• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Sick guinea pig please help - respiratory illness, potentially pneumonia

  • Thread starter Thread starter DM190921
  • Start date Start date
D

DM190921

Hello everyone, I have just noticed tonight that one of my baby female guinea pigs is breathing heavy & making a strange sound! By breathing heavy I don’t mean you can hear her gasping for breath but can see her side rising rapidly & this is constant. She also makes a strange noise. I looked this up online & I think it might be an upper respiratory infection. I had no idea guinea pigs could get this but she definitely isn’t right. Only had her 2 days & she is very skinny compared to my other girl. You only notice this when stroking her because she has fuzzy sticky up tuffs of hair. Can I buy treatment for this or will it need to be the vets? I want her seen to as soon as possible as I hate the thought she is in pain. She’s been ever so scared & timid since we got her & I know of course this is to be expected but compared to the other girl she’s terrified. I initially thought the poor wright was perhaps because she was a runt & that we would soon sort that out with plenty of love & care. It’s the sound & breathing I’m worried about. I will attach a video of her from tonight on my knee. You can see the breathing but the noise was hard to get although you can hear it. Thank you for reading such a long post, please any advice is appreciated
 
We don’t advise on home treating as you may treat the wrong thing, and make matters worse. Please have your piggy seen by a vet as soon as possible. If it is a URI, they can decline quite quickly.

Do you mind if I ask you where you got your piggies from? If from a pet shop, you can claim veg costs as you were ‘mis-sold’ defective goods - sold an ill piggy. I think there are a couple of people on here who’ve done that.

It can always be a general health check for both, but with the main intention being the smaller piggy is checked out. Do let us know how you get on.
 
Please see a vet promptly and do not home treat on spec. It can be potentially fatal or permanently damaging, and often costs you more in the end than if you had seen a vet straight away.

Heavy breathing is a red alarm symptom for potential pneumonia; please see a vet as soon as you can. Your baby will need an antibiotic as quickly as possible for a recovery.
With any new guinea pigs, you can reclaim any vet cost from your pet shop as part of your customer rights.

Please take the time to read these guide links here. they contain important information:
How Soon Should My Guinea Pig See A Vet? - A Quick Guide
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites
 
Hello everyone, I’m sorry I forgot to update this post. I saw a vet & there was no infection at all. I was just very paranoid as a new owner but they are both in great health & the breathing was just they were a bit anxious as they were only home with us 2 days. The noise was just a general guinea noise. Silly me but so glad I had the checked anyway. Both are doing great & thank you to all who replied
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top