Sneezing fit?

[SpinningNickel]

So about 5am, SOMEONE had a sneezing fit. I THINK it was Yoshi but can't be sure... He sneezed about 6 times in the space of a minute. When I got up, turned the light on and went to the cage, both of them stood stock still, staring at me, and there's been no sneezing since.

They're bedded on fleece, wood shavings in the litter trays, and they're on the same bale of hay they've had for six weeks, so I don't imagine it's environmental. Machu had the odd sneeze when he first came home (from a pet shop) which I thought might have been a touch of hay fever, but it was just the ODD SNEEZE, not a chain of them! I'm not TOO worried as long as it doesn't carry on (right?), but I just wondered if anyone else's pig has ever had a random 5-6-in-a-row sneezing fit..? They both seem fine otherwise, gobbling their breakfast and tearing around like nutters all yesterday evening.

 

[arielsacutie]

My piggies have never sneezed that much in one session. Though they did when they had URI, but it was about 2-3 spread out throughout the day. Just keep an ear out. I had to switch bedding a while ago because the wood bedding was making mine sick. If anything worsens you should take them to the vet & make sure they are eating & drinking fine! Keep us posted!

 

[bubble&squeak4ever]

A while back Squeak did this too! I just kept an eye on her and she was absoloutely fine and didn't sneeze again. I figured that she must have got something up her nose! x

 

[SpinningNickel]

Yeah, a URI is what I'd be worried about, but as you said, I'd be expecting to hear regular, spread-out sneezes or wheezing, and nothing like that so far. So fingers crossed! Anything else I should be looking out for with early URI symptoms?

Thanks bubble&squeak, when I turned the light on Yoshi was trundling down the ramp from the hay loft so I'm hoping if it was him he just got a bit of hay to the nostril or something.

In fairness, it was pitch black so for all I know it could've even been the cat! But then I've never heard him sneeze more than once or twice either.

 

[Abi_nurse]

He may have got some hay up his nose which was irritating it. If he has a URI though he will have the following sort or symptoms:
- nasal and/or eye discharge (from clear liquid to snotty gunk)
- constant sneezing (not just a one off fit, more often than usual)
- reluctance to eat
- noisy breathing

x.

 

[SpinningNickel]

Ok, now I'm starting to worry. I'm sure I've heard three more sneezes tonight (maybe 30 seconds apart) but again, my back was to the pigs and the cat was right there! So I sat and stared at them for five minutes. Nothing. I thought I caught a little funny not-quite-sneezy different sound from Yoshi, so I popped him in a snuggle sack and held him for ten minutes. Nothing. (The cat is lying on my lap now, and nothing from him either.) They've been back in the cage for 20 minutes and nothing.

I gave him a good check over while he was out, then Machu. Both have clear, shiny eyes, wet but not gunky or anything. Both have a little shine inside their nostrils, but no gunk or running mucous and both noses feel dry to the touch. Both are enthusiastically eating their dinner, and were working on mouthfuls of hay as I held them. Both are running and hopping about as normal. Breathing... Is probably hard to tell without a stethoscope or more experience, but it doesn't sound ropey just to my ear and isn't laboured. Yoshi has been to the water bottle three times in the past hour, Machu not at all, but Yoshi has always drank a fair amount while Machu almost never does so I don't consider this out of character.

Now I'm not being daft here -- I know a "watched pot never boils" but surely if they need to sneeze, they need to sneeze whether I'm looking at them or not! If I had tomorrow off work I'd just go to the vet, but I'm working all weekend until Monday, and I'm not seeing signs that this needs an emergency vet at all. At what point do I start worrying about just the sneezes? Are we ok as long as I'm not seeing other symptoms? Picchu hid his ear infection for so long when he was sick that I know I'm inclined to paranoia, and URIs are the Big Bad Wolf of guinea pig illness in my head.

Side question: my house is pretty cold. I give them extra hay to snuggle in, a snugglesafe (which they largely ignore) when it's very bad, cuddle cups, etc. Would cold or drafts cause/exacerbate a URI, or is this a wives' tale in the same way it is for human colds?