Sick What can I do for my piggie until his vet appointment?

[kusecat]

My 3 year old male guinea pig Leo has a suspected URI. The earliest vet appointment available was tomorrow 7/26/19 at 2:00pm. Is there anything I can do to help make him feel comfortable until his appointment? I noticed he had a runny nose and weepy eye last night, and this morning his nose is stuffy and he's wheezy. He also has a bit of a smell that he did not have yesterday night. I cleaned his nose for him with a soft damp cloth and that seemed to make him a bit more comfortable. I have also separated him from his cage mate, Ollie. He has food and water and while yesterday he was eating and drinking fine, today he only wants to curl up in the corner of the cage.

 

[bpatters]

You need to hand feed him -- it's the most important thing you can do for him. See https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/115000-Handfeeding-a-guinea-pig for more information.

The other thing you might do is put him in a steamy area -- a shower stall with hot water running (not on him, of course), or if you've got a nebulizer you could use that.

 

[spy9doc]

The other thing you might do is put him in a steamy area -- a shower stall with hot water running (not on him, of course), or if you've got a nebulizer you could use that.

Knowing that few people have a nebulizer on hand, you may also use a small humidifier or vaporizer. Cover the top of the cage with one layer of sheet and either put the humidifier/vaporizer in the cage or point it into the cage. The idea is to create a "steam" tent to ease his breathing.

 

[kusecat]

I put him in my small bathroom with the shower running for a bit earlier in the day, now I have him set up with a diffuser filled with water. I made sure to rinse it well before I used it. Hopefully this will work as I don’t have a humidifier at home. I was able to get him to eat some cucumber and blueberries as they are his favorite, so I’m keeping him stocked up on those to encourage him to eat on his own. Hopefully he won’t get any worse before his vet appointment tomorrow. Thank you guys for all your advice!