Specialist Advice for a wheezy pig

[BlueBird]

Hi there,

I wanted some wheezy pig advice. My lovely pig Belle is a bit of a wheezy pig. We've taken her to the vet a few times because of it but it is difficult. As its really intermittent and half the time she doesn't wheeze in the vets surgery and its so quiet its hard to get on a phone. The vets listen to her chest and say her chest is clear and can't really give us any further advice. So that's £20 out the window. We did manage to catch her in the vets once but unfortunately he was a Spanish vet who's English wasn't great who suspected asthma or an allergy. But I worry about her so I thought I'd run it by more experienced guinea owners I don't really want to take her back to the vet and be charged £20 to be looked at like I'm an idiot and sent on my way.

What we know about her/her symptoms:
1) Clear chest when checked by vets.
2) Wheezing is intermittent
3) Wheezing usually only occurs in colder weather.
4) Wheezing usually only occurs during excitement over food. Usually (but not exclusively) triggered by eating hay.
5) Belle has some sheltie in her genes so is a "snub nosed" pig.
6) She is roughly around the 4-5year old mark.
7) Belle is a medium length, thick haired guinea who spent a lot of her young life as a lone piggy in a garden hutch before she cam to us the enjoy a cushy life indoors so may have a degree of cold weather resilience (?)
8) Belle is a athletic "climby" pig and the wheezing, other than sounds horrible, does not seem to effect her appetite, personality or energy levels.

My theories on the cause:
1) Belle has an asthma type disease/allergy which is triggered by hay. This is made worse in winter when we give them access to a "hay tray" were she can and does burrow into the hay to eat and keep warm.
2) Belle being a snub-nosed piggy (much like snort nosed dogs like Pugs and English bulldogs) has a restricted/narrow wind pipe in her nose and so is biologically more at risk of wheezing, which is triggered by hyperventilating when excited over food/ scoffing it down.
3) A combo of the two.


What are your thoughts? If it is a hay allergy I'm a bit stuck. I can't really take the hay away and I don't want to take the hay tray away as it will be difficult to manage the other guinea pigs needs. (Plus, I worry they get cold - they don't use snuggle safes). Am I doing the right thing just managing it? Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi there,

I wanted some wheezy pig advice. My lovely pig Belle is a bit of a wheezy pig. We've taken her to the vet a few times because of it but it is difficult. As its really intermittent and half the time she doesn't wheeze in the vets surgery and its so quiet its hard to get on a phone. The vets listen to her chest and say her chest is clear and can't really give us any further advice. So that's £20 out the window. We did manage to catch her in the vets once but unfortunately he was a Spanish vet who's English wasn't great who suspected asthma or an allergy. But I worry about her so I thought I'd run it by more experienced guinea owners I don't really want to take her back to the vet and be charged £20 to be looked at like I'm an idiot and sent on my way.

What we know about her/her symptoms:
1) Clear chest when checked by vets.
2) Wheezing is intermittent
3) Wheezing usually only occurs in colder weather.
4) Wheezing usually only occurs during excitement over food. Usually (but not exclusively) triggered by eating hay.
5) Belle has some sheltie in her genes so is a "snub nosed" pig.
6) She is roughly around the 4-5year old mark.
7) Belle is a medium length, thick haired guinea who spent a lot of her young life as a lone piggy in a garden hutch before she cam to us the enjoy a cushy life indoors so may have a degree of cold weather resilience (?)
8) Belle is a athletic "climby" pig and the wheezing, other than sounds horrible, does not seem to effect her appetite, personality or energy levels.

My theories on the cause:
1) Belle has an asthma type disease/allergy which is triggered by hay. This is made worse in winter when we give them access to a "hay tray" were she can and does burrow into the hay to eat and keep warm.
2) Belle being a snub-nosed piggy (much like snort nosed dogs like Pugs and English bulldogs) has a restricted/narrow wind pipe in her nose and so is biologically more at risk of wheezing, which is triggered by hyperventilating when excited over food/ scoffing it down.
3) A combo of the two.


What are your thoughts? If it is a hay allergy I'm a bit stuck. I can't really take the hay away and I don't want to take the hay tray away as it will be difficult to manage the other guinea pigs needs. (Plus, I worry they get cold - they don't use snuggle safes). Am I doing the right thing just managing it? Any advice would be most appreciated.

