Snuffly Nose?

[Dilly's Piggies]

My girl Harriet has had this on and off for around a year now, the vet says it's allergies but hasn't offered any medication or treatment for it, she gets antibiotics when she goes and it clears up but ALWAYS comes back shortly after. Harriet has now been intermittently snuffling like this for 3 days, she has been sneezing and also has a wet left nostril (clear fluid) and I'm worried she's developing a URI so I need to take her back to the vet.

I have another pig with the exact same thing, who has also been on antibiotics and had chest xrays, the snuffling goes away on antibiotics but always comes back. My vet is prescribing sulfatrim for 1-2 weeks for Harriet usually, for my other pig she has had 8 weeks of it, yet it still came back. I'm not sure this antibiotic is working and they both probably have a lingering infection still...

Is there a better antibiotic to ask for? I'm concerned that because they've both had this for over a year and it has never fully gone away there can be damage to the lungs.

Here is a video of Harriet snuffling today, you may need to turn your volume up or use headphones to hear it clearly. Please let me know what you think!

 

[Wiebke]

It sounds like an allergy - and in that case, no antibiotic can clear it. I would be rather careful in not overusing antibiotics, to be honest as your piggy can develop a resistence to them, which can be fatal.

Human antihistamines have been used sporadically with allergic piggies, but as there is no regular use, I do not have any information on experiences/safety/potential longer term side effects. Treating sensitivities/allergies in guinea pigs is one the many unresearched areas when it comes to guinea pigs.

@helen105281 @Jaycey @Freela @Pound Shilling & Pig

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

It sounds like an allergy - and in that case, no antibiotic can clear it. I would be rather careful in not overusing antibiotics, to be honest as your piggy can develop a resistence to them, which can be fatal.

Human antihistamines have been used sporadically with allergic piggies, but as there is no regular use, I do not have any information on experiences/safety/potential longer term side effects. Treating sensitivities/allergies in guinea pigs is one the many unresearched areas when it comes to guinea pigs.

@helen105281 @Jaycey @Freela @Pound Shilling & Pig

I know, it's all that my vet is giving us though, antibiotics get rid of it and then it comes back when the course is stopped, I just don't know what to do at this point. The weather has also been very cold for the past week here, I didn't know if that contributed too. I think I remember reading people using Piriton for guinea pigs, is it worth trying some?

 

[Wiebke]

I know, it's all that my vet is giving us though, antibiotics get rid of it and then it comes back when the course is stopped, I just don't know what to do at this point. The weather has also been very cold for the past week here, I didn't know if that contributed too. I think I remember reading people using Piriton for guinea pigs, is it worth trying some?

I have never given piriton to guinea pigs so I cannot advise you on this.

However, my Taffy did suffer from a hay dust allergy to certain hays with crackly breathing that sounded like URI. Antibiotics suppressed the symptoms, but did not cure it and were for that reason abandoned by my vet. I did eventually find hay she didn't react to as much and kept her on that for the rest of her life. As each allergy/sensitivity is different, you have to try and work out what your guinea pig is reacting to. This can be anything from hay to air fresheners and perfumes. It is likely not pollen from the outside as they would be seasonal.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

I have never given piriton to guinea pigs so I cannot advise you on this.

However, my Taffy did suffer from a hay dust allergy to certain hays with crackly breathing that sounded like URI. Antibiotics suppressed the symptoms, but did not cure it and were for that reason abandoned by my vet. I did eventually find hay she didn't react to as much and kept her on that for the rest of her life. As each allergy/sensitivity is different, you have to try and work out what your guinea pig is reacting to. This can be anything from hay to air fresheners and perfumes. It is likely not pollen from the outside as they would be seasonal.

Can you tell me what hay you use for your piggy now? I feed oxbow timothy, I've tried orchard grass before as I heard it was better for allergies but it made all of my piggies poops go soft with an upset stomach so I had to switch back. I didn't get to use it long enough to see if it helped their allergies...

 

[Wiebke]

Can you tell me what hay you use for your piggy now? I feed oxbow timothy, I've tried orchard grass before as I heard it was better for allergies but it made all of my piggies poops go soft with an upset stomach so I had to switch back. I didn't get to use it long enough to see if it helped their allergies...

