dry heaving

[willowfaery]

Has anyone ever seen a pig dry heave? It looks like on of my pigs was trying to heave or cough something up. She seems fine. Nothing came out. It just startled me a bit. Is this something to be worried about?

[PigWooBus]

One of my pigs does this, usually when he eats too fast. I won't give him basil stems because he does this and for a while I thought it was choking. I also saw him do it once when he was biting on the lining of his cuddle cup and got a little piece of fuzz loose. I read about something called "heaving hiccups" the other day and have been meaning to look into it more, because it seemed reasonable to me and perfectly described what I am seeing him do. Does your pig kind of... I don't even know how to explain it... go back and forth sort of... like jerk forward and then pull back and do it again a couple times? What I read said if you imagine like when you are eating or drinking something and it goes down the wrong pipe. Does anyone else know anything about this?

[sanyka]

My pig does the jerking back and forth part but without the dry heaving :s Is there a name for that? I have no idea why but I've noticed her do this recently... Should I be worried? Because I am :(

[willowfaery]

Pigwoobus, that is exactly what it looks like. I think she must have gotten a thread from a towel stuck in her throat. I had to get them out of her reach. Or she could have eaten her papaya too fast. She's such a piglet!

[PigWooBus]

Haha, my pig who does it is actually named Piglet (at the time we didn't realize how big he would get or how fast an eater he would be... he is 3 and a half pounds now) but I guess he was appropriately named. I haven't seen him do it in a few months now because I just pay attention to what he had when he did it and then don't give it to him again. I got a little blanket to line his cuddle cup so he can't bite the fuzz on it anymore :) I will look for more info about the heaving hiccups--the other day was the first time I ever heard of it... I saw it in a book with a list of other common medical things that happen to guinea pigs.

[PigWooBus]

Sorry for the double post, here is what I saw in a book (I know most books have bad information, this one is better than most I have seen) called "A Practical Guide to Caring for Your Guinea Pig" by Peter Gurney.

Here is what it says"

Heaving Hiccups
These cause much alarm when inexperienced owners see them for the first time. The animal appears to be heaving, prior to vomiting. The whole body is rocked and the retching comes from way down below the diaphragm. It usually stops abruptly when the guinea pig gives a little cough.
Guinea pigs cannot vomit; in essence anything that goes in the front end can only exit by the back. As hiccps usually happen during or just after a guinea pig has eaten, it is simply a matter of something having gone down the wrong way. Think of the way we cough and splutter when we eat too quickly and you will immediately identify with the animal.

Hope that helps, I will look for more info and post if I find anything.

[Wheek Weak]

When one of our pigs have a dry cough from hay or pellets, I'll give them a piece of lettuce that has been washed and left very wet.

It never fails to stop it. My husband calls it "Mommy's special lettuce".

[Haley0489]

My guinea pig has been doing something like this lately. I've only seen it when he's at the water bottle, and when he comes off he makes a little "hack!" sound. The first time I heard it, I ran over to the cage in absolute terror, but he was just sitting there looking at me like "what??" My boyfriend suggested the water might have just gone down "the wrong pipe" but it was so terrifying!

[Luvmyboarz]

One of my boys, Midnite, tends to gobble his hay,or his water, but evrry once in a while he'll give out with this high-pitched cough. If I'm around when he does it,I run to the cage and talk to him. He usually seems fine and gives me a look like,"What's wrong with YOU?"

[fourboys4now]

My boys do this if they are woofing down their veggies too fast.

[Char-x]

Hoover, and the girls actually..do this alot when they eats something too fast or doesnt chew right