EverythingGP
Junior Guinea Pig
Morning Folks
Our Humphrey is 4 and on Wednesday evening, we came in to find him quite unwell. His breathing was laboured and he sounded chesty. When we left him a couple of hours earlier he was absolutely fine, his normal self and eating well (very well!)
He has, in the past, occasionally got food stuck which makes his breathing rattly and noisy but he usually clears this himself within a day or so with a good cough. We thought that perhaps the same had happened again and he'd been struggling to clear it and had tired himself out.
We took him straight to the vets that night and they looked down his throat (as far as possible without anaesthetic) and couldn't see anything obvious. After the procedure, he did some squirming and a cough so we wondered whether this has dislodged the blockage. The vet injected antibiotics, a diuretic and some metacam. The vet explained that there was no obvious heart murmur and as far as she could tell his chest was clear. The noise we were hearing was coming from his upper airways. His teeth were also all in good order, temperature and weight all good.
Over night he perked up nicely and was eating hay, nuts and greens. We kept a close eye on him and his breathing settled and he was more his usual self again. Since the vet visit, we have been giving him a low dose of oral metacam (in case the blockage is causing an inflammation in the airway) and baytril just to cover his chest in case of aspiration (belt and braces).
We're pleased to report that Humphrey is now much better and back to his normal self. He's eating well, chuckling and causing his usual havoc (he's especially enjoying all the additional attention, like he didn't get enough before!).
Our only concern is that his breathing is still rattling on occasion. It's intermittent and can be quite loud at times. We think there must be something still rattling around in his upper airway, a piece of food perhaps? He has no nasal discharge at all, his chin is dry and he continues to be bright and eat well. We've encourage him to move around in the hope of inducing a cough and shifting whatever is stuck but it doesn't seem to want to shift.
Any advice anyone? We're at a loss as to what to do about shifting this. It's definitely upper airways and it sounds like he just needs a good cough or sneeze to shift whatever it is. It doesn't seem to be bothering him, it's distressing us far more!
Answers on a post card please....
Many thanks :-)
Our Humphrey is 4 and on Wednesday evening, we came in to find him quite unwell. His breathing was laboured and he sounded chesty. When we left him a couple of hours earlier he was absolutely fine, his normal self and eating well (very well!)
He has, in the past, occasionally got food stuck which makes his breathing rattly and noisy but he usually clears this himself within a day or so with a good cough. We thought that perhaps the same had happened again and he'd been struggling to clear it and had tired himself out.
We took him straight to the vets that night and they looked down his throat (as far as possible without anaesthetic) and couldn't see anything obvious. After the procedure, he did some squirming and a cough so we wondered whether this has dislodged the blockage. The vet injected antibiotics, a diuretic and some metacam. The vet explained that there was no obvious heart murmur and as far as she could tell his chest was clear. The noise we were hearing was coming from his upper airways. His teeth were also all in good order, temperature and weight all good.
Over night he perked up nicely and was eating hay, nuts and greens. We kept a close eye on him and his breathing settled and he was more his usual self again. Since the vet visit, we have been giving him a low dose of oral metacam (in case the blockage is causing an inflammation in the airway) and baytril just to cover his chest in case of aspiration (belt and braces).
We're pleased to report that Humphrey is now much better and back to his normal self. He's eating well, chuckling and causing his usual havoc (he's especially enjoying all the additional attention, like he didn't get enough before!).
Our only concern is that his breathing is still rattling on occasion. It's intermittent and can be quite loud at times. We think there must be something still rattling around in his upper airway, a piece of food perhaps? He has no nasal discharge at all, his chin is dry and he continues to be bright and eat well. We've encourage him to move around in the hope of inducing a cough and shifting whatever is stuck but it doesn't seem to want to shift.
Any advice anyone? We're at a loss as to what to do about shifting this. It's definitely upper airways and it sounds like he just needs a good cough or sneeze to shift whatever it is. It doesn't seem to be bothering him, it's distressing us far more!
Answers on a post card please....
Many thanks :-)
