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URI/Upper Respiratory Infection nasal discharge, possibly URI???

MommaOfFour

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I've had my piggies Arthur and Bruce for about a year now and luckliy we have not needed to take them in to the vet yet.... *knockonwood*
last night before I went to bed, I did the routine check to make sure everyone had everything they needed for the night when I heard Arthur sneeze. so I went back over to their cage, picked him up and he had some discharge/snotter coming out of one of his nostrils (no color, just a bit slimy). when I checked him again this morning his nose was clear and no sneezing in the one hour I was awake and home before work. he came right up to the bowl when I put their pellets in there and even started running around and popcorning! running laps is nothing new of course but I haven't seen him popcorn for a good while, so I was actually excited!

anyway.... the questions I have now considering that he seemed normal this morning.
could the sneeze/discharge have been a result of some hay bits/dust getting stuck in his nose that needed to get out of his nose?
should I still take him to the vet?
also, since I haven't had to take them to the vet, does anyone know of a good exotic vet in Federal Way, WA?
what should I do about his cagemate Bruce? they've been living together ever since I got them, is there a need to separate them now or should I just treat Bruce preventatively in case Arthur does end up needing meds?


TIA!
Christina
 

bpatters

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Don't separate them. If one has something, the other has been thoroughly exposed. And guinea pigs aren't usually treated to prevent anything -- antibiotics are too harsh on them to be given unnecessarily.

I'd watch him carefully. If the sneezing and discharge continue, then get him to a vet -- the quicker a URI is treated, the quicker it'll be over. If it doesn't happen again, or he's sneezing only occasionally, don't worry about it.
 

MommaOfFour

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thanks for getting back to me so quickly @bpatters , I appreciate it! :)
I'll stick with your advise then and keep a close eye on both of them. just kinda freaks me out thinking about one of the animals being sick. like I said, we haven't had any health issues with any of them and last time I had a piggy before the current ones I was a child and my parents took care of all that.....
I'll also see if I can find a good exotic vet in the area, just to know where to go to if something comes up. I should have probably done this a long time ago....
how do piggies contract a URI? is there anything I can do better to make sure they don't get sick?
 

Guineapigpro

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I believe guinea pigs get URIs from feces and urine in VERY dirty cages. And from my understanding, it must be VERY extreme- such as not cleaning a small cage for 2-4 weeks. Nasty. They can also get it from getting a chill, from getting wet or being exposed to cold weather.Sometimes a draft could also provoke a cold. Guinea pigs typically do best in temperatures 65-75 degrees out of sight from vents and windows. Also, Sometimes guinea pigs contract URIs from other humans or animals they'd come in contact with.

To make sure they don't get sick, you can do a couple of things.
1) If you are very paranoid, wash your hands before anyone handles the pigs or their food.
2) Make sure you provide ample Vitamin C through veggies. Bell peppers are extremely high in vitamin C and often fp recommended, for more info, see: https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List
With this said don't go out buying Vitamin C tablets on top of veggies high in Vitamin C. That could have negative consequences.
3) Make sure to clean your cage at least every 7-10 days, at the most.
4) Choose a good bedding. This will improve overall health. No one likes to stand in nasty, soggy, dusty bedding. Yuck!
 

melynda

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With this said don't go out buying Vitamin C tablets on top of veggies high in Vitamin C. That could have negative consequences.!

How so? Vitamin C is water soluble.
 

MommaOfFour

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How so? Vitamin C is water soluble.

that's what I thought. it'll be interesting to see what the reason is, maybe it's something about the GP system/body works (?)


In regards to what [MENTION=28067]Guineapigpro[/MENTION] said, I like to think it must have been a draft or similar thing to get Arthur sick (given he turns out to be sick, which I'd LOVE to be wrong about).

The piggies live in a 4 x 6 cage with uhaul/fleece lining. a litterbox under their hay, a corner litterbox and a repurposed store cage base as a big litterbox. bedding in there is wood pellets. I change the woodpellets in the big box every 1-1.5wks depending on how soiled it is, the one with the hay gets dumped every 2-3 days and the cornerbox (which they hardly ever use) whenever it is needed. I spot clean at least once a day (always trying to do twice though). I have extra pee pads and fleece lounge pillows along the place where they prefer to pee which get changed out as needed (usually every 2-4 days), if I use towels because I run out of fleece pads and havent gotten a chance to do laundry yet, then I change them every day or if flipping them every 2 days. since the cage is so big I change the fleece/uhaul every 3-4wks, have gone 2wks but also streched to 5wks depending on how much they soil the actual fleece (they seem to pee more on certain types/designs (weird?), since I repurposed the store cage base, they hardly ever pee on the fleece anymore - lucky me!).

I do feed them green bell peppers for vitamin C and KMS pellets. about 1/4 bell pepper split up between 2 piggies a day.

cage location is in the dining room and one side runs along the window (about 3.5 grids long). I always leave the blinds closed and since we had a mild winter here in western WA I didn't cover it with a blanket or anything. I try to keep the heat at the same temp too.

hmm.... guess I'll maybe put the heater on higher and change the bedding in the litterboxes more often, definitely worth a shot and hopefully it turns out to just have been a random sneeze :)

we'll see how he does when I get home from work tonight
 

Guineapigpro

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bpatters

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Folks, animals (whether human or guinea pigs) do NOT get URIs, or any other kind of infections, from drafts, or getting chilled, or from cold weather. Infections are caused by organisms, the most common ones being viruses, bacteria, and fungi. If a person/animal has the beginnings of an infection and gets thoroughly chilled, the body's response to the chilling may allow the infection to become worse than it would have otherwise. THAT is the reason for keeping guinea pigs out of drafts, not that the draft will give them an infection.

