Coughing?

[BReit81]

Do guinea pigs cough? Three times now mine has made this weird loud popping sound out of his mouth. It happened twice while my boyfriend was grooming him and once while I was petting him. Do you think maybe we were just petting and grooming too hard? Immediately after it happens I check him out and he looks fine. His eyes are bright and when I continue to pet him he squeaks in happiness. Before we picked him up, he ate a slice of cucumber and then was running around a lot. I checked his tummy too and it didn't feel bloated and he didn't squeal when I pushed on it. Any ideas? Is my guinea pig getting sick and I just don't know it?!?!

Thanks, Becky

 

[maryh]

Nothing to worry about.Piggies do cough sometimes if they have a bit of food stuck in the mouth. He probably had a bit of cucucumber stuck.

 

[Racheylcg]

Is it when they kind of make the sound and lean forward and shove their heads downwards? Its kind of hard to explain but its quite worrying. Apart from that she's fine-she doesnt do it that often. I was just about to put a post about this then I saw yours.

 

[BReit81]

Thanks for your replies. I also checked online and it said that it could be heaving hiccups, which are used like a cough, since guinea pigs cannot vomit. This is how they clear their throats if something goes down the wrong way. He hasn't done it since then and his eyes are bright, he's eating and drinking, and very active.

Another question I have is, should I take the seed out of the cucumbers? I've read a lot about not giving them seeds, like sunflower seeds, but those are a lot firmer than cucumber seeds. Does it matter? Are cucumber seeds the exception?

 

[maryh]

Cucumber seeds are quite safe.My piggies love cuc. and I do not remove the seeds.

The reason for not giving them sunflower seeds is because these are too high in fat content for the piggy digestion.