Coughing Loud breathing that ends with a cough

[MyraMidnight]

Often enough I hear my piggies breathing like they have something in their nose and it goes away when they cough. I wonder if it's how dry the air is since I myself need one of those machines that blows cold steam into the air to increase moisture in the air to sleep comfortably.

Are there things I can do to prevent these fits from happening, how humid should it be around them? Should I be worried? Is it some condition? My fiancé seems to want to run to the vet every time they sound like that.

Its kind of a waste of money and time to go to the vet to check it out since there is never one that knows anything about guinea pigs here in Iceland (the biggest "expert" was dubbed so only for the fact that she owned one, not for treating them), already done that before, and this comes and goes. Of course there are never any symptoms to show when I arrive at the vet, which is also typical o.o'

 

[4cavies]

They might have respiratory issues, but it would seem odd that if all your pigs did... I'm not really sure what kind of humidity level is best for them, I don't believe I ever had any reason to believe there's too much/little...

I would personally still take them to a vet, even if not an exotic. They MIGHT be able to figure it out or give them medications just in case of infection. I do know that coughing and loud breathing is not good. You could call and talk with the vet to see what they will/could do.

What type of bedding do you use?

 

[Soecara]

Roughly how many times a day do they cough? Do they tend to be in the same area of their cage when it happens? Are they eating when it happens? Is your hay dusty? Does it happen more often after they physically exert themselves (ie. run laps)?

Any additional details you can provide will be helpful in identifying the potential cause. I live in South Australia where the air is generally dry (around 35% humidity) and my pigs have never had an issue but I suppose they may be accustom to it.

 

[bpatters]

I would NOT take them to a non-exotic vet for the kind of problem you describe. I've seen too many horror stories on these boards about pigs injured or killed by vets who didn't know what they were doing to risk a non-exotic vet for anything other than an absolute emergency.

Consider @Soecara's questions -- they may give you a hint. And yes, I do think low humidity could be at least part of the problem.

 

[MyraMidnight]

One of the two piggies is more prone to having these wheezing fits that go away after she coughs, and its a loud cough, I've seen one of them literally push herself off the ground as she was getting that much needed cough out. They do not appear sickly or anything coming out when they cough though. Reason why I tend to think its the air humidy is because some days are better than others, and its only a morning thing, bad days it would happen again later. Its not constant or regular, but has happened alot for the longest time, I have gone to the vet about it, asked her to listen to their lungs, said they were fine. But since I've yet to come across any specialized exotic vets in Iceland, never felt like the vet is reliable when it comes to my guinea pigs, its mainly (or only) cat, dog or horse vets.

I have two piggies, and my abyssian is more prone to this. Im building a bigger cage for them right now because there isn't ideal space for running laps in the current one because of it being slightly too narrow (64cm) when all the stuff is in the cage.

 

[4cavies]

(broken link removed)

https://www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html


I had always been told by my vet any consistent cough along with wheezing is more likely than not a respiratory infection. A cough that happens here and there is no big deal, but any regularity, I would be concerned. Not every country is going to have vets experienced in Guinea Pigs and I wouldn't go on the assumption they did. And if I were worried about my pigs and absolutely couldn't find a vet with pig experience, I WOULD go to a regular one because its better than doing nothing to help the animals that I had locked in a cage.

With Guinea Pigs, most of the time you won't know if there's an emergency until too late, and bacterial infections can kill.

Just my two cents.

 

[MyraMidnight]

Thank you all for your comments.
I think I'll invest in another of those machines that blows moisture into the air to have near the cage, the air gets pretty dry when its cold outside. I was very scared of these symptoms when they happened first, reading about those possible respiratory infections, and did go to the vet with them and was told there was nothing wrong in their lungs. At least that they sounded clean, and since this just happens every now and then (maybe once a week or less maybe, I have not kept a log but probably should). Happened alot more at first when I got them, the vet trip was also for removing their lice at the time.

 

[bpatters]

If you run a humidifier, be sure to keep the tank and tubing clean and sanitized. They're great breeding grounds for bacteria and fungi, and can cause more problems than they solve if not carefully maintained.