sylvester coughing often?

[alex&sylvester]

hello all, just wanted to ask you guys when a guinea pig coughs, how often should it be? because i’m on a 2 week school holiday i get to spend more time with vester and for the past 3 days, i’ve been hearing him cough one or two times. should i be concern about this? there is no crust on his eyes and no watery discharge/runny nose. his weight is still normal but i’m still a bit worried.

 

[Patch89]

2 of my piggies cough when they eat or drink to fast. I think a lot depends on if it is normal for your guinea pig. It's great from what you are saying that everything else seems ok. Personally I would monitor but always ring a vet if you are concerned at all as I would hate to tell you the wrong thing.

 

[sport_billy]

 

[Wiebke]

hello all, just wanted to ask you guys when a guinea pig coughs, how often should it be? because i’m on a 2 week school holiday i get to spend more time with vester and for the past 3 days, i’ve been hearing him cough one or two times. should i be concern about this? there is no crust on his eyes and no watery discharge/runny nose. his weight is still normal but i’m still a bit worried.

Is the coughing happening during or after eating? Then you are simply dealing with a greedy eater.

 

[alex&sylvester]

2 of my piggies cough when they eat or drink to fast. I think a lot depends on if it is normal for your guinea pig. It's great from what you are saying that everything else seems ok. Personally I would monitor but always ring a vet if you are concerned at all as I would hate to tell you the wrong thing.

i only ever hear him cough, i don’t see if he’s eating or drinking. i emailed my vet just now to have an appointment. i heard him cough a few minutes ago and i’ll be honest with you, i’m having a panic attack right now.. i’ll monitor him for a few days and i’ll update you!

 

[Wiebke]

i only ever hear him cough, i don’t see if he’s eating or drinking. i emailed my vet just now to have an appointment. i heard him cough a few minutes ago and i’ll be honest with you, i’m having a panic attack right now.. i’ll monitor him for a few days and i’ll update you!

Take a deep breath!

If your piggy was seriously ill with a respiratory problem, he would stop eating and lose weight very quickly.
Hold your ear to his chest, throat and nose. If they sound clear and not crackly or raspy, then you do not have to worry.

You can still have him vet checked during regular opening hours but it is in no way an emergency, just a health check.

 

[alex&sylvester]

Take a deep breath!

If your piggy was seriously ill with a respiratory problem, he would stop eating and lose weight very quickly.
Hold your ear to his chest, throat and nose. If they sound clear and not crackly or raspy, then you do not have to worry.

You can still have him vet checked during regular opening hours but it is in no way an emergency, just a

Take a deep breath!

If your piggy was seriously ill with a respiratory problem, he would stop eating and lose weight very quickly.
Hold your ear to his chest, throat and nose. If they sound clear and not crackly or raspy, then you do not have to worry.

You can still have him vet checked during regular opening hours but it is in no way an emergency, just a health check.

thank you for your words. but i’ve just checked his breathing from his chest, i put my ear close and i listened. i don’t know if it’s raspy but i could definitely hear a noise, i don’t know how sure i am but i can tell you that i can hear whenever he breathes. i’m very scared

 

[alex&sylvester]

i

Take a deep breath!

If your piggy was seriously ill with a respiratory problem, he would stop eating and lose weight very quickly.
Hold your ear to his chest, throat and nose. If they sound clear and not crackly or raspy, then you do not have to worry.

You can still have him vet checked during regular opening hours but it is in no way an emergency, just a health check.

update: i’m at the vet now with vester, he’s coughing more now . don’t know what to do than to just wait for my turn. i’m at a walk in vet, but this means i have to wait for hours until it’s my turn.

 

[Wiebke]

i


update: i’m at the vet now with vester, he’s coughing more now . don’t know what to do than to just wait for my turn. i’m at a walk in vet, but this means i have to wait for hours until it’s my turn.

All the best!

 

[Seven7]

Wish you and Sylvester the best, and please keep us posted.

 

[Patch89]

Hope you get answers quickly.

 

[Wiebke]

Any news?

 

[Patch89]

How are things?

