Sick Stuffy nose, weird breathing noises..

Allergies are pretty rare in guinea pigs. I have a pig with allergies, and she was treated for a potential URI before the vet came to the conclusion it was allergies, just in case. She also developed the symptoms slowly over time, starting with slight wheezing and now she sneezes frequently and her breathing is often loud.

Was Clover's breathing change sudden or gradual? And what are you using for bedding and hay? It could be she's just irritated by some dust.
Either way, just keep a close eye on her food and water intake and her poop, and if she starts to become lethargic or lose her appetite take her back to the vet.

Speaking of which, I think you need a new vet. Firstly because of how quickly they said she had allergies, and secondly because they said she's overweight, when guinea pigs are very rarely overweight unless they are very overfed or have mobility problems. .13 grams also doesn't make sense as an amount, that's less than half the weight of an almond. Is your vet an exotics vet?


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It was very sudden, pretty much overnight. I use fleece for their bedding, and forti-diet timothy hay, which I've used for them since I got them about a year ago now. Yeah, it was a peculiar visit to say the least. We only spoke to the nurse, so it was essentially a "he said this" scenario. I highly doubt that she's overfed and I was surprised to hear she was slightly overweight. Yes, he's an exotic vet. There's only two vets that will see guinea pigs where we live, and we've been to both so far. One with our past piggie and this new one with Clover. I definitely will keep a close eye on her, I hope that whatever happens I can get her help as soon as possible.

It might be the nurse who was the problem, then. Who knows. If the other vet seemed competent, I'd take her to them if she gets any worse. The suddenness does make it seem like it might be a URI rather than any reaction to something in the air, so it's good you'll pay close attention. Good luck! (By the way, Clover is a really cute name.)


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Is there discharge coming from her nose or eyes? Crusty eyes? Does she seem lethargic? What you're describing in your first post sounds like early signs of a URI, and they are fast moving and deadly. I would definitely try to take her to another vet as soon as possible to get a second opinion and to get a prescription for antibiotics, such as bactrim or baytril before considering the possibility of allergies.

The other vet seemed like he knew what he was doing, but I wasn't entirely sure of his diagnosis of my other piggie. We had to put our girl Binx down because he said she wouldn't survive surgery after he found a tumor in her tummy. I was so distraught I didn't even mention that I thought it was malocclusion, which she had all the symptoms of.. So I'm sure you could maybe see why I'm apprehensive of going there. But if it comes to it I certainly will. Thank you! I love her name, and it suits her well. lol

She doesn't have any discharge coming from her nose or eyes. She has some crust around her nose, and she isn't lethargic at all. I'm going to watch her today and see how she's doing, and I'll probably take her tomorrow if there aren't any openings at the vet today.

I'm so sorry to hear about Binx. For now, make sure to keep a very close eye on Clover's eating and if her symptoms persist or worsen, another vet trip will be needed. It's good you'll be taking her again tomorrow. Things go downhill very fast once they stop eating/become lethargic! It's best to have the vet take a look at her more closely and make sure this isn't a URI

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO START A NEW POST!
Hi, my guinea pig is 6 months now. He's smaller than his brother and the other girls. I have 2 males and 2 females in separate cages but once a day I let them all play in my living room. Tiggy, (my sick guinea pig) always purs and trys to jump over the girls. 4 days ago I noticed his breathing was faster but I thought he was just tired and then it never changed. Yesterday I've boiled some water and let him breath the vapours (he was on my lap the hole time so I could feel the heat). Today he had some water drops dried on his nose but nothing changed. I let them all play and the 3 of them were playing and Tiggy was just laying in a corner sleeping... I'm so worried! I don't have any money to a vet. Today he's going to sleep in a small cadge im my bedroom because it doesn't have any kind of dust, just pure air! Can someone help me please? I love him so much I'm scared something happens to him!
Thins is him!
[video=youtube;-lSHbNxZ-2k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lSHbNxZ-2k[/video]
Thank you!

Fast breathing and clicking noises!

