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Please Help My New Pregnant Guinea Pig Has Crackly Breathing

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cochondinde

cochondinde

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Hi, I have had a new addition for 5 weeks. She shares her cage with a castrated pig so she was obviously already pregnant. I took them both to the vets because I heard occasional crackly breathing and didn't know which pig it was. The vet gave them a full bill of health and confirmed Poppy's pregnancy. The day after (yesterday) the crackly breathing was more noticeable so I phoned the vet and put the phone to Poppy's side so he could hear what I was hearing. He said he thinks because the babies are pushing up on her diaphragm it is harder for her to breathe. He also said it is difficult to treat a pregnant guinea pig due to secondary effects of medication on the babies. I am not sure of this and wonder if anybody has experienced this sort of breathing in their pregnant pigs. If it turns out she has a cold how do I treat it. I don't want it to be a cold that will go onto her lungs.

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I haven't noticed crackling, but I have seen them having a bit more trouble breathing when they are heavily pregnant. Is the crackling coming from her nose, or her lungs? You could try Vicks to help ease her breathing. It sounds like she's pretty far along, so you'll soon know if it is due to the babies, once she gives birth. Is she snotty? Is she eating and drinking OK (and pooping, weeing too). I would keep a close eye on her and take her back to the vets if you have any worries. Is you vet cavy-savvy? If not it would be worth looking at the vet finder on here.
 
Elwickcavies said:
I haven't noticed crackling, but I have seen them having a bit more trouble breathing when they are heavily pregnant. Is the crackling coming from her nose, or her lungs? You could try Vicks to help ease her breathing. It sounds like she's pretty far along, so you'll soon know if it is due to the babies, once she gives birth. Is she snotty? Is she eating and drinking OK (and pooping, weeing too). I would keep a close eye on her and take her back to the vets if you have any worries. Is you vet cavy-savvy? If not it would be worth looking at the vet finder on here.[/QUOTE
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Hi Elwickcavies, thank you for your response. I think the crackling is coming from either her nose or throat. She doesn't seem to have a snotty nose and I haven't noticed any dried snot on her nose. She is eating, drinking, peeing and pooping. I live in France and my vet is good. What he doesn't know he contacts his colleague some 200km away for advice.

As my castrated male who she shares a cage with can't eat veggies I sit Poppy on my lap and she eats her veggies each day there. She eats them readily and finishes the lot. I give her extra vitamins, minerals and iron supplement each day also.

My vet did say that he could only treat her with an homeopathic remedy if she did have a problem as he didn't want to do damage to the unborn pigs.

I have some Echinacea tincture which is good to boost the immune system in humans but I don't know if I can use it on guinea pigs.
 
Rapellez vous veterinaire et demande quest ce vous pouvez faire d'abord echinacea
 
Please keep all posts in English, this is accessible then for all to read - thanks.
 
Would you consider calling the vet and inquiring about the echinacea?
 
I haven't noticed crackling in connection with a pregnancy either.

How dusty is your hay and what kind of bedding do you use? As there are no other symptoms, there may not necessarily be an URI (upper respiratory tract infection) issue. Does a bit of water vapour ease the symptoms?

Please weigh your girl daily. One of the main symptoms of respiratory infection is loss of appetite, so you want to keep an eye on it.

Could you also tell us how far along your vet thinks she is? How long have had you had her for exactly?
 
Hi Wiebke, I buy hay that is dust extracted and it is good quality hay and not cheap. They also have Oxbow Timothy hay and Cunipic mountain hay. I use hemp bedding which is dust extracted and sterile. She has put on 214g since the first week I have had her; I weigh her twice a week. She is eating and drinking well. The vet seems to think she will have her babies within 3 weeks. I have had her 5 weeks last Friday.

Guineapig-al, I have looked at other guinea pig sites and have found that I can give Echinacea tincture at 5 drops per day to boost the immune system so I will start that today.

Thank you for your responses
 
Hi, I don't have experience with pregnant pigs, but for a snuffly nose I would usually recommend steam therapy using Olbas oil, which can be done using a bowl of hot water next to the cage with 2 drops of the oil or you can use a steam inhaler if you have one. However, I am not sure if this could be used on pregnant pigs so like Wiebke says, just the hot water itself should be used. You could even take her into the bathroom after filling a hot bath so she benefits from the steam, but not for long. I think it would be a good idea for your vet to speak to a more guinea savvy vet, even in the UK, how is their English?
 
Olbas oil is about the only cold remedy that pregnant humans can use, so I would guess it would be ok for pregnant piggies too, but if in doubt, steam is always going to help. It sounds like you are taking excellent care of her.
 
My guinea pig gave birth to 2 stillborn pups early this morning and I am worried that I may lose mum too. Is there anything I should do to make sure she gets over this well?

Has anybody experienced stillborn pups and if so was the mother OK after and regain full health?

Many thanks for any help. My girl was pregnant before I got her.
 
