Rapidly worsening respiratory problems

Hello,

I'm sorry to report that Goggle has been a very sick pig indeed, and nothing we have tried seems to help. I've read the sticky on hayfever and respiratory health a couple of times, but nothing there sounds even vaguely like what's wrong with her.

Goggle first presented with mild respiratory distress in the winter, shortly after I washed her with Gorgeous Guineas shampoo. We thought that maybe she had caught a chill, so kept her warm with a space heater some distance from the cage, and also used the space heater the second time we washed her with that shampoo. Her symptoms gradually subsided, although her breathing has always been somewhat rapid and, unlike our other pig, Porcella, she is prone to the odd tiny sneeze. Other than that she has no nasal discharge, weeping eyes, rattling or sneezing fits; and the second bath had no adverse effects.

Recently she was washed again, and, as per usual, resisted our attempts to get her dry. She hates the hairdryer, so we towel tried her as much as we could, and dried her a little in the sun too. She was still slightly damp, so we left the cage in a warm sunny spot indoors where she happily ran around and got dry in no time. We removed the (only very slightly) damp fleece blanket from the cage as soon as she was dry. I know you have to be careful with them, but I really don’t see that she can have caught a chill, and Porcella has never had a problem at all.

Nevertheless, ever since bath no 3 with Gorgeous Guineas Shampoo, her respiratory distress has worsened tenfold. She is now making continuous honking noises that can be heard from well outside the room, and often struggles for breath. In general she is hugely energetic for a guinea pig, has a voracious appetite, and still loves cuddles and licking our faces. (Much to the consternation of her humans!) Since the respiratory distress has worsened, however, she often suddenly realises that running around has made her tired and suddenly sits down. We’ve stopped giving her floor and outside time, although she still gets to run around on her mummy’s double bed and has a lot of cage space in which to run and jump.

She only has dust extracted hay, and for bedding we use megazorb and unbleached paper wool plus fleece sleeping bags and blankets when it’s cold. She is an indoor pig, but was rescued at the age of a little over a year from a very bad outside environment where she was kept in a plastic-wrapped hutch in the snow. We believe she is now two and a half.

Her second course of antibiotics is doing absolutely nothing.

The vets said it might be a tumour, and if that’s the case there’s nothing we can do. It would be good to get her x-rayed so that we know for sure, but I’m worried that sedating her in this condition may kill her. (Any thoughts?) They listened to her chest a while back, but thought her lungs at least sounded clear.

I have an appointment with a specialist vet in a week’s time, but I’m worried Goggle might not last that long. Given that our local vets know very little about piggies, do you think there is anything we can do or anything I could ask them to do for us?

Thanks in advance!

He can prescribe zithromax - this is a very strong antibiotic that should be only used when other antibiotics fail and only with lots of probiotics. It's used by piggy specialists for very bad abscesses and stubborn URI.

If your vet is reluctant, you can ask him to ring up guinea pig specialist Simon Maddock for confirmation/information. Here are the contact details:
http://www.catandrabbit.co.uk/contact_us.htm

I hope that you can get on top of it!

BIG VIBES

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Thanks for the advice, Wiebke.

As Zithromax is a strong antibiotic, should the pigs be separated so that only Goggle is taking them? Do you know if her problems could be caused by a heart condition (because if so, then surely there is a risk in prescribing azithromycin)?

Do you think it would be OK if I called Simon Maddock myself to ask about these things?

Sorry for all the questions!

Does anybody else have any thoughts as to what the root cause might be?

Thanks! x

This sounds like whatever it was our Gord had. Do not allow them to give a steroid shot as after he had this he got very ill and was breathing through his mouth and got bloat plus he stopped eating.

Keep visiting the vet and get antibiotics, have the xray, they didn't sedate our Gord just sat him on it, its not as good but at least its something to go on.

Our Gordon's lungs were apparantly fine also but as it took so long to even put him on any medication he was too far gone. Whilever your piggy is eating keep pushing for more investigation at the vets, I would hate anyone else to have to go through what I have.

I will be thinking of you and keep us up to date. I will also ask our Gordon to watch over your piggy.

Hope they are better soon.

Thanks, Anjelise.

