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Guinea pig deeper breathing

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jennyc12

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello,
I had to go away for a few days and when I came back, I noticed that one of my guinea pigs had slightly deeper breathing. My partner was looking after them, but he hadn’t noticed anything—probably because I usually keep a very close eye on them.


I’d had to travel up north a few times due to a family emergency. The first time I returned after a long weekend, I felt he looked like he’d lost a little weight, but everything else seemed fine. When I came back the second time, I noticed the deeper breathing. I was worried he might’ve been in dusty hay—I usually throw out the dusty bottom of the bag but forgot to tell my partner that since I had to rush off.


I took him to the vet. They checked him and found no issues with his lung sounds, heart, temperature, and his weight was normal. He was prescribed 1 of Metacam once a day for five days. I brought him back on Friday because he had some nasal discharge and had lost a little weight, although we gave some emergency food so it wasn’t too much of a drop.

The vet then prescribed 0.8 mL co-trimoxazole twice a day for a week, along with the Metacam. His nose isn’t dripping now, he seems better, and his weight is staying around 1470 g or more. He’s eating, running around, toileting normally, and socialising. Yesterday (Thursday) I noticed his breathing seemed a tiny bit deeper again. I wasn’t sure if this was because we haven’t had the heating on, so I put it back on and gave some emergency food because it contains probiotics. I feel bad that I didn’t give probiotics every day as people online suggest, but the vet didn’t mention it.

I called the vet today and they said to continue with the Metacam but to stop the antibiotics now that he’s had seven days of them. They said to book an appointment next week if he gets worse. People online often say guinea pigs need more than a week of antibiotics, so I wanted to check if that’s true and whether I made a mistake not giving probiotics daily.

I’m just looking for some guidance: should the antibiotics have been longer? I also saw someone mention Olbas oil might help. They’re on fleece bedding, with puppy pads and towels in the hideys, and I change all the hay daily.

Thank you in advance for your help
 
I’m sorry to hear this

Probiotics can help stabilise the gut and counteract the affect of antibiotics on the gut.
They can be useful but they aren’t essential, particularly if he wasn’t affected by the antibiotics. However you can only give probiotics if the recovery feed is not fortified with them. As your recovery feed is fortified then you should not give additional probiotics.
A vet doesn’t always mention probiotics because they are not a medication.

Having the heating on dries the air and dry air can make breathing harder. So the fact it has happened the other way round for you doesn’t match the normal course of events.
We would recommend adding a bowl of steaming water near the cage to help humidify the air as it can help ease the breathing. Olbas oil is fine to use but you also don’t have to - just steaming water can be enough

Usually antibiotics for a respiratory infection are given for between 10 and 14 days.
If the infection hasn’t been cured by the course he has already had, then you will see a return of symptoms and would need to get him back to the vet

Otherwise keep up with daily weight checks so you can keep a close eye on hay intake

I hope he is ok
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’m sorry to hear this

Probiotics can help stabilise the gut and counteract the affect of antibiotics on the gut.
They can be useful but they aren’t essential, particularly if he wasn’t affected by the antibiotics. However you can only give probiotics if the recovery feed is not fortified with them. As your recovery feed is fortified then you should not give additional probiotics.
A vet doesn’t always mention probiotics because they are not a medication.

Having the heating on dries the air and dry air can make breathing harder. So the fact it has happened the other way round for you doesn’t match the normal course of events.
We would recommend adding a bowl of steaming water near the cage to help humidify the air as it can help ease the breathing. Olbas oil is fine to use but you also don’t have to - just steaming water can be enough

Usually antibiotics for a respiratory infection are given for between 10 and 14 days.
If the infection hasn’t been cured by the course he has already had, then you will see a return of symptoms and would need to get him back to the vet

Otherwise keep up with daily weight checks so you can keep a close eye on hay intake

I hope he is ok
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Thank you for your kindness and guidance.

Odd they said 7days rather than the 10-14 normally given, should I continue for a few more days? They said if he gets worse have to take him in and refer him to an exotic/get X-rays as couldn’t hear anything when we went in last week.