I am so sorry they were stillborn, am tagging @Wiebke to help on that. Has your girl seen a vet recently? now that she has given birth it would be good for her to go onto antibiotics and possibly diuretics too to treat the URI.
 
Hi helen105281, thank you for your response. I took Poppy to the vet Wednesday and yesterday. The vet gave her an ultrasound each time. Her chest is clear and she isn't breathing with a crackle anymore. I took her to the vet Wednesday because her weight had gone down and she had started to eat less and also not wanted to drink.

I was there when she gave birth and she did everything I have seen and heard she should do but the babies had come out already dead. I was surprised as well as sad because there were clear heart beats on ultrasound.

The vet gave me something called Wombyl which helps to clear out anything left inside her. It is a homeopathic medicine.

Does it take some time before their appetite is back to normal? I never expected to have to experience this but I want to give Poppy everything she needs. I am still giving her Vitamin C drops and vitamins. She isn't eating many pellets since the birth but she is munching away on her hay and drinking well.
 
I am ever so sorry that you have lost all pups.

Please have your little mum checked by a vet to make sure that she (and especially her breathing) is OK; she may need a course of antibiotics depending on what the vet finds.

I would recommend to give her a bit more in fresh herbs for vitamin C and minerals and either a handful of alfalfa hay or unlimited alfalfa based pellets (for protein and calcium) to help her body recover from the stress of the pregnancy for the next 2-3 weeks. Otherwise, a good general diet will do the trick.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/forums/food.17/

Unless a mummy has got major health problems herself, she will recover with good care and has the same chance of a normal, happy life as sows with a successful birth. have you got other piggies you could put her next to for company? She will be feeling quite low at the moment.

You are welcome to post a tribute to your babies in our Rainbow Bridge section if you wish to remember them.
 
Sorry, our posts coincided, @cochondinde!

Please monitor your little mum's weight daily for the next few days. It is a good sign that she is eating hay, as should make up to 80% of the daily food intake. She will come back to eating normally in the degree she is feeling better in herself. Now that she only has to eat for herself, she will not be quite as hungry as in the last stages of her pregnancy.
 
Thank you Wiebke for your response. I have weighed her today and will keep doing so. I put her back in with her companion earlier this afternoon and she is following him around (he was castrated in December).

I have tried her with some vegetables this evening but she nibbled just a very small amount. I don't think she had eaten vegetables before I got her as she didn't seem to know what they were when I first gave them to her.
 
Hi, I took Poppy to the vets this morning as I thought she was getting worse. She has a fever of over 40 degrees. He has given her an injection of Baytril and a 10 day course of oral Baytril. I will give her pro- and prebiotics with vitamin C drops too. I wonder if this was the cause of her babies being dead.
 
Oh poor thing, she does sound poorly. Glad she is on antibiotics now. Did the vet mention if she has any fluid on her chest? she may need diuretics too if so.

It could well be that this is what caused the babies deaths but I am not very knowledgeable on pregnancy.
 
Can anybody please tell me is it normal for a guinea pig to have what looks like contractions a day after giving birth. Poppy still looks like she is and every now and again she bends under and eats, I think, her poop. I have had to give her critical care earlier this evening. She is lying down at the moment eating some hay. Every now and again though she stands and has these funny hiccup looking events.

Please can anybody experienced in breeding guinea pigs answer my question. I need to know if this behaviour is normal. Thank you
 
I can't comment on the contractions so will leave that to Wiebke to answer.

However, when my Buzz had Pneumonia he was doing a hiccupping type movement when he was struggling to breathe.
 
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Sorry, no breeding experience. We are a specifically non-breeding forum.

Are these hiccups anything like the heaving hiccups described in this link? How long have they been going on? A sow should not have contractions after birth. Are her sides heaving when she is breathing?
http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/heavinghiccups.htm
 
PS: Have you checked on her whether all pups have come out?
 
Hi Wiebke, I don't think they are what is described on Peter Gurney's website. Her sides aren't heaving either when she breathes. When she had her two ultrasounds they both showed there to be only two babies.

I have given her the first oral dose of Baytril earlier this evening and fed her some Oxbow Critical Care which she was quite happy to eat although a bit messy. She has been munching on hay on and off this evening but I haven't seen her go to the water bottle. I have therefore given her water via syringe.

I have been watching her obsessively and it's driving me insane with worry. If she hasn't improved by tomorrow morning then I will take her to the vet again.
 
I took Poppy to the vets this morning. He gave her an x-ray which was negative for fluid on the lungs, no enlarged heart and nothing left inside her womb. Her temperature had come down to 39.5 degrees. He has asked me to take her temperature every other day so as not to stress her.

There is still what I call a crackle to her breathing but it seems to be positional as it isn't always there. I was awake most of the night listening to her and giving her fluids, Oxbow Critical Care and medications.

I will carry on with this and hope that she picks up and gets stronger.

I don't know what else it could be.
 
Is the crackle coming from her nose? If so a product called Bisolvon may help clear any mucous.
 
Is that Bisolvon Chesty Adult? If so how much do you give per kg?
 
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