Slight snuffling & Sneezing?

[Teddy-Boys]

Both my boys seem to sneeze fairly regularly & sometimes have a slight snuffling noise from their nose, particularly when I’ve just picked them up. No discharge from the nose, although Milkyway’s nose looked slightly wet after he did one big sneeze but I dabbed it & it’s been dry since. Mainly he does little half sneezes (2 or 3) in a hour whilst I hold him. My other Guinea pig who’s nearly 3 has been a bit snuffley for as long as I can remember. I mentioned it to a vet once & he said that’s probably just the way he is.

However as I only got Milkyway 2 weeks ago & he started the half sneezes 1 week ago I’m worried it could be contagious from Meatball or that they’re allergic to something. Which is strange because I haven’t been using sawdust for months up until 2 days ago, as I switched to carefresh when my Guinea pig Spaghetti, who’s since passed away, had a suspected URI which turned out to be a retrobulbar abscess. I’m now worried that Spaghetti’s issues might have started from something making him ill in the home which turned into the abscess he passed away from.

I’m going to the vets on Monday but wanted to get any opinions on here too. How do the vets know if it’s a URI, or do they just try antibiotics if a guinea pig is sneezing? Milkyway is only 7 weeks old so I wouldn’t want him on antibiotics unnecessarily as I know it can upset their stomach & appetite. Both boys seem fine in themselves, running around & eating as normal, it’s just the slight snuffles that are concerning me.

 

[DM030819]

It might be worth changing your hay for a little while to see if that helps.

 

[Tiamolly123]

Jaceys right it will be the hay. The other thing mine do is sneeze at meal times, I've 2 that are absolute gannets they eat to fast then sneeze for about an hour.

 

[Abi_nurse]

Could be a potential underlying and ongoing low grade upper respiratory infection. Despite seeming well within themselves it's still certainly possible. Unfortunately we are seeing a lot of it now due to a lot of the pet shop 'stock' suffering from it and therefore spreading more throughout he guinea pig population.

 

[Teddy-Boys]

I’ll try switching their hay, do you have any recommendations what’s best for dust free? Currently they have pets at home Timothy hay. My 3 chinchillas also eat this as well though & they never sneeze & I know they have quite sensitive respiratory systems.

I wondered if it could be a dormant infection that Meatball’s had for months now Milkyway is sniffling too. I had just expected it to be more obvious or get worse in case of a URI. I just hope the vet is able to tell whether it is a URI or not because I worry about them having antibiotics unnecessarily & stopping eating as a result leading to other issues. When spaghetti had baytril he lost all interest in food & at 7 weeks I don’t know which antibiotics would be safe for Milkyway.