 

[alex&sylvester]

Wish you and Sylvester the best, and please keep us posted.

alright hi all, so sorry it’s been quite long since i’ve updated you all on him, the week has been pretty stressful for me because i’ve been monitoring him all week. ok so the vet said it was nothing to be worried about and the coughing was just probably because his hay was dry and or dusty OR he’s not getting enough water. so i took my hay out and i spread it across a mat so it wouldn’t be so dusty. i’m making sure his bottle is full at ALL TIMES. the vet gave me some antibiotics just in case if there’s actually something going on. so after that it was pretty good. everything was ok, he stopped coughing so much and everything was going well. but then one day, my kitten, bit into just antibiotics and he basically spilt it everywhere so sylvester couldn’t take them anymore, but he did take the antibiotics for 3 days. after that, his coughs came back and i don’t know if it’s ok but i’ve noticed he makes this sound, that sounds very muffled and i’ve never heard him make those sounds before. the thing that’s stressing me out now is that he’s still eating and drinking, peeing and pooping but he’s coughing and he doesn’t sound so good, so have no idea what to think. is he ok or is he not?

 

[5StarPigs]

Maybe he is worse because he doesn’t have the antibiotics anymore. I would reccomend asking your vet for more of those antibiotics because your kitten spilled the first bottle. And keeping the antibiotics out of your kittens reach. If you get more continue to give them to him until the whole bottle is finished.

alright hi all, so sorry it’s been quite long since i’ve updated you all on him, the week has been pretty stressful for me because i’ve been monitoring him all week. ok so the vet said it was nothing to be worried about and the coughing was just probably because his hay was dry and or dusty OR he’s not getting enough water. so i took my hay out and i spread it across a mat so it wouldn’t be so dusty. i’m making sure his bottle is full at ALL TIMES. the vet gave me some antibiotics just in case if there’s actually something going on. so after that it was pretty good. everything was ok, he stopped coughing so much and everything was going well. but then one day, my kitten, bit into just antibiotics and he basically spilt it everywhere so sylvester couldn’t take them anymore, but he did take the antibiotics for 3 days. after that, his coughs came back and i don’t know if it’s ok but i’ve noticed he makes this sound, that sounds very muffled and i’ve never heard him make those sounds before. the thing that’s stressing me out now is that he’s still eating and drinking, peeing and pooping but he’s coughing and he doesn’t sound so good, so have no idea what to think. is he ok or is he not?

 

[alex&sylvester]

Maybe he is worse because he doesn’t have the antibiotics anymore. I would reccomend asking your vet for more of those antibiotics because your kitten spilled the first bottle. And keeping the antibiotics out of your kittens reach. If you get more continue to give them to him until the whole bottle is finished.

you i’ll be more careful in the future, but part of it feels like it’s my fault that he’s like this.. i’ve already emailed my vet to schedule an appointment tomorrow, but the thing is that she doesn’t reply fast, so i might be going on the weekends next week as my school break ends this week. now i have to deal with more stuff since school is going to start and i won’t even have time for sylvester. also i just searched a bunch of guinea pigs wheeking and honestly, i was so unfamiliar with the sounds that the guinea pigs made because now that i think about it, sylvesters wheek has been like muffled/grunted. other piggies have a very high bubbly noise while sylvester has a low muffled grunt and i’m getting quite anxious now. i can’t attach a video of him making the sounds because of some problem with the file. but the best way i can describe his sound is that it’s a low muffled grunting

 

[5StarPigs]

You can post videos on a third party website such as youtube, facebook, or photobucket, then link the video to here. Maybe you can go to the vets office and schedule an appointment with someone at the front desk? Or if you are really that worried you can go to a different vet.

you i’ll be more careful in the future, but part of it feels like it’s my fault that he’s like this.. i’ve already emailed my vet to schedule an appointment tomorrow, but the thing is that she doesn’t reply fast, so i might be going on the weekends next week as my school break ends this week. now i have to deal with more stuff since school is going to start and i won’t even have time for sylvester. also i just searched a bunch of guinea pigs wheeking and honestly, i was so unfamiliar with the sounds that the guinea pigs made because now that i think about it, sylvesters wheek has been like muffled/grunted. other piggies have a very high bubbly noise while sylvester has a low muffled grunt and i’m getting quite anxious now. i can’t attach a video of him making the sounds because of some problem with the file. but the best way i can describe his sound is that it’s a low muffled grunting

 

