Noises and coughing when eating

[s.buck]

Hi, one of our pigs often makes noises when he is eating or foraging for food and hay. The noise almost sounds like a real pig snorting when they are searching for food. It isn’t in time with his breathing and doesn’t sound like a URI as we’ve experienced that before. He also doesn’t make the noise when he’s sleeping or just generally wandering about. He also coughs quite often when he’s eating his veg. It seems to only be when he’s eating veg and doesn’t happen when he’s eating nuggets or hay. We just assumed that the noises were just noises of content and that the coughing was likely due to him eating too fast. However, we’ve recently read that heart problems can show similar symptoms. He is otherwise completly healthy. He’s active and comes out of his cage and wanders around just fine. He doesn’t have a runny nose and everything is in colour. He doesn’t have crusty eyes either (at least no more than he’s always had which isn’t much). Should this be anything to worry about?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

If the noises are connected with eating or drinking, then you are dealing with a greedy eater. That is nothing to worry about that. Too quick eating will hopefully settle down after a while.

If your piggy is rummaging in the hay and debris and then breathing in dust etc. they will sneeze/breathe it out. The symptoms you are reporting are not the ones that are those characteristic for a bacterial respiratory tract infection (URI) if that is your concern. URI and a viral human cold are not the same and while they can share some of the symptoms, they do not necessarily turn up in the same frequency and order.


The link with heart problems is tenuous (to be polite) and can only be considered in combination with other heart symptoms, none of which you are reporting. Unfortunately, this is one of those urban myths (there are unfortunately a number of them), which have made it into the syllabus picked up and perpetuated by eager students and 'online study experts' of such knowledge - mostly those without personal experience with heart piggies.

It is one of the major pitfalls of online research and trips up lots of anxious new owners; you are in good company there! Somebody has had a regularly coughing piggy diagnosed with heart failure at some point and it was eagerly picked up without putting the two symptoms into their correct context.
A direct link between greedy eating and heart problems has not borne out in our 15 years of experience on here with tens of thousands of piggies passing through. I have had had greedy coughing eaters living to 8 years of age and dying from a very different cause.
A heart piggy can (but doesn't by any means have to) cough; but when it does so, there are other pointers to a serious heart condition and they won't just do it when eating too quickly and having the energy to bounce around the cage. The same goes for it being a symptom of a well developed respiratory tract problem. Coughing is not a symptom you can see in isolation and be sure you get the correct problem, which is how a lot of the online health 'knowledge' sadly works.

One of the reasons we have a system of members with a badge monitoring this section specially is to ensure that those long debunked myths are not constantly carried back into our forum; forum members are welcome to contribute their personal experiences when dealing with the same problem themselves so there is a direct first-hand link with what they are recommending. The drawback of private online information is that there is no quality control.

If you have any concerns, please see a vet for a hands-on examination of the airways and heart. They do have the diagnostics and the training to put symptoms into a medical and physical context.