Wheezing Guinea pig allergies?

Hi and welcome to the forum. Guinea pigs don't have allergies so you can rule that out. As far as that that's all I know. Good luck and hope she gets better soon.

I'll ::bump:: this thread for you

That's the only solution that there really is. Plenty of other people on the forums have pigs with allergies or have that possibility. I'm not exactly asking what it is but rather how to help it or make her more comfortable as I'm 88% sure that it's not URI and it is allergies.

Actually @Starthecavy123 is incorrect. Guinea pigs can have allergies, just as people do.

However, @Noahsgirl, you need to do some other things to see if you can figure it out. The continued wheezing can eventually result in compromised lung function, so you need to get it resolved if you can.

Does she wheeze ALL the time? Could you get a few hay cubes and put her in another container away from the hay for a day to see if it eases? That would help determine whether the problem is hay dust or an allergy. If you do that, put a buddy in with her so she's got some company, and don't leave them separated so long that you have trouble getting them reintegrated into the herd.

What kind of hay do you feed? Some kinds of hay are implicated in allergy problems much more often than others, at least in people -- timothy, for example. If that's what you're feeding, I'd suggest trying either blue grass, or orchard grass, or meadow grass. KMS Hayloft sells both blue and orchard, and maybe meadow. And I believe you can get small quantities from them to try it out and see if it works.

Second, has she ever had a URI? Sometimes an infection will settle deep in a pig's lungs, and oral antibiotics don't seem to do any good. Stronger antibiotics can be given by nebulizer, and will get deeper into the lungs than an oral antibiotic. If changing the hay doesn't clear things up, I'd want to have her treated. However, be sure you see a good exotic vet and not just a dog-and-cat vet -- if it's a stubborn lung infection, a small animal vet probably won't have a clue what to do with it.

Good luck figuring it out. Let us know what happens.

First I think it's important to point out that I am a minor who cannot even drive. So anything I do has to be approved by my parents. She doesn't wheeze all the time (at least not enough to hear her 6 ft away) but when it's quiet in the house and peaceful and she's relaxed, you can hear it more clearly. I know that it's her breathing because in situations where she breathes more often (like when she's nervous) it gets worse and when I hold her, I can hear her faintly squeaking along with it. I could keep her in our small tiled bathroom, and run some hot water in the shower a couple times a day to keep it warm and see if that helps. I would need something for the floor tho because it's cold. I could try hay cubes as well (although they don't break down the teeth as well). How long should I keep her and another buddy in there though? I would have to try out a couple of different things to see what would work but maybe in between I can put her back in the cage as I highly doubt it's contagious and if it is, the rest would already have it. I feed Timothy hay as its all I can find in the pet stores. I have considered using different types of hay already but the only brand found in pet stores that carries other types apart from Timothy and alphalfa is Oxbow and they don't sell it in large bales. My dad is the only one capable of paying for guinea pig supplies except in absolute emergency (I will figure something out if I have to) and he is not willing to pay for online things because of shipping (I have begged him for KMS pellets and he wouldn't let me because, they are cheaper, but the shipping is so much more expensive). I may try Oxbow in small quantities but if it works, I can't buy small quantities like that very easily. I don't know if she has ever had a URI. Regretfully, the time I said above was the only time I have taken them to the vet (although it was the only time needed) and I actually have bred 3 litters which I also regret. She is one from the second litter so I have had her since birth and it has been going on since then although we havent paid much attention until a few months after. The vet we visited is supposed to be a good exotic vet but I hope we don't have to go see him again and that it clears up before then.

If you can get the hay cubes, you wouldn't want to keep her on them long because of the tooth issue. But they won't be dusty, and so are one way you can tell whether the wheezing is from dusty hay or not.

Your dad may be being penny-wise and pound-foolish about KMS pellets. He's paying shipping for pellets even if he buys them from a pet store next door to you. Pet stores add the cost of the shipping into the price of the items, and then you pay one price at the cash register. Online places let you choose the shipper and the time for delivery, so the prices vary. But I live 2,000 miles from KMS, and the cost of their pellets and Oxbow at the pet store a mile from me are always within a nickle a pound of each other. The only way you can accurately compare costs is to figure the cost per pound.