[Wiebke]

alright hi all, so sorry it’s been quite long since i’ve updated you all on him, the week has been pretty stressful for me because i’ve been monitoring him all week. ok so the vet said it was nothing to be worried about and the coughing was just probably because his hay was dry and or dusty OR he’s not getting enough water. so i took my hay out and i spread it across a mat so it wouldn’t be so dusty. i’m making sure his bottle is full at ALL TIMES. the vet gave me some antibiotics just in case if there’s actually something going on. so after that it was pretty good. everything was ok, he stopped coughing so much and everything was going well. but then one day, my kitten, bit into just antibiotics and he basically spilt it everywhere so sylvester couldn’t take them anymore, but he did take the antibiotics for 3 days. after that, his coughs came back and i don’t know if it’s ok but i’ve noticed he makes this sound, that sounds very muffled and i’ve never heard him make those sounds before. the thing that’s stressing me out now is that he’s still eating and drinking, peeing and pooping but he’s coughing and he doesn’t sound so good, so have no idea what to think. is he ok or is he not?

Please contact the vets again. However, if Sylvester is behaving like normal, is eating and well and holding his weight, then he is not seriously ill. it may just be that the antibiotic is suppressing the symptoms but not curing them because there is a different reason. You may want to discuss with your vet where to go from there.

What kind of hay do you feed; is it dust extracted or not? could you try another brand to see whether that is making a difference?
A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)

Have you considered any perfumes, air fresheners, scent sticks, dry radiator hear or air conditioning etc. which can all influence the breathing? It is generally a slow elimination process when you have to work through environmental factors.

Guinea pigs have a very small resiratory tract with narrow airways. that means that you can hear every little obstruction somewhere; they also can't breathe through their mouths, which means that even a mildly stuffy nose can sound quite impressive.
The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat. That is the reason why a serious respiratory problem is always connected with a loss of appetite and rather quickly lethargy from lack of fuel and the effort to breathe.

Weight management and health monitoring tips: Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[alex&sylvester]

You can post videos on a third party website such as youtube, facebook, or photobucket, then link the video to here. Maybe you can go to the vets office and schedule an appointment with someone at the front desk? Or if you are really that worried you can go to a different vet.

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here is the link to the noise he has been making. the thing is, i can only make an appointment through email, if i go to the front desk, it would be counted as a walk in check up. and usually those would take me about 4 hours until it’s my turn. this time i’m going back to my usual vet, the most recent vet trip i took,(the one for the checkup with vester) the vet i went to wasn’t specialised in exotic animals. they could also treat guinea pigs but not to the extend of getting surgeries and stuff because they don’t have the equipment, i went to that vet because i had no other choice. but right now, i am very grateful that my parents are willing to send me to the usual vet(which is very far away) because the usual vet i go to specialises in exotic animals and they really know their guinea pig stuff.

 

[alex&sylvester]

Please contact the vets again. However, if Sylvester is behaving like normal, is eating and well and holding his weight, then he is not seriously ill. it may just be that the antibiotic is suppressing the symptoms but not curing them because there is a different reason. You may want to discuss with your vet where to go from there.

What kind of hay do you feed; is it dust extracted or not? could you try another brand to see whether that is making a difference?
A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)

Have you considered any perfumes, air fresheners, scent sticks, dry radiator hear or air conditioning etc. which can all influence the breathing? It is generally a slow elimination process when you have to work through environmental factors.

Guinea pigs have a very small resiratory tract with narrow airways. that means that you can hear every little obstruction somewhere; they also can't breathe through their mouths, which means that even a mildly stuffy nose can sound quite impressive.
The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat. That is the reason why a serious respiratory problem is always connected with a loss of appetite and rather quickly lethargy from lack of fuel and the effort to breathe.

Weight management and health monitoring tips: Weight - Monitoring and Management

yeah, i’ve just emailed my vet hoping to get an appointment(tomorrow if possible). i’m feeding him his normal timothy hay. i extract the dust myself outside, i shake the bag and i take the hay out and spread it on a mat and i leave it there for a whole day to get all the dust out.hmm, for the environmental thing, the weather has been cold so we haven’t used an air cond yet. i don’t think my parents or anyone uses any perfumes or sprays, even if we do, we use them upstairs in our own rooms. we do use a mosquito spray sometimes, but not all the time. as the weather is quite cold, mossies don’t really come out. would it be quite possible if it were the matter of it being dusty? if it is, i don’t get how dust would affect him coughing because dust would usually make him sneeze...right?
so i’ve sent a link to vester making those grunting noises. lmk what do you think about his sounds. also thank you so much for putting those links to help me!

 

[Laura M.]

I am worried too