Can pigs be allergic to timothy hay?

[KittyKrochet]

My two girls have been sneezing every so often. I was concerned, because I know how serious URI's can be, even when caught early and treated, so I had the vet check them over. My vet has been working with exotics, mostly piggies and rats, for 20 years, and he really knows his stuff. He took a look and said that I shouldn't be worried, and that they're just sneezing from the bedding (which proclaims to be dust free, but you know how bedding is). I felt a lot better after he took a good look at them, but they're still sneezing.

I did notice, though, that they only seem to sneeze when I put their timothy hay in the cage. Has anyone ever heard if it's possible for piggies to be allergic to timothy hay? I know people can be, but...piggies?

[Moenae]

What kind of bedding do you use in their cage

[bpatters]

Try another kind of hay and see if they quit sneezing.

[Moenae]

I have read that guinea pig can rarely have allergies but i think yours do i agree witg Bpatters you should change to a diffrent kind if hay like concord hay or alfaf than keep timothy hay or take your guinea pig to the pet store and let them sniff the hay and get one that they arent sneezing and wants to eat

[Paula]

I had a pig diagnosed with hay fever (which my husband pointed out was truly tragic, given that they eat hay, ha!) by an exceedingly competent vet. If you trust the vet, I'd say it's probably hay fever/allergies. You can give benadryl if it's enough of a problem - just ask your vet to prescribe it.

[spy9doc]

Doesn't it make more sense to thoroughly clean their cage and everything in it........and then try a couple different kinds of hay?? There are other options available like bluegrass, orchard grass, etc.

If you are buying pet store hay, then it is absolutely the worst! It is usually dry, brown and dusty. If you are dead set on using timothy hay, then buy a bale from a farmer where you can examine it, smell it, and perhaps even get a sample of it.

If you don't know a farmer who sells hay, then seek out a local farm supply or feed store and buy from them.

[KittyKrochet]

Right now I have them on carefresh, only because I can't afford to do laundry every day or every other day when fleece gets smelly (laundry where I am is $1.50 per laundry machine and dryer).

I think I'm going to try to get them a different kind of hay. It's just sad, because I know they love the timothy hay they get now. The only other hay that they seem to like so far is peanut hay, and it's too fatty for them to eat all the time. Luckily, my university is in a pretty rural place, so I should be able to get fresh hay when I'm there in a month. I'm gonna see if, between now and then, I can get some orchard hay. I originally didn't want to get them that, since I know my father is super allergic to it, and I'm mildly allergic. =[

I'm glad it may be that I'm not imagining it, though. I never thought of hay fever being a thing for them, tho. Poor things.

[mrsmegb]

It probably is dust in the hay, or the hay itself. Or, it could be dust in the carefresh... I really think it's a combo of carefresh and hay. Since both are sneezing, it makes me think it's irritation from dust and not an allergy.

With fleece, you can easily go a whole week before having to wash it. Use something like puppy pads or a u-haul blanket underneath to soak up the urine. Our set up lasts us a week to a week and a half before smelling, and I clean the poops out every day or every other day. Carefresh only lasted a couple days before smelling for us.

[Fern_sweets]

I got my guinea pig alfalfa hay and timothy..she's sneezing from it too!cleaned out her cage(I use fleece) then she stopped,try putting small amounts of hay in their cage for them to eat?

[KittyKrochet]

I have to put a good deal of hay in there, or they start to shred the newspaper I use to line the cage under all their bedding. They don't eat it, oh no, they just destroy it and make mommy crazy!

Diabolical little cuties, no?

Their sneezing has gotten a lot better tho! I dunno if it's just them building an immunity to it, or maybe it was those particular bags of hay that were funny.

[Fern_sweets]

Stop using news paper and carefresh..I would use fleece..I can see why fleece is better for guinea pigs...

[KittyKrochet]

Unfortunately, I cannot be washing fleece every few days. The place I live charges 2 bucks per wash and dry and doing that more than once per week isn't feasible for me.

And quite honestly, no, I will not stop using newspaper. It keeps the cage from getting too gross and makes clean up a breeze. Thanks for your carefully considered tact and advice.

[foggycreekcavy]

Newspaper is totally fine to use underneath bedding.

[Fern_sweets]

ahh..I see understandable.Do you have a something to stick your hay in?so they don't their noses in it all the time so,instead they have to pull pieces of hay out? might help with sneezing too,maybe?

[Peruvian Lover]

i used to use carefresh natural which also claimed it was dust free but noticed my to piggies sneezed maybe too frequently. I waited a few weeks then, as the sneezing wasn't stopping, i tried megazorb which my friend recomended. the sneezing stopped after a matter of days of using megazorb now i wont use anything else, its £7.00 in GBP for 85 litres which lasts me about 2-3 months for my outdoor hutch. also how old are your guinea pigs? if you have recently got them they might have got a small cold from the change in temperature hope this helps.