I am using a locally sourced meadow farm hay from an independent pet shop (first cut hay from a farmer who sells the second cut to equine suppliers). It is not dust extacted or treated in any way but all my current piggies are happy with it and have been for several years.

Finding the source of an allergen or sensitivity is generally a slow and torturous process of trial/error and elimination.

 

[Eriathwen]

Bramble also has a hay allergy, ive avoided timothy because it sets my allergies off 10xs worse than anything else and also seems to affect her more too. Ours get locally sourced meadow hay from a farm, I find farm hay is less chopped up and dusty which helps a lot.
We've also got a little'un with an URI and her sister possibly has an allergy too, we were told to switch to paper bedding and hay and try to rule out if its the shavings or the hay for her, which might be something to try if you havent already. Our vet also said with Bramble that sometimes piriton can be given but because the change of hay helped we didnt need to. Longterm use, dosage etc is probably something worth discussing with your vet.

 

[helen105281]

I have used Piriton in the past but with the say so of my vet. It was the children's one, may be worth speaking to your vet about it? Otherwise you could look at a nebuliser. My Tabitha has narrow airways and Kim Maddock suggested we get a nebuliser for her. There is Bisolvon too which can help clear any mucous in the nasal passages.

 

[gizzy]

Air Wick Electric Plug Single Unit

I found one of these usfull, though l used the olbas oil refill

For an outdoor cage a few drops of ollabas oil dabed just out side the cage could help

Olbas Oil Inhalant Decongestant 15ml | eBay

 

[DM030819]

My Anselmo was a guinea pig for Kim Maddock for trying nebulisers and it really helped him. It didn't cure him obviously, as there's no way an antiseptic solution can but it really helped him on his more honky days.

I was tempted to try Piriton or something on him but as we couldn't pin down an exact cause we decided not too. And after trying Piriton myself a few weeks ago I'm glad I didn't. It made me feel really weird.

We thought the honky breathing was probably due to his airways being damaged by past URI's or just bad genes. Their airways are so tiny any fault or irritation is going to really affect them.

It was rare for Anselmo to have a wet nose but his breathing was quite snuffly many times.

 

[gizzy]

Nebuliser | British-made hospital models | AFP Medical

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

So you guys think I shouldn't worry too much about them and just try to manage for allergies? It's very scary when they get snuffly like this. Yesterday I tried feeding hay on the floor instead of up in a hay bag, I thought it would help but it actually made things worse. They live on fleece so already the most dust free bedding, I use ecover zero wash powder which has no scent so I don't think it's a bedding issue. Oxbow hay can be very dusty but it's the best I've got here, it's the only one they will eat. I've tried a couple of local farms but the hay wasn't very good, I will have to look again for a different farm! I think alfalfa king timothy hay is typically less dusty than Oxbow yet it's very similar quality, I might try buying that in bulk next time too and see if it's any better. Nebulisers sound like a great idea especially when I have two piggies that could use it, any particular model/size and medicine I should get for it?

 

[DM030819]

We tried to work out what was causing Anselmo's issues but I tried changing his bedding, hay, food, how often I cleaned him out and I just couldn't work it out. The only time I could guarantee he'd be snuffly is if he went outside or we had the window open. So, the vet put it down to damaged airways.

I didn't have a clue when it came to nebulisers so I just bought the one the same place as the solution, F10. My vet recommended F10 to start and we were going to trial just plain saline solution to see if that made a difference but unfortunately he died (from something else).

Have a chat with your vet. They might have a certain one they advise using (to my untrained eye they all seem the same) and which solution to use.

You can use antibiotics in them as a more effective way to get to a URI but we didn't try that as Anselmo didn't have a URI.

 

[Lauren f]

If you change the hay twice a day and supply of a rack could you spritz it with water to suppress the dust ? This is purely speculation I have asthma and a dust allergy so when I clean I have too with damp cloths to stop the dust flying about

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

We tried to work out what was causing Anselmo's issues but I tried changing his bedding, hay, food, how often I cleaned him out and I just couldn't work it out. The only time I could guarantee he'd be snuffly is if he went outside or we had the window open. So, the vet put it down to damaged airways.

I didn't have a clue when it came to nebulisers so I just bought the one the same place as the solution, F10. My vet recommended F10 to start and we were going to trial just plain saline solution to see if that made a difference but unfortunately he died (from something else).

Have a chat with your vet. They might have a certain one they advise using (to my untrained eye they all seem the same) and which solution to use.

