My guinea pig, Gizmo, is coughing. At least it sounds like a cough. Do they cough? I've heard it for about a week now, but did not know what pig it was coming from. Well, today I took Gizmo out of the cage, and when I was putting him back in he did it. He is doing everything as he normally does. I do not believe he has lost weight, but then again I do not weigh my pigs like I should. He is a ham! LOL. Does this sound like something I should make a vet appointment for? Thanks.
Mine was making that same sound and I took him to the vet. He ended up having a URI. So yes if he is coughing I would take him in to make sure.
Yes, I would take him to a vet. If it's a URI, he could easily die without treatment: http://www.guinealynx.info/uri.html
And you should start weighing him regularly as well.
I will make an appointment and hopefully get him in this week. He coughed again when I was putting him back into his cage this afternoon too. It kind of sounds like he has something stuck in his throat. Does a guinea pig cough usually sound like that?
Was he eating at the time he started coughing?
I do not know when he started coughing. I do hear him cough when he is in the eating area. Also, I pick him up when he is is the eating area.
It could be one of three things. 1, (and hopefully not) and URI. 2, Eating/Drinking too fast, my gertrude is a bit over zealous at the waterbottle and the first couple of times scared the dickens out of me because I didn't know what was going on. 3, Dust. It could be that it is just a little too dusty around their cage and its agitating their little lungs. But I would definitely rules out number 1 first.
I was just holding Gizmo and stroking the outside of his cheeks (He likes that. He purs and I swear I can see a little smile too). Well, when I was doing this he made a loud cough noise. It sounded like he hacked something up and then he started chewing on something. He is seeing the piggie doctor tomorrow so I will fill the vet in on all of the details. I will post tomorrow to let everyone know what the diagnosis is.
Well, Gizmo got a clean bill of health. I told the vet what I witnessed and heard. She said that Gizmo's eyes were clean and clear, his nose was clear (nothing runny), his heart sounded strong, and his lungs sounded good. She looked in his mouth and said that his teeth looked good and that she did not see any obstruction in his throat. She had to rinse out Gizmo's mouth though. She said that there was green stuff in there (Ha Ha. Hay.). When she squirted water in his mouth, the water ran out of his mouth green. She said that he might of had some obstruction and he dislodged it by coughing. She said that if I see that he gets sick (bad eyes, runny nose, sneezing, coughing) to bring him in again and she will give him an antibiotic, but he looked healthy today. She also said that if the coughing gets worse (like there is somthing stuck in his throat) to bring him in and she would have to sedate him to get a better look in his throat. She also said that his hair/skin looks really good and that she doesn't see many guinea pigs that look as good as he does. He weighed 1390 grams. I think that is a little over 3 pounds (3.058 if I am doing my math right). I knew that Gizmo was morbidly obese!
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