You may want to check with your vet whether nebulising may be a way to ease the symptoms as dry air is a factor.

I know some people with piggies allergic to hay who dampen and then dry their hay. It is likely that your piggy is very sensitive. Guinea pigs can't breathe through their mouths so even the slightest obstruction/narrowing of the airways is very audible.

@Jaycey @helen105281 @furryfriends (TEAS) @Freela

 

[Livia Rabideau]

What type of bedding do you use? I have a Sneezy pig that almost never sneezes anymore since I switched to fleece and less dusty hay. He has a very sensitive nose. Hopefully you can figure it out and it's nothing serious.

 

[BlueBird]

You may want to check with your vet whether nebulising may be a way to ease the symptoms as dry air is a factor.

I know some people with piggies allergic to hay who dampen and then dry their hay. It is likely that your piggy is very sensitive. Guinea pigs can breathe through their mouths so even the slightest obstruction/narrowing of the airways is very audible.

@Jaycey @helen105281 @furryfriends (TEAS) @Freela

Thanks for the advice Wiebke! Do you mean pigs can or can't breathe through their mouths? I couldn't tell whether that was a typo.
It's a little ironic I have a piggy with a hay allergy. It's almost like having a fish with a water allergy. Or a cat that is intolerant to meat. :/ Bit difficult to resolve when the thing causing the problem is one of the primary things they need to survive.

I will run nebulising by the vet next time she has a bad episode. I might also invest in a humidifier to put near to the cage when she has a wheezing episode (if you can get one of those in Britain). I have very dry skin in winter so I might be able to use my own skin as a litmus paper. ^.^

What type of bedding do you use? I have a Sneezy pig that almost never sneezes anymore since I switched to fleece and less dusty hay. He has a very sensitive nose. Hopefully you can figure it out and it's nothing serious.

We are exclusively fleece at the minute. We do use back2nature in some areas of the cage. It's at the bottom of the hay tray for eg. I don't think it is the washing deterrent because her episodes don't seem to correlate with a cage clean.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for the advice Wiebke! Do you mean pigs can or can't breathe through their mouths? I couldn't tell whether that was a typo.
It's a little ironic I have a piggy with a hay allergy. It's almost like having a fish with a water allergy. Or a cat that is intolerant to meat. :/ Bit difficult to resolve when the thing causing the problem is one of the primary things they need to survive.

I will run nebulising by the vet next time she has a bad episode. I might also invest in a humidifier to put near to the cage when she has a wheezing episode (if you can get one of those in Britain). I have very dry skin in winter so I might be able to use my own skin as a litmus paper. ^.^


We are exclusively fleece at the minute. We do use back2nature in some areas of the cage. It's at the bottom of the hay tray for eg. I don't think it is the washing deterrent because her episodes don't seem to correlate with a cage clean.

Can't breathe through their mouths. I have amended the typo and linked in our other notable posters.

 

[piggieminder]

I have a young piggy who in his prevous home was very wheezy on wood shavings. I use fleece. He still has wheezy fits intermitently and is helped by nebulising. I have always used back 2 nature in my older boars hay box as it is very large and I can spot clean it. This young piggy has a cat litter tray for hay and I have been lining it with newspaper, this week I changed him to back 2 nature in his tray and he has been wheezing everyday, your post has just made me realise what the problem probably is! Back 2 nature is quite dusty especially when you get near the end of the bag.

 

[Freela]

I agree with others on checking the bedding and trying to minimize allergens and dust in the environment to see if that helps. I would also try to keep on catching the symptoms on video to have something to show the vet should it be persistent. One of mine once had a respiratory infection where the only symptom was intermittent hooting/wheezing, and it was really helpful to actually have something to show the vet, even though we had to turn the volume up really high on my phone to actually hear the breathing sound!

