• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Could This Be More Than Just A Uri?

Status
Not open for further replies.
jenniferanneharris

jenniferanneharris

Senior Guinea Pig
Joined
May 8, 2010
Messages
5,105
Reaction score
3,413
Points
1,365
Location
Portsmouth
Hi, since Honor lost her two cage mates to Pneumonia just over a year ago she has had maybe 6 URIs.
Since changing vets a couple of months back, they have happily given me extra Baytril and said if she gets another URI it may be time to x-ray her etc and see if anything else is going on. Sure enough she started making that noise again last night so she has been on Baytril since last night. I have booked her an appointment for Friday at 12.10, but i just want to ask could anything else be going on that is causing URI symptoms?

She gets a bubbly chest and the Baytril (all but once where she had septrin) has cleared it nicely. But they come back maybe a month or two later. She only seems to get them in Autumn/winter time.
She lives indoors in her own cage. She is awaiting getting a new friend, could it be where she is alone and depressed she gets a lowered immune system as she is lonely?
We don't have central heating, we do have a fire on upstairs in a room across the hall (my bedroom dosnt have a heater that works), but the room is warmish. She has blankets over sides of her cage at night, she has lots of cozies and is bedded on fleece cage liners- she gets her cage cleaned every 3 days.
She also gets a snugglesafe pad on cold nights and a littertray with lots of hay in it.

Could it be she is just prone to URI's, something else going on or that she is depressed and has a low imune system?
 
Poor Honour. I have no advice but do you think she may be contagious?
 
No she dosnt seem to be....she has never passed it on to Haven etc. But i always wash my hands and am very careful not to cross contaminate.
She is always totally well in herself, eats fine, runs around as usual...apart from the bubby chest noise i would never know she was poorly.
 
It sounds like one of those tings that is hard to get to the bottom of. Do you know her background? Sophie is always a bit chesty but vets cannot find anything wrong and think she was born with it. I think it was her being kept in poor conditions.
 
I have had her since she wad 5 months old from an ex breeder at this point just kept them as pets who was getting rid of her piggies as she had to move or something, I quickly took Harmony, Liberty and baby Honor and she is now 4 years old, she has never had any health problems until November last year when she had a URI after her cage mates Harmony (who was also her grandma) and Liberty died of suspected Pneumonia.. Liberty died over night Aged 5 and within 24 hours Harmony aged 7 was hunched over and showing problems breathing, I took her to emergency vet (my old vet) and by then she couldn't even move properly and struggled for breath and was almost lifeless. It was so nasty and crept up so fast! Honor showed no signs other then a very small URI. After that she was treated with Baytril and a week later Septrin and was cleared. Since then she was alone and has since had about another 5 URIs .
 
Could well be. ..Think she probs just has a weak chest and is prone to them now. Either way I guess John (vet) can tell me more Friday.
 
Repetitive URIs can be a sign of a heart condition. It was what alerted us first with Nigel. I can give you a list of more signs if needed to see if she has any of them. Definitley something to ask John and maybe request a chest xray or a trial of heart medication. Is she lethargic at all? or sleeps very soundly?
 
Thank you, from reading up it now sounds like it could well be her heart. :( Thanks for all the well wishes x
 
woke up just now from a "hooting noise" as cages are next to my bed. Tries to record noise but phone rubbish it didnt pixk up any noise after 5 attempts i opened Honors cage and realises the noise was from the cage above (doing all this in pitch black). I turn on light ans realise its Haven "hooting". She has no URI noises...atm...could it be possible Haven could have heart issues also? Haven has hyperthyroidism...i cant believe it. I have litrally just been sick...i am so worried about them. Is it possible that Haven has a heart issue also?
 
Ahh so sorry to hear she is not well. It sounds very much like heart to me. I had one exactly the same, repeated infections, hooting etc. she lived to over 7 and in the end died due to a tumour not her heart! (Rip beautiful girl). If this is what it is,it can be very easily managed with meds. Fortekor and frusol are the meds my vet used. Please try not to worry, I know it's awful when they are sick, it makes me very depressed so I feel for you, but I do think it sounds like heart and therefore relatively simple to manage :-) x
 
Oh Jen I am really sorry to hear of all these symptoms your little ones are having. Please try not to worry until they have seen a vet and you know more.
 
Sorry to hear your girls are going through the mill so much at the moment. Really hope you get some answers soon!
 
I'm sorry you have noticed this now with Haven too Jenny. I know you have had some help this morning and I hope it helped reassure you. Heart pigs don't have a death sentence, once they are on meds they can live long and happy lives, they just need careful monitoring so their meds can be tweaked as needed. I have 7 of them, Mrs Fuzzy being the most serious, she is currently say plowing her way through load of oat hay after popcorning round the room.
 
Thanks. I think i am just having a tough time at the moment..lack of sleep and worry has made me feel ill. In the mornings light now i havr had a few hours sleep and my stomach is slowly settling down so feeling less stressed. I just worry about them. Friday i will hopefully know a little more...i think i am also anxious as it wont be me taking them to the vet its my mum....i have a prior engagment that i cant get out off-my mum is more than capable of taking them and i will be making a list of things for each of them. I will just feel better tommorow when i can make sure i can book Haven in also and have made my list for the vet.
Melt down over-i just felt a little overwhelmed with it all. Rest assured am feeling better than i was. Thanks so much to everyone on for all the support. x
 
Karen is usually happy to talk to a vet over the phone, maybe ask her?
 
Thanks Helen. I'm sure it will all go ok and my mum will be fine with them i am sure. But if we need to go back again or if it dosnt get sorted i may ask Karen. Thanks everyone for the support. Things usually look better in the morning -and sure enough am more possitive now.
 
Am much less worried about Haven now...have realised i had to buy diffrent hay as i ran out and its been since then and at night when i top up hay i hear the hooting noise. She will get checked over by john when she has her op...am keeping an eye but she is fine racing around. Am still yhinking heart for Honor as she presents lots of symptoms. Either way vets tommor.
 
Thanks, now i have been paid i can order some of the usual hay. Need to also book Haven to have her cyst removed soon. Going to be an expensive month, but they are both well worth it :D
 
Sorry Jenny, I have only just seen this thread, sending lots of good luck vibes for tomorrow and love to both your special ladies :love: Will keep checking back for updates. Huge hugs to you too from Rach & I x
 
Thanks i do love them so much-they are my world :). I will be so happy when they are sorted and healthy and they can get a boyfriend each woohoo. :D
 
Got the carry case, veggies and hay bag along with list of symptoms ready for my mum to take to the vets tommor :) Will be glued to my mobile tommor. :whistle:
 
Do keep us updated on how she gets on! I very much suspect one of my girls has heart problems so I'd be interested to hear how they go about diagnosing. All the best for tomorrow!
 
jenniferanneharris said:
Got the carry case, veggies and hay bag along with list of symptoms ready for my mum to take to the vets tommor :) Will be glued to my mobile tommor. :whistle:
Click to expand...
Best of luck tomorrow. Keep us updated how she gets on. I find Ruby reacts quite badly (nasal noises and snuffling) to hay the further it gets towards the bottom of the bag where it can get quite dusty- so I end up chucking a fair bit out.
Try not to worry yourself too much, I have sent my Mum to the vets on several occasions armed with a list of symptoms etc and it has all been pretty ok.

@Phoebe-PP I am by no means an expert in heart problems, but if you want to know anything about how my Esme was diagnosed with heart problems please feel free to PM me.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top