LucyP
Forum Donator 2024/25
Hi all
Hope you are well and your pigs too.
Back in March this year, our 4-5 year old rescue pig Dottie had a bit of a clicking sound on one side of her chest so was given a course of antibiotics. There were no other obvious symptoms, we caught it early I think, the noise was very short lived, and within a couple of weeks she seemed fine.
Lately it appears that her breathing has been slightly laboured but not hugely so. We also are not sure if she has been laying down a bit more than usual, I think she had, but we may have been looking out for this more. Her appetite, weight and general behaviour have all been otherwise great, she seems to be a very happy pig bumbling around the cage.
Took her to the exotic vets today for an examination and they couldn’t hear or see anything wrong. They felt they may at a push have heard a very slight heart murmur but were not really fully convinced about this. No crackles or sounds of fluids. But they also agreed her breathing in the videos was a bit effortful. They also said the guinea pig chest is not always easy to hear well, even with stethoscope. So all a bit inconclusive.
The possible issues could be-
- A low level lung infection that is going under the radar, but there are no obvious signs of this
- some scarring (fibrosis) of the lungs due to previous issues that makes breathing a bit more effortful for her
- a heart condition
- a thyroid issue
- something else
As it happens, Dottie had a conscious x ray for ‘healthy pig comparison’ purposes in April when her friend was sick and that didn’t show anything but the quality of the scan was poor, as she was not sedated so this meant her legs were in the way and she was moving a bit. So no signs of heart issues there but not a clear scan.
Given her age and her potential vulnerability I am not sure about giving her anaesthetic for further tests and the vet is not sure they are entirely warranted, but our options if we want to pursue a diagnosis are:
- conscious ultrasound to see the heart- which could be moderately helpful.
- some gas/anaesthetic for blood tests and x ray to help distinguish if it’s heart, lungs, nothing, or something else. Blood tests could also be done at the same time.
Or we can watch and wait, which is not unreasonable since she seems ok in herself. I’m going to mull it over but if anyone has thoughts or similar experiences that would be great.
One more question if I may- a different issue: one of the vets last year felt Dottie may have scurvy (she was underweight when we rescued her and may have had a poor diet), and she had quite a lot of debris/rough looking skin. Samples and scrapes were taken at the vets at the time and whatever it was didn’t move under the miscroscope so was assumed to be dandruff/scurvy. We gave her 2 weeks of vitamin c supplements (and she has always had a great diet since she has been with us since last year, with peppers every day etc.) whatever it was it didn’t seem to totally clear up (although she doesn’t like being brushed and she has long hair so we thought maybe it was old dandruff hanging around). Anyway, 6 months later and today’s vet found the skin issue still there. She put a sample under the microscope and it didn’t move so I think thought can’t be mites, but because this has been there a while the vet was suspicious enough to think it warranted some xeno to be applied, which she has done. So my question on this is- is it possible or common for samples not moving under a scope to still turn out to be parasites? I assume it doesn’t harm to treat them just in case but I’m curious. I’ll try and send a pic later.
Many thanks
Lucy
Hope you are well and your pigs too.
Back in March this year, our 4-5 year old rescue pig Dottie had a bit of a clicking sound on one side of her chest so was given a course of antibiotics. There were no other obvious symptoms, we caught it early I think, the noise was very short lived, and within a couple of weeks she seemed fine.
Lately it appears that her breathing has been slightly laboured but not hugely so. We also are not sure if she has been laying down a bit more than usual, I think she had, but we may have been looking out for this more. Her appetite, weight and general behaviour have all been otherwise great, she seems to be a very happy pig bumbling around the cage.
Took her to the exotic vets today for an examination and they couldn’t hear or see anything wrong. They felt they may at a push have heard a very slight heart murmur but were not really fully convinced about this. No crackles or sounds of fluids. But they also agreed her breathing in the videos was a bit effortful. They also said the guinea pig chest is not always easy to hear well, even with stethoscope. So all a bit inconclusive.
The possible issues could be-
- A low level lung infection that is going under the radar, but there are no obvious signs of this
- some scarring (fibrosis) of the lungs due to previous issues that makes breathing a bit more effortful for her
- a heart condition
- a thyroid issue
- something else
As it happens, Dottie had a conscious x ray for ‘healthy pig comparison’ purposes in April when her friend was sick and that didn’t show anything but the quality of the scan was poor, as she was not sedated so this meant her legs were in the way and she was moving a bit. So no signs of heart issues there but not a clear scan.
Given her age and her potential vulnerability I am not sure about giving her anaesthetic for further tests and the vet is not sure they are entirely warranted, but our options if we want to pursue a diagnosis are:
- conscious ultrasound to see the heart- which could be moderately helpful.
- some gas/anaesthetic for blood tests and x ray to help distinguish if it’s heart, lungs, nothing, or something else. Blood tests could also be done at the same time.
Or we can watch and wait, which is not unreasonable since she seems ok in herself. I’m going to mull it over but if anyone has thoughts or similar experiences that would be great.
One more question if I may- a different issue: one of the vets last year felt Dottie may have scurvy (she was underweight when we rescued her and may have had a poor diet), and she had quite a lot of debris/rough looking skin. Samples and scrapes were taken at the vets at the time and whatever it was didn’t move under the miscroscope so was assumed to be dandruff/scurvy. We gave her 2 weeks of vitamin c supplements (and she has always had a great diet since she has been with us since last year, with peppers every day etc.) whatever it was it didn’t seem to totally clear up (although she doesn’t like being brushed and she has long hair so we thought maybe it was old dandruff hanging around). Anyway, 6 months later and today’s vet found the skin issue still there. She put a sample under the microscope and it didn’t move so I think thought can’t be mites, but because this has been there a while the vet was suspicious enough to think it warranted some xeno to be applied, which she has done. So my question on this is- is it possible or common for samples not moving under a scope to still turn out to be parasites? I assume it doesn’t harm to treat them just in case but I’m curious. I’ll try and send a pic later.
Many thanks
Lucy