep but getting up for hay and nuggets every once in a while.
 
There’s no ‘set weight’ for piggies. I would switch to weighing once daily at the same time. Hopefully it will be something simple. Good luck and let us know how you get on ☺️
 
Thanks. He's still resting, occasionally crackling away like a butternut squash shaped firework.😂😂 It does seem to stop for a while but then gets worse. He's just this sec got up to munch on nuggets so fingers crossed he's ok. Now bracing myself for a week of wrestling with with him to get him to take antibiotics
 
So, for 3 hours the crackling noises were kinda progressing. As suggested, i put a bowl of steaming water next to the cage and repeated when that got cold. Guess what, possibly coincidence but i suspect not, after that no crackling whatsoever!
So now I'm left in a bit of a pickle over whether to take gary to the vet this morning or save him the stress and just keep monitoring him?
 
scottymac said:
So, for 3 hours the crackling noises were kinda progressing. As suggested, i put a bowl of steaming water next to the cage and repeated when that got cold. Guess what, possibly coincidence but i suspect not, after that no crackling whatsoever!
So now I'm left in a bit of a pickle over whether to take gary to the vet this morning or save him the stress and just keep monitoring him?
Click to expand...
I personally would still take him, if for no other reason than it would set your mind at rest. I luckily have had no issues with our piggies so haven't needed to vet visit yet so am not able to offer advice but if I was unsure about any of my pets I rather take them and be told they are ok than keep worrying.
 
I did take him. Lungs are totally clear, which is great. Now only crackling when eating but now we've got 5 days of fun and games with antibiotics 😢.
The steaming water (or nebulizer as the vet called it) was a great shout, thanks @Wiebke.
Still 1.3k so no weight loss, she still thinks he's fat, i just said he's big boned like me 😂😂
 
I’m glad to hear lungs are clear. I hope he takes his meds well.

Check his heft - if when you put your hands around his chest you can still feel his ribs but with a nice fat layer then he is fine. (Ribs with no fat - underweight ; cannot feel ribs at all - overweight).

One of my boys weighs around 1520-1550, perfectly fine for him when heft is checked, but if my other piggy were that weight, he would be overweight (he is usually 1290-1310) but is more slender (when you can check him through all his hair!)
 
scottymac said:
I did take him. Lungs are totally clear, which is great. Now only crackling when eating but now we've got 5 days of fun and games with antibiotics 😢.
The steaming water (or nebulizer as the vet called it) was a great shout, thanks @Wiebke.
Still 1.3k so no weight loss, she still thinks he's fat, i just said he's big boned like me 😂😂
Click to expand...

My Pioden was still skinny around his ribs (where you feel for the BMI/heft, i.e. check whether a piggy is a good weight for their size at any time of life) at 1400g and my Begw is feeling decidedly sturdy just touching 800g from below. What most vets not all that familiar with guinea pigs and relying on literature don't usually realise is that the natural variation in guinea pigs is much wider than they think. The guidelines only comprise about 50% of all piggies but that doesn't mean in any way that the other 50% aren't healthy or normal.
It is the same human fallacy as our fixation with the BMI index that is based on white European men and applies to basically only a minority of the human population if used unmodified.

More on weight, how to check whether a piggy is a good weight for its size, and all other aspects around weight, weighing and life-long health checks: Weight - Monitoring and Management

All the best with the medication. Dry air and increased heating during a cold spell can cause URI like symptoms but it is always very important to make sure that it is not a respiratory infection. If the steaming really makes a difference, consider looking into a humidifier for the winter months.
 
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