Narrow right nostril

[wheeksandwheeks]

I am helping some of my husband's clients(he works for a non-profit that assists disabled people in the work force) care for their baby guinea pig.

They are experienced guinea pig parents, but they have been super lucky and never had an ill guinea pig. Both their previous guinea pigs lived to a ripe old age, and died in their sleep. One could be skeptical, but I have witnessed their level of guinea pig care, and have found no reason to doubt them.

Anyway, they made the mistake of purchasing their little guy from Petco, and after a week he started sneezing. So, two vets later and on his second antibiotic​, he's doing lots better.

My vet told me that he found that his right nostril is narrow. It is a birth defect. The vet said that he would be susceptible to URIs because of it.

Does anyone have experience with a guinea pig with a narrow nostril? Is the vet's prognosis accurate? He's only treated one other guinea pig with this condition, so there could have been other factors causing repeated URIs(maybe even a heart problem, but my vet is super thorough, and I can't see him missing that.)

I do hear a whistling when he breathes, but his is still getting over the URI.

[Lynx]

That is a most interesting diagnosis. I sure don't know if this will be an issue in the long run. I think going over some of the signs of heart problems (in case decreased oxygen (?) puts stress on the heart might be a possible future issue.

heart.html

[wheeksandwheeks]

Yes, Lynx. I had never heard of a guinea pig having that sort of defect before(surprised my vet did). My vet will be calling later this week to check on Coco, so I will definitely ask him about heart issues and what to watch for. You can see the difference in the nostrils, once you're aware of it.

Unfortunately, this couple is learning the hard way why you shouldn't buy guinea pigs from a pet store. I would assume it's a result of over-breeding. :(

[WICharlie]

If the only thing that is wrong is that one nostril is more narrow than normal, I would think that there would be no long term effect as the pig will still be able to breath normally through the other nostril. What I think I would be more concerned about is that the presence of a visible birth defect might indicate that there could be other birth defects in the same pig, perhaps internal ones that can't be seen. Is this pig all white?

[wheeksandwheeks]

WICharlie, no, he is ginger colored with dark eyes(I believe brown). He looks normal in all other ways I can think of. Correct number of toes, teeth look good, etc. He is healthy except for the URI and nostril. If the URI persists, however, we will be taking a closer look. I'm helping them make sure he has as clean of an environment as possible (dust wise, with good bedding and quality hay, etc.)

[wheeksandwheeks]

Unfortunately, my vet mentioned mycoplasmosis. Coco is still coughing and sneezing when we pick him up, which the vet says something is getting dislodged-probably in his lungs, making him cough and sneeze. The cough and sneeze hasn't gone away at any point, even when on the antibiotics. So we're going back in next Thursday, unless he gets worse before then.

The owners have said that if he has something chronic, they will have to give him up because they can't afford the bills. I can't take him because I don't want to endanger my pigs. I don't know what to do. No one will want to take him in if he has mycoplasmosis, or has had it.

I was thinking of starting a gofundme for them to try to help with medical bills. I don't know what else to do right now except hope it's not myco. 😓

[Lynx]

Is there a definitive diagnosis for mycoplasmosis? Seems to me there are mouse and rat treatments that work. Hopefully something would work for this guinea pig.

Have they tried doxycycline or chloramphenicol?

[wheeksandwheeks]

We won't know until next Thursday. He's the only decent cavy savvy vet in the area, so he is always booked up. The vet is going to do an xray and culture to verify myco. We haven't done doxy or chloramphenicol yet. If myco is verified, I will opt for those rather than tetracycline. Someone said that a combo of baytril and doxy has proved effective against myco for pigs. (Maybe Josephine?).

But, he's doing fine for now-eating, drinking, active and cheeky. Just this ongoing cough and sneeze that he's always had. I am hoping that it is just a resistant URI and not myco, whereas I'd imagine doxy or chloramphenicol might help anyway. The vet says it sounds like something in the lungs. Could this be a heart issue? I have no experience with gp heart issues.

[Lynx]

I take it this is the only guinea pig sneezing? Not a dusty environment? No mold? I don't think of sneezing and heart but you could look over the signs to see if anything else turns up.

heart.html

[wheeksandwheeks]

They only have one guinea pig. They use a very good aspen bedding, not dusty. He sneezed when I was keeping him as well for a weekend, and I used fleece bedding. So I don't think it's his bedding or environment. Unless he's allergic to something else. He's only sneezing and coughing when we pick him up, so the act of moving him seems to be jarring something. Though he doesn't cough or sneeze moving around his cage. It is perplexing.

[wheeksandwheeks]

He probably has pneumonia. On the x-ray, there is a mass near the heart, but in the lungs(white on the x-ray). It's not much, but it's there. The vet sent the x-ray off to a specialist, though, to see if they thought it was something else. He's back on antibiotics until we hear back. Could also be cancer, or something heart related. Most likely pneumonia, though.

[wheeksandwheeks]

The vet said pneumonia and ear infection. We unfortunately had to insist that the owners surrender him to my husband and I, as they could not pay the vet bills and he is going to need ongoing care. We've been paying his vet bills, medication, and gas to drive 80 miles round trip each time I take him in. They are disabled and don't drive, also, and the only cavy savvy vet is 30 miles away from them. It broke my heart to do it, but we're a single income household, and we've got kids and pets of our own to provide for. I knew if I left it to them, he'd be dead already, and he's just a baby and deserves a fighting chance.

The Baytril isn't getting rid of the infection, after 2 weeks on it. He's not getting worse, but he's not getting better. Maybe Doxy or Chloramphenicol could work, if this is a resistant strain. He's about 5 months old now. He's eating good and is in good spirits. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that we find a solution.

Anyone deal with tough inner-ear infections?