 

[PerfectPiggyPaws]

My Rory used to wheeze sometimes too, I suspected it was the hay so I now get dust extracted hay. It's much more expensive but it seems to have made a difference to him so it's worth the expense to me - or so Rory tells me
The vet always said his lunge were fine so it was just changing things and seeing what made a difference. Perhaps dry air when heating is on?
I have an air purifier too near Rory's mansion so I'm being a good and attentive slave

 

[BlueBird]

Hi there,

Over the past couple of days I've kept an eye on Belle and her wheezing. Taking back2nature out of the cage hasn't really made much difference to be honest. The wheezing does seem to be dependent on whether we've had the heating on or not (we try not to have the heating on everyday and only put it on when the house needs a heat boost).

I will still keep an eye on her to see whether she is semi persistent enough to warrant going to the vet to ask for some nebulisation. Unfortunately I've tried filming the wheezing before but it was so quiet and indistinct I just got looks from the vet as if I was crazy. But one can only try ... Thanks for the help.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

I have a piggy like this who has a chronic stuffy nose, we were back and fourth from the vet with her for a whole year, chest was always clear. She went in one time for an unrelated reason and they took an xray of her skull, they found she has permanent sinus damage (I believe the technical diagnosis was sinusitis or rhinitis?) which explains the constant snuffling, exact same symptoms as your pig.

Harriet is now on daily antihistamines (piriton) and she is nebulised with F10 antiseptic solution when it gets bad, it works like a charm, makes her cough and she's clear again! It may be worth getting this xray done for your piggy just to check it's not the same thing (it's done conscious, no need for sedation etc). I highly suggest getting a nebuliser for home treatment (saves a lot in vet visits and just as effective), F10 antiseptic solution and antihistamines on prescription, also switch the hay to either oxbow orchard grass or american timothy by dust free hay. My piggies wont touch orchard grass so I use dust free timothy, it also helps a bunch.

Here's a pic of Harriet's xray, as you can see there is an obvious difference between the left and the right sinus.

 

[BlueBird]

I have a piggy like this who has a chronic stuffy nose, we were back and fourth from the vet with her for a whole year, chest was always clear. She went in one time for an unrelated reason and they took an xray of her skull, they found she has permanent sinus damage (I believe the technical diagnosis was sinusitis or rhinitis?) which explains the constant snuffling, exact same symptoms as your pig.

Harriet is now on daily antihistamines (piriton) and she is nebulised with F10 antiseptic solution when it gets bad, it works like a charm, makes her cough and she's clear again! It may be worth getting this xray done for your piggy just to check it's not the same thing (it's done conscious, no need for sedation etc). I highly suggest getting a nebuliser for home treatment (saves a lot in vet visits and just as effective), F10 antiseptic solution and antihistamines on prescription, also switch the hay to either oxbow orchard grass or american timothy by dust free hay. My piggies wont touch orchard grass so I use dust free timothy, it also helps a bunch.

Here's a pic of Harriet's xray, as you can see there is an obvious difference between the left and the right sinus.
View attachment 100581
View attachment 100582

Excellent advice! Thanks so much!

 

[DMS260820]

I have a piggy like this who has a chronic stuffy nose, we were back and fourth from the vet with her for a whole year, chest was always clear. She went in one time for an unrelated reason and they took an xray of her skull, they found she has permanent sinus damage (I believe the technical diagnosis was sinusitis or rhinitis?) which explains the constant snuffling, exact same symptoms as your pig.

Harriet is now on daily antihistamines (piriton) and she is nebulised with F10 antiseptic solution when it gets bad, it works like a charm, makes her cough and she's clear again! It may be worth getting this xray done for your piggy just to check it's not the same thing (it's done conscious, no need for sedation etc). I highly suggest getting a nebuliser for home treatment (saves a lot in vet visits and just as effective), F10 antiseptic solution and antihistamines on prescription, also switch the hay to either oxbow orchard grass or american timothy by dust free hay. My piggies wont touch orchard grass so I use dust free timothy, it also helps a bunch.

Here's a pic of Harriet's xray, as you can see there is an obvious difference between the left and the right sinus.
View attachment 100581
View attachment 100582

Wow. I had a pig that had exact same problems. I never did find out what was wrong. He lived fine with a stuffy nose, but was horrible to hear him breathing all crackly. He lived to 6 like this. If only i see this post when he was still alive. My old vet did mention rhinitis and permanent sinus damage. Baytril used to clear him up, but it would come back weeks later. I didnt have a specialist vet back then, even though i live near one of the best vets for guineas in the u.k. . I wasnt aware of this vet at the time

 

[Eriathwen]

My Shelly and Ivory have issues with wheezing due to narrow airways, they're from showing lines so have the short noses, rooting around in hay set them off. As above, after ruling out persistent URI, heart issues and asthma they are on Piriton which really helps.

