Sniffly Piggie - Advice Needed!

[Joeykins]

This seems to be an ongoing problem with Buttercup!

She has bouts of noisy breathing, not too dramatic just a snuffly, grating noise. She isn't distressed, her activity level is the same and she is eating normally (in Buttercup's world, that means 'stuffs her face constantly'). These bouts will last for a few hours then stop, sometimes she gives an almighty sneeze then stops. She also has a habit of stuffing her face in the hay , which tends to coincide with an episode. She has no runny nose/eyes or any discharge etc. She then won't have any issues for several hours/days.

I've taken her to the vets twice with this, and they've given her precautionary Baytril on both occasions, but haven't been able to find anything wrong with her, could this just be something she does? Should I be whisking her off to the vet every time she has these?

Thanks everyone x

 

[helen105281]

What is she bedded on?

 

[Joeykins]

Fleece topped with vetbed in under bed houses, with towels and puppy pads underneath. They have a litter tray filled with hay with wood shavings underneath too

 

[helen105281]

Could you remove the wood shavings for a few days and see if it makes a difference? Great that she is on vetbed though.

Also, if the noise she makes is a hooting noise then I would ask the vet to check her heart.

 

[Wiebke]

Are you using dust extracted hay? Some piggies are more sensitive to it than others.
Has she ever had a URI before?

 

[Joeykins]

I'll swap her sawdust out and see if that helps. I've used a couple of different hays, including some dust free hay, and if I'm using other hay I do shake it out outside to get as much dust off as I can.

It's definitely not a hooting noise (but I will look out for that, thanks for the heads-up) - my mum says she sounds like she is asthmatic. It stops and starts so suddenly, she is on top form otherwise