URI Upper Respitory Tract Infections: (Colds!)

What is it? Respiration means breathing so this is a problem with the guineas breathing system or to you & me a kind of cold! Guinea pigs can catch colds, sometimes from us humans (so we must be careful not to spread our germs when we have a cold by washing our hands before we care for our guineas or better still getting someone else to take over until we are better). Guineas symptoms are just like ours when we have a cold runny nose, & sometimes eyes too. They can sneeze & sound bunged up. .. Short nosed piggy's like our lovely Spam often are more prone to these.

What do I do? This depends on the stage of the problem. You can check it is in an early stage by listening to the piggy's chest (which is easily done by putting the area behind its front legs to your ear). I find that doing this to a WELL piggy is advisable so you can get used to what normal breathing sounds like for them. If its in the early stages a dab of vic or Olbas oil (human medicines available from chemists) will help. Sudafed can also be used at a dose of 0.4 ml per day split into too sessions (so 0.2 ml am & 0.2ml pm).

If the problem persists or if you are in any doubt at all get your piggy straight to the vet. The vet will listen to the piggy's chest with a stethoscope to ascertain the severity of infection & is likely to prescribe a course of piggy safe antibiotics like Septrin or Baytril in addition to a Pro biotic such as Avpro.

above: Our boys had a mass visit to the vet after they caught a viral URI which must have been contagious through the air as Spam & Hugo who don't live together both contracted it. Having a tiny baby & Spam having had this a few weeks previously a trip to the vet as the best way to ensure all the piggy's would be alright.

Always check that an antibiotic is safe for use on guinea pigs & that a pro biotic is always given in addition. Don't rely on your vet as sadly many are not up to scratch when it comes to guinea pigs. See the information on the left hand bar of the Health menu for details. Our vet for example told us to put pro biotic in drinking water but we added it to water which we syringe fed to ensure that he was getting it.

Allergies

What are they? Like we humans our piggy's can be allergic to just about anything! And like us allergies show them selves in different ways, skin rashes, runny eyes & breathing problems being a few.

What do I do? If you notice any symptoms in your piggy's after changing something in their environment (including anything you use in the room such as perfume, air fresher, polish) then try taking it away& see if they improve. Similarly if using any new shampoos etc always do a patch test on the skin first.