You can use antibiotics in them as a more effective way to get to a URI but we didn't try that as Anselmo didn't have a URI.

This is exactly what is happening to both my pigs, when the window is open or after being outside, they get snuffly... It happens all year round, doesn't matter if it's summer or winter, so in summer when it's boiling hot we can't open the windows for very long as it gives them the snuffles. I was thinking about getting an air purifier to help their breathing but they're expensive and I have no idea what model to buy either! Not sure if a humidifier or de-humidifier would also be helpful to them? Both pigs are still snuffly today, Harriet is worse than Aspen at the moment. There's no other symptoms developing though, neither of them have ever progressed into a URI but saying that I always took them to the vet quickly and they got antibiotics. I'm going to take them both to the vet on Monday if they haven't improved and discuss using a nebuliser as I think this is a very good idea...

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

If you change the hay twice a day and supply of a rack could you spritz it with water to suppress the dust ? This is purely speculation I have asthma and a dust allergy so when I clean I have too with damp cloths to stop the dust flying about

This is something I was also thinking about... Horses with allergies to hay dust get their hay soaked and it works wonders, I thought about misting my pigs hay, not soaking, just spraying lightly with water so they eat the dust instead of inhaling it, might be something to try

 

[Julie M]

Buddy gets sniffly like that too. He's been to the vets on numerous Occasions too but they've never found anything wrong. Suspected allergy to dust or dusty hay.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

I just checked on Harriet, her left nostril doesn't look wet anymore, however it does appear swollen, her left nostril is half the size of the right one which suggests she has inflammation of the nasal passages and this is why she's snuffly I guess? She seems congested, can guinea pigs get something like a sinus infection or is it only URI's with them? She hasn't lost any weight which is good but I have noticed her sleeping and drinking more than usual.

 

[Wiebke]

I just checked on Harriet, her left nostril doesn't look wet anymore, however it does appear swollen, her left nostril is half the size of the right one which suggests she has inflammation of the nasal passages and this is why she's snuffly I guess? She seems congested, can guinea pigs get something like a sinus infection or is it only URI's with them? She hasn't lost any weight which is good but I have noticed her sleeping and drinking more than usual.

Please have her vet checked!

 

[Lily & Rose]

My Lily has allergies to hay. I changed to Dust Free Hay over a year ago and her noisy breathing stopped. They sell both meadow and Timothy hay which is dust-extracted.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

*Update* Harriet is now on Piriton antihistamines and is doing much better. Looks like she had allergies.

 

[Hannah Boyd]

*Update* Harriet is now on Piriton antihistamines and is doing much better. Looks like she had allergies.

sorry to resurrect this thread, but are you using human Piriton? and is it the liquid one? and what dose? I have similar issues with two of my girls and I can't get to the bottom of it. our vet thinks it's probably environmental / allergies, but I've been unable to find the allergen. I thought if I could try piriton and it works then I would know it's an allergy, and piriton may be the way to manage it.

 

[VickiA]

sorry to resurrect this thread, but are you using human Piriton? and is it the liquid one? and what dose? I have similar issues with two of my girls and I can't get to the bottom of it. our vet thinks it's probably environmental / allergies, but I've been unable to find the allergen. I thought if I could try piriton and it works then I would know it's an allergy, and piriton may be the way to manage it.

please don’t try any medication without fully discussing it with your vet first. I know that @Eriathwen has used This but I’m sure it was under advice and guidance from the vet. Please speak to your vet first.

 

[Hannah Boyd]

please don’t try any medication without fully discussing it with your vet first. I know that @Eriathwen has used This but I’m sure it was under advice and guidance from the vet. Please speak to your vet first.

Of course I wouldn't try medication without discussing with my vet. I use this forum for ideas and things to discuss with my vet yet every time I post I end up feeling like other forum users think I am being irresponsible and trying to self medicate and telling me to "please discuss with vet". ☹ The reason I am posting is because the vets and I are at a loss to what else to try and I wanted to be able to go to the vet and say someone else has used piriton at this dose.

 

[VickiA]

Of course I wouldn't try medication without discussing with my vet. I use this forum for ideas and things to discuss with my vet yet every time I post I end up feeling like other forum users think I am being irresponsible and trying to self medicate and telling me to "please discuss with vet". ☹ The reason I am posting is because the vets and I are at a loss to what else to try and I wanted to be able to go to the vet and say someone else has used piriton at this dose.

