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Post by gabby88 on Apr 14, 2011 22:29:34 GMT
It's been about two months since I got my guinea pigs. When I first got them they were sneezing all the time. I switched their bedding from Carefresh to fleece, and the sneezing seemed to get better. They haven't had any crusty stuff on their nose or in their eyes. They've been eating and drinking just fine. Their breathing sounds normal. I even took one to the vet for an unrelated problem, and she said there wasn't any sign of a respiratory problem. But they're still sneezing and occasionally coughing. Do you think it's just a lingering cold? They're still doing everything normally. They love to run around and play. They still eat and drink fine. But they still sneeze 5-10 times per day. Since I've already taken one to the vet (the one that sneezes the most often) do you think this could be a problem? Or are they gradually going to get better? I'm also thinking maybe the hay I've been using is a bit dusty? Any help would be fantastic.
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Post by kellyb on Apr 15, 2011 7:29:30 GMT
My guess is that it's the hay. My girl Sugar still sneezes occassionally and I'm sure it's her hay. If the vet can't find any signs of respiratory problem then I'd say it's probably something just irritating them a bit. Some pigs just seem so sensitive - Sugar and Toffee are both really sinsitive.
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Post by Orlaith on Apr 15, 2011 14:58:16 GMT
One of my pigs is really sensitive to everything, he's always sneezing and getting a crackly chest >_< We've noticed that the quality of hay and the amount of dust plays a big part in this for him. Our vet recommended that we shake all the hay out into a bin bag before giving it to the pigs, just to remove the excess. It has helped a fair bit.
The only brand of hay I've ever seen in pet shops that seems to be really dust-free is the burgess hay, but for the price of a tiny bag of it you'd have a massive bag of normal hay, it's really expensive. Saying that, we've just tried a new brand (Petmania own brand) as we couldn't get our normal hay (Plospan) and there's very little dust or waste in the bags we've gotten. It's lovely and fresh too, but in the past this same brand of hay has been musty and horrible, so maybe it depends on the cut of hay that goes in the bag as harvests at different times of the year yield different quality hay.
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Post by gabby88 on Apr 15, 2011 16:49:58 GMT
They don't have a crackly chest, and their breathing is fine.
I'm not sure if it's the hay or not. I use orchard grass and timothy. I used Oxbow timothy hay when I first got them. Then I switched to Kaytee brand, and they sneezed with both. I still use Oxbow orchard grass though. I wonder if that's the problem. But the orchard grass is much less dusty than the timothy.
Or perhaps it's the carefresh. I used to use only carefresh for their bedding. Now I use it only in their litter area. There's not much in there at all, and it's usually covered with hay. And they were sneezing the first day I got them.
I'm stumped. They may just be really sensitive, I guess. I hope it won't cause any health problems in the future.
Also, there's some white spots on the fleece. I know a few white spots are normal, but there's 3 or 4 SUPER white spots. I know this can indicate too much calcium. I don't feed them any veggies that are very high in calcium. Mainly just green, red, and yellow pepper, green leaf lettuce, cucumber, the occasional carrot (they really don't even like carrots), cilantro, and parsley.
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Post by Orlaith on Apr 19, 2011 19:48:42 GMT
I think that white urine is okay so long as it's not gritty or sludgy. I wouldn't worry about that too much.
I know it can be really frustrating when you don't know what's affecting your piggies. Do you think it could be whatever you're using to clean their cage? You could try white vinegar as an alternative to see if that helps. So long as they have clear chests they're probably okay though.
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