Post by candycane on Apr 19, 2013 18:05:21 GMT
Hi all, I have a question about my guinea pig, Cleo.
As I said in my introduction post, I'm pretty new to the whole guinea pig world, so anything "out of the ordinary" panics me a bit!
Cleo is definitely the more active of my two pigs, or at least when I'm home. Because of this, I've been noticing that she's been sneezing periodically over the past few days. She'll usually sneeze a couple of times during the day, spaced far apart from one another, so at first I didn't think anything of it. However last night and now this morning she seems to be sneezing much more than normal.
This morning I have also noticed that she's making a strange sound, one that I can only describe as an owl/pigeonish sound, or a sound kind of like a new baby makes at times. She's been doing that off and on, but if I talk to her she makes her normal squeaking noises.
Cleo has still been active as usual, running towards me to see if I have a treat when I walk by, and I haven't noticed a decrease in her energy. I do work an evening shift, so I don't know what goes on during that time.
So basically looking at different people's opinions online I see some say that this is normal, other says upper respiratory infection, others heart problems, etc. Needless to say, it's freaking me out a bit. And of course I work in an hour and a half, so there isn't time today to go to a vet of any sorts.
Any ideas as to what might be going on? I spot clean their cage as best I can weekly, and I use Aspen wood bedding. Am I just overreacting? Should I wait and see if she gets better, or try to get to a vet tomorrow?
And on a side note, not to sound frugal, but does anyone have a ballpark estimate as to what it would cost to take Cleo to a vet? I have never been to a vet that treats these kids of animals, so while I know how much it costs to take my dog in for a checkup, I don't know for a guinea pig. I realize that price will vary depending on what they do to check her out, but any ideas on that would be great also.
As I said in my introduction post, I'm pretty new to the whole guinea pig world, so anything "out of the ordinary" panics me a bit!
Cleo is definitely the more active of my two pigs, or at least when I'm home. Because of this, I've been noticing that she's been sneezing periodically over the past few days. She'll usually sneeze a couple of times during the day, spaced far apart from one another, so at first I didn't think anything of it. However last night and now this morning she seems to be sneezing much more than normal.
This morning I have also noticed that she's making a strange sound, one that I can only describe as an owl/pigeonish sound, or a sound kind of like a new baby makes at times. She's been doing that off and on, but if I talk to her she makes her normal squeaking noises.
Cleo has still been active as usual, running towards me to see if I have a treat when I walk by, and I haven't noticed a decrease in her energy. I do work an evening shift, so I don't know what goes on during that time.
So basically looking at different people's opinions online I see some say that this is normal, other says upper respiratory infection, others heart problems, etc. Needless to say, it's freaking me out a bit. And of course I work in an hour and a half, so there isn't time today to go to a vet of any sorts.
Any ideas as to what might be going on? I spot clean their cage as best I can weekly, and I use Aspen wood bedding. Am I just overreacting? Should I wait and see if she gets better, or try to get to a vet tomorrow?
And on a side note, not to sound frugal, but does anyone have a ballpark estimate as to what it would cost to take Cleo to a vet? I have never been to a vet that treats these kids of animals, so while I know how much it costs to take my dog in for a checkup, I don't know for a guinea pig. I realize that price will vary depending on what they do to check her out, but any ideas on that would be great also.