Please don’t take offence. We don’t know what you have or have not discussed with your vets. It’s great that you are using the forum for ideas to discuss with your vets but you may not be aware that many others try to use the forum as a replacement for veterinary advice and treatment. We have a legal and moral duty to keep the boundaries clear. That is why you will very often see posts (including in response to your post) saying to discuss with your vet.

 

[Hannah Boyd]

Please don’t take offence. We don’t know what you have or have not discussed with your vets. It’s great that you are using the forum for ideas to discuss with your vets but you may not be aware that many others try to use the forum as a replacement for veterinary advice and treatment. We have a legal and moral duty to keep the boundaries clear. That is why you will very often see posts (including in response to your post) saying to discuss with your vet.

I haven't taken offence, it just doesn't sound very friendly and makes me feel guilty when I try my best to do what's best for my girls which unfortuntely this time might be down trial and error as we haven't found a solution yet.

 

[Eriathwen]

It's probably worth mentioning that it's not strictly legal for non veterinary professionals to offer dosage instructions for medications in this manner, and could impact the forum negatively if members did so. That's why VickiA has said what she has, its nothing personal but we wouldn't want someone else to come along and make their piggy poorly by giving an incorrect dose for their pig or trying to treat a uri as an allergy etc. Yes I have used piriton with good effect, but dosed by a vet as it should be dosed by weight really. I'm not sure if there is a similar effect as seen in benadryl, but some antihistamines can cause drowsiness and the amount of antihistamine that causes drowsiness varies per individual rather than medication amount. And drowsiness in an animal that needs to keep eating constantly can be quite a serious side effect so that's another reason it's important to ensure your vet is in the loop with what's going on which I'm sure you will

This was quite some time ago that I commented here, since then I swapped to paper bedding for my allergy piggy, learned that nebulising with saline was a thing, tried swapping to locally grown hay where possible (I assumed a similar logic applied to how people tell you to eat local honey if you have allergies.. didn't notice much difference in the pigs but it made a huge difference to my own allergies I think!)
I stay away from Timothy hay as much as possible as that's also worse for most allergy sufferers, including a lot of pigs with allergies.
Hopefully there's a few ideas in there that may help ease your piggies symptoms

 

[Hannah Boyd]

It's probably worth mentioning that it's not strictly legal for non veterinary professionals to offer dosage instructions for medications in this manner, and could impact the forum negatively if members did so. That's why VickiA has said what she has, its nothing personal but we wouldn't want someone else to come along and make their piggy poorly by giving an incorrect dose for their pig or trying to treat a uri as an allergy etc. Yes I have used piriton with good effect, but dosed by a vet as it should be dosed by weight really. I'm not sure if there is a similar effect as seen in benadryl, but some antihistamines can cause drowsiness and the amount of antihistamine that causes drowsiness varies per individual rather than medication amount. And drowsiness in an animal that needs to keep eating constantly can be quite a serious side effect so that's another reason it's important to ensure your vet is in the loop with what's going on which I'm sure you will

This was quite some time ago that I commented here, since then I swapped to paper bedding for my allergy piggy, learned that nebulising with saline was a thing, tried swapping to locally grown hay where possible (I assumed a similar logic applied to how people tell you to eat local honey if you have allergies.. didn't notice much difference in the pigs but it made a huge difference to my own allergies I think!)
I stay away from Timothy hay as much as possible as that's also worse for most allergy sufferers, including a lot of pigs with allergies.
Hopefully there's a few ideas in there that may help ease your piggies symptoms

its understandable, i just find it hard to post when I always get that response and I am already worried enough by just the piggies! thank you, I will mention to my vet and see what she thinks. I have a nebuliser which seems to help but only short term. same for the humidifier. when you use saline, do you mix it yourself or buy a ready mix saline solution? it seems to be a problem in the winter months only, so I keep coming back to dry air from the central heating as the issue.

I've tried paper bedding without any success and didn't like the smell and found it hard to keep clean, so have gone back to aubiose. they have locally grown hay. I didn't realise that about the Timothy hay so that is interesting, though they currently only have meadow hay after I ran out and the last months vets bills. piggie doesn't seem bothered by the snuffliness, still her usual self, but I'd like to get to the bottom of it!

bisolven doesn't seem to have much effect, would this suggest there isn't any congestion? I wondered also about dental issues, could that be related in anyway? vet said we may look more into potential dental issues if we can't find anything else. both the girls who have the snuffliness are older, but they seem to manage hay, pellets and veggies with no trouble.

