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cold and the pee

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ILoveGilbertTheGuineaPig

ILoveGilbertTheGuineaPig

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what do i do if my guinea pig has a cold? i know he does because he sneezes and sometimes his left nostril is runny. beofre this he had a cold (he sneezed extremely loud like a...fart! but now its quieter and less frequent) until i changed the bedding then he was beetter but still a bit sneezy. so..what can i do? i dont want this to turn too serious

oh and also i remember frmo one forum about the pee. what does it mean if your guinea's pee stains white? and anythin i can do?

OH AND ALSO: i have a cold and since gilbert does too...do you think i am allowed to pet him? i dont want either of us to get any worse
 
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I read that if you have a cold, that your gp is not supposed to be handled by you. Instead try and see if anybody else could hold him or get his food ready by a friend or family memeber.
And if his pee is white, that means he has taken in too much vit c. So it could be the food/quantity you are feeding him. Some food varies. Might want to look at a list of what contains more and less vit c. I recommend http://www.guinealynx.info/diet_vegs.html hope this helps.
And as for your piggie having a cold, I'm not sure if anybody here has a better suggestion or homeremody (sry for the horrible spelling) but I cant really think of anything. Maybe a vet can help?
 
whenever i'm ill i try to keep clear of them, as germs can sometimes be passed onto guinea pigs.
one of my pigs was a bit sneezy when i got her, but a quick trip to the vets cleared it up in a couple of weeks; i was given antibiotics to put in their water so they were all treated for it.
ultimately, no one on this forum can view your guinea pig properly but you, so if you're in doubt take him to the vets. certain symptoms don't ever mean it's definately one problem or illness- when i first read your post i would have said he was allergic to the bedding you gave him- so it's better to take him to an expert than to take the advice of people who can't see him and are judging it on a quick analogy via internet.
good luck!
 
i have also just found this on guinea lynx in regards to your question about urine-

Urine may be clear to cloudy in color. Calcium compounds in the urine cause this cloudiness. Normal urine is not gritty in texture. Dried urine may leave powdery white calcium compounds. Very young guinea pigs often have an orange or brown tint to their urine. Urine sometimes changes to an orange color on standing (this may be the oxidation of porphyrins in the urine).
Click to expand...

i thought i'd check this too as my pigs sometimes leave white wee stains on the wood in their hutch heh =]
hope this answers all your questions x
 
I was under the impression that a guinea pig cannot overdose on Vitamin C.
Can you please post a scientific reference to confirm your statement that "white urine means he has taken in too much vit c"?
Kind regards.
 
^ the only problems guinea pigs can get to do with vitamin c is from a lack of it, so i'd like to know too.
anyway apparently the whiteness is perfectly normal and my pigs have always had it.
 
Or was it too much cal? I was on another gp forum before this one, many mean people would give false info out. But if my information was wrong, Sorry! :red
I've had to learn most of my info by myself. But now that I'm on this site, I find more help and useful too! :)
 
SOrry to hear you've both got colds, hope you're better soon xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>
If i've ever had a cold i am super careful that i wash hands before and after cleaning or cutting up piggie's food. If somebody else can help that would be great if not, just be careful xxxxxx
I am sure it's septrin for colds? i'm sure one of our lovely people will help you there :)
Healing wheeeeeeks for you and Gilbert xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>
 
Some piggies wee does have a milky colour. That's not a problem. It's when they wee and then it dries white then this means they have too much calcium in their bodies. Piggies can't catch a human cold. If your piggie's sneezing with a runny nose then it sounds like he has an upper respiratory tract infection (urti) which needs treating with meds from the vet :)
 
Apologies - but I have read that a common cold is the only transmissable disease between human and guinea pig. I don't mean influenza, bronchial problems or bacterial sore throats and coughs, just the cold virus itself.

The problem with petting them while you have a cold is that the cold virus lives on the palms of your hands as well as in your nose, so it is easy to transfer it to the pigs feet/fur/face where it can then 'catch' the cold by taking in the virus through it's nose/eyes. The only thing to do is wash your hands thoroughly before handling your piggie at all and try not to breathe on them, and I liked the comment about washing hands before preparing any food - a very good idea.

Sarah x
 
Although I've brought this up with vets and they say the common cold isn't zoonotic, it does seem when I've been pretty ill the piggies sometimes get a bit poorly too. So I wouldn't be surprised if they can catch it.

When I am ill I just wash with Hibiscrub to be sure there's nothing nasty lurking on me.
 
Zoonosis.... an infectious disease in animals than can be transmiited to people.
Not humans to animals.
 
alcesterpigs said:
Zoonosis.... an infectious disease in animals than can be transmiited to people.
Not humans to animals.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoonosis

My bad, maybe I should have specified *reverse* zoonotic/ zoonosis.

After all, if there are illnesses that can pass from animals to humans (who are, if we only would accept it, also animals) then it would take some enormous leap of arrogance in our perception of our species to assume there are no human illnesses that can pass to other animals.
 
I have read on several forums that guinea pigs cannot catch colds.
BUT having kept pigs for 30 years I would say that there is absolutely no question whatsoever. If my partner and I have colds the pigs are likely to have them too. Same as humans though ...in a group some ‘people’ will get it, others don’t.
Obviously it is not possible to prove which ‘direction’ the cold is travelling...pigs to human or human to pigs (but as my OH works in a hospital and I work part time at a university I bet it is us that brings the bugs home to the pigs).
I am talking about simple ‘sniffles’ that resolve themselves without treatment (human or animal). If a single pig has had a full blown respiratory infection there is usually no connection with us.
 
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