Chronic stuffy nose

Akozar3

Post   » Thu Feb 02, 2017 10:31 am


My 1 year old female has had a chronic stuffy nose for the past month or so. She has no other symptoms. Some days she is totally fine, and others she clearly has mucous stuffed up in her nose. Her breathing is noisy, because of the mucous, but it is not raspy. When she is stuffy, she appears to be breathing harder than normal (her torso seems to twitch in time with her breathing, if that makes sense). There has been no nasal discharge, though.

I took her to the vet about a month ago and was prescribed bactrim. She took that for 9 days but nothing changed, still intermittent stuffiness. Then she was put on baytril for a little over a week. Still not much difference. I didn't want to keep her on the antibiotics for too long, even though I was supplementing with bene bac because I know antibiotics can be rough on them.

I have another female pig in the same cage and she has showed no signs of illness. I don't think this is a URI because of the intermittent nature of the stuffy nose and the fact that there are no other symptoms.

I am worried because I know piggies can't effectively breathe out of their mouths, so if she has a stuffed nose she must be struggling to breathe.

Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong with her if it's not a URI? Any suggestions as to what I should do?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:38 am


I don't know if this page would help you, but perhaps it would.

www.guinealynx.info/.html

What kind of bedding? Any mold in your house?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu Feb 02, 2017 12:04 pm


I've got a pig that does that. She's been x-rayed, ultrasounded, and CT-scanned. Nothing wrong. Antibiotics and regular doses of lasix don't help. Her heart is a normal size and appears to have no problems.

The vet and the radiologist he consulted with on the CT scan say it may be a low-grade rhinitis that occasionally gets worse. She's not on any medication, though when she's very congested and her lungs are sounding wet and she's struggling to breathe, I do give her a dose of Lasix and that clears things up for several days.

Akozar3

Post   » Thu Feb 02, 2017 1:36 pm


Oh Jeez. I hope it's nothing with her heart. From that list of signs, all she had is the stuffiness/maybe labored breathing. She has normal energy, she popcorns and runs during her floor time each day. My two girls are in a 2x5 (1x2 loft) cc cage with fleece/uhaul liners.

Akozar3

Post   » Thu Feb 02, 2017 1:38 pm


What kind of medication is lasix?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu Feb 02, 2017 4:43 pm


It's a diuretic to get fluid out of the system. When my pig gets really bad, the breathing noises are very wet and you can hear her all over the house.

Akozar3

Post   » Thu Feb 02, 2017 10:58 pm


My pig isn't that loud. When she is stuffy, it's a quiet almost snorting sound. Occasionally she will sneeze and then the snorting stops. I guess I will just continue to keep a close eye on her and weigh her frequently. If anything changes I will take her back to the vet.

anjelise

Post   » Wed Feb 08, 2017 4:54 pm


Hi, I am currently having a similar issue with my 6 year old boy Howard. He has been to the vets twice and they said at the time his lungs sound fine and so does his heart. When he is there he makes no noise, at home it is on and off and varies from whistles to being "stuffy". We had antibiotics for 5 days but next time the vet said they were not giving us any more.

I am so worried as we lost our first piggy to something similar (remained undiagnosed). He is eating, weight is stable and does run about when in his run. Some people have suggested he breathes in vicks but I would think that is too much for him?

Any further help and advice would be great. I hope your piggy is recovering, it's so upsetting not being able to do anything for our precious little ones!

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Feb 08, 2017 5:20 pm


No, no Vicks salve.

My vet suggested my pig try pediatric Benadryl or a similar antihistamine. Try to find one without alcohol in it. The dosage for my pig was .1 ml for a 1 kg. pig. Most pediatric suspensions contain 2.5 mg. per ml.

Akozar3

Post   » Fri Feb 24, 2017 4:21 pm


After doing some searching I realized that the nasal noise she is making is "hooting". It's intermittent but always occampanied by heavy, jerky breathing; I can see her torso twitching in time with her breath. Here is a link to a video of her hooting and jerky breathing. You will have to turn the audio up as her hooting is still relatively quiet. Also, my bird is chirping in the background, that is the high pitched sound.

Here's a better one

I am concerned that this is a symptom of a heart condition. In addition, she is a small pig, weighing about 800grams. I don't know if she is lethargic, she is only the second pig I've had. Her and her companion both rest a lot but also play and run sometimes during floor time. She has a good appetite. I am making an appointment to see a vet hopefully tomorrow but was hoping for any advice before then. Or advice on what to ask the vet.

2/24 The vet said that if there is no discharge from the nose and she is still eating, there is nothing to worry about. She said she had never heard of the connection between "hooting" and a heart condition. She said it would be more trouble than its worth to put her under to do an x-ray to check the heart or skull. She believes it's just a unique but normal noise that she is making. I still feel uneasy, though. Any advice?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Feb 24, 2017 4:40 pm


I can't make out the sound you are hearing. You need to see additional signs that indicate there might be a heart problem.

heart.html

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Feb 24, 2017 4:50 pm


Answering from your other thread where you asked if anyone had any advice?

I do. See a different vet. Guinea pigs definitely have heart disease, and your vet should know that.

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