My guinea pig, Blueberry is a Girl and lives with another girl and a boy. She is the oldest at 3 years old and has been making very wierd noises. It sounds like a very out of breath cough and it happens at random times of the day. I am very concerned because a few months ago she got a small lump on her side. It is hard but round and covered with fur. I started giving her some water and a clean cage. Her stomach is hard but she is light. I also noticed that her Stomach is big and round but her head is very small. Shes at a healthy weight of 660g. We have had a other guinea pig that died a year ago could it be anything about that? We are not bringing her to the vet because here in switzerland if a guinea pig is ill they just put it down. Need help as soon as possible.
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Guinea Pig random noises?
- Thread starter Benooki
- Start date
PigglePuggle
Senior Guinea Pig
If your piggy is having difficulty breathing and is coughing she certainly needs to see a vet as a matter of urgency. I doubt the vet would suggest pts for an easily treatable infection, from what other members tell us Switzerland has very high standards of animal welfare so maybe you just had a bad experience at the vets previously. I am tagging in @Swissgreys who can probably offer you some more country specific advice!
Your piggy needs to see a vet urgently - bloating and breathing issues are very serious
Sorry your guinea pig is not well.
She also sounds very underweight for her age - unless there is an underlying condition or she has recently lost a lot of weight then an adult piggy should be anywhere from around 900g +
It certainly sounds like she really needs to see a vet urgently - can you let me know roughly where in Switzerland (Kanton) that you live.
I have taken many of my guinea pigs to the vet here over the years, and have never been told just to put them to sleep - quite the opposite in fact.
All vets (ranging from my local village vet to the specialists in Zürich) have always offered excellent treatment and advice for every illness so matter how small.
My own local vet is not experienced with guinea pigs, but for non urgent things she has always been able to check with another colleague about treatment options. In more serious cases she was able to offer me a list of specialist vets in the area.
Have you had a previous expereince yourself that makes you think vets here won't treat guinea pigs?
She also sounds very underweight for her age - unless there is an underlying condition or she has recently lost a lot of weight then an adult piggy should be anywhere from around 900g +
It certainly sounds like she really needs to see a vet urgently - can you let me know roughly where in Switzerland (Kanton) that you live.
I have taken many of my guinea pigs to the vet here over the years, and have never been told just to put them to sleep - quite the opposite in fact.
All vets (ranging from my local village vet to the specialists in Zürich) have always offered excellent treatment and advice for every illness so matter how small.
My own local vet is not experienced with guinea pigs, but for non urgent things she has always been able to check with another colleague about treatment options. In more serious cases she was able to offer me a list of specialist vets in the area.
Have you had a previous expereince yourself that makes you think vets here won't treat guinea pigs?
2 years ago we had a piggy that had some kind of illness (not sure what anymore) and the vet put her down. Also in this small village the vets have a stereotype for just being bad. But no worries, she's gotten way less bloated and stopped with the breathing problems. We have her some tea and that was what helped her.
What did you give her? Nothing you can use at home will replace a proper prescription medication from a vet. Medications that you can buy from a pet shop for example are not strong enough to cure a problem, plus without a proper vet diagnosis you don’t know what medical condition you are treating.
Maybe the problem your previous piggy had really was untreatable, but although bloat can be fatal it can also be treated.
Please let me know what Kanton you are in and I can help provide you with details of some experienced small animal vets.
I also live in a small village, and as I said previously my local vet does not know a lot about guuinea pigs, but she is always willing to help. I travel a little further to see a specialist and it really is worth it. My specialist vet has a list of all small/exotic specialists across CH, so if I know more about the vaugue area you live in I can possibly help direct you to a better vet for your guinea pig.