Welp, He's Hooting

[Lorcan]

Or at least, Comet is. Nevermind the clean bill of health they got from the vet last week, he's hooting away to himself and has been for a couple of hours now. He's still eating fine (well, hay, but he is eating), the hooting is just..constant. Almost like he's trying to squeak but has no voice so he's hooting instead?

I wish taking him to the vet was an option but it isn't. I still don't have my debit card :/

 

[sport_billy]

It is possible he has got dust up his nose from hay. One of our girls does this every other day or so - a huge sneeze then it clears.

Any sign of discharge? If it carries on he will need the vets as it could be a URI. No other signs of illness, huffed up? Lethargy? Ask about a payment plan if you currently don't have access to your bank account.

 

[Lorcan]

It is possible he has got dust up his nose from hay. One of our girls does this every other day or so - a huge sneeze then it clears.

Any sign of discharge? If it carries on he will need the vets as it could be a URI. No other signs of illness, huffed up? Lethargy? Ask about a payment plan if you currently don't have access to your bank account.

No sneezing yet but the hay is a good thought, I did just open a new bag of hay last night. No sign of discharge, lethargy - subdued maybe, but not lethargic. He's stopped hooting for the time being but if he starts again I'll call the vets anyway.

 

[helen105281]

My Mabel has been doing this the last week but it is since we have started using an old carrier (which they trashed) as a bed, she loves it but I think it gets a bit dusty when the hay is in there too. She is a heart pig though so have been on alert for a flare of her symptoms but the vet has listened to her heart and it is doing ok. I would keep an eye on him, hopefully it is the dust or even your heating being on but get him checked for a URI and possibly his heart if it doesn't clear up. Hooting usually goes alongside other symptoms with a heart issue though.

 

[Wiebke]

if the hooting or sneezing is temporary and connected with a new bag of hay or eating on the day etc., then it is just a slightly blocked nose that will clear with either a sneeze or eventually after a day or so. Guinea pig airways are very narrow, so you hear every little obstruction in them very clearly. The VAST majority of cases of hooting falls in this category.
If the sneezing gets worse, the hooting turns into loud and persistent crackling and your piggy is starting to lose its appetite, then please see a vet for URI (respiratory tract infection) promptly.

Before you start thinking about heart problems, you need to have regular hooting for weeks, not just a day or two, and you want to see it in combination with other potential indicators of heart disease. @helen105281 can give you the full list if you wish to, but in your case I would really not worry! Since hooting has hit the online world as a potential heart disease symptom, we get regularly posts from worried owners.

It is not easy to diagnose heart problems in the first place; a guinea pig can show several symptoms on the list and STILL not have a heart problem (I have been there with piggies of mine). The ones that turned out to have a problem (irregular heartbeat), didn't show any symptoms and didn't react to heart meds. They have been seen by a very experienced guinea pig vet.

 

[Lorcan]

Yeah. I think my bigger worry is if he does have a problem, I'm SOL in being able to get him to the vets. I don't even have the spare cash to get a bus or anything right now. He'd choose a hell of a time to be sick. I'm gonna be keeping an eye on him anyway, he may not be lethargic but he's not his usual bouncy self either.