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Upper respiratory infections

Daisy has been a bit quiet and today refused breakfast so she’s been back to the vets and it seems that she’s run down with everything that has happened so she’s on another course of treatment; cisapride for 2 days, metacam for 4 days, antibiotic for 7 days. Very upsetting.

Hoping so much that her new next door neighbour friend doesn’t get it too. He seems very healthy so fingers crossed he has a good immune system.
 
Daisy finished her second course of meds tonight. She’s responded well, no issues with any of the medications and she’s gained 43g during the 7 days.

I do feel very anxious now she’s off her meds though. Fingers crossed.
 
How can I be sure that Daisy’s upper respiratory infection has gone?

She has been off treatment for two weeks now. She’s gained 80g since seeing the vet three weeks ago, she’s eating well, she’s active and doing zoomies, but…. she is in general a sneezy pig. It’s usually when burrowing in hay, during cage clean etc but I don’t know how to tell if she’s just sensitive or whether some infection is still there but her own immune system is keeping it at bay.

She does wipe her nose sometimes.

Without the sneezing she seems well. I have tried a new bedding and different hay to see if the others were causing problems but not much change.

I have an air purifier already so that’s covered.

She’s approx five months old and weighs 549g.

Any advice? Does this sound concerning or not?

She is meant to be being bonded at the weekend. She lives next door to her new friend at the moment. He’s been here three weeks and hasn’t shown any symptoms thankfully.
 
A vet would beee to listen to her chest to help determine whether the infection is gone.

Allergies are rare but piggies can be sensitive to some things - things like ensuring hay is properly dust extracted, if on fleece checking that you’re using a baby non-bio to wash, no air fresheners or candles or sprays are used near her

I hope she is ok
 
Piggies&buns said:
A vet would beee to listen to her chest to help determine whether the infection is gone.

Allergies are rare but piggies can be sensitive to some things - things like ensuring hay is properly dust extracted, if on fleece checking that you’re using a baby non-bio to wash, no air fresheners or candles or sprays are used near her

I hope she is ok
Click to expand...
Thank you.

Without the slightly too much sneezing you wouldn’t know anything was wrong. It’s mostly first thing in the morning that she sneezes the most.

Our house is fragrance free but our neighbour has really upped his smoking lately and I am really worried about that.

I do think Daisy is missing living with a friend though which is likely causing her some constant low level stress.

I’ve managed to get her a vet appointment for this afternoon. Hopefully she’s ok and doesn’t need more treatment. If she’s ok then I can bond her and her boar-next-door friend Bramble at the weekend 🤞
 
The vet said apart from a little residue in her right nostril, she looks healthy and her chest is clear. Her weight is good.

It appears to be sensitivity rather than infection so she’s having a weeks course of metacam and we should know by day 5 whether this helps. If it does then she can have the same again whenever she has a sneezy flare up. There’s a chance it might eventually stop altogether. If it doesn’t help then we can move onto nebulising and see if that helps. If that does she can have that during flares. If not, we go back in.

We need to check whether it’s one nostril only as that could indicate something else going on.

Bonding is on hold for now unfortunately which is really disappointing because part of her being a bit stressed and run down could be that she needs and wants to live with another piggy, but hopefully once her sneezing has settled she will be in a better position to cope with bonding.

Luckily she likes metacam so takes that in the cage. It’s twice a day so fingers crossed it helps. Feel so bad for her though :(
 
Daisy seems to respond well but then slips back again after treatment stops.

So she did really well on the metacam course, her sneezing has stopped but today she’s quiet again and looks to be breathing a bit too heavily :(

The vets can see her in the morning. I’ve put her back on metacam for now.

Any advice? :(
 
Daisy saw the vet Saturday morning. She had lost her appetite by then as well as the other symptoms.

She was checked over, given some oxygen treatment whilst I waited to speak with the vet. They said that she had a build up of mucus in her nose and because her sneezing had stopped, she obviously wasn’t able to clear it. The vet also noted her heavy breathing and said her heart was beating too hard and fast which could be to do with the respiratory issue but that it might be a good idea to do a heart scan if it doesn’t improve but that she was too fragile for tests at the moment.

They prescribed bisolvon, said to carry on with metacam and to nebulise her as well with the saline they suggested last appointment.

Thankfully Daisy has been gradually improving so we will see how she goes day by day.
 
Daisy in her steam room :)
 

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Daisy had a check up today. The vet was very pleased with her progress - big improvement and such a difference from when she saw her on Saturday morning she said :)

So we are giving metacam for another week, bisolvon for another 10 days and nebulising as well and hopefully she will continue to do well. She does still have some mucus in her nose to come out but so much better overall. She’s also back to eating normally now, has gained weight (she is 560g) and is back doing some zoomies etc :)

The vet doesn’t think we need to do heart tests as things stand.

She did mention that Daisy is very small and has stunted growth which is most likely due to the respiratory problems she’s had but we will keep an eye on how she grows and develops over time. She may stay small or catch up once she’s back on track.

If she continues to do this well then we can bond her with Bramble after we finish the meds etc and hopefully living with a friend will boost her even more.

So good news and she was a very brave girl today 💛
 
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