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5 year Old Pig - Hooting.....choking On Food Advice.

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Taylorboots

Taylorboots

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Hi all
I'm new to the forum.
I'll start by saying I'm massively pregnant (6 days overdue) and a little hysterical :/
We have a 5 year old large boar called Sonny. He's been very healthy until past few wks. It started with a loud hooting noise and choking/heaving after eating...this was really just in the mornings. He went to the vet twice and she could find nothing wrong checked his heart...lungs...teeth etc. She's a good pig vet with 3 of her own. She said it could possibly be the humid weather it was mid 80s here unheard of in Glasgow and certainly Sonny had never experienced heat like that. He was fine for a week or so and this morning again woke my partner and I up with hooting / sneezing he then choked on a bit of mint....he's now eating a small brekkie.
Anyone with any ideas Id be grateful.
The hooting is much quieter today that it was originally. It is warm today but not as warm. I recently changed his bedding to carefresh due to getting shavings up his bum. I wonder if it could be allergies?
In general he's a happy bright pig...still popcorns at 5....loves his food and is content.
His brother passed away 4 months ago and I just want him to be okay to meet his new sister.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. congratulations, a baby any day, how exciting!
I can't give you advice about your piggy but a few weeks ago when it was really hot I did see a couple of posts like your on here. Guinea pigs don't like the heat or humidity. If you have a dehumidifier that would help your piggy. Their are people on here that have loads of experience and they will be able to help you.
Please try not to worry. X
 
First of all, welcome to the forum.

Regarding your piggy that appears to be choking, I've had at least one of mine do this before but it's disappeared after without any treatment. After taking her to the vets where like yours nothing could be found wrong, the only thing I did was pick her up & syringe feed 2 or 3 ml of water. This went away & hasn't re-occured.
 
Given his age/build etc and the fact the hooting/breathing has co-incided with the current heat/humidity, I would suggest that your vet looks to see if he has an underlying heart issue developing - which is normally manageable with heart meds and and initial regime of diuretic to reduce the fluid build-up that causes the hooting/breathing difficulties and also causes choking when eating. .
A stethoscope exam will only pick up if there is a heart murmer (doesn;t occur in many guinea pigs with heart issues) so an Xray to see if there is fluid surrounding the heart/lungs and whether the heat is enlarged would also be necessary before heart issues can be ruled out. The Xray may also show a larger than normal amount of gas in the gut. Even this doesn;t necessarily pick up a particular heart issue - chronic endocarditis - which is where a past infection has affected one of the heartvalves - it took an echocardiogram before we finally identified my Alan Maggots breathing issues (which got worse in hot/humid weather) were down to this.

The first time I had what I suspected was a heart pig - I printed out guinea lynx article including the Xray photos - my open-minded but not very piggy savvy vet agreed to do an Xray and sure enough, the heart was enlarged and fluid was present. Medication was prescribed (took a while to get the right dose of diuretic for maintenance) ) and Muffin (RH piggie in my avatar) enjoyed another happy 18months.
http://www.guinealynx.info/heart.html
(The Xrays are "linked" in the case studies so will need to be printed out separately)

HTH
x
 
I agree with @Pebble that this is possibly heart related, listening on a stethoscope is not usually sufficient to diagnose a heart issue and a conscious xray is needed. I have 6 heart pigs and most were diagnosed this way, though for some it was very obvious on the stethoscope. My pigs are on Benazapril (brand names Fortekor and Nelio) daily and also have diuretic when needed. Please note that if giving diuretics then additional fluids are needed so the pig doesn't become dehydrated.
 
Thanks for the replies. Our vet did say that it could be underlying heart issues and offered us a prescription which we can pick up anytime over the next few wks. I was just very reluctant to put him on it unnecessarily in case it caused further probs.
On top of the hooting he injured his leg last week and he's currently on a very small dose of Metacam. He was limping on Sun/Mon but its much improved.
I have a small fan in his room....is it okay to have this on would it be helpful to him? Obviously not directly on him.
We syringe him vit c every other day and syringe him water when he chokes and we're in and hear it.
Are these things helpful? The vet was a little concerned about heatstroke as well our house was incredibly warm.
He's pottering about back to his usual self now.
I guess we should get these heart meds asap. I'll send my partner over.
People keep telling me I wont worry about my big bear as much now there's a baby on the way....how wrong they are. He's like my other child. :)
 
On hot days. You can half full a small fizzy drinks bottle with water and freeze it. Then put bottle in a thick sock tie a knot on the end of sock and put it in he's hide. The sock will spot he getting freezer burn. It helps cool my piggys
 
maxdawn said:
On hot days. You can half full a small fizzy drinks bottle with water and freeze it. Then put bottle in a thick sock tie a knot on the end of sock and put it in he's hide. The sock will spot he getting freezer burn. It helps cool my piggys
Click to expand...

Yeah we put frozen bottles in for him but he's a bit daft and moves away from them. His little bro used to plank his bum right on them....he had the brains and Sonny got the looks :)
 
If you pick up the medication please could you post here what it is called. It sounds like the vet is doing a heart med trial and like Wiebke says, you should notice a difference fairly quickly. It is however, a matter of getting the dose right. Also if you have been given an ACE inhibitor (like Benazapril) and not a diuretic (Frusemide or Lasix) too and he has fluid then you may not notice much difference. I have also known a vet to start a pig straight away on Vetmedin (Pimobendan) when this is usually introduced later if ACE inhibitors aren't sufficient.
 
helen105281 said:
If you pick up the medication please could you post here what it is called. It sounds like the vet is doing a heart med trial and like Wiebke says, you should notice a difference fairly quickly. It is however, a matter of getting the dose right. Also if you have been given an ACE inhibitor (like Benazapril) and not a diuretic (Frusemide or Lasix) too and he has fluid then you may not notice much difference. I have also known a vet to start a pig straight away on Vetmedin (Pimobendan) when this is usually introduced later if ACE inhibitors aren't sufficient.
Click to expand...

Once I get the meds I'll put up what she gives us. He's bright as a button this evening popping all over the run as he's been cleaned out. At least trying some heart medication could rule it out or make him better. Thanks again.
 
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