He’s eating, he was thrilled to have some grass I just cut for him, he’s moving about and I’m weighing him daily. I’m quite new to having Guinea pigs and this forum was so hopefully with my other pig.

I’ll try the steamed water as suggested, they have a full double bedroom set up with lots of space to run about so perhaps I’ll put a few one either side to help. This is their set up if I’m doing something wrong please tell me, I want to make sure they’ve all they need.

I’m not sure if the heat does impact was having a guess as somewhere said drafts. Should I turn the air purifier off? I put it on incase dust was in the air.

Thank you for your help!
 

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You can only give the antibiotics as per vet guidance - as they have said to stop then we cannot tell you to do anything other than to stop them

We often see an increase in breathing issues at this time of year and when central heating is turned on. Where a bacterial infection isn’t the case, dry air caused by heating is often the culprit.
Draughts can certainly cause them issues as well.

Their set up looks good!
 
Piggies&buns said:
You can only give the antibiotics as per vet guidance - as they have said to stop then we cannot tell you to do anything other than to stop them

We often see an increase in breathing issues at this time of year and when central heating is turned on. Where a bacterial infection isn’t the case, dry air caused by heating is often the culprit.
Draughts can certainly cause them issues as well.

Their set up looks good!
Click to expand...
Thank you for advising, I’ll stick to just the metacam.

I’ve put two bowls of hot water in the room and turned down the radiator, put the purifier on the very lowest setting so barely on, and I’m keeping an eye on him - he’s probably fed up of me now.

We rescued them from a school last year so no idea of age or history but I’m hoping they feel now they’re being cared for and that they’re happy free roaming indoor piggies
 
He didn’t seem right this evening, fluffy bit of a watery eye so we’ve had a vets trip after they reviewed a video, they have given him baytril for 10 days.

He’s had some grass I cut from the garden after the trip he’s not really in the mood to eat/emergency food atm but think he’s a bit stressed as he was ok in there vets soon as he’s home it’s like he’s relaxed gone back to how he was before we went.

Keeping an eye on him and will start the antibiotics tomorrow as he has his last lot of the other this afternoon.

If there’s anything else I’ve missed please do let me know, want to help him as much as possible. Thank you again!
 
He’s not really eating/pooping today. I gave him 0.4 of Baytril this morning mixed into baby food as advised, I’ve given him a bit of oxbrow emergency food and he’s staying at about 1430+.
 
jennyc12 said:
He’s not really eating/pooping today. I gave him 0.4 of Baytril this morning mixed into baby food as advised, I’ve given him a bit of oxbrow emergency food and he’s staying at about 1430+.
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Sending hugs. It’s horrible when they are poorly.
 
Thank you all, I appreciate this forum you’ve all been so kind. Such a lovely community x
He’s still not really eating or pooping (I’ve tried to massage his tummy) not sure if it’s stress atm or all the meds.
I’m keeping a close eye and doing the emergency food and I’ll contact the next exotic vets I was told about last night for guidance on when he needs brining back in x
 
Make sure you are syringe feeding enough critical care to keep his weight stable - at least 60ml per day. Weigh him once a day, each morning.
If he will eat the recovery feed without the baby food then please dont add the baby food - the last thing you want is for the veg to overtake the proportion of fibre in the recovery feed as it’s the fibre he needs for gut function. I prefer to never add baby food to it
 
Sorry I wasn’t clear I’ve only done emergency food with water, I’m trying to spread it out he’s had about 20 so far at least, I mixed a small amount of baby food into the antibiotic, that’s what the vet said to do but I won’t use it if it’s going to cause more issues
 
Really struggling to get him to eat the emergency food he’s hard to syringe today and he’s still not had poos, only seems to say baytril is really bad for Guinea pigs now I’m so confused if I’m making everything worse
 
What do you mean by you’re trying to spread it out?

Ah ok, baytril is bitter so mixing it with food can take the taste away. But it only works if your piggy is prepared to eat the baby food. Piggies have more taste buds than humans so they can pick up the taste of the baytril through it and then you’ve lost your leverage!

