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Respiratory Infection - How Can I Help Elma Beat It?

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Liane

Liane

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Yesterday I noticed that Elma was making a crackling noise when she breathed. She has been diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection and prescribed 0.6ml of septrin twice a day. There has been no improvement overnight and she seems to now be off her food.

What can I do to help her beat this? I lost Amy to a respiratory infection, and I can't bear to lose another piggy this year :(
 
If she has fluid in her lungs then a diuretic will also help, like Frusemide. Please start syringe feeding her if she isn't eating & weigh her daily.Tagging @helen105281 as am sure she will have more knowledge about them xx
 
I agree with the diuretic recommendation, did the vet say if there was any fluid? Bisolvon can also help to clear the nasal passages if there is mucous. You could try steam therapy too with a couple of drops of Olbas oil in in bowl of hot water next to the cage or in a steam inhaler if you have one. All of this can help while you give the antibiotics time to kick in.
 
helen105281 said:
I agree with the diuretic recommendation, did the vet say if there was any fluid? Bisolvon can also help to clear the nasal passages if there is mucous. You could try steam therapy too with a couple of drops of Olbas oil in in bowl of hot water next to the cage or in a steam inhaler if you have one. All of this can help while you give the antibiotics time to kick in.
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The vet said that she could not hear anything untoward in the lungs, and that she hoped this meant it had not spread as far as the lungs, but she could not rule it out as guinea pig's lungs are apparently very difficult to hear.

She didn't mention or prescribe a diuretic, so thank you for telling me about this.

I was planning to take her with me into the bathroom while I wash my hair so that she can get the benefit of the steam. I will look into getting olbas oil as I don't think we have any of that.


I was very worried about her last night and this morning, but she appears to her perked up a little. She was munching on some hay, but I'm going to make her up some food as she barely touched her dinner last night.
 
Steaming them surprisingly can help a lot. I've done it many times for piggies over the years. Holding them over/near a bowl of hot water seems to work best, but being in a steamy bathroom is a good option too. My profile piggy comes in the bathroom with us when we're having a bath or shower as he gets sniffles quite regularly.
 
It was decided that a diuretic wouldn't be beneficial in Elma's case, so instead she was prescribed a second dose of antibiotics to be used along with the original lot. She is finally showing signs of improvement, so fingers crossed it continues! She's just having her hospital visiting hours now as Glinda has popped in to see her! Elma is also taking her recovery food surprisingly well - I don't even have to get her out, I just feed her through the bars!
 
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