 

[Eriathwen]

I never got round to using the nebuliser as unfortunately my allergy piggy passed away, unrelated to the allergies, but I would probably buy saline. I do have the quantities of things needed to mix it saved somewhere but I'd have to dig around to find it, I've never mixed it myself however just because I didn't trust myself to measure things properly

I would imagine if it were congestion that the bisolvon would have had an effect yes, has she been tried with metacam for a few weeks? If the inside of the nasal passages have become inflamed that can definitely cause noisy breathing, a couple of mine are brachycephalic, a bit like pugs, due to being bred to have the short flat faces preferred for showing and their airways get inflamed really easily from being too narrow so if congestion isn't an issue then treating for inflammation may be worth trying also if you haven't already.

Dental issues are also definitely worth looking into, problems with tooth roots can cause all sorts of secondary issues. If there is a hidden abcess then that could be causing issues with the sinus' and something like that may need a much longer course of antibiotics than you would usually be given to rule out a respiratory infection or even a different antibiotic altogether.

That being said, we have tried loads of things for Ivory, our worst brachycephalic pig, and in the end our vet just said it's not worth stressing her out over it, so we live with the noise. It bothers me much more than it bothers her apparently, she's nice and pink around the mucous membranes and extremities, getting enough oxygen etc, eats and drinks well and nothing worked, so we just kind of monitor her. It's frustrating as I have this need to fix things but it is what it is I suppose!

 

[Hannah Boyd]

I never got round to using the nebuliser as unfortunately my allergy piggy passed away, unrelated to the allergies, but I would probably buy saline. I do have the quantities of things needed to mix it saved somewhere but I'd have to dig around to find it, I've never mixed it myself however just because I didn't trust myself to measure things properly

I would imagine if it were congestion that the bisolvon would have had an effect yes, has she been tried with metacam for a few weeks? If the inside of the nasal passages have become inflamed that can definitely cause noisy breathing, a couple of mine are brachycephalic, a bit like pugs, due to being bred to have the short flat faces preferred for showing and their airways get inflamed really easily from being too narrow so if congestion isn't an issue then treating for inflammation may be worth trying also if you haven't already.

Dental issues are also definitely worth looking into, problems with tooth roots can cause all sorts of secondary issues. If there is a hidden abcess then that could be causing issues with the sinus' and something like that may need a much longer course of antibiotics than you would usually be given to rule out a respiratory infection or even a different antibiotic altogether.

That being said, we have tried loads of things for Ivory, our worst brachycephalic pig, and in the end our vet just said it's not worth stressing her out over it, so we live with the noise. It bothers me much more than it bothers her apparently, she's nice and pink around the mucous membranes and extremities, getting enough oxygen etc, eats and drinks well and nothing worked, so we just kind of monitor her. It's frustrating as I have this need to fix things but it is what it is I suppose!

we haven't tried metacam for a few weeks, I will suggest this to the vet as a possible next step. after antibiotics and bisolven for almost a week, the 2nd piggie with this issue (it only started a week ago with her, but I never had her last winter when the other one gets the same issue) there is really next to no difference. the first piggie I've given bisolven to as well for a week and it doesn't seem to help either. both are fine in themselves!

interesting about the brachycephalic piggies, I hadn't actually heard of that before. is it obvious? one of mine was from a breeder and I've had her 6-7 years and it's only been since last winter this has been an issue. the 2nd I only got her in June but I don't know her history as she was a neglect case but was an outdoor piggie.

I think we will look further into the dental issues, but there are no signs of abscesses/ underlying infection. so my only thought was if a tooth or root or something was pressing on a sinus or part of the respiratory tract. neither are off their food or appear to struggle eating. both eat long strand hay no problems. having said that, the vet did said piggie 2s teeth are a little sharp and could do with a dental but it's nothing urgent, so I could get that done anyway and see if it makes a difference.

I know what you mean about it bothering yourself more than the pigs. I think that is definitely the case here. I will be exploring more options with the vet but I'm not going to stress too much as they are ok!