Dusty Hay?

[Bitsato]

Hey, lately one of my piggies has started sneezing a lot. When I got him, in the first few weeks it was okay, then he was sneezing 1-2 times per day, some days he didn't at all. The other piggy doesn't sneeze, atleast I haven't heard/seen him sneeze.
The hay that we're using is Vitakraft's Alpine meadow hay I think, and it is a bit dusty, so usually i take it out of the bag and try to clean it as much as I can, but I'm afraid it's still too dusty for one of my piggies. It's the only hay, that we have here that's actually green and not straws. I could order it on Amazon, but the shipping is so long (usually 2-4 weeks), that I'm afraid that it wouldn't be good by the time it arrives.
So, is there any way that I could get rid of the dust? I saw somewhere that you could spray the hay with a little bit of water and then the dust sticks to the hay and it won't fly around...? I haven't tried it, because it sounds weird.. any thoughts?
This is the hay that we're using now. This one wasn't a good batch though.

 

[biscandmatt]

i'd probably take him to the vets first to rule out a respiratory infection, especially because the sneezing has increased recently. sensitivities are quite common but true allergies are rare.

you probably already do this, but i always try and transfer hay from it's original packaging to cardboard boxes outside where i can shake off alot of the little fine bits of dust and shorter strands.

misting the hay or soaking it completely is recommended sometimes for respiratory pets but it has to be changed very regularly to stop it becoming mouldy. it can sometimes be too damp for some piggies aswell. so i'd ask the vet about whether that would work for your piggies aswell. it was recommended for both my respiratory rabbits at their worst stage, however it worked better for one but made the other sneeze so it depends on the individual sometimes.

i'm not sure if the hayexperts deliver to you, but they could be a good option as they sell a variety of hays, all good quality

 

[7squeakers.]

Perhaps you could put the hay in some kind of mesh bag, take it out into the open and then blow away as much dust as possible with a hair dryer.

 

[Bitsato]

you probably already do this, but i always try and transfer hay from it's original packaging to cardboard boxes outside where i can shake off alot of the little fine bits of dust and shorter strands.

I do the same, yes. Since we can't get to a vet before new year, because the waiting list is so long (we just got an appointment for our cat for the 5th of January), I'll keep a close eye on him, fortunately he only sneezed once last night and he hasn't today at all. If he starts sneezing hard again I'll try to get an appointment to a different vet.

i'm not sure if the hayexperts deliver to you

I live in Estonia, so unfortunately they don't

I bought a different hay today, it doesn't seem as dusty as the other, though it's a bit strawy, but the straws are quite soft, if that makes any sense. I hope they like this one too, because I think this one would be better.


But thank you both, I'll try your suggestions