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Behavior Guinea Pig Sneezing

chococheesecup

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I have 3 female guinea pigs, Cupcake, Chocolate and Cheesecake. I got them all from my local pet store (that was before I discovered how bad it is.) Regardless, I love them all with all my heart, but recently I noticed Chocolate has been sneezing quite a bit. I suspect a URI, but she does not show many signs. I have had them for about 3-4ish months now. I use fleece bedding and would clean/change it everyday. There has also been some reconstruction going on around my house, so it has been quite dusty. Chocolate seems to appear fine, she still eats, popcorn, and chase her cage mates around. I did discover some discharged coming out of her nose. Does anyone else ever had this problem/circumstance? I'm planning on taking her to the vet soon to see what the issue is.
 

Snugglybutt

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It's hard to say! Have you been weighing Chocolate to see if she has lost any weight? Weight loss is often the first indicator of health issues. If you do suspect that she has a URI, bringing her to the vet (who is experienced in guinea pigs) quickly is a must. The health of guinea pigs can go downhill extremely fast.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Just out of curiosity, how long has she been exhibiting the symptoms?
 

chococheesecup

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Just out of curiosity, how long has she been exhibiting the symptoms?

Just a few days, I think I first noticed about 3-4 days ago. I just assumed it was due to the dust, but construction has stopped and she seems to be getting worse.
 

chococheesecup

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It's hard to say! Have you been weighing Chocolate to see if she has lost any weight? Weight loss is often the first indicator of health issues. If you do suspect that she has a URI, bringing her to the vet (who is experienced in guinea pigs) quickly is a must. The health of guinea pigs can go downhill extremely fast.

Sadly I haven't, but I have an appointment the next morning for her (all the vets in my area closed early.)
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Sounds like she's getting sick to me too, then. [MENTION=42243]Snugglybutt[/MENTION] is correct, they do tend to go downhill very quickly once they've caught something. Smart money says a cavy savvy vet visit is in order, as quickly as you can. A good vet that deals regularly with guinea pigs will recognize that time is of the essence with these little creatures and should get you in as quickly as possible.
 

chococheesecup

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Sounds like she's getting sick to me too, then. @Snugglybutt is correct, they do tend to go downhill very quickly once they've caught something. Smart money says a cavy savvy vet visit is in order, as quickly as you can. A good vet that deals regularly with guinea pigs will recognize that time is of the essence with these little creatures and should get you in as quickly as possible.

I have an appointment for her tomorrow morning. Thank you for helping, I appreciate it.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Please, keep us posted on how she's doing.
 

Squiggles

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The discharge is usually another sign of a URI. I have a sneezing pig, who sneezes with everything, hay dust, water up his nose... or just likes to sneeze and drive me insane to where I've had him checked a thousand times. But the discharge is the second sign that you need to get her to a vet. Hope all goes well!
 

chococheesecup

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> U P D A T E <

I took Chocolate to the vet and it turned out that she has pneumonia. Poor baby. The vet prescribed me with 3 weeks worth of medicine (twice a day, one for during the day and another for the night.) I set up an extra cage for Chocolate to separate her from Cupcake and Cheesecake. She seems to be getting worse so I hope the medicine will help her recover.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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You should see an improvement with her within 24 to 48 hours on the medication.

Separating her from the other two pigs at this point, will only cause more stress to her. The other two pigs have already been thoroughly exposed to whatever she has.
 

chococheesecup

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You should see an improvement with her within 24 to 48 hours on the medication.

Separating her from the other two pigs at this point, will only cause more stress to her. The other two pigs have already been thoroughly exposed to whatever she has.

She seems pretty upset with me, but it was recommended by the vet to separate. I'm not exactly sure what to do now.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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She seems pretty upset with me, but it was recommended by the vet to separate. I'm not exactly sure what to do now.


The safest thing to do is quarantine her, of course. But, being separated will not only stress her out more, you'll have to do introductions again. If she's been sick for the past few days and with her cagemates, if it's communicable they've already been exposed.

I've had pigs with a few URI's over the last few years, and I've never separated them. Sly was already "separated" (There was a grid wall between him and his little brothers, but they basically had no airborne barrier at all) and the young fellas didn't get anything.

By all means, follow your vets advice if that absolutely makes you the most comfortable.

I hope she recovers very, very quickly. Ill pigs are heartbreaking.

What medications were prescribed?
 

chococheesecup

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The safest thing to do is quarantine her, of course. But, being separated will not only stress her out more, you'll have to do introductions again. If she's been sick for the past few days and with her cagemates, if it's communicable they've already been exposed.

I've had pigs with a few URI's over the last few years, and I've never separated them. Sly was already "separated" (There was a grid wall between him and his little brothers, but they basically had no airborne barrier at all) and the young fellas didn't get anything.

By all means, follow your vets advice if that absolutely makes you the most comfortable.

I hope she recovers very, very quickly. Ill pigs are heartbreaking.

What medications were prescribed?

I'm planning on maybe separating her for a bit until I see the medications are working (which will hopefully be in a 2 days time.) I want to get her back with the others as soon as possible. The medication prescribed is called, "enrofloxacin." Which I believe is also known as Baytril. I hope she recovers soon too, thank you for your concern! PS. Sly is such a cute name!
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I'm planning on maybe separating her for a bit until I see the medications are working (which will hopefully be in a 2 days time.) I want to get her back with the others as soon as possible. The medication prescribed is called, "enrofloxacin." Which I believe is also known as Baytril. I hope she recovers soon too, thank you for your concern! PS. Sly is such a cute name!

Yeah, Sly had his name before I even had him. As it turns out, he lived up to his name. He was a very clever boy!

Baytril is a powerful antibiotic, and it more than likely will mess with Chocolate's digestive system. Monitoring her to make sure she is eating enough will be essential. Hopefully, you have a digital kitchen scale that measures in grams to monitor her weight. That will also be critical in determining of she's getting enough to eat. A probiotic, such as Benebac or some acidophilus power an hour after her antibiotic will also be beneficial.

Did you also get Critical Care from your vet to supplement her with in case she stops eating? If you didn't, I would recommend calling them tomorrow and swinging by to pick it up. A pig that stops eating is just as dangerous as a pig with a URI or pneumonia.

I'm honestly not trying to scare you. I am just trying to help you be prepared for what may or may not come, and how to deal with it.
 

chococheesecup

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Yeah, Sly had his name before I even had him. As it turns out, he lived up to his name. He was a very clever boy!

Baytril is a powerful antibiotic, and it more than likely will mess with Chocolate's digestive system. Monitoring her to make sure she is eating enough will be essential. Hopefully, you have a digital kitchen scale that measures in grams to monitor her weight. That will also be critical in determining of she's getting enough to eat. A probiotic, such as Benebac or some acidophilus power an hour after her antibiotic will also be beneficial.

Did you also get Critical Care from your vet to supplement her with in case she stops eating? If you didn't, I would recommend calling them tomorrow and swinging by to pick it up. A pig that stops eating is just as dangerous as a pig with a URI or pneumonia.

I'm honestly not trying to scare you. I am just trying to help you be prepared for what may or may not come, and how to deal with it.

After some research and consideration, I decided to put Chocolate back in with her cage mates. She appears to be happier already and running around. Thank you for your advice, I shouldn't have separated in the first place. Chocolate's still eating and drinking currently, she had another dose of baytril a few hours earlier and seem to be eating fine, but I'll call in just in case.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I'm glad she's happier.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Please, do keep us updated on her condition.
 
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