The same is true of hay, although the more you buy online the cheaper it is, generally. The average price of hay at my local Petco is about $7.00 for 1.5 pounds. That's $4.67 per pound. I just ordered 45 pounds of hay from KMS Hayloft, and with shipping, it cost me $59.38. That's $1.32 per pound. So those small bags of hay are nearly three times as expensive as the online stuff that has separae shipping.

Additionally, I believe that KMS Hayloft will send small (1 pound) bags of different kinds of hay so you can see if a different kind will help your pig. They don't list it on their website, but they used to do this, and I assume still do. You could email them and ask what it would cost. I'd suggest trying bluegrass and orchard -- both are less allergenic than timothy.

Ok. So first we try the hay cubes. If it gets worse or stays the same, it means it's an allergy to timothy hay and we need to try something else. Hay from KMS hayloft is less expensive than pet store hay (hopefully it stays that way in eastern Georgia) so I will try to ask my dad if he can buy the orchard instead. Do you think it would be a good idea to buy the small "sample" bags of orchard hay from oxbow in the pet store so we don't have to wait for shipping just to try it out? I will also try to explain to him that the pellets are worth a nickel more. But if the hay cubes actually help, what should I do then? Would an air purifier help with the dust? Is there a particular type of hay that is less dusty by even a bit?

I don't have any advice for you but welcome to the forum!

Buying the small bags from the pet store might be a good idea. It's not a sure-fire test, though, because that hay can sometimes be old and dry and the pig won't eat it, but might have eaten fresher hay of that variety.

Dust in hay doesn't really have anything to do with the variety of hay. It has to do with growing conditions and how old and dry the hay is when it's fed. And even at that, it might not be the dust that she's allergic to -- it could be something in the hay itself.

Thanks! I've been a guinea pig owner for over 1yr now and I understand a lot about them but I just joined the forums (although I have read stuff on here before and really admire you piggie fans!).

UPDATE:

She has been in our bathroom with just a hay cube, her pellets, a few toys, and one of our girls, Bubbles, since Monday evening (9:00 EST). So it's been 38 hours. I left her in there last night just in case she needed more time to get the dust out of her system but I don't want to leave her in there too long for other health reasons. I will put her in her normal cage today. She has not gotten better and is still wheezing so I guess it's an allergy rather than the dust. We have a local shop that sells farm supplies and feed so I do want to check there with my dad today as the man who runs there might have other types of hay (and it's local so it doesn't take as long for us to get and it may be less expensive). If not, I will go to PetSmart and pick up some Oxbow Orchard Grass or Meadow Hay and see how that works out. I will also see if they have bigger bags in stock (although there's an 80% chance they won't). Quickly, I did want to say that in Georgia, the KMS pellets are $1 less than Oxbow's per pound including shipping and when I told my dad, he was ecstatic to get some!! Unfortunately, their hay is $1 more per pound which is why I was afraid it would be allergies (my dad most likely won't buy it because of that and I know finding hay other than timothy is hard to do). I will try everywhere else though and if I have to I will get hay from there. Thank you for all of your support and help!

ANOTHER UPDATE:

Turns out, the local store has coastal bermuda grass hay in bales. The man who worked there let us grab a chunk to try out yesterday and so far it's been 24 hours and there has been no change. He sold 30 pound bales for $7 which was a great price for us! My dad just bought a bale and we filled up an air-tight container with it. My only question is how to store the bale itself while we aren't using it. We have an old wooden playground from when my brothers and I were kids and that's where we are keeping it right now. Is that too unsanitary, or do you think mites and such might get in it? It's also kept in a trailer outside with the doors open where we buy it from and they keep horses and chickens on the same property. I will see how this works out with her allergies and I will update you on how it goes!

The hay needs to be dry and to have air circulation. I store mine in the garage in cardboard boxes that have a lot of holes punched in them.