Can My Piggy Catch My Cold And Flu? :(

[sridevirb]

I know this sounds crazy, but i was down with cold few days ago. Two days back one of my boy was playing on my bed. Thought i should put him inside his cage but he was having his time and I should admit that i was having him on my lap too, for quite sometime. It made me feel a little relieved amidst the sickness. I thought human cold cannot be passed on to piggies, but i see that for a day he is refusing to eat anything, he seems to sneeze a lot and he is also shedding unusual amount of hair. Have i done something terribly wrong to him?

 

[DM030819]

As long as we observe good hygiene when we have a cold then guinea pigs are safe @sridevirb .

But, if your piggy seems to be ill please monitor him closely and take him to the vet if needed. It could just be a coincidence that he has got an upper respiratory infection (URI) at the same time as you became unwell.

 

[sridevirb]

As long as we observe good hygiene when we have a cold then guinea pigs are safe @sridevirb .

But, if your piggy seems to be ill please monitor him closely and take him to the vet if needed. It could just be a coincidence that he has got an upper respiratory infection (URI) at the same time as you became unwell.

Thank you! Yes the bed was clean and so was I, never really messed up on the hygiene part. I will continue to monitor him closely!

 

[DM030819]

@sridevirb . Try not to worry too much and get better soon. Hopefully he'll be okay, but you've spotted it in good time so if anything is wrong then a quick vet visit will sort it all out,

 

[Wiebke]

I know this sounds crazy, but i was down with cold few days ago. Two days back one of my boy was playing on my bed. Thought i should put him inside his cage but he was having his time and I should admit that i was having him on my lap too, for quite sometime. It made me feel a little relieved amidst the sickness. I thought human cold cannot be passed on to piggies, but i see that for a day he is refusing to eat anything, he seems to sneeze a lot and he is also shedding unusual amount of hair. Have i done something terribly wrong to him?

Please take him to the vets asap!

URI in guinea pigs is a bacterial infection and is not transmitted either way.
However, there is anecdotal evidence that in a very few cases a virus may be able to jump across from somebody with a bad cold; so far there is no proven transmission.

Our recommendation is that as long as you are ill with something infective (cold, flu, norovirus, salmonella (which is transmittable)), please limit any contact and handling and use good hygiene and commonsense - especially when feeling low and craving a cuddle.

 

[sridevirb]

Please take him to the vets asap!

URI in guinea pigs is a bacterial infection and is not transmitted either way.
However, there is anectodotal evidence that in a very few cases a virus may be able to jump across from somebody with a bad cold; so far there is no proven transmission.

Our recommendation is that as long as you are ill with something infective (cold, flu, norovirus, salmonella (which is transmittable), please limit any contact and handling and use good hygiene and commonsense - especially when feeling low and craving a cuddle.

Thank You! I was not aware that our sickness can be passed on to them. I realized it only after i saw changes in his behavior. Will have your words in mind, wont repeat this ever again.

 

[sridevirb]

Hi ! I've got an update on my boy's health. Apparently he became allergic to the new laundry detergent that i purchased recently. Replaced the towels and blankets with fresh ones, he seems okay now. But it was a sudden threat, I was lucky this time that nothing serious happened. Wont take chances again. Thanks for the time