You aren’t making it worse.
Baytril isn’t bad for Guinea pigs. It’s the most commonly prescribed antibiotic. However Any antibiotic has the potential to cause gut disturbance and lack of appetite as it depletes the good gut bacteria as well as the bad illness causing bacteria.
All you can do is syringe feed through it (I know it’s not easy) and use a probiotic 1-2 hours either before or after a dose of antibiotic or poop soup from a healthy companion to help replace lost gut bacteria.

If he has completely stopped pooping and you cannot get food into him; then you would do best to contact an out of hours vet tonight

Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

There is a section in this guide about probiotics and poop soup

First Aid: Immediate Care Measures and Non-medication Products
 
Baytril is not bad for piggies but it can upset their stomachs. Are you giving a probiotic?

Just seen Piggies&buns has replied.
 
Oh I didn’t know about the tastebuds, maybe it’s why he hates the syringe now over a week of gross stuff.

Thank you for the guidance, spacing out I meant I’m trying to give the emergency food every few hours to get to the amount you said. Just gave him the next 0.4 antibiotic and I gave him about 10ml of the emergency food, he’s not a fan but I know I did get some into him but he’s not pooping. Hopefully once the antibiotics kick in he’ll feel better, it’s only been 1 day on this one, I’ve contacted the exotic vets, I’m continuing with the oxbow emergency food as it’s got the probiotic in and I can’t get any specific probiotic until tomorrow.
 
Feed as much as he will take at each sitting - the less he takes at each sitting, the more sittings you will need to do per day. (15ml per feed is about the average. 5ml means they are having a total lack of appetite. There is a section in the syringe feeding guide I added above which explains this further).

If the food you are giving him already has a probiotic in it then you cannot give any other type of probiotic independent of that. So no need for you to worry about that then - he is already getting what he needs.

Has he not pooped at all today?
 
Thank you for your help, I’m feeding as much as I can but I know he’s stressed he’s usually the greediest and always up for food but not today/part way through yesterday.

No not like normal he usually has big poops I’ve seen one odd funny one/mushy thing and a kind odd half one which he ate
 
This could mean his gut conveyer is struggling.

I see you have contacted the exotics but if you are worried about him tonight and the exotics don’t have out of hours, then I would encourage you to run this past an out of hours vet tonight - it may be ok and feeding will bring him out of it but he could also need some gut stimulants sooner than later
 
Just checked on him he’s done two small thin poops so hopefully he’s the emergency foods helped a little fingers crossed
 
It takes 1-2 days for food to be processed and come out the other end (so food today won’t produce poop until tomorrow). He may not have been eating quite enough for a couple of days (which would make sense if he was 1470 but is now 1430).

Poop soup is helpful to replace gut bacteria but it’s not going to replace a prescribed gut stimulant, if he needs one.

I’ve added in a guide below which explains poops - thin poops are of concern (it’s in the major illness section of the guide)

Wiebke's Guide to Poops
 
Thank you for the guides and your patience, I am very grateful. He wasn’t quite himself since Thursday/friday so you’re probably right a few days of feeling off.

I called the vets as I went yesterday they’re going to see if the same vet can call me back when he’s in and if he can give him a gut stimulant if needed. Luckily it’s my usual vets as well as emergency so they can book me for tomorrow too.
 
Happy to help.
You’re doing really well. Keep going with feeds as much as you can and keep us posted
I hope he is ok.
 
Vets said they’ll give me a gut stimulant, don’t have to pay for the emergency apt as I went yesterday and it’s my vets which is so kind.
I’ve booked a slot for tomorrow just incase but I’ll see if they advise giving it a day or so after the stimulant.

Thank you for your help @Piggies&buns I am grateful for your patience and kindness to my little family member x
 
He’s had a few small poos today throughout the day, still not a fan of the syringe feeding but we are continuing.
He ate one or two of the fluffy Timothy hay stands so I rushed out to get a new big bag and he’s had a few today which I think is an improvement and ate half a mini tomato probably for change of taste.

The exotic vets are waiting for mine to send notes to see if we need an apt quickly or to give everything a bit of time. Thanks again for the guidance x
 
Really pleased to hear he's pooing again, always a relief after gut stasis.

Keep it up!
 
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