Sick Sick piggies?

[Ilovemypiggies1]

I am watching my friends daughter's two piggies while they are on vacation. The pigs are in a pet store cage. (only for the week) I'm not sure how old the two pigs are but they are both females and came from a pet store. Taking care of them for 1-2 days I have noticed a strong nasty odor coming from the cage, it seems to me as though their urine isn't normal. Their urine leaves a stain on the fleece that's white/brown. Could that be sign of a UTI? It's a very disgusting smell, and my pigs' cage never smells like that. One of the piggies is also not wheezing, but you can hear that her breathing is not normal, like maybe she could have a URI? Are these signs normal or not? My pigs and my friend's pigs are in the same room, but the room is big and the cages are on opposite sides of the room. I'm going to suggest my friend bringing them to the vet to make sure everything is ok. They never get veggies or hay so while they're at my house, I'm making sure they get lots of veggies and unlimited amounts of hay. I've already told them to make sure to feed unlimited hay and that they need veggies every day but they didn't really listen to me.

 

[Peggysu]

It could be partly diet related as it sounds like they aren't fed properly. Also I would imagine that fleece in a small pet store cage would have to be changed daily if not twice daily because it would get filthy fast.

What makes the breathing not normal? Rate, quality, sound?

 

[Ilovemypiggies1]

Also I would imagine that fleece in a small pet store cage would have to be changed daily if not twice daily because it would get filthy fast.
What makes the breathing not normal? Rate, quality, sound?

Cleaning: I'm so used to my 2x6 cage and not a pet store cage, I forgot about that. I'll have to wash the fleece tomorrow.

Breathing: It's the sound, it kind of is like wheezing but not really. Kind of like when your nose is stuffed and you try to breath through it...a noise similar to that.

 

[akstrohm]

It could certainly be a UTI or URI. Can you talk to your friend and see if she saw these symptoms?

I would definitely put your pigs in a separate room behind closed doors. Many illness are spread through the air. It is certainly possible that your friends' pigs are sick, and even if it weren't likely, it's not good to risk it.