Wheezing Trishula's med thread

[4boipigs]

Long story short, this morning I heard Trishula making a lot of hooting and noisy breathing. I had heard him do this on and off this week for a few minutes and didn't think anything of it. He also had a tad of eye discharge. I listened to him and I could hear something happening in his chest that wasn't his normal breathing. He sounded like he had a URI or heart failure or something. I decided to panic and go to the ER since it was 5am and my exotics vet isn't in on Monday. The ER said everything was fine on his exam and I could either transfer to the expensive exotics vet next door, or go to our normal vet. I decided to take Trishula home. He's been fine since then. Is it possible this was something else temporary and if so what could it have been. As always, he will go to the vet if needed.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Leafy greens getting lodged in a place they shouldn't can cause the hooting and wheezing. The last couple of years of my boy Sly's life, he did a lot of hooting and wheezing. He had dental issues and leafy veggies would get caught all the time. Usually one good loud cough, sometimes two would be enough to clear the problem.

 

[4boipigs]

They didn't have any treats or veggies, just their Sherwood urinary treat (which is similar to Sweetart candy). I don't remember if that was before or after the hooting started. It's 12 hours later and he seems to be just fine still. I hope it's nothing...but I still had to give the ER $200 for seeing him today.

 

[4boipigs]

Still hearing Trish do his hooting on and off. I notice it mostly in the morning when he is eating hay. One day he coughed after he did it. I'll see how he does this week and may take him in on a day off. No other issues.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I do hope its nothing. Please keep us updated!

 

[4boipigs]

So I have not heard him wheeze this week so far. I learned our vet (the new one we'd been seeing this year) has left the clinic. Idk if there are other exotics vets there, I'm going to guess no because I was always told that vet was the only one. Luckily, we have other vets in the area. It's a shame I will need to search as I really liked Dr Edgar.

 

[4boipigs]

Since this thread is here I am going to ask a question. At what point should I get Trish checked for arthritis? He's 3 to 3.5 yrs old (estimate based on the shelter). He hops from time to time with his back legs. He's always done this since I got him last March. I've watched some arthritis videos on LA GP Rescue's channel and his ankles could be swollen like some videos show, but I can't tell.

Since he came back from boarding, he has been biting really hard when he is picked up...that's what bothers me the most. I only pick him up when it's cleaning time. In the past he's just nibbled, but now he's bitten quite hard on my fingers. Amigo had bad arthritis and used to protest when I had to cut his back nails by making a bunch of noise, but never nibbled me, so idk.

I do have metacam leftover from Amigo, but that was 6 months ago and I don't wanna give Trish anything expired.

 

[bpatters]

I'd take him in for an x-ray. That's the only way you're going to know for sure if it's arthritis and if so, how bad it is.

 

[4boipigs]

Trishula has stopped biting so hard since then, but his right eye has been running for a couple weeks, similar to August when he first saw the vet. We're going on Monday for that, and we'll see about xrays at the same time. Last time we were given an ointment, but those are not easy. I rather have eye drops since I have so much experience with giving them to Little Bear.

Hopefully we can trick the insurance with this eye issue and they'll cover it. They listed 'bacterial infections' as an exclusion since he had this issue in August, before he had insurance.

 

[4boipigs]

We got some eye drops instead of ointment this time. Dr Edgar isn't too worried about arthritis just yet after manipulating his limps, so we'll watch/wait on that.

 

[4boipigs]

We got some eye drops instead of ointment this time. Dr Edgar isn't too worried about arthritis just yet after manipulating his limps, so we'll watch/wait on that.

Oops…meant limbs and not limps. He is not limping.

 

[4boipigs]

Trishula’s eye is runny again. It is only his right eye, like before. It has a bit of crust and the fur under his eye is wet. I messaged our vet about new eye meds. I wonder why he seems to have this chronic, mild eye issue?

Otherwise he is fine

 

[bpatters]

Probably because his tear duct is blocked. Use a warm wet compress, and massage gently from the outer part of his eye to the inner corner, and down the nose. A couple of days of that should clear it up, but you may have to repeat it every so often.