Uri Peace Of Mind?

[Kirzzin]

Hi Everyone,
My 2.5 month old Crash has been sneezing a bit in the last few days and tonight he coughed. I picked him up to see his nose running. I started googling and of course got the scariest results about URI treatment. It is 4 am here and the vets office opens at 7 30am so instead of sleeping I am panicking of course.
I've completely separated him from my other two but I just wanted some piece of mind about success stories with URIs? He is still eating and drinking but he has become quiet less active then he was.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi Everyone,
My 2.5 month old Crash has been sneezing a bit in the last few days and tonight he coughed. I picked him up to see his nose running. I started googling and of course got the scariest results about URI treatment. It is 4 am here and the vets office opens at 7 30am so instead of sleeping I am panicking of course.
I've completely separated him from my other two but I just wanted some piece of mind about success stories with URIs? He is still eating and drinking but he has become quiet less active then he was. View attachment 82285

Hi! Please take a deep breath!

It is good that you have him vet checked; please be aware that every vet will treat for URI first and foremost at least hint, just to be on the safe side. A runny nose can also be indicative of something stuck, so ask your vet to check for that, too.
Please also check for air fresheners and any perfumed products you use from cage bedding to your own body care; they can cause Crash's symptoms, too. Place a bowl of steaming water next to cage to help ease his breathing and keep that refreshed.

That said, Crash is no danger of dying! The really virulent nasties are thankfully fairly rare; if Crash had got one of them, he'd been very ill at the vets several days ago. When searching online please be aware that what you get is not the real reflection; you get all the horror stories but not the many more success stories unless it is some kind of 'miracle cure' which often doesn't stand the test of time. If you have an inclination for anxiety attacks, please don't go there; it will not help your piggy and only make you miserable. You are always welcome to check with us if you are worried and we will help you with whether you need to see a vet and how quickly.

Please get hold of some probiotic from a pet shop. The antibiotic you will be given is most likely baytril, which can in some cases (again, from our own experiences only a minority) affect the gut bacteria as well as the bad bacteria - as can happen with any antibiotic. You give pinch either 1 hour before the antibiotic (US recommendation) or 1-2 hours after you give the antibiotic (UK recommendation). Either way is equally valid. This helps to bolster the gut fauna. Probiotics are not a medication, so they are not prescribed by vets.

Please be aware that if it is a URI, his mates have already been exposed to any bacteria from his sneezing, so put him back. Guinea pigs with a fully operational immunal system that are not stressed (unlike young shop piggies), will be able to fend off an acute outbreak of regular URI, which at the worst is what Crash has got. Companionship is more important as a stress easer than quarantine at this age.

Switch to weighing Crash daily at the same time (like before dinner or before his breakfast) instead of once weighing weekly. Step in with support feeding if he loses over 50g and keep in mind that the difference between a full belly and bladder and an empty one can make as much as 40g and is not something to worry about.
We will help you with tips if that is case. Problems will ease once the course of baytril has finished.
if you haven't got scales, cheap kitchen scales from a supermarket are perfectly adequate for keepking an eye on weight loss or gain from one day/week to the next.
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig

And again - take a deep breath and calm yourself down. Crash is NOT seriously ill and has got every chance of a perfect recovery as long as you have him vet checked tomorrow and step in with any treatment if that is needed.

 

[Kirzzin]

Thank you so much @Weibke this has made me feel much better already. Crash has an appointment today at 3:30and has been sneezing a noticeable amount since my last post. No poops in the separated cage and he has become very lethargic but usually this is when they're sleeping because the other 2 are both asleep in the pigloo and didn't budge when I turned the light on to check him. He was grinding his teeth a lot last night though so I hope he isn't in too much pain before the vet sees us.

 

[Kirzzin]

Hi! Please take a deep breath!

It is good that you have him vet checked; please be aware that every vet will treat for URI first and foremost at least hint, just to be on the safe side. A runny nose can also be indicative of something stuck, so ask your vet to check for that, too.
Please also check for air fresheners and any perfumed products you use from cage bedding to your own body care; they can cause Crash's symptoms, too. Place a bowl of steaming water next to cage to help ease his breathing and keep that refreshed.

That said, Crash is no danger of dying! The really virulent nasties are thankfully fairly rare; if Crash had got one of them, he'd been very ill at the vets several days ago. When searching online please be aware that what you get is not the real reflection; you get all the horror stories but not the many more success stories unless it is some kind of 'miracle cure' which often doesn't stand the test of time. If you have an inclination for anxiety attacks, please don't go there; it will not help your piggy and only make you miserable. You are always welcome to check with us if you are worried and we will help you with whether you need to see a vet and how quickly.

Please get hold of some probiotic from a pet shop. The antibiotic you will be given is most likely baytril, which can in some cases (again, from our own experiences only a minority) affect the gut bacteria as well as the bad bacteria - as can happen with any antibiotic. You give pinch either 1 hour before the antibiotic (US recommendation) or 1-2 hours after you give the antibiotic (UK recommendation). Either way is equally valid. This helps to bolster the gut fauna. Probiotics are not a medication, so they are not prescribed by vets.

Please be aware that if it is a URI, his mates have already been exposed to any bacteria from his sneezing, so put him back. Guinea pigs with a fully operational immunal system that are not stressed (unlike young shop piggies), will be able to fend off an acute outbreak of regular URI, which at the worst is what Crash has got. Companionship is more important as a stress easer than quarantine at this age.

Switch to weighing Crash daily at the same time (like before dinner or before his breakfast) instead of once weighing weekly. Step in with support feeding if he loses over 50g and keep in mind that the difference between a full belly and bladder and an empty one can make as much as 40g and is not something to worry about.
We will help you with tips if that is case. Problems will ease once the course of baytril has finished.
if you haven't got scales, cheap kitchen scales from a supermarket are perfectly adequate for keepking an eye on weight loss or gain from one day/week to the next.
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig

And again - take a deep breath and calm yourself down. Crash is NOT seriously ill and has got every chance of a perfect recovery as long as you have him vet checked tomorrow and step in with any treatment if that is needed.

I just wanted to say thank you. After a trip to the vet. He got checked out by one not so familiar with piggies vet and then got checked out a second time by the head vet who rescues guinea pigs. They told me everything looked and sounded perfect and Crash made me look a little crazy because there were no nose drips or eye drips at all. I bought some new bedding that just came into the store I work at called über 99 that claimed to be dust free. I switched out their litter boxes with that and immediately noticed there was no dust like the boxo brand I was using previously. I also purchased clean and free laundry soap specifically for their fleece blankets.
There are still some sniffles but he is eating and drinking like mad still so I am wondering if a humidifier would be a safe thing to get?

 

[Wiebke]

I just wanted to say thank you. After a trip to the vet. He got checked out by one not so familiar with piggies vet and then got checked out a second time by the head vet who rescues guinea pigs. They told me everything looked and sounded perfect and Crash made me look a little crazy because there were no nose drips or eye drips at all. I bought some new bedding that just came into the store I work at called über 99 that claimed to be dust free. I switched out their litter boxes with that and immediately noticed there was no dust like the boxo brand I was using previously. I also purchased clean and free laundry soap specifically for their fleece blankets.
There are still some sniffles but he is eating and drinking like mad still so I am wondering if a humidifier would be a safe thing to get? View attachment 82344

Yes, you can get a humidifier. See whether the sniffles settle down over the course of the next week. If not, the search will continue, but it sounds like you may have got the main culprit and you have the relief that it is not URI related.