Pippy & Daisy
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi again, everyone. Word of warning, this is a long post!
So it seems we may be off to the vet again tomorrow. This time for both girls
Last weekend I noticed a really faint kind of squeaking sound coming from one of the girls - I couldn't tell which as it was only on and off and neither did it when I was checking them. Then on Saturday night Daisy was breathing very loudly - I've attached a video because it's quite hard to describe but the video is quite quiet.
I was freaking out but it was the middle of the night and I don't trust the ER vet around here at all so I really didn't want to take her there. She was eating fine and she wasn't actually struggling to breathe, it was just loud. It also wasn't constant. The next morning I called the vet and my regular vet was out; I then called my backup vet but they only had one vet in who was not at all experienced with guinea pigs so suggested it probably wasn't a good idea going to them - which I appreciated being told! So I ended up at another vet I'd never been to before. He was good, but did tell me he was not an expert (he was actually allergic to them). After listening to the video he suggested it was probably her larynx rather than her chest and sure enough when he listened on the stethoscope he could hear the noise very faintly in her larynx but not at all in her chest. He weighed her and thought that it was most likely that she's a bit too chubby and that it was fat pressing on her larynx - she was 1184g at the time but is often around 1200g (she had had an upset stomach a couple of days before so had lost a bit of weight even though she was eating). He suggested less pellets and see how she goes.
I weighed her today and she was 1206g so she's put her weight back on. Pippy was 1126g which is about normal for her - 10g heavier than last time she was weighed which was two weeks ago, but 30g lighter than the time before that, but her weight has always varied a bit more. But I've noticed Daisy breathing a bit loudly a couple of times since she was at the vet, though not as loudly as it had been. Pippy has also had a very slight occasional squeaking kind of sound when she breathes, but it's barely noticeable. Today, they're out in the playpen and Daisy was breathing pretty loudly again and Pip was making the little squeaking sound again. Pippy's sound is almost like a regular squeak but really quiet, if that makes sense. There is also a kind of clicking sound from Pip sometimes but she's actually always had that so I don't think that's anything really - I think it's a sound she makes on purpose. Daisy's is a bit more of a croak I guess.
Both are still eating, drinking, and acting normally. Neither have any nasal or eye discharge/crust/anything. Their fur is fine, they're happy and active. Poo is fine. There are absolutely no other symptoms but this occasional funny breathing. I can't take them to the vets now as they're closed and, as I said, I don't trust the emergency vets at all. But now I'm wondering if I should take them for a checkup tomorrow. It's just that Daisy was in last week (at her regular vet for her poo problem) and he said she was perfectly fine. Thankfully he very generously didn't charge for her check, but I ended up having to pay when she went to the other vet for her breathing... to again find nothing wrong. I have money set aside that's just for them so I don't have to worry about unexpected vet visits, but I can't afford to keep taking them in there to find that there's nothing wrong with them. I feel like I'm going crazy being so paranoid for no reason
Should I take them in tomorrow? I won't be able to get there until the afternoon which means it'll be almost 24 hours from now. Because they're acting fine in every other way I think that's fine, but I don't know if I should even take them in at all. It's been going on over a week (the breathing) and they're both still acting fine and eating so I don't know if it's even anything to be concerned about. I've heard so many horror stories about them going downhill overnight that I'm in such a panic as usual
So it seems we may be off to the vet again tomorrow. This time for both girls
Last weekend I noticed a really faint kind of squeaking sound coming from one of the girls - I couldn't tell which as it was only on and off and neither did it when I was checking them. Then on Saturday night Daisy was breathing very loudly - I've attached a video because it's quite hard to describe but the video is quite quiet.
I was freaking out but it was the middle of the night and I don't trust the ER vet around here at all so I really didn't want to take her there. She was eating fine and she wasn't actually struggling to breathe, it was just loud. It also wasn't constant. The next morning I called the vet and my regular vet was out; I then called my backup vet but they only had one vet in who was not at all experienced with guinea pigs so suggested it probably wasn't a good idea going to them - which I appreciated being told! So I ended up at another vet I'd never been to before. He was good, but did tell me he was not an expert (he was actually allergic to them). After listening to the video he suggested it was probably her larynx rather than her chest and sure enough when he listened on the stethoscope he could hear the noise very faintly in her larynx but not at all in her chest. He weighed her and thought that it was most likely that she's a bit too chubby and that it was fat pressing on her larynx - she was 1184g at the time but is often around 1200g (she had had an upset stomach a couple of days before so had lost a bit of weight even though she was eating). He suggested less pellets and see how she goes.
I weighed her today and she was 1206g so she's put her weight back on. Pippy was 1126g which is about normal for her - 10g heavier than last time she was weighed which was two weeks ago, but 30g lighter than the time before that, but her weight has always varied a bit more. But I've noticed Daisy breathing a bit loudly a couple of times since she was at the vet, though not as loudly as it had been. Pippy has also had a very slight occasional squeaking kind of sound when she breathes, but it's barely noticeable. Today, they're out in the playpen and Daisy was breathing pretty loudly again and Pip was making the little squeaking sound again. Pippy's sound is almost like a regular squeak but really quiet, if that makes sense. There is also a kind of clicking sound from Pip sometimes but she's actually always had that so I don't think that's anything really - I think it's a sound she makes on purpose. Daisy's is a bit more of a croak I guess.
Both are still eating, drinking, and acting normally. Neither have any nasal or eye discharge/crust/anything. Their fur is fine, they're happy and active. Poo is fine. There are absolutely no other symptoms but this occasional funny breathing. I can't take them to the vets now as they're closed and, as I said, I don't trust the emergency vets at all. But now I'm wondering if I should take them for a checkup tomorrow. It's just that Daisy was in last week (at her regular vet for her poo problem) and he said she was perfectly fine. Thankfully he very generously didn't charge for her check, but I ended up having to pay when she went to the other vet for her breathing... to again find nothing wrong. I have money set aside that's just for them so I don't have to worry about unexpected vet visits, but I can't afford to keep taking them in there to find that there's nothing wrong with them. I feel like I'm going crazy being so paranoid for no reason
Should I take them in tomorrow? I won't be able to get there until the afternoon which means it'll be almost 24 hours from now. Because they're acting fine in every other way I think that's fine, but I don't know if I should even take them in at all. It's been going on over a week (the breathing) and they're both still acting fine and eating so I don't know if it's even anything to be concerned about. I've heard so many horror stories about them going downhill overnight that I'm in such a panic as usual
