URI - sneezing

[Minipiggies]

I’ve had my guinea pigs to the vets today as they started sneezing over the weekend. They both seem fairly happy otherwise, though maybe a bit quieter than usual, but they’re eating and drinking ok. The vet has given us some Baytril and is treating it as a URI (early stages), as nothing else has changed in their environment. They’re kept on vet bed, with a litter box of Fitch and piles of hay. Having said that, we have only had them just over 2 weeks!
So far they’ve taken the Baytril well, though I expect that to change as they get used to the taste maybe! Anyway, I was just wondering what may have caused the URI, and if there’s anything I could do differently? I know that may be an impossible question to answer!

I change the soiled bits of Fitch every day so they’re not sitting in wet, and do a thorough clean once a week. The vet bed hasn’t been particularly soiled so far, so I’ve been washing that once a week. Or could it just be something they came to us with perhaps? I’m not convinced about the breeder we got them from, and how they were previously kept, unfortunately

 

[Chickenpies]

Do you have air conditioning or anything? It could be cold drafts, and do you use dust extracted hay? That could be the cause also. My piggie got a URI out of no where, but I found out it was because I used the dusty bits of hay at the bottom of the bag Do they live inside?

 

[Siikibam]

We can’t tell you exactly what caused it - the triggers can be many. It’s good you caught it quickly. Did they get the once over as well?

 

[Minipiggies]

Yes, they live inside and I don’t think it’s too draughty. Their hay is from HayBox, and seems lovely and dust free, though our first bag was from the local pet shop and was quite dusty, so maybe that triggered it.
They’ve had a once over, and Fluffy has some ointment for her eye too. I’d noticed her closing it a little bit, so they checked it with some drops. No foreign bodies, but they thought it would be a good idea to treat it just in case.

 

[Minipiggies]

Fuzzy says “Baytril tastes nasty, but the cucumber afterwards is nice!”

 

[CV26]

My boys picked up a URI...not sure whether they had it from when I first got them a few weeks ago or developed it as they were with me. Either way, I've swapped out their hay tray shavings for Back 2 Nature and I've been looking at their hay quite carefully. The original stuff I had from pets at home (now run out) seemed a tad dusty so I've now ordered from Hay Box to see what's that like. I've got Pillow Wad hay at the moment but it seems a bit stalky and more yellow than green so hopefully Hay Box will be better.

The only signs I had were sneezing and Dash winking at me a bit. He's cottoned on to the antibiotics now though so we do a **** sandwich...something nice, antibiotics, something nice. Seems to be working! Spud just swallows the lot with no arguments.

 

[Chickenpies]

Do you use any air fresheners in the room, or fragrances? Air con? It could be anything really But try and not use sprays and fragrances in their room because they have such delicate lungs! And Teddy hated baytril, haha.

 

[Minipiggies]

No, I hate perfumes and air fresheners - I think I’m a bit allergic to them. I’m with the piggies on this, they make me sneeze! No air con either. It’s a Victorian house, but not particularly draughty I don’t think. Thanks for the tips though! Hopefully they’ll recover from it and be right as rain.