 

[DMS260820]

My Shelly and Ivory have issues with wheezing due to narrow airways, they're from showing lines so have the short noses, rooting around in hay set them off. As above, after ruling out persistent URI, heart issues and asthma they are on Piriton which really helps.

My boar who the one i mentioned above to did get pneumonia , i dont know if it was linked

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Wow. I had a pig that had exact same problems. I never did find out what was wrong. He lived fine with a stuffy nose, but was horrible to hear him breathing all crackly. He lived to 6 like this. If only i see this post when he was still alive. My old vet did mention rhinitis and permanent sinus damage. Baytril used to clear him up, but it would come back weeks later. I didnt have a specialist vet back then, even though i live near one of the best vets for guineas in the you.k. . I wasnt aware of this vet at the time

Yeah there isn't a lot of information about sinus damage in piggies so I'm having to learn things as I go with Harriet and share anything I find out, hopefully this helps others as I think this issue is more common than we know.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

It's also interesting that the OP brought up the shorter nose in the show lines, Harriet is a pedigree sheltie from show lines with the short nose too. Her full sister Lottie also gets an intermittent stuffy nose but has had this xray done and her sinuses are normal, however we are monitoring it as she can develop the damage. I have another that gets it on a rare occasion and she is also part sheltie with a short nose. I have 10 piggies currently but have owned 30, and I find it very curious that the shorter noses tend to get breathing issues when my longer nose pigs have never had any issue... It has only just connected for me.

 

[DM030819]

Ditto on the nebuliser. I harped on quite a bit about mine when I used it my boar a few years ago with great results and most people ignored my advice but it really can help.
It depends on the breathing issue as it can make some worse but they're worth chatting to a vet about.

 

[BlueBird]

It's also interesting that the OP brought up the shorter nose in the show lines, Harriet is a pedigree sheltie from show lines with the short nose too. Her full sister Lottie also gets an intermittent stuffy nose but has had this xray done and her sinuses are normal, however we are monitoring it as she can develop the damage. I have another that gets it on a rare occasion and she is also part sheltie with a short nose. I have 10 piggies currently but have owned 30, and I find it very curious that the shorter noses tend to get breathing issues when my longer nose pigs have never had any issue... It has only just connected for me.

Well I watch a lot of Supervet etc, and I thought she sounded like the guinea pig version of a pug or bulldog just before they go for their nose ops. And those breathing problems are always caused by the fact that they just have snort noses (don't rabbits have similar issues when they have short noses ...?) It just sort of made sense to me particularly since she's the only pig I've had with sheltie in her (and therefore the snub nose) and the only one who's had wheezing problems.

Ditto on the nebuliser. I harped on quite a bit about mine when I used it my boar a few years ago with great results and most people ignored my advice but it really can help.
It depends on the breathing issue as it can make some worse but they're worth chatting to a vet about.

When you nebulise your pigs I guess you put medicine in it or is it just getting them to breathe in the steam?

 

[Sappyshelly]

I can’t offer much advice, sorry! I can say however that a pig at the rescue where I adopted my boys gets a nebulizer treatment which she said really helped him! Good luck to you and your piggy!

 

[DM030819]

Well I watch a lot of Supervet etc, and I thought she sounded like the guinea pig version of a pug or bulldog just before they go for their nose ops. And those breathing problems are always caused by the fact that they just have snort noses (don't rabbits have similar issues when they have short noses ...?) It just sort of made sense to me particularly since she's the only pig I've had with sheltie in her (and therefore the snub nose) and the only one who's had wheezing problems.

When you nebulise your pigs I guess you put medicine in it or is it just getting them to breathe in the steam?

Nebulisers can be used with certain antibiotics when needed but for my piggy he didn't have an infection. He had an allergy and damaged airways so we used F10, which is an antiseptic solution. Nothing medical at all. You can use saline solution in them too.