Wheezing / hooting noise followed by hiccough

[philippa063]

Hello all

One of my female piggies, Ginny, has been hooting / wheezing loudly - especially at night but also in the daytime - but not showing any other signs of illness at all. She always hiccoughs at the end and the hooting then stops. This has been happening, on and off, for about 3 months.

The exotic vet has examined her a few times now and couldn't hear anything on her chest. Without my video evidence of the wheezing he said he wouldn't have suspected anything was wrong! On our first vet visit Ginny was prescribed antihistamine in case it was an allergy (no result). Twice since she has been prescribed antibiotics for a suspected upper respiratory tract infection. The second time it was a bigger dose of antibiotics (Baytril) over 2 weeks. Each time it has stopped the hooting for about two weeks, but then it returns.

I am going back to the vet shortly, but would greatly appreciate any insight anyone else has. Has anyone else had a similar situation?

Thanks a lot Philippa

 

[Claire W]

Hi, if URI and heart problems have been ruled out, it could be the hay you are using. She could be allergic to the hay dust. What bedding is she kept on? Any spec of dust up the nose can cause hooting as guinea pigs have very narrow airways. Do you have heating on in the room that she lives in? It could also be the radiator heat or dampness. She may benefit from a dehumidifier in that case.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Have you checked the room for any potential irritants such as perfumes, candles, etc
What sort of bedding are they on?

 

[philippa063]

Thank you very much for your suggestions! I do have some plants in the room but I removed candles etc back when the issue first started. They are situated near a radiator - I hadn't considered this. Can this affect guinea pigs? I may try keeping them in a different room for a week to see if any environmental factors are making a difference.

They live on fleece bedding from Kaveecage as well as microfibre chenille mats, which I sweep twice daily and change every 2 days to make sure they are always nice and dry. I use zero-fragrance, non-bio, non-enzyme washing detergent on the bedding.

They have two large hay racks, and I scatter hay around the cage and sometimes put it inside their houses. I can try only putting hay in the hay racks and also double check it's dust-extracted hay.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Dry air from central heating can play a part
Bedding wise, that all sounds fine and not like it would cause issues.

 

[Claire W]