Unsure of URI?

[coreyandminkus]

Hey! The piggie in question is our boy Minkus, he’s a rescue though I suspect around 4-5 y/o, for a nice few months now he does a little cough, but that’s normally when he’s eating or drinking and he IS a chunky guy so we’re thinking that’s just due to eating or drinking too fast.
He’s been acting TOTALLY normally, active, eating and drinking normally, into pets, sleeping the usual amount, I haven’t introduced any new foods or toys, but yesterday when I went into their room he had strange breathing that was pretty audible. Not crackly like the descriptions and videos I’ve seen of URIs, but like there was a catch in his breath. Then he did a cough/sneeze and since then it’s been gone. Our usual vet is two hours away and not open weekends, but I did consider emergency if the breathing kept up, or to take him in Monday as well, but ever since that maybe 10 minute spurt of weird breathing he’s been totally normal?

I’ve put my ear up to his body four times now to listen and checked in throughout the day, and it’s totally gone. He still does do that cough though, and sometimes when he isn’t even near his food or water. Is it possible he just had a moment of being winded or maybe needed to clear his throat?

I just wanted to know if anyone had a similar scare and what happened afterwards, as I don’t want to stress this big old guy out by trekking him the two hours to the vets if it’s a fluke, but I also don’t want to ignore anything. Video attached!

 

[coreyandminkus]

He’s an absynian and weighs in at 2,300 grams right now so he IS a chunky guy, at the moment he just gets Timothy hay, garden select pellets and a salad each night, he hasn’t been GAINING though, he’s been this size a while ! They were under 1000 grams when we rescued them though.

 

[coreyandminkus]

They were at the vets in April and at that point they had a clean bill of health !

 

[Wiebke]

Hey! The piggie in question is our boy Minkus, he’s a rescue though I suspect around 4-5 y/o, for a nice few months now he does a little cough, but that’s normally when he’s eating or drinking and he IS a chunky guy so we’re thinking that’s just due to eating or drinking too fast.
He’s been acting TOTALLY normally, active, eating and drinking normally, into pets, sleeping the usual amount, I haven’t introduced any new foods or toys, but yesterday when I went into their room he had strange breathing that was pretty audible. Not crackly like the descriptions and videos I’ve seen of URIs, but like there was a catch in his breath. Then he did a cough/sneeze and since then it’s been gone. Our usual vet is two hours away and not open weekends, but I did consider emergency if the breathing kept up, or to take him in Monday as well, but ever since that maybe 10 minute spurt of weird breathing he’s been totally normal?

I’ve put my ear up to his body four times now to listen and checked in throughout the day, and it’s totally gone. He still does do that cough though, and sometimes when he isn’t even near his food or water. Is it possible he just had a moment of being winded or maybe needed to clear his throat?

I just wanted to know if anyone had a similar scare and what happened afterwards, as I don’t want to stress this big old guy out by trekking him the two hours to the vets if it’s a fluke, but I also don’t want to ignore anything. Video attached!

Hi and welcome

Please take a deep breath. Guinea pig airways are very narrow and they are not much in the way of mouth breathers, so even the slightest obstruction in the nose can cause quite alarming sounds. They usually disappear after a big sneeze or on their own within a few hours. It was likely just a little hay dust.

You can usually work out where the problem sits by holding your ear against the nose, the throat and then the chest. Sounds from the nose are usually harmless unless they persist for long periods or they recur frequently or come with persistent runny nose or thick yellow/greenish mucus in the eyes and/or nostrils (signs of an advanced untreated URI). Guinea pigs often sneeze at the end of one of their several times daily 'piggy washes', simply to clear their nose.
However, if your piggy sneezes persistently every few hours on end or has a runny nose that is more than a one-off episode, then please see a vet. Any nose bleed should be investigated.

Any crackling/rasping from the throat or lungs should be investigated as it can indicate a URI. It can occasionally be a sensitivity to hay dust, especially if you have just changed brands; but it should always be treated firstly as an URI.

Any clicking from the lungs, especially with noticeable heaving sides/deep breathing should be seen by a vet asap as this is a symptom of pneumonia.

I hope that this simple method can help you put any breathing issues into perspective, especially as vet access in Canada is usually somewhat limited. So you do not panic unnecessarily but get help whenever needed.