Hooting / asthma ?

[NelsonMandela]

Goodmorning!

Sorry if my spelling isnt correct, I'm from the Netherlands..

My guinea pig Mandela (1.5 year old) has issues since he was only a couple of months old. Mostly around 3 or 4 in the morning he starts making hooting sounds. In the beginning it was short, maybe 10 minutes and he sneezed it away. Like something was blocking his nose, dust maybe. I rushed to the vet and they couldnt find anything. They said he was healthy but that he could have trouble with dust. I changed his food, hay, sawdust into hemp fiber. Which worked for a while for him but did not solve his problem completly. I also tried fleece bedding but it didnt help him. When it got worse (like hooting for 3 hours and not always being able to sneeze it away) I went back to the vet. They checked him again, nothing to worry about. Around february this year he had it for more then a day. So I rushed to the vet again since I also saw some snot around his nose and he sounded full. They heard the noise checked him. He got antibiotics, it worked but the hooting sound was still there once a while. I noticed during spring en summer he did not hoot every night. But since autumn started he is having issues every night. Keeping me awake and worried. I take him out of the cage and try to comfort him. I clean the cage almost every day. They get fresh veggies, water, hay and science selective every day. I also give them vitamine C. My other guinea pig has no issues at all, they are brothers.

Is there anyone who recognizes this? Someone with advice, things that I can try. He eats well, and is healthy. I found it strange that its mostly starting at night.

Thank you so much for reading

 

[Piggies&buns]

So the noise is only happening at night? You don’t hear it at all during the day?
if so, that makes it sound less likely it’s a health issue as if your piggy was ill, then he’d be ill in the day too. Is he perhaps eating too fast during the night which causes this (piggies have narrow airways and haydust, bedding dust, eating too fast can all cause obstruction and make their breathing loud).
are there any other environment factors which may be occurring - air freshners, change in humidity in your house?

 

[NelsonMandela]

Thank you for your reply.

Mostly it starts at night and sometimes I do hear him during the day. I dont have air freshners, the temperature in my house (a studio) dropped to 19.5 degrees now. In spring / summer its mostly around 22 degrees. Thats the online thing that changed I can think of.

During summer he has it 2 or 3 nights a week.

 

[Wiebke]

Goodmorning!

Sorry if my spelling isnt correct, I'm from the Netherlands..

My guinea pig Mandela (1.5 year old) has issues since he was only a couple of months old. Mostly around 3 or 4 in the morning he starts making hooting sounds. In the beginning it was short, maybe 10 minutes and he sneezed it away. Like something was blocking his nose, dust maybe. I rushed to the vet and they couldnt find anything. They said he was healthy but that he could have trouble with dust. I changed his food, hay, sawdust into hemp fiber. Which worked for a while for him but did not solve his problem completly. I also tried fleece bedding but it didnt help him. When it got worse (like hooting for 3 hours and not always being able to sneeze it away) I went back to the vet. They checked him again, nothing to worry about. Around february this year he had it for more then a day. So I rushed to the vet again since I also saw some snot around his nose and he sounded full. They heard the noise checked him. He got antibiotics, it worked but the hooting sound was still there once a while. I noticed during spring en summer he did not hoot every night. But since autumn started he is having issues every night. Keeping me awake and worried. I take him out of the cage and try to comfort him. I clean the cage almost every day. They get fresh veggies, water, hay and science selective every day. I also give them vitamine C. My other guinea pig has no issues at all, they are brothers.

Is there anyone who recognizes this? Someone with advice, things that I can try. He eats well, and is healthy. I found it strange that its mostly starting at night.

Thank you so much for reading

Hi!

Have you considered that dry air may play a role in the hooting? See whether a bowl of steaming water does relieve the symptoms somewhat. If yes, I would recommend looking into humidifiers as one way of easing any congestion in the nose which is generally more audible either when a piggy is eating or when they are very relaxed/sleeping. They are not great mouth breathers so any little obstruction is very audible. Hooting is typical for a problem in the nose.

Dust in hay may provide the obstruction; some piggies are much more sensitive than others.

I would however not think that you are dealing with a respiratory infection of whatever sort.

 

[NelsonMandela]

Hi!

Have you considered that dry air may play a role in the hooting? See whether a bowl of steaming water does relieve the symptoms somewhat. If yes, I would recommend looking into humidifiers as one way of easing any congestion in the nose which is generally more audible either when a piggy is eating or when they are very relaxed/sleeping. They are not great mouth breathers so any little obstruction is very audible. Hooting is typical for a problem in the nose.

Dust in hay may provide the obstruction; some piggies are much more sensitive than others.

I would however not think that you are dealing with a respiratory infection of whatever sort.

Hi Wiebke

Thank you so much for your reply.
I will give it a try this night!
Do i keep him above it? Or just place the bowl next to the cage?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi Wiebke

Thank you so much for your reply.
I will give it a try this night!
Do i keep him above it? Or just place the bowl next to the cage?

Just place a bowl next to the cage and start now to help moisturising the indoors air for the night; if you wake up in the middle of the night, you may want to refresh the water in the bowl. See whether that makes the hooting better or (hopefully not) worse. But it is a useful tester to see whether drier air is contributing to the problem.

 

[NelsonMandela]

Just place a bowl next to the cage and start now to help moisturising the indoors air for the night; if you wake up in the middle of the night, you may want to refresh the water in the bowl. See whether that makes the hooting better or (hopefully not) worse. But it is a useful tester to see whether drier air is contributing to the problem.

Thank you! Going to place it right now