Sick Piggy!!! Need advice!!!

[andy900]

My piggy Sweetpea has been making a strange snorting noise whenevr she breathes for about 3 weeks. It gets quiet when she's at rest, but always comes back. I took her to the vet 5 days ago and it was diagnosed as a respiratory infection. I was given antibiotics and told to wait a week to see improvement.

Well it's been almost a week and no improvement. I noticed she also has an irritated looking bald spot right under her mouth that WASNT there a week ago. She's been treated for RINGWORM in the past, and i'm thinking it might have come back.

Can anyone please help? I'm so sad for my little Sweeypea.
Thanks,
ANDY

[laceychris92]

Okay, first off if she is with any other piggies seperate them!! Give her garlic to help the upper resportory infection! Good luck!!

[laceychris92]

Piggir pouches are good to comfort sick piggies! Check out www.piggypouches.webs.com

[kellyb]

I'm not an expert, but I would highly recommend taking her back to her vet - one who specializes in exotic pets if you can find one. She obviously has something going on. Hopefully someone with more experience can give you more precise advice. I hope she gets better soon.

[andy900]

At this point, there's not much the vet can do except very expensive x-rays. I still have the medicine that I had to apply to the problemed spots of ringworm. so i'm going to use that and finish the antibiotic course.

She is with my brother's piggy, but that one is very healthy. She never caught the ringworm and, according to my vet, cannot catch the respiratory infection.

If you guys have any more advice, feel free. Thank you all so much for your posts. It means a lot to me.

[laceychris92]

Well, your vet was incorrect. All piggies cancatch it. Two of my aunts are exotic vets and I also know another lady that's an exotic vet and has had piggies her whole life! You need to seperate them! Pigged deffinetly can catch upper resortory infection. This may not be what you want to hear, but that vet must not know what he's doing. Good luck and I sincerly hope you listen to me because the other piggie will catch it!

[Orlaith]

One of my pigs has guinea pig asthma and he's allergic to certain brands of hay, which makes him sound like he has a chest infection. Have you changed anything in your pigs' environment that might be causing irritation? For my guy, he gets a shot of steroids and a course of baytril to sort him out, but eventually we figured out what he was allergic to and he has been perfect since.

[andy900]

thanks for the advice. i think i'll seperate them. and also i didnt change anything about their cage or diet, so i dont think its allergies.

[kellyb]

What kind of bedding are you using? My girl Toffee was fine for the first two weeks we had her, then she became very sick overnight - coughing, sneezing, lethargic... (and my other one sneezed a fair bit too, but not lethargic etc...) Vet suggested it was the pine shavings - at the time I had no idea that a lot of pigs are allergic to them. Switched to fleece and no more sneezing from any of them.

Is she getting any better? Worse?

Are guinea pigs like humans in that we can develop allergies over time? I know several people who never had a food allergy and then one day had major reactions to things they ate all the time. I don't know, just a thought.

[andy900]

we always use carefresh bedding. My vet did tell me to stay away from cedar wood shavings, but other than that she has never had anything except carefresh.

I actually think she's a bit better since i started the ringworm med!

Thanks kelly!

[Dawn - Admin]

Ringworm is very contageous. Also it can lie dormant and can re-infest. Make sure you disinfect the cage your piggy is in.

[andy900]

What should I use to disinfect? I don't have any idea what chemicals do to piggies.
Thanks Dawn! Very helpful.

[kellyb]

Hi Andy,
I'm glad to hear she's seems a little better. Hopefully this is the answer and she'll recover fully.

Which disinfectant to use is a good question. I'd like to hear what Dawn or other experienced piggy owners suggest. What I use is just warm water and "Dawn - antibacterial dishsoap" and then I rinse it very well and dry it out. I'm always scared that if there's any remnant and they lick it, could they get sick? Once I was also told to use a vinegar and water mixture.

[andy900]

Hi all,
Just wanted to let you know that my Sweetpea is doing better. EversinceI began the ringworm topical med, her snorting noise has gotten more quiet.

Thanks to everyone who responded and gave me input. I really appriciate it!

-Andy

[kellyb]

Yay - glad to hear she's getting better!

[nikki1145]

To prevent her from getting sick again lots of comercial ads for stuff like a cage cleaner says that its safe but ask your vet what she recomends and i am so glad your piggie is doing better i was so scared!

[andy900]

Thank you all for the well wishes! My little piggie is all better, sounding and looking free of any sickness!

God Bless!

[kellyb]

Yay! Glad she's all better. You must be very relieved.

: )

[andy900]

I'm so relieved! And i'm also glad to know that I have a whole army of piggy-lovers to give me great advice!

[beekeeping05]

Wow gratz that your little piggy is well now and I hope your pet will not be sick again. Good luck.

[biscuit]

I don't know if it is good for guinea pigs but when I had to disinfect their cage I used Dettol in warm water then rinsed off with just plain warm water, then let the cage sun dry.... It worked and my piggies are fine so.......