The Pigloo Forums

[Chas]

I got Peggy Sue out last night to give her a good check and she was making a stuffy nose sound. No discharge or crusty eyes, just a stuffy nose and sneezing. I gave Erin a call and she brought us out some Baytril to get her started. We love Erin, she takes great care of us.

Peggy Sue took the AB with no problem, she's such a good girl. She's still sneezing this morning but not nearly as much as she was last night.

I'm just wondering if this could be an allergy thing that the rest of us seem to be suffering from recently. I'm having sinus issues for a few days, my daughter started yesterday with a faucet for a nose and even threw up last night from having so much excess snotties in her stomach. Do they make piggy antihistamines?

[skipperdoo]

If it is an allergic reaction, I would try first try to find out what she is reacting to rather than put her on an antihistamine. That way, you can eliminate the problem rather than medicate. Some pigs react to the type of bedding that they are housed on. What type of bedding is she on?

[Charybdis]

Allergies in guinea pigs is not common. An antihistamine would not solve the problem. It is far more likely to be a bacterial URI, and there is also the possibilities of pneumonia/pulmonary edema perhaps secondary to a heart condition. So you see, a wide range of possibilities to investigate. If the symptoms do not start resolving within 48 hours, I would see a vet and switch to Doxycycline, which is very effective for treating URIs. If it does not begin to resolve on the Doxy, I would get a chest x ray.

[Chas]

I was just joking about the antihistamine part. Sorry, I didn't even realize they made them for piggies.

She is bedded on fleece here. While at Erin's rescue she seemed to stuff up when cages were cleaned. She was bedded on pine shavings there. She's seemed very well here for the last few weeks. I think it's probably just a URI.

[Charybdis]

Erin has used antihistamines with one of her pigs, no joke.

[Erin]

This is true. Lilly was on benedryl.

Peggy Sue was always sniffing and sneezing when I put her on any sort of dusty bedding. She did perfect the times I put her on fleece. I think it's just a URI, she's got 2 weeks of baytril, if it's not better I'm sure she'll get in to see the vet.

[Chas]

Oh that's right. I forgot that Lilly was on benedryl. But not for allergies. I wasn't trying to make lightly of the situation.

If she has no improvement then she will see a vet. Don't worry, I love her and wouldn't do anything to harm her.

[izzywizzywoo513]

http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19230

This is about Charlie, he had weight loss and kept sneezing. At the time I was bedding him on Pine, but have switched to Aspen. I read alot about URIs on GL before taking him to the vet and that was what I sure it was. Vet said lungs were clear, but it sounded like congestion in throat and nose. So bloodwork was done.

The bloodwork was clean except it showed elevated eosinophils. I bought the stuff he recommended and used it. Charlie quit sneezing and has improved, put his weight back on. He is actually more active now and interacts alot more with Ruby

I by no means have the experience that Erin or any other rescuer has when it comes to the piggies health. This was just what my experience was.

[Chas]

Izzy- Is that just saline spray that you said you put on your finger and wiped on his nose? Would it just loosen up the congestion so she could get rid of it?

[DodgerPig]

When Chuckie was showing signs of URI they gave him Gentocin Dura Opht Drops. It is for eyes, but the vet told us to put the drops in his nose.

It seemed to offer Chuck some relief with his runny nose, but neither that nor the Baytril helped his lung congestion. I do think now that the symptoms were related to an undiagnosed heart condition.

Is she eating?

I don't know that much about piggies and medical problems; all I know is that the whole eating thing is a big deal. I'll leave the diagnoses to the vets and recuers!

[izzywizzywoo513]

http://www.drugstore.com/qxp55252_333181_sespider/little_noses/deconge stant_nose_drops_gentle_18_formula_infants_and_children.htm

This is what he told me to buy in the childrens section at any drugstore. I am not really sure what it did, I think the point was to get it in his nose to break up any congestion.

I put a few drops on the tip of my finger and rubbed on his nostrils 2x a day. I never shot the spray up his nose the way humans do with saline sprays.

Since doing this and switching from Pine to Aspen, he has been a 100% better.

[Chas]

I bought some of that today for my daughter. It doesn't spray and I used it on Peggy Sue. She's finally starting to show some improvement. She's also starting to fight me on the meds. She likes to grab the syringe and throw it across the room for me. What a sweet girl she is.

[Charybdis]

I second the Gentamicin drops in the nose. I have a couple pigs here with pneumonia and one has significant nasal congestion. I believe that putting the drops in twice daily has helped her breathe better.

[Chas]

She eats like there's no tomorrow. She had lost a couple ounces but has since but them and then some back on. When they first came here they both lost a few ounces but are back up and past their original weights.

[Chas]

Peggy Sue's nose is sounding better, but now her poops look pale. They are well formed and solid, just dark green in color. I should take a picture of them compared to a Precious poop. I'll try to get on that in a little while after all the kids get here and my day starts to settle down a bit.

[Chas]

Peggy Sue is sounding stuffy again. Not as much sneezing as before but her breathing seems to be labored. She is scheduled with the vet but of course it's Friday and they can't see her until Monday morning. She ate a few cc's of critical care this morning and a little water. She actually seems ok except for the stuffy sounding nose. She is down a total of 3 ounces from when I brought them home so this concerns me. I would love to see her hit a whopping 3 lb mark but she can't if she stays sick.

[Bride of Chad]

Poor Peggy Sue, I hope she gets better soon!

[Charybdis]

Did she get a chest x ray?

[Chas]

We don't see the vet until Monday. She's actually pretty active so I'm not sure if it's heart related or not. I think the vet will want to try her on another AB before trying heart meds. I've listened to her lungs and they sound clear (I did compare the sound to a healthy piggy to be sure). I'm hoping another AB will help and I also removed the litter box just in case the shavings are aggrevating her sinuses (I found her sleeping in it a few times and she seemed to get worse).

[Charybdis]

Rain is a very active pig and she has left ventricle CHF. She does laps around her cage. Dusty has an enlarged heart, arrhythmia, and cardiomyopathy, and he is very active and agile. There are different kinds of heart problems and lethargy might not be a side effect with every pig.

[Chas]

Peggy Sue saw the vet today. Of course she sounded really stuffy over the weekend and this morning but when we were there she sounded completely clear. He went ahead and gave her some AB's anyway to see if she clears up. He gave her Septra Susp (SMZ-TMP). She gets 1/2 cc twice a day. He also gave her the bene-bac. He said he wasn't familiar with using Acidophilus and wanted to be sure she wouldn't have gut failure from the AB.

I can't figure out why she sounded fine there. I didn't pack any hay in their travel cage (Just water bottle, pellet dish and a carrot with greens with a fleece blanket in the bottom of the cage and a cuddle cup). I hope the hay isn't making her stuffy.

I had bought the Stuffy noses drops that izzywizzywoo had suggested and took them with us. He looked the bottle over and said he didn't recommend using it.

[Jodi]

It could have been stress, sometimes they act fine when they are nervous.

[Erin]

Violet does the same thing at the vet.