Hi, my guinea pig is 6 months now. He's smaller than his brother and the other girls. I have 2 males and 2 females in separate cages but once a day I let them all play in my living room. Tiggy, (my sick guinea pig) always purs and trys to jump over the girls. 4 days ago I noticed his breathing was faster but I thought he was just tired and then it never changed. Yesterday I've boiled some water and let him breath the vapours (he was on my lap the hole time so I could feel the heat). Today he had some water drops dried on his nose but nothing changed. I let them all play and the 3 of them were playing and Tiggy was just laying in a corner sleeping... I'm so worried! I don't have any money to a vet. Today he's going to sleep in a small cadge im my bedroom because it doesn't have any kind of dust, just pure air! Can someone help me please? I love him so much I'm scared something happens to him!
This is him!
[video=youtube;-lSHbNxZ-2k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lSHbNxZ-2k[/video]
Thank you!

First, to start a new post, pick the forum you want it to go in, and click on the "Post New Thread" button at the top.

Second, if you put the males with the females, you're going to have pregnant pigs. It takes three seconds for guinea pigs to mate, and you could sneeze and miss it. Pregnancy and delivery are VERY hard on guinea pig sows and pups, and the death rate is high. Please do not put the males and females together. Guinea pigs don't really play with each other anyway, and they don't enjoy such sessions. They're wired to establish dominance when they meet a new pig, and it happens every time you put them together. You're really doing nothing but stressing them out.

Third, your pig sounds sick and needs a vet. Vet care is as much a part of responsible pet ownership as food and bedding. If you can't afford vet care, you can't afford the pig. There's nothing you can do at home to treat a respiratory infection, which is what it sounds like he has, and pigs can go from first symptom to dead in less than 24 hours.

Hi, thank you for your advices.
In fact, the piggies weren't mine, but the owner died in a car accident and the familly wanted to kill them so I took them!
I was trying to find new owners but almost gave them to someone how wanted to turn them into snake food, so I stoped searching and now... I'm in love...
I will not put them together again, thank you.
I hope none of them is pregnant, and if they are, what should I do?
I'm a working student and here (Portugal) the ver is really expensive, but I'm going to ask my friends for some help so I can take all of them to vet!

Thank you for taking these little guys in -- that's a very kind thing to do.

Do you have any clue about how old they are? That will tell you what you need to do about any pregnancy care.

So, I took them to vet and they had to put Tiggy down because it was a brain tumor and that's why he was smaller. He was suffering and so... :'( I cried so much!!! I'm so saaad! He was the cutest and the needy one. He loved to be petted and to be on my lap when I was watching the news... I'm going to miss him so bad!
He was 5 months, the brother (king) is 8 months and the other girls I don't know exactly neither the previous owners family but the vet thinks one is also 8 months (Venus) and the other one is 3 months (Isis [IT'S THE NAME OF THE GODEST OF FERTILITY NOT THE TERRORIST GROUP]) and only Venus is pregnant and in about 2/3 weeks she's going into labour...
WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO/BUY?!?!?!
I'm building a new kind of cadge so they can have more space.
I also want to teach them to use a potty so they can have a blanket, potty and food all separated. It's more hygienic I think...
Thank God I found this blog so I can talk with someone who really knows about guinea pigs!!!!

I'm sorry you lost him.

You can't potty train guinea pigs.

Here's some reading material for new pig owners:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/113176-Information-for-new-guinea-pig-owners
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/107827-What-NOT-to-do-for-your-guinea-pigs!

I'm so sorry for your lost. Pigges are trainable, but it does take time. My rabbit is traind for her potty spot. Watch them, see where they go and focus on your attention to the spot. if they pee somewhere else, pick up the wet spot an move it to the othe spot. That's what I did for my rabbit. And I'm discovering the same pattern with piggy.

That's not potty training the pigs, @PiggygirlsMama, that's potty training YOU! But it is a good way to catch a lot of their output.

And if your pigs aren't cooperative, then nobody gets trained!

Rabbits are meticulous vegetarian cats. Guinea pigs will go anywhere it strikes them. Usually where you feed them because they spend most of their awake time eating. You'll notice a lot of cage designs have a "kitchen" area that is changeable for that reason. Allows you to more efficiently spot clean the high traffic zones.

Thank you.