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Sneezing Occasionally Sneezing, Is this normal?

laceymay

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Hi everyone!

I had a question about my Guinea pig, his name is Obbie short for Oberon. I have had Obbie for a few days now and he is completly normal, he is a but skittish because we aren't very familiar with each other but he eats, drinks, poops and walks around.

A little back story about Obbie is he is estimated to be about a year and four months old. He was owned by a family for about a year and their children soon got bored of him and dropped him off at a Petco and not a shelter. It is unknown if they got him form a pet chain store but regardless they dropped him off and surprisingly the Petco near me took him in. He was there at the Petco for about five months because nobody wanted to adopt him from there. I was on the hunt for adopting a Guinea pig for a LONG time and a friend of mines relative worked at the Petco and knew about Obbie. I went to visit him a day or so after she told me and I ended up getting him. If i am completely honest, I was a bit hesitant. After talking to my friends relative he was very honest with me which I appreciated. He told me that they had been struggling to find a home from him and I couldnt just walk away knowing I could give him a good place to live.

So far he has been doing excellent I just noticed he sneezed a few times a day, yesterday he sneezed twice while eating and today he sneezed three times in a row. I know how serious URI's can be and it got me a little nervous. He doesn't constantly do it and he shows no other signs like the puffing of the coat, not eating, being lethargic, no crust around eyes or nose, nothing. I wanted to see if this was cause for concern before I took him to the vet, I am not in anyway opposed to taking him, but before scaring the poor little guy to death I wanted to make sure I had enough reason to go!


Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks!!
 

bpatters

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If sneezing is all he's doing, and he has no discharge from the eyes or nose, is eating/pooping/drinking/peeingbehaving normally, I'd watch very carefully and see what happens. If he develops any other symptoms, then see an exotic vet.
 

laceymay

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Okay! Im keeping a very close eye on him.

Thank you :)
 

DonkeyBrainz

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Agree with bpatters about the sneezing.

I'm guessing the reason Petco had a hard time finding him a home is because he's an adult, not that he has anything wrong with him. People *love* baby animals. Kittens and puppies get adopted quick, just like baby guinea pigs. That's so sad that he was abandoned and then had to live at a store for so long. Thank you for giving him a good home.

I got one of my guinea pigs in a similar way. I already had adopted Buster from the shelter. I had been thinking about getting him a friend, but I wasn't positive yet. One day I was at Petco and saw all the baby guinea pigs in one cage and a lone, slightly bigger Abyssinian guinea pig in another. I went back the next week and someone had already adopted the tri-colored babies and they were replaced with different ones, this time standard colored. The white Abyssinian was still alone, getting bigger. He was marked down. Next week, same. 60% off. I finally asked them why he was separate and they told me he was big and they thought something was wrong with him because HIS HAIR LOOKED WEIRD. And nobody would buy him. I told them his hair was like that cause that's just the breed. Still he wasn't selling because he was "too old." They were trying to get rid of all the live pets at this point because they weren't going to be selling them anymore. Needless to say, I got him. Poppins. He has sneezed more often than I would consider normal, but it's been over a year. (of course I quarantined and got him checked by a vet before I let him in the room with my other piggy) You can visibly see his nostril is deviated and I always thought that had something to do with the sneezing (?)
 

laceymay

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Thats so sad that the similar situation happened with you! Obbie is such a good boy, he is really goofy and kind of strange but he has a good heart. I cant even explain how sad it was to know that he was there because no one wanted him. I was talking to the person at Petco and he said that the owners that had him previously didnt seem like they gave him much attention or love. People think they are just decorations or something cute to throw in a cage and feed it once a day. Makes me sad how some people treat them. I was shocked and relived to find a community online that has great insight on Guinea Pigs! Thank you for sharing your story!
 

DonkeyBrainz

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I was also shocked (but very happy!) to find online guinea pig communities full of people like me! I can't believe the way some people treat them either :(
I know what you mean when you say you can't even explain the sadness of hearing a pet is unwanted. The best way I can describe it is, it hurts my heart. I'm so thankful to know there are other people out there who feel the way I do. It gives me hope for the "unwanted" animals everywhere. I've always tried to save them, and a lot of the time they are the sweetest ones!
 
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