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Uri What To Do To Help Piggie

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missdoofus

missdoofus

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Hi Everyone!

So after we finally had Cookie returned (who is feeling amazing after all his teeth work, thanks again to TEAS), the other piggie now has a URI. We have been prescribed Septrin to take, which we started yesterday.

I have to say Crumble doesn't look well to me at all. He is sitting hunched up, breathing very rapidly, sounds rattling, one of his eyes is swollen. I clear his nose every few hours and also wipe his eye, but is there anything else we can do to make him feel better? I assume the antibiotics won't work for a few days as yet, so anything to help him breathe really?

The poor little man is sneezing an awful lot and is trying to eat but has to keep sneezing when he goes near the hay. I tried to feed him tiny bits of water at a time, so he is at least drinking, but frankly it looked like he nearly choked on it and he ended up coughing and sneezing repeatedly for around 10 seconds (non stop). He also does this when he gets his tiny dose of medecine, which he loves to take but then ends up coughing/sneezing (hard to tell the difference)...

Any suggestions on what might make him feel better?

Thanks!
 
missdoofus said:
Hi Everyone!

So after we finally had Cookie returned (who is feeling amazing after all his teeth work, thanks again to TEAS), the other piggie now has a URI. We have been prescribed Septrin to take, which we started yesterday.

I have to say Crumble doesn't look well to me at all. He is sitting hunched up, breathing very rapidly, sounds rattling, one of his eyes is swollen. I clear his nose every few hours and also wipe his eye, but is there anything else we can do to make him feel better? I assume the antibiotics won't work for a few days as yet, so anything to help him breathe really?

The poor little man is sneezing an awful lot and is trying to eat but has to keep sneezing when he goes near the hay. I tried to feed him tiny bits of water at a time, so he is at least drinking, but frankly it looked like he nearly choked on it and he ended up coughing and sneezing repeatedly for around 10 seconds (non stop). He also does this when he gets his tiny dose of medecine, which he loves to take but then ends up coughing/sneezing (hard to tell the difference)...

Any suggestions on what might make him feel better?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If he is sneezing so badly because of the hay, I would remove it completely for the time being and replace it with a bowl of recovery food or tamp it down in a small portion by sprinkling it with water. You can also place a bowl of steaming water next to the cage; that may also help to ease the breathing.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-syringe-feeding-guide.115359/

Please start syringe feeding and watering him. It can be an allergy playing into it; you may want to speak to your vet about this, especially if the sneezing isn't going down.
 
I might try and dampen it a bit for him. I don't think he is sneezing because of an allergy.

He has snot coming out of his nose, runny eyes and heaving breathing and sounds like a person having a cold. He is not sneezing too much while he isn't moving. However when I tried to feed him stuff it sounds more like he chokes on it... Will definitely try the steam, maybe it will loosen things up a bit. The poor man! WIll offer him some mashed up pellets in a bit. I'm honestly worried about him choking though, because he is already breathing with his mouth wide open.
 
missdoofus said:
I might try and dampen it a bit for him. I don't think he is sneezing because of an allergy.

He has snot coming out of his nose, runny eyes and heaving breathing and sounds like a person having a cold. He is not sneezing too much while he isn't moving. However when I tried to feed him stuff it sounds more like he chokes on it... Will definitely try the steam, maybe it will loosen things up a bit. The poor man! WIll offer him some mashed up pellets in a bit. I'm honestly worried about him choking though, because he is already breathing with his mouth wide open.
Click to expand...

Could you ask your vet for bisolvon powder to help with the mucus and a diuretic if there is a build-up of fluid in the lungs?
 
He has the man flu! He breathes louder than my other half when he has a cold! I will give them a call first thing tomorrow and see what they say. I'm hoping the antibiotics will start doing something. oO
 
The need to breathe is paramount, before drinking and eating. It is therefore important to get the symptoms down enough quickly to help a piggy breathe again, so it can take on drink and food to be able to live and fight.

Fingers very firmly crossed! I hope that the septrin is going to kick in soon!
 
Wiebke can I just check the dosage with you. We were told to give 0.1 twice daily and it seems very little? He weighs 840g...

Thanks,
Jess
 
While we were visiting Simon at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic with our Cookie, we also asked about dosage and he strongly recommended upping the dosage as Crumble was pre-scribed only 0.1 of the paediatric version of the Septrin, since we have done that he seems much better today and has started eating again and also his nose is less blocked!
 
I am so glad he is feeling a little better. The dose you were prescribed by the other vet was really too low to be doing anything, especially as it was paediatric Septrin. Is Cookie also taking Septrin now? What dose did Simon prescribe? Have you got paediatric Septrin or the adult version? x
 
Hi Debbie, Cookie is on 0.3 of the adult version and is taking it really well. He hardly has any symptoms at this point, so hopefully caught it early on. He is just doing is tapdancing before dinner ;)
 
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