It's good to talk to other people who've been there. I do feel like I was fobbed off at the vets last time, and it's never nice to not be taken seriously.

It sounds like the consensus is that Goggle needs to try some different antibiotics. I don't think I will let them sedate her for the x-ray.

Did you ever find out what Gordon had? I'm so sorry to hear that he was made worse by the people who were supposed to help him. It happens all too often - in people and animals alike.

xx

I'm sorry things don't seem good for Goggle at the moment, I do hope she will last until you're able to see another vet. I have heard lots of good things about Anne Taylor of O'Meara Vets in Ewell.

Have you tried taking Goggle off Megazorb and trying something like fleece or Vetbed for a while? I found Megazorb irritated some of my pigs respiratory tracts.

I feel an x-ray is worthwhile at this stage, no anaesthetic needed. Different antibiotics may be worth a try, if no response then a trial of heart medication is something I would be considering next.

Our pig Panda had a respiritory illness a couple of weeks ago. At the start her lungs sounded a little bit crackly and you could hear her breathing from the other side of the room, she wasnt eating so much and she was very lethargic, she was on baytril for a while and had an injection of steroid she also had 2 injections of amoxycillin ( which I now know is toxic to g.p) fortunatly it didnt affect her. The final vet thought it was an infection caused by something called a myco-plasm(?) and she had 3 shots of terrymicin. Panda has now regained the weight she lost and has a terrific amount of energy and is eating for England. We weren't sure if it was an allergy or infection we changed all the food -new for old changed the type of bedding she was on vet-bed to shavings she is now on fleece. even changed the soap powder we used to try and find the cause. We still havent found out what caused Panda's problems - We are keeping fingers and paws crossed for Goggle's recovery. XX

Joe had a very bad chest from July to December in 2008 we tried everything i was starting to think it was his heart, then we were told about Zithromax he had i think it was a two week course. It went and touch wood has never returned.

I would definately recommend Zithromax if you can get your Vet to prescribe it.

Currently have my old boy Murphy on it for a bad chest and he is pulling around nicely after going off his food. Joe never went off his thankfully and was full of beans despite sounding like a little old man that had been smoking all his life.

Best of luck and keep us updated x)

A few shots of furoseamide diuretic may also help - give an injectable form from your vet first to kick start, but follow it up with oral syringe administrations...it certainly helps my Grommie.....who has both caridac and respiratory problems...and my other pigs who have respiratory problems of unknown cause (despite lots of dosh being spent at vets on tests, PM's etc etc). Many of my pigs are now on daily furosemamide.....

PM me for further details - and happy to talk to your vets and refer them to mine

x

Thanks everyone

Hi again,

Just wanted to say a big thank you to everybody who posted advice and suggestions. Goggle spent the day at the vets on Friday 13th. She had an x-ray, and fortunately there was no tumour, but there were densities on her lungs that are consistent with pneumonia. Also she has lost almost a third of her body weight, so that's not good.

My vet spoke to Simon Maddock (thanks, Wiebke), and we are going to try her on Zithromax and probiotics tomorrow. O'Meara is very near, and I have a pencilled in appointment with one of Ann's colleagues in case the Zithromax doesn't work. I will also bear furoseamide in mind.

Once again thanks to everyone for your fantastic support!

xx

Poor Goggle. Hope the new meds work and she starts to feel better soon. xx>>>

Thanks, flips :...

I really hope the Zithromax works, I am glad the vet is willing to try it. Fingers crossed for Goggle, do keep us updated. xx

I had one guinea pull round from pneumonia three years ago now, it was very hard going and we almost lost her; it was during that time I also had to learn to syringe-feed! (Not the best time to learn, when piggie is struggling to breathe!) Her lungs repeatedly filled with fluid, so the diuretic (furosemide) saved her life in the immediate, and gave time for the antibiotics to kick in. She succumbed the second time she came down with it though a couple of years later, I do suspect for many reasons that she had heart problems though.

Thanks, Laura. Goggle's just had her first syringe of zithromax plus some probiotics. The vets said no to the furosemide, as they were worried that dehydrating her would make her worse. Let's see how it goes...

Fingers firmly crossed for Goggle!