Wheezing Please help, my guinea pig's breathing is strange!

[guineahorse]

Please help me, my guinea pig Blaze has started to breathe very loudly with a slight whistle to it. I can sometimes hear it, like if I pick him up, but if he's in the cage he is mostly silent. He is eating and drinking, and I have noticed no discharge from the nose and mouth. He is bedded on fleece, and has a roommate. He did have a bath yesterday, but it was to get ready for show which is tomorrow. I dried him off very well, and earlier today I didn't notice the breathing. But when I picked him up to clean the cage, he started breathing really hard and having a light whistle to it. What's wrong with my baby?

 

[Rywen]

I'm sorry your piggie is sick. He may have a lung infection, or he may have something stuck in his throat, he needs to see an exotics vet as soon as possible.

 

[CavyMama]

It sounds like he could have some kind of illness, possibly a URI. I would definitely take him to see the vet as guinea pigs can go down hill very quickly and if he is only recently showing outward symptoms, he could have been suffering with this for a while.

If the show you mentioned is a guinea pig show, I would definitely NOT bring him there. Too much chance of him catching illnesses with an already compromised immune system. You also don't want to spread his germs to the other pigs.

As a point of information this forum does not support showing pigs as they are stressful on guinea pigs and really serve no purpose but to pat the back of the owners.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Definitely do not take him to the show.

It sounds like he really needs a vet asap. Do you weigh him weekly? Even though he's eating and drinking it might not be his normal amount. If he's losing weight you may need to hand feed him.

 

[guineahorse]

Ok, I will try and get him to a vet as soon as possible. But good news! In the night, he seems to be breathing better. He's not breathing as hard, and that weird whistle is almost gone. Thank you all for the quick answers!

 

[pinky]

I still wouldn't take him to the show. If he has a bacterial or viral infection, he can expose all the other guinea pigs to it. I'd get him to a vet as soon as you can in case it's a URI. Guinea pigs are prey animals so they try and hide illnesses. Just because it sounds better, doesn't mean it's gone.

 

[HugglesBubble]

I wouldn't want to take the risk of scaring him at the show. A lot of new faces wanting to less with him. As well as the illnesses, I wouldn't want him to catch something more.

 

[guineahorse]

We had an expert look at him, and he said it wasn't in the lungs. He started to sneeze a little this morning and later on he had nose discharge. Should I take him to the vet? My mom thinks I'm overreacting, hoe can I convince her? Thanks guys

 

[pinky]

Was the "expert" someone someone from the show? If they're not an exotic vet, I wouldn't trust what they said. Nasal discharge and sneezing is a sign of a URI. I'd have a reputable exotic vet look at him because URI can quickly turn to pneumonia.

 

[Soecara]

Even if the infection isn't in his lungs yet it is still in his best interest to get him on antibiotics ASAP if there is an infection. Remember guinea pigs are prey animals so they are very good at hiding symptoms.

It is easier to treat a URI when it is in the early stages, if you wait for the infection to move into the lungs then you are putting him into a life threatening situation in which the antibiotics may not be effective enough. However if you catch it early then the time he will need to be on antibiotics will be shorter which is good for him as even guinea pig safe antibiotics are quite harsh on there systems, it would also be better for you as a shorter course of antibiotics will be cheaper as it is less likely he will need a follow up appointment.

On a side note, when giving antibiotics it is important to give a probiotic to minimise the risk of digestive upset https://www.guinealynx.info/probiotics.html and some antibiotics which are commonly prescribed for other pets are toxic to guinea pigs https://www.guinealynx.info/dangerous_medications.html

 

[guineahorse]

Thank you, very informative

 

[guineahorse]

We are taking him to the vet tomorrow, will let you all know how it goes!