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Weeks to live?

Pippig

New Born Pup
Joined
Oct 7, 2020
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
20
Location
Uxbridge
Hi,

I think my pig may have a upper respiratory infection,
Clicky breathing, sneezing, wiping nose and half closed eye.

She has had it for a week now and has not stopped.

Is it true that left untreated she won't survive the month?

My step mum gets paid at the end of the month and won't do it before then.

She's outside in a hutch with no cover.

Will she survive till then?
 
Your girl won’t survive for long without treatment. Please speak to the vet about a payment plan. A URI needs to be treated as soon as because it can go downhill very quickly.

You will need to bring her inside if the hutch isn’t insulated or anything 1 it’s not that warm outside anymore. Does she live alone?
 
Unfortunately she won't survive without treatment. Please see your vet immediately. They will work with you and let you make payments. Its so unfair to the poor piggy.
 
Her partner is split up from her due to the illness, so your saying she won't last the month?

:(
 
No unfortunatly she won't. An untreated respiratory infection can cause pnuemonia which will cause fluids to build up in the lungs and eventually she will go into organ failure. You need to get your piggy to a vet ASAP. They also should not be kept outside if they are sick. That clicking sound is her unable to breathe. Please see a vet.
 
Hi there, couple of points here- firstly it is forum policy (which you agreed to on signing up) to seek prompt veterinary care for a sick animal. Secondly none of us have magic furure predicting powers that can predict the lifespan of an animal we never saw based on a few lines of text! If your guinea pig has breathing issues you must see the vet, this is a legal obligation, forum policy, and plain common sense for animal welfare. Breathing problems can get worse very fast, and an untreated mild respiratory infection could progress to pneumonia over the course of a few days. Being outdoors withour adequate insulation, and being stressed by the separation from a companion, will exacerbate this. Please see the vet, and let us know how you get on.
 
Hi,

I think my pig may have a upper respiratory infection,
Clicky breathing, sneezing, wiping nose and half closed eye.

She has had it for a week now and has not stopped.

Is it true that left untreated she won't survive the month?

My step mum gets paid at the end of the month and won't do it before then.

She's outside in a hutch with no cover.

Will she survive till then?

Hi!

I am very sorry but your piggy sounds like she has by now likely already got pneumonia, too (clicking breathing), on top of a fully developed URI. She really needs to see a vet now and won't be able to wait for several weeks. UK vet clinics will often offer payment plans.

Guinea pigs are NOT hardy and do need to be protected over the winter months as well as during hot weather. Please bring her indoors asap and keep her warm and cosy. Step in with support care as she will likely have lost her appetite, too. The need to breathe comes before the need to drink and only thirdly the need to eat. A piggy that is not eating is a dying piggy.
However, without an antibiotic she won't be able to improve even with your best efforts at support care, as necessary as your good home care is to keeping her alive while she is under treatment and until the medication is kicking in.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...e-importance-of-syringe-feeding-fibre.152928/

Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs
Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike

Please always save up for basic vet care or euthanasia as part of the weekly/monthly living expense with any pet you ever have so you can at least cover any easily curable illnesses and prevent them from dying in pain and distress. Research any pets before you get them and make sure that you can keep them to an acceptable standard of welfare. There are no cheap pets.
If a new guinea pig falls ill within 2-3 weeks of purchase (UK) or 1 month (USA), then you can reclaim any vet cost from the pet shop you got them from as exposure and infection must have happened there. But they must be seen and diagnosed by a vet within this period.

Please show these links here to your legal guardian:
A guide to vets fees, insurance and payment support.
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites
 
Hi there, couple of points here- firstly it is forum policy (which you agreed to on signing up) to seek prompt veterinary care for a sick animal. Secondly none of us have magic furure predicting powers that can predict the lifespan of an animal we never saw based on a few lines of text! If your guinea pig has breathing issues you must see the vet, this is a legal obligation, forum policy, and plain common sense for animal welfare. Breathing problems can get worse very fast, and an untreated mild respiratory infection could progress to pneumonia over the course of a few days. Being outdoors withour adequate insulation, and being stressed by the separation from a companion, will exacerbate this. Please see the vet, and let us know how you get on.
Couldn't agree with you more. Thank you. So glad this forum keeps an eye on these things.
 
I will see what I can do with the vet.
I never heard of an issue like this before.
Until I thought, that the sneezing hasn't stopped and looked it up.
 
The fact you come on this forum . Asking looking for help means to me you care . .
Piggie needs your help ASAP.
Have a talk to the vet and tell them what you telling us. .pls x
 
I will see what I can do with the vet.
I never heard of an issue like this before.
Until I thought, that the sneezing hasn't stopped and looked it up.

Please do seek help asap.

Unfortunately too many new owners do not research their pets on good welfare standard sites like the RSPCA or like our forum before they get them. Pet shops are money orientated and are firstly interested in making a sale and gaining another repeat customer long before any welfare considerations; and then only to the very minimal limit they are legally constrained to. :(
I am extremely sorry that your lesson is coming in such a hard way and I am keeping my fingers very firmly crossed that you can save your little girl! We are trying our best to ensure that any prospective and new owners do get as good and safe a start as possible, but we are sadly often only found when problems happen.

Guinea pigs are small prey animals. They are wired to suppress symptoms of illness for as long as possible. When they are visibly ill, then they are already seriously ill. And with their small body mass and fast metabolism they can go downhill extremely quickly. :(

I am keeping my fingers very firmly crossed for your little girl! Please take the time to read the guide links; they are important.

PS: We have got one of the best information resources on guinea pigs via this link here, which you may want to bookmark: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
 
I’m afraid the only thing we can tell you to do here is to take this piggy to a vet. There’s no other advice that would be correct. Sick animals can’t wait for financial circumstances to improve. If things are as bad as you say, then try the PDSA or Blue Cross vets.
 
♥Hello @Pippig, I hope everything is okay with you. I don't blame you atall for this situation as I realise it's your parents who pay the vet bills/offer transport to the vet! The fact that you've come on hear shows you care and have tried to help (which believe me is more than alot of owners do) I can completely relate to the situation as when I was a child I only had one guinea pig and I was not allowed another one no matter how much I begged my mum. Eventually when she was an older guinea pig I was allowed one but she never really interacted with her properly as she'd been without a mate for so long. Eventually, the older guinea pig passed away, so I was left with the younger one (I think she was able a few years old) and guess what? I wasn't allowed another one.. so I gave her up to a lady who had lots of guinea pigs as I couldn't bare for her to be on her own again.. it was a horrible situation and it still haunts me to this day. (But the only thing that makes me feel better is that in the end she did have a friend after all). My point is it's not you causing this situation you have only done your best and it's not your fault. As long as you feel you've done everything in your power to help her it won't haunt you (as it has me) in later years. But if the worst has happened, I'm very sorry and I know you would've done everything you could. I think there's a grieving guide you may want to read ♥ but hopefully she's pulled though. Every animal has a time and if your guinea pig is very old it may be harder for her to pull through but fingers crossed, take care lovely 💚
 
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