DougalandDiego
Teenage Guinea Pig
Hi everyone!
On Christmas Eve I noticed that Diego was making some funny wheezy noises when breathing. Which seemed to stop after 30 mins or so. Due to it being Christmas Eve I took him to the vets anyway just to be on the safe side. The vet said he couldn’t hear anything when he listened to his chest/lungs and said he could have had something stuck in his throat and he cleared it and that’s why the noise stopped.
Yesterday I noticed he was making a similar hooting noise when eating and moving around his cage - this time it sounded a little worse but seemed to stop after a couple of hours.
Today I took him to the same vet who listened again and diagnosed a heart murmur. He didn’t seem to suggest it was a major heart murmur and didn’t seem keen to put Diego on any medication other than suggest diutril if the symptoms got worse. He listened to his lungs for a long time and said that he couldnt hear any fluid on his lungs and suggested that the noises that were occurring (similar time around 6 when we get home from work and feed them) could be due to the fact he’s been lying down in and a little fluid has collected before he’s moved and cleared it again?
Diego is only around 7/8 months old and he seems happy enough in himself eating and moving happily enough and he doesn’t have any other symptoms other than sounding slightly stuffy on occasion.
However, it wasn’t until we left the vet and I researched heart murmurs in guinea pigs that some vets prescribe daily medication for Guinea pigs. Could it be that he didn’t think the murmur was bad enough or is it recommended that he should be on medication no matter how bad it is? He isn’t on the exotic vet list on the site but he is a very experienced vet and runs his own practise and I take my dog to him and he’s been very knowledgable but I wonder whether it’s best to get a second opinion from a piggie specialist?
Thanks in advance from a worried piggie mum xx
On Christmas Eve I noticed that Diego was making some funny wheezy noises when breathing. Which seemed to stop after 30 mins or so. Due to it being Christmas Eve I took him to the vets anyway just to be on the safe side. The vet said he couldn’t hear anything when he listened to his chest/lungs and said he could have had something stuck in his throat and he cleared it and that’s why the noise stopped.
Yesterday I noticed he was making a similar hooting noise when eating and moving around his cage - this time it sounded a little worse but seemed to stop after a couple of hours.
Today I took him to the same vet who listened again and diagnosed a heart murmur. He didn’t seem to suggest it was a major heart murmur and didn’t seem keen to put Diego on any medication other than suggest diutril if the symptoms got worse. He listened to his lungs for a long time and said that he couldnt hear any fluid on his lungs and suggested that the noises that were occurring (similar time around 6 when we get home from work and feed them) could be due to the fact he’s been lying down in and a little fluid has collected before he’s moved and cleared it again?
Diego is only around 7/8 months old and he seems happy enough in himself eating and moving happily enough and he doesn’t have any other symptoms other than sounding slightly stuffy on occasion.
However, it wasn’t until we left the vet and I researched heart murmurs in guinea pigs that some vets prescribe daily medication for Guinea pigs. Could it be that he didn’t think the murmur was bad enough or is it recommended that he should be on medication no matter how bad it is? He isn’t on the exotic vet list on the site but he is a very experienced vet and runs his own practise and I take my dog to him and he’s been very knowledgable but I wonder whether it’s best to get a second opinion from a piggie specialist?
Thanks in advance from a worried piggie mum xx
