Star 4ish year old guinea pig just started hooting

[Christianrocket]

Star the pig in my profile picture scared the heck out of me by hooting tonight,our pigs where brought temperaraly into my PC room due to excess cold in their room and have been in my room for a good bit so hopefully the hooting is a new thing, he continued hooting while trying to get hay out of the hay trough and when i figured out it was him hooting he also continued to hoot for a small bit after i captured him and stuck him a snuggle sack, everything i quickly found online said it might be a URI so i separated him from the other pigs but since then he has stopped hooting, We Plan on taking him to the vet ASAP but we might not be able to for a week since the closest vet who will take pigs is 3 hours away and only works by appointments. everything i read online so far is saying to get him to the vet as fast as possible but I'm wondering if there is something i can do to improve his chances?

 

[Wiebke]

Star the pig in my profile picture scared the heck out of me by hooting tonight,our pigs where brought temperaraly into my PC room due to excess cold in their room and have been in my room for a good bit so hopefully the hooting is a new thing, he continued hooting while trying to get hay out of the hay trough and when i figured out it was him hooting he also continued to hoot for a small bit after i captured him and stuck him a snuggle sack, everything i quickly found online said it might be a URI so i separated him from the other pigs but since then he has stopped hooting, We Plan on taking him to the vet ASAP but we might not be able to for a week since the closest vet who will take pigs is 3 hours away and only works by appointments. everything i read online so far is saying to get him to the vet as fast as possible but I'm wondering if there is something i can do to improve his chances?

Hi and welcome

Please take a deep breath.

Hooting is generally caused by a minor obstruction (like a little hay dust) in the very narrow and small upper respiratory airways - even the tiniest obstruction can cause quite alarming sound effects. The hooting should disappear again within hours, often after big nose-clearing sneeze.

The connection between regular hooting over weeks and heart problems has never been proven, by the way, but it is unfortunately still hanging around online.

PS: Please be careful when moving piggies between places with large temperature differences. They regulate their body temperature via the blood flow through the skin; especially the ears, which is not as effective and they can struggle to adapt quickly. This is also the reason why they are more prone to heat stroke during heat spikes and waves.

 

[Christianrocket]

Hi and welcome

Please take a deep breath.

Hooting is generally caused by a minor obstruction (like a little hay dust) in the very narrow and small upper respiratory airways - even the tiniest obstruction can cause quite alarming sound effects. The hooting should disappear again within hours, often after big nose-clearing sneeze.

The connection between regular hooting over weeks and heart problems has never been proven, by the way, but it is unfortunately still hanging around online.

PS: Please be careful when moving piggies between places with large temperature differences. They regulate their body temperature via the blood flow through the skin; especially the ears, which is not as effective and they can struggle to adapt quickly. This is also the reason why they are more prone to heat stroke during heat spikes and waves.

So if the hooting doesnt start back up he might be fine enough we dont have to rush the vet appointment? the hooting has been the only symptom so far and the only other thing we noticed is he has a fatty eye? we were planning on taking all the pigs for check ups near the end of the month anyways, he still hooted a bit when I fed him a carrot stick but not as loudly

 

[Christianrocket]

Update it seems like Wiebke was right, he was still hooting til about noon the next day and we haven't heard any since then, I picked him up and held him up to my ear and didn't hear any crackling or popping but we are planning on taking him to the vet next weekend just to be sure

 

[Wiebke]

So if the hooting doesnt start back up he might be fine enough we dont have to rush the vet appointment? the hooting has been the only symptom so far and the only other thing we noticed is he has a fatty eye? we were planning on taking all the pigs for check ups near the end of the month anyways, he still hooted a bit when I fed him a carrot stick but not as loudly

Fatty eye is harmless. It is just the lower eyelid losing a little of its tension and falling away from the eye and exposing the healthy conjunctiva as gravity is taking over. It is not uncommon in older piggies.
Any growths on the conjunctiva itself should be vet checked, as well as protruding tear glands (the purply bits sticking out because of a swollen conjunctiva).
Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection (see chapter on common old age issues)


If it is just the hooting and no other respiratory symptoms, I would firstly check whether it could be connected to your current hay bag (pollen or dust triggering a reaction) but it is not an emergency as an isolated symptom and as long as your piggy's weight is stable.