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Heart Issues help?

CROBELO9

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jan 16, 2012
Messages
49
Hi, all!

I took my piggie Minni to the vet today because she had been making a hooting sound for the past month or so, maybe three or four times. I researched some and I posted here asking about it and I was told that it could probably probably pneumonia or heart problems, and that it was most likely something to do with the heart.

However! The vet said that it was none of those. He didn't hear anything abnormal with the heart or the lungs, no crusty eyes or runny nose. I asked for an xray to rule out the heart problems and nothing showed. He said that it was probably allergies.

I am really at a loss here. Could it be allergies? He prescribed her 0.25ml of Prednisone twice a day for 5 days and then once a day for another 5 days.

Anyone have any clue about this? I just don't want her to be misdiagnosed and suddenly find her dead in a corner one morning :( They are a very good vet practice, but I don't think they are very piggie savvy, but it's the only one around in my small city right now.

Sorry for the long post! Any help/advice is really appreciated.
 
Read https://www.guinealynx.info/heart.html for some more info.

Often the only way to diagnose a heart problem in a guinea pig is to put it on a trial of heart medications and see if the symptoms improve. But your vet may not be aware of that.

What part of Georgia are you in? If you're anywhere near Atlanta, contact the folks at (broken link removed) and ask them for a vet recommendation.
 
I have read everything on guinealynx concerning the heart, I did find one case that matched Minni perfectly, except that it was shown in her xray that she had an enlarged heart, Minni doesn't. I was actually impressed because the vet printed out the information on guinealynx to show me that the only symptom that Minni had was the hooting, and nothing else.

My vet pretty much completely ruled out heart problems, he said that he did not hear a murmur and that her heart is normal in size. I'm pretty far from Atlanta (about 3 hours), but I am very close to Savannah, maybe they could refer me to a good vet there.

Does hooting always involve heart problems or can it also be due to something else like allergies?
 
I've only heard of hooting in relation to heart problems, but it's not an area that I'm really familiar with. It could be due to allergies, or even other lung problems.

There are some other symptoms that sometimes (usually?) go along with heart problems. Lethargy, sleeping very deeply, and crinkly edges of the ears because of poor circulation come to mind. You might just watch Minni very closely and note any other symptoms that might be related. If you don't see any, then the problem could very well be allergies. If you do, then you should probably go have another conversation with the vet.

As far as allergies go, what kind of bedding is she on? If she's on any sort of paper or wood bedding, it would be easy enough to throw a cheap fleece blanket over some towels and see if that makes a difference. It might even solve the problem.
 
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