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Help! My piggie is wheezing!

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gpmomma

Teenage Guinea Pig
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It isn't constant. Only when he wheeks. He just got off meds for a URI a week ago. He is about 3 months old. I still have meds for a URI. What should I do?!
 
Keep in mind us from the US are 4-5 hours behind our UK friends :). You could give him some abis left over from last time and call the vet in the morning. Or if your really worried call the emergency vets. Hth xx.
 
I would if it was me, but I'm not a vet. If he is displaying the same symptoms as last time, it could be a good idea to jump start on treatment. Again, it's up to you.
 
I think I will wait and see if it gets better. If he doesn't get better, he gets meds. If the symptoms stop after that, I will cancel the vet.
 
Is he still wheezing ? I would contact your vet asap for advice, some URI'S are stubborn and think he may need checking over again :)
 
What are the meds you refer to?
What are their concentrations?
What is his/her weight?

How much have you been told to give?

What are the curent symptoms?



No-one can answer your question without the above info

x
 
Give him a hankie, otherwise take him to the vets.

You could keep an eye on him and see what he is doing when he wheezes- that may give you a clue into what is causing it.
 
gpmomma said:
It isn't constant. Only when he wheeks. He just got off meds for a URI a week ago. He is about 3 months old. I still have meds for a URI. What should I do?!
Click to expand...

Right.. I'm sorry about this but this could be something akin to what Biscuit had. He kept getting URIs. What you might want to ask your vet for is a tracheal swab. They will anaesthatise him and take a sample from his trachea. This way they can identify the specific bacterium in question.

Biscuit had several URIs followed by pneumonia until we finally identified the bacterium as Streptacoccus Intermediary (spelling?), we got the right anti-biotic and he's been fine ever since :)
 
He is only wheezing when he squeaks. He is going to a better vet. His meds are a coughing syrup and a little bit of baytril since he is little.
 
My wallet officially hates me. Going to a rescue recommended vet. Peanut sneezes and wheezes. He will squeak loudly, then breath in deeply, then wheeze sound, then breath out, then repeat. I can give him the meds?
 
gpmomma said:
We have to wait till Monday when the rodent specialist is in.
Click to expand...

If this is persistent and you're going to a rodentologist or exotic specialist vet then I would definitely ask to get a tracheal swab done. It won't be cheap but getting this taken care of once and for all is better than constantly treating recurring URIs and much better for your pig too.

As I said, Biscuit kept getting URIs, kept getting treated and recovering and then relapsing until he finally got pneumonia. At this point, my vet finally suggested a tracheal swab (I think the sample was even sent to the US...) and we identified the bacterium and got it nailed.

The thing with broad-spectrum anti-biotics or things like Baytril that get used a lot is that, they may treat the symtoms of the bacterial infection but if it's a particularly vicious bacterium or it's right down deep in the lungs, it won't actually kill the bacterial infection itself and the URIs will keep coming back. A swab should identify the exact bacterium and your vet can then prescribe a more specifically targeted anti-biotic.

Fingers crossed for you and your piggy and I hope for a speedy recovery.
 
The only good one I know of is an hour and 30 minutes away. The other not so good one would just give me more meds. Can I give the meds for a URI?
 
I couldn't tell you because I'm not a vet and I don't want to give you bad advice. Did they work last time?

If they did and you have to wait 'til Monday to see the specialist then, in your place, I would treat as last time just to try to keep the breathing going and the eating up. If piggy is finding hard to breathe then it becomes a choice between eating and breathing and that's not good.

Have you listened to piggy's chest? Sometimes, if there's a wheeze you can here a wheeze or a rattle on the chest too, if you have to wait 'til Monday and you are going to treat with your remaining meds then try to keep a check on the chest sounds. It's quite hard to do too keep piggy still and get your ear against his/her chest but if there's a wheeze in the lungs you'll hear it quite clearly.

If there's no wheeze/rattle in the chest then the infection/outbreak is still in the upper respitory tract which, while still urgent and needs treating, is less worrying than if it were on the chest.

Sorry, also what meds are they? Is it an anti-biotic?
 
I don't know the syrup to be honest and I've never heard of a cough syrup for guinea pigs. Maybe it's something we don't have over here.

I think if they had an effect last time then you should use them as prescribed befor to tide you over until you can see your specialist.

I know Baytril is a widely used anti-biotic so it's probably taken care of the symptoms in the past but may not have wiped out the bacteria. This is probably the best thing to give until you can get a more effective anti-biotic.
 
I looked at syrpalta a little on the net and it seems to be the syrup in which an active ingedient should be compounded. Does the bottle give an active ingredient as well?

Take a look:

http://chemicals.zibb.com/trademark/syrpalta/29351689

I'm just wondering if it's maybe not necessary but, just to be sure, I would do exactly what you did last time in terms of treatment and hopefully the specialist will be able to get to the bottom of this on Monday.
 
How is he doing today? Only one more day to go before the specialist, how is the little fellow holidng up? Is Baytril having any effect?

I'm sure you've thought of this but please rembember to tell the specialist about any meds that you have used.

I hope he's doing ok and hope tomorrow goes well :)
 
He is doing better than before. Strange thing is, he only wheezes when he gets excited and squeaks really loudly. I am keeping him with his buddy Latte because 1 Latte is the hardiest piggie I know, 2 Peanut is a lot more comfortable around him. Latte is kind of like a big brother to Peanut.
 
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