Conditions Slight crackling but NOT uri

[amibear143]

My female Abyssinian who is approx 7.5 months old recently started having a crackling sound every so often. It’s not loud, there are no other signs or symptoms & it’s not a URI or pneumonia! Those are the first two I’d assumed. I took her to the vet and of course, she wasn’t making any sounds there it was an exotic vet and she said that Teddy is otherwise very healthy! I use fleece in their cage & right now I have aspen shavings in their litter box & orchard hay. I did just recently get the orchard grass, could that be an allergy? I have a bag of paper bedding I just bought & when I clean their litter box out later, I’m going to try that. If anyone could give me some idea of what I could do to help her or maybe what this could be I would really appreciate it! The vet didn’t give her any medications since she didn’t hear any noises herself & since she is healthy other than the noise. I have 5 other piggies, 3 in the 2x6 cage with Teddy & 2 in a 2x4 cage underneath. None of my other piggies are making this noise, however when I used a different brand of aspen shavings, my youngest pig, Minnie began sneezing. Once I switched back to my normal brand, she stopped within a day or two. I don’t have the money to take her back to the vet, however if absolutely needed, I can use care credit for pets. The reason I only use this when absolutely needed is because I put back money each week & save it for the vet. My care credit, the only reason I got it is to be used for emergencies. And since Teddy has already been & was told her is healthy, I don’t see this as an emergency. BUT, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t take her using it, if you all think she needs to go back. I trust my vet in that she is healthy, so I’m thinking it may just be an allergy. Are there any medications or products I can buy that wouldn’t harm her if she didn’t have that condition? Or maybe any “symptom relief” medications or products? Would switching over to paper bedding help do you think? Or maybe it’s the orchard grass? She’s been eating Timothy since I got her as I buy bales from a farmer, so I was thinking it could also be that OR the dust from that as I’ve noticed there is a lot more dust in that than in the bale. Any help is very much appreciated!

 

[amibear143]

Also, just to add she is still running around playing & acting like her fun, crazy self! I know that pigs hide illnesses well, however I do regular home health checks & she hasn’t lost any weight. I’m fact, she’s been gaining normally at her age! I’ve done a ton of research, however everywhere I see, comes back to URI, but it’s NOT that. So I’m stumped & just want to help her if it’s something that can cause her issues or pain!

 

[4boipigs]

Maybe she is eating too fast and gets hay stuck somewhere in her nose or mouth. My oldest had a similar issue but the vet found nothing wrong. He would hoot and sound like he had a URI. He has these moments every now and then. If she seems perfectly fine otherwise and no one else is ill, you may just want to keep an eye on her.

 

[amibear143]

Maybe she is eating too fast and gets hay stuck somewhere in her nose or mouth. My oldest had a similar issue but the vet found nothing wrong. He would hoot and sound like he had a URI. He has these moments every now and then. If she seems perfectly fine otherwise and no one else is ill, you may just want to keep an eye on her.

Tysm! Sorry for getting back so late! Took me a bit to find this website as that was my first time here. She does “cough” every so often when eating which I was told (like you’d mentioned) is just her eating too fast & getting something stuck in her throat. I appreciate the response! She’s still as spunky as ever & no one else has shown any symptoms of any Illness, so I’m feeling optimistic that it’s what you’d mentioned or possibly her talking without full on talking (if that makes any sense? Lol) Tysm again!!