Sneezing Because of hay?

[seida]

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced their pigs sneezing because of hay. At least, I hope that's the cause. Her eyes are bright with no discharge, her nose is totally dry, and her breathing is normal. But she's been sneezing quite a bit!

However, it seems to be only when she rummages around in her hay. When she's in her run or I'm holding her, she doesn't. Can it just be caused by dust? She seems healthy, but it's making me a bit worried... She was grooming herself and rubbing at her face/nose, can it be related?

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Weigh her daily for a bit. If she's not losing weight, she's probably sneezing from dust. Is your hay especially dusty?

 

[seida]

Yes, I'll start weighing her. It doesn't seem particularly dusty, but maybe to her nose it is, and she spends most of her time burrowed inside it. The next lot I've ordered is different though (oxbow this time) so we'll see if anything changes...

 

[seida]

I'm now thinking it might be hayfever. Does anyone have experience with this? Where I am has a pretty high pollen count this time of year, and a lot of people have horrible hayfever. I was looking around online for other causes of sneezing, and apparently hayfever/allergies is definitely a possibility with pigs.

While I'm still on the alert for a URl, her complete lack of any other symptoms (and energy & healthy weight) is making me think it's something else. Usually her sneezes are very soft, often just a gentle little puff of air.

Still checking to see where the closest vet with guinea pig experience is though (may be the next city over...)

 

[foggycreekcavy]

It's doubtful she has hay fever.

 

[seida]

Well, as an update I managed to find a clinic which at least said they treated rabbits and hamsters, and took her there because she's STILL sneezing and I've been worried. Especially since she sneezed on my yesterday and it was damp.

In other respects she seems totally healthy though, has put on weight since I last weighed her, runs around squeaking and popcorning, eats like a pig!

But the vet agreed that even though she seems healthy, the sneezing is not a good sign and that it would be best to give her some medicine. I don't know exactly what it is, and when I enquired the answer was a ridiculously long Japanese name I can't remember But since they treat hamsters and rabbits, it should at least be safe.

Let's see if this affects the sneezing...

 

[Iotanine]

I hope your piggy feels better! Its great that you decided to take her to the vet just in case. You never know if the sneezing can be a sign of some sort of illness, and its better to take them to the vet sooner rather than later. But, again, I hope your piggy is fine! Please update when you find out if there's something wrong.

 

[pinky]

It wouldn't hurt to switch hays. If you feed timothy, switch to orchard grass to see if it makes a difference. There are guinea pigs that are allergic to some types of bedding so I can't see why they might not be allergic to certain types of hay as well.

 

[seida]

Thank you both!

She loves the timothy hay so much though... is the orchard grass as nutritious/good for their teeth? And I'm not sure I could find it here....

The vet was surprisingly cheap! Only 3000yen ($30?) Including the medicine.

She just ran 10 laps round her cage at top speed popcorning intermittently, so she's certainly not lacking for energy...

Will update in a couple of days on the sneezing

Oh, she's also currently on aspen, but I have fleece liners arriving soon!

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Yes, orchard grass or other grass type hay is just as good for their teeth as timothy.

 

[MissJean]

Does the medicine have the name on the bottle? I'd love to figure out what it is. I'm curious.

I use KMS (Kleenmama) hay, which is considered extremely high quality on these boards, but even I have to fluff it outside to remove excess dust. Two of my piggies seem to be especially dust sensitive. Four vet visits later(even chest X-rays one visit!), I figured out it was the hay.

I even have an air purifier running, but I'm not sure if it actually helps.

 

[seida]

Sadly there's no name, they transferred it into a bottle for me. It was clear and a little thick!

Well, a week of medicine later.... still sneezing. And she's also still stuffing her little piggy face with food, and showing no other symptoms.

Last night I changed her cage to fleece, so I'll see if that makes a difference first! If not, I'll see if I can find some none-timothy hay and try that. When I put her back in on her fleece for the first time, she spent about 15 minutes straight running laps and popcorning, so she still seems as healthy as she always was