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Piggy sneezing for 24 hours

StevieWanda

StevieWanda

New Born Pup
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Hey everyone!
I noticed yesterday that my 14w old piggy Stevie has been sneezing. Sometimes it’s every 20-30 mins, then not sneezing for a couple hours. She’s in a cage with her sister who isn’t sneezing. theyre both eating very well, playing around and being sociable.

i checked her eyes and they look fine, her nose doesn’t have any obvious discharge. I called the vets for some advise and they suggested I keep an eye but that sometimes piggies will sneeze (like humans).
ive been using woodshaving bedding and hay for them. I’m worried maybe they’re allergic/it’s too dusty.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what sort of bedding I could potentially transfer them to? With my previous pigs I used wood shavings and they never had an issue with it. Also any advise about the sneezing/what to look out for would be valuable.

thank you!
 
What type of wood shavings are you using? Certain ones can irritate their sensitive respiratory system. Also, is the vet you checked with a guinea pig savy vet?
 
Vegetable_Monster said:
I would keep an eye , but make sure the vet definitely will see you if things do start showing up like runny eyes , nose , laboured breathing , low appetite , hunched posture . Could be the wood shavings . I really don't like shavings , I would rather use abiouse which is a chopped hemp stem , very low dust , almost scent free bedding , which is loads cheaper than wood shavings . Most commonly found at farm shops or horse places .
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That’s really valuable thank you. I haven’t heard of the abiouse before, I’ll look into it!
 
Hope4gem said:
What type of wood shavings are you using? Certain ones can irritate their sensitive respiratory system. Also, is the vet you checked with a guinea pig savy vet?
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I have been using the woodshavings from the local pet store. It’s supposedly had dust extracted (but I myself am allergic to dust and whenever I change their cage, I do get a bit sneezy so maybe not). I’ve been looking into potentially changing their cage lining to fleece but I still need to do some more research.

I took them for a vet check up a couple weeks ago and the vet seemed knowledgable and confident - I tried getting an appointment with one of the recommended vets I found in a different thread but sadly all my local ones weren't taking new patients.
 
Sounds like it would be worth switching out their bedding to see if that makes a difference. Personally I use a combination of fleece and paper bedding. I use paper bedding in the covered areas of the cage and fleece with absorbent lining in the main area of their cage. I'd also encourage you to get your Piggies checked by a vet if the sneezing is excessive and continues. Hope your Piggies are okay.
 
Hope4gem said:
Sounds like it would be worth switching out their bedding to see if that makes a difference. Personally I use a combination of fleece and paper bedding. I use paper bedding in the covered areas of the cage and fleece with absorbent lining in the main area of their cage. I'd also encourage you to get your Piggies checked by a vet if the sneezing is excessive and continues. Hope your Piggies are okay.
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Thank you for the advise. I ordered some megazorb and some fleece bedding to be delivered this week. Hopefully that does the trick and in the meantime I’ll keep an eye out for any change/deterioration.
 
Just an update: today I noticed Stevie had some discharge coming out of her nose. She hasn’t been sneezing as much in the last day or so, so I thought she was on the mend. Made sure to promptly get in touch with the vet - we’re going tomorrow. I’m trying to stay positive as she has no other symptoms :(
It’s awful to see your fur baby not at 100% :( I’m so worried
 
StevieWanda said:
Just an update: today I noticed Stevie had some discharge coming out of her nose. She hasn’t been sneezing as much in the last day or so, so I thought she was on the mend. Made sure to promptly get in touch with the vet - we’re going tomorrow. I’m trying to stay positive as she has no other symptoms :(
It’s awful to see your fur baby not at 100% :( I’m so worried
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Glad you're getting your piggy checked by a vet. I hope they're feeling better soon!
Edit: here's guides with some information that may be helpful.
Emergency Resources & Critical Illness Care
New piggy problems (including upper respiratory infection)
 
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Piggy is on antibiotics and doing very well. The vet wasn’t too concerned, the antibiotics are more prophylactic. Chest sounds clear, tummy fine, just some inflammation in her nose from the sneezing. Very happy it’s nothing serious!
 
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