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Has Bella got a cold?

  • Thread starter Thread starter annaliese
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annaliese

Hi All, my new little one Bella has come over with the sniffles, she has a sticky eye which i have been cleaning (its kind of like sleep goo on and around her eye) she has been sneezing a bit and coughing but i suspect the coughing is from eating too quickly :P She doesn't seem phased she's running about popcorning and eating her veggies as usual... although i do know in the wild they could have four broken legs and still keep running because they are a prey animal :\ I'm just a little bit worried and i thought id seek a little advice and see if any of you have had similar experience and could help out at all :) thankyou
 
Hi there, well i'd be honest and say i'd have my little Bella checked out if i was you......
I'm sure some more of our more experienced people on meds etc.. will advise a bit later
Good luck and please keep us up todate xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
for little Bella we send heaps of healing wheeeeeeeeeks and loves xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>
 
We've done a little web searching typing stuff in etc and due to her age and symptoms we think its sticky eye... her breathing is fine and shes only coughing when shes eating, i'm gonna call my friend later as his dad is a vet and owns a large chain in our area, see what he has to say... the websites generally suggested using eye drops can anyone say any different or suggest a better idea?
 
If it's just a sore eye you can bathe it safely in boiled (cooled) water or Optrex, but if the eye is just part of the symptoms - it's unlikely that eating too quickly would make them cough- she may have something like an upper respiratory tract infection or similar which would need antibiotics. Does her chest sound rattly if you put your ear against it? If so then a trip to the vet is in order

Sophie
x
 
nah her breathing is fine, she seems to be doing a tiny cough when her and silver are competing for veggies *** whenever we see her coughing shes got something or other hanging out of her little furry face :) its really just her eye, its like when we get sleep in our eye and its kinda claggy... I'v wiped away the goo with warm water on a cotton wool pad and it seems better but i was wondering how people felt about the eye drop solution etc ... I'm gonna send the boy out for some now :) thanks your a star
 
if the eye drops dont help its gonna be a trip to the vets tomorrow methinks :)
 
little miss is going to the vets on thursday bless her, ill keep you updated :)
 
It is wise to get her checked. The eye "goo" could be down to a localised trauma, an infection, or an allergy/irritation. Best to rule out a respiratory infection before considering what she could be sensitive ("allergic" ) to. What is she bedded on?
 
shavings at the moment unfortunately but they get a lot of floortime because i don't really like them to be on shavings too much... I would have them on fleece and towels but unfortunately i live with my nana and shes in charge of the washing at the moment :\ so bedding change will have to wait til i move out later on this year, do you think it could be the shavings? I don't put in straw because i heard they can poke themselves in the eyes with it :\
 
It's a distinct possibility, pigs can be sensitive to shavings. Do you put hay on top of the shavings? Removing the shavings and simply sticking to hay and newspaper may help, provided the hay is not too dusty.

You're right to avoid straw; hay pokes aren't usually too bad, but straw pokes could be a lot nastier!
 
right thats it then tomorrow i will take out the shavings and put in just hay and newspaper :) The sooner i can get my C+C built the better as far as i'm concerned... i try to give them as much floor time as possible, which is around 7-8 hours at a time at the moment as i haven't been well and have just had them wandering around me with their veggies, pellets and water... theyre loving it though, popcorning allover the place :) It seems her eye gets worse overnight though when shes been in the cage and improves over the day when i have cleaned it and she's been away from the shavings.
 
could i soak and dry the hay similarly to what you would do with horses to get rid of the dust? Although would it grow mildew because we feed it to the horses damp
 
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The best way to deal with dust in the hay is to buy dust-extracted hay and to shake each handful inside a cardboard box prior to putting it in the cage. It is surprising how much dust comes out of some dust-extracted hays!

No soaking and drying it as moist hay is not so good for piggies, I wouldn't risk it.

Good to hear you seem to have figured out what could be causing the eye and sneezing trouble. 7-8 hours is a fantastic length of time for them to be out and about - lucky piggies!
 
They do seem to really enjoy it haha they have all their necessities and they have full contact with us so they come up for their cuddles when they feel like it then go right back to playing/snoozing whatever they fancy :D its really just lovely to watch them, yesterday we had them out for about ten hours because we put the towel onto the bed (which is a double) and they got free run of the whole foot of the bed until we went to sleep :) then they went to beddy byes too haha. Silly as it sounds i am actually going to clean out their cage now so that it is just newspaper and hay (I'm going to give the hay a decent shake for good measure) If her eye is better in the morning we will know what it was, i obviously just want to eliminate all the factors because i'd hate to think she was ill over something that i'd caused... especially something as trivial and changeable as bedding :(
 
Good for you! I used to use shavings when I first got my guineas. In fact the lady in the pet shop (another never again) said to use shavings, feed museli and treat veggies like sweets ie: once or twice a week! It's funny the things we get told by supposed 'experts'.

One of mine used to sneeze all the time but i now can't remember the last time I heard any of them sneeze.

Let us know how yours gets on.
 
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The sneezing has stopped as has the coughing, we took out ALL the shavings ( i even hoovered haha) we are still treating her eye with salt water and drops to draw out and treat any kind of infection that may have set in as a result of the shavings e.g. lowered immune system often effects the olfactory senses :( her eye is much much better today! she has it open and although there was some residue this morning it was no where near as much as yesterday and it was not prohibiting her from opening her eye... Looks like were on the mend guys :D
 
Brilliant news, so glad it seems you've gotten to the bottom of it and the effect has been so quick. :)
 
I'm pleased too she seems much happier in herself and we're gonna give it another couple of days see how shes going, take her to the vets if its persisting and continuing the treatment a few days after the infection has cleared
 
oh by the way silver has taken to licking bellas eye after we've put the salt wash on it, is this gonna be harmful or remove the treatment :\ is there anything anyone can suggest?
 
No, I don't think it is harmful, as she is licking around the eye, and you use the sal****er to rinse things out, not to coat them.

It is normal behaviour, and actually VERY good for bonding!
 
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