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Hooting - Past pneumonia and URIs

O

OM91

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone.

Little Angus has been through it - he came out of a case of pneumonia about a month and a half ago. (He had a three month course of Baytril).

We noticed he's been hooting a lot. We took him to the emergency vet a couple of weeks ago but they couldn't find any evidence of URI. However, they did prescribe two weeks of Baytril just to be safe.

He's been having daily nebulisers but the hooting is still there.

He's eating, drinking and pooing happily enough.

I know the vets are at a loss as his examinations (from multiple vets) come back clear.
 
OM91 said:
Hi everyone.

Little Angus has been through it - he came out of a case of pneumonia about a month and a half ago. (He had a three month course of Baytril).

We noticed he's been hooting a lot. We took him to the emergency vet a couple of weeks ago but they couldn't find any evidence of URI. However, they did prescribe two weeks of Baytril just to be safe.

He's been having daily nebulisers but the hooting is still there.

He's eating, drinking and pooing happily enough.

I know the vets are at a loss as his examinations (from multiple vets) come back clear.
Click to expand...

Hi

It may be a little narrowing in the upper airways that can cause the hooting as a result of the respiratory problems and you may have to live with it as long as it is not impacting on his activity and appetite/weight.

I want to make this very clear that there is no properly established directly link but with persistent hooting your vet may perhaps want to keep an eye on the heart in the longer term.
 
Thank you so much for the tip. It's very much appreciated.

He gets spot cleaned each day but I've noticed and extra thorough sweeping of any residual hay dust seems to be helping to reduce the hooting.
 
Thank you so much for the tip. It's very much appreciated.

He gets spot cleaned each day but I've noticed and extra thorough sweeping of any residual hay dust seems to be helping to reduce the hooting.
 
Two things occur to me- first, if you're seeing the hooting improve on antibiotics and then resume when the course of antibiotics finishes, it may be worth seeing if you could try a different antibiotic. I had this happen with Hadley (the pig in my avatar) after a respiratory infection... she improved on the initial antibiotic but woud start hooting again when she finished. After two courses with the same results, we switched antibiotics and that did the trick. Our first antibiotic was probably not a good match for the bacteria she was fighting so it would improve somewhat while she was taking it but since it didn't kill all the bacteria she would end up back where she started once the antibiotic cleared her system.

It's also possible that this is the new normal due to changes as a result of the pneumonia. In that case you may have some luck keeping everything very dust-free to avoid irritation and monitoring for other symptoms like weight loss or lethargy rather than relying on breathing noises as a convincing sign of a new infection.

Hope this helps!
 
Freela said:
Two things occur to me- first, if you're seeing the hooting improve on antibiotics and then resume when the course of antibiotics finishes, it may be worth seeing if you could try a different antibiotic. I had this happen with Hadley (the pig in my avatar) after a respiratory infection... she improved on the initial antibiotic but woud start hooting again when she finished. After two courses with the same results, we switched antibiotics and that did the trick. Our first antibiotic was probably not a good match for the bacteria she was fighting so it would improve somewhat while she was taking it but since it didn't kill all the bacteria she would end up back where she started once the antibiotic cleared her system.

It's also possible that this is the new normal due to changes as a result of the pneumonia. In that case you may have some luck keeping everything very dust-free to avoid irritation and monitoring for other symptoms like weight loss or lethargy rather than relying on breathing noises as a convincing sign of a new infection.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Thank you for this. This is really helpful.

We noticed his hooting had started to get worse so increased his F10 nebulisers to twice daily.

After seeing an exotic vet, we've resumed Baytril for two weeks and have long term Metacam (0.4ml twice daily) as it seems to help.

The vet suggested that this is likely because his airway in his nose is inflamed, so we've placed a small air conditioning unit next to his cage to provide cool, moist air while it's still warm.

His lungs, chest and nose sounded clear when he examined with a stethoscope. Another vet also confirmed this.

He also has Bisolvon once a day on his food.

A huge sneeze seems to temporarily clear the hooting.

Thankfully his appetite and energy levels have been normal. His weight has stayed mostly the same. The only change has been the occasional slight increase.
 
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