[MENTION=28067]Guineapigpro[/MENTION], it's very unlikely that an owner could give a guinea pig too much vitamin C. The body simply excretes what it doesn't need. My own pigs, at my vet's direction, get large chunks of bell pepper AND supplemental vitamin C tablets. I suppose if someone gave hundreds of times the normal dose the pig could have problems, but that would be very hard to do. And regarding diarrhea, it takes megadoses of vitamin C to cause it. That's not something that's likely to happen with bell peppers and a vitamin C supplement.
 

MommaOfFour

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now thats interesting to know and makes sense! Thanks :)
when supplementing with vitamin C tablets is there a certain brand, dosage and way to give it to the piggies?

Arthur is doing good so far today. Happily popcorn around the veggies and is taking a nap now after having a hay snack. He sneezed once but went to check him and his nose looked dry and eyes clear. Keeping my fingers crossed he continues to be doing good.
 

Rywen

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I use Oxbow Daily C, I buy it on Amazon.com. Ferb gets one tablet a day, it's 50mg of vitamin C. He loves it and thinks it's a treat.
 

MommaOfFour

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I use Oxbow Daily C, I buy it on Amazon.com. Ferb gets one tablet a day, it's 50mg of vitamin C. He loves it and thinks it's a treat.

thanks, I'll look into that! do you give it to him as a treat during lap time/floor time etc or do you crush it up and mix it in with the pellets? and do you still feed bell peppers even though you give him the tablets? bell peppers around here are ridiculously expensive, and dont get me wrong, if it's best for them I'll of course continue buying but if it could be substituted by vit.C tablets I might do some math and consider switching altogether.
 

melynda

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My local petsmart carries the Oxbox tablets. The boys think they're getting a treat, they love them.
 

MommaOfFour

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I got the oxbow vitamin c tablets at amazon and guess what? Arthur won't have anything to do with it..... he sniffs on it, licks on it and spits it out *sigh* going to try to crush one and sprinkle on some lettuce or apple today. Bruce on the other hand loves them! Give him one, gone 2 secs later.

So I decided to take Arthur to the vets as soon as i find one I trust.
I know I should already be better prepared for this instead of just going around looking. Lesson learned :-/ there is a pet hospital down the road that does treat piggies and supposedly a lot of them plus bunnies and other small animals so thats what I would've done in an emergency. Now that I got a bit more time at hand id like to confirm they're as good as they say they are.
what kind of question should I ask them?

I also pm'd [MENTION=13918]foggycreekcavy[/MENTION] since her rescue is in the neighboring town.hopefully she gets a minute to check her page today!
 

Rywen

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Ferb wouldn't eat his daily c at first either. I just kept leaving it in his bowl and it would disappear eventually he started grabbing it from my hand. Of course, you have 2 piggies so the one who likes it would scarf it down from the bowl. I still feed green pepper every day too. Did you try the exotic vet finder on guinealynx.com? Also, there's an American exotic vet association and they have a list by state. Good luck!
 

MommaOfFour

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it's a bit more tricky with two to give them supplements/meds if only one likes them but I'll get him to eat it ;) I'm glad Ferb doesn't give you a hard time about it!

I looked at the websites of the American Exotic Vet Association but the vet closest to me told me straight up they dont specialize in piggies, they just seem them when they come in. so I figured that was a no no.
I looked on guinealynx and found a vet that I will call today (they were closed yesterday).

Arthur has been eating his pellets, hay and veggies in the mean time and only sneezed a couple times. but I just have a feeling that something is off.... idk.... I might just be freaking myself out (which would be the best possible outcome) but I'd rather be safe than sorry. hopefully the vet will have an appointment open for us!

I'm also kind of worried about giving Arthur antibiotics and the reactions he might have to them.
do I need to give him a probiotic along with the antibiotics and which kind do you all usually get?

also where do you get the syringes etc. for hand feeding???

I think I'm just going to stock up on some stuff, it's kind of freaking me out... never had a sick piggy before :(
 

bpatters

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MommaOfFour

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thanks for those links/info [MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION] !
the vet I'll call is the same one [MENTION=13918]foggycreekcavy[/MENTION] goes to, so I'm feeling pretty confident about it being a good experience.
I read somewhere that some people take the other piggie for company? what do you all think about that? Arthur is the more chill/mellow type. he doesn't mind being picked up, petted, looked over, nails clipped etc. his buddy Bruce on the other hand is more skittish though he likes being petted once I'm able to grab him but isn't very patient and wants back in the cage after a few min. with Arthur I sometimes watch tv for quite a while, he just lays on my lap.
from this, would you recommend not taking Bruce for company or is it still better to take both so Arthur isn't as scared?
 

bpatters

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I've always taken both of mine. The one time I didn't do it was when Flourish had her stone removed, and I didn't know how long it would take.
 

Rywen

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Ferb sneezes a lot. I'm not saying your piggie doesn't have a URI, but when Ferb had one he was lethargic and losing weight (weight is a really good indicator of piggie illness). He also had crusty eyes. If your piggie is put on antibiotics you can buy benebac probiotic at a pet store or online. The vet can give you syringes and critical care if force feeding is needed.
 
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