Are these signs of heart problems?

[Adaka]

Lately my piggy has been making these owl like noises, then he coughs and is back to normal. Is that a sign of heart problems?

[PigPandemonium]

Could be, owl like noises can be a sign of that, I would take him to the vet asap to get him checked out to see what it is. Make sure it is a good exotics vet, I've had some very bad experiences with other vets that "treat guinea pigs" Not all vets are good.

[Adaka]

OK, but I told my parents that it could be a heart problem, and they said to wait 24 hours and see what happens :S Could something really bad happen in that time?

[PigPandemonium]

I don't know to much about heart issues, however you said he has been coughing, which I know is one of the signs of an URI which should be looked at right now, those can get really bad really fast. Tell your parents that with guinea pigs, they hide things, so it could be much worse than it looks, as he's trying to hide it. Reason being is that in the wild, predators pick off the weak fastest, so if they look like they are sick, they would be more likely to get eaten than other healthy pigs. I'd take him to the vet right now to find out what it is, it's better safe than sorry, and if it is something like and URI 24 hours can be the difference between life and death. Though again, I'm not an expert about these things.

[bpatters]

It can be. And nothing is really likely to happen to him before tomorrow. If it does, it would be something the vet couldn't do anything about anyway.

Be sure to see a cavy savvy vet, because not even all of them will know how to deal with heart problems. The usual procedure is to take an x-ray and see if the heart is enlarged or if there's fluid in the lungs. If either of those is positive, then they usually start the pig on heart medications. If not, and if the hooting persists, they may do heart meds anyway. It's like arriving at the diagnosis by the back door -- we think it's his heart, and the heart meds help, so that must be it.

It can be quite a fine dance to get the meds regulated, and over time, you'll have to learn the symptoms so that you'll know how to adjust them as needed. You might want to look over the information at www.guinealynx.info/heart.html.

But, the hooting can be because he's gotten something stuck in his throat or airway. In that case, it may go away on it's on.

Does he show any other signs of heart problems, such as moving less, or sleeping very deeply?

Or is he showing any signs of an URI, such as sneezing, runny nose or eyes? Or acting like he's not feeling well? If so, you probably need to go on and take him to the vet, but in that case, the main symptoms will be those of the URI, and you can tell him about the hooting while you're there.

[Adaka]

He seems normal right now. He's eating and his nose is clear.