Unconventional wheezing

[Chipster]

Hi all,

This is my first time posting on Guinea Lynx. My partner and I have been regular readers of the site as it provided ample guidance to look after our guinea pigs. We currently have two - Chip and Fluff. In 2016 we had Chip and Honey, where Honey unfortunately passed away from TB. Chip was found to potentially have caught it and was put on a mix of antibiotics for approx. 2 months and thankfully recovered.

3 weeks ago today, we woke to Chip choking for a longer than usual and then stopped. About 3 hours later he was making a sound that sounded like something may be stuck in his throat. This went away following a cough. Then it was all gone until Wednesday when it was clear he was wheezing. A visit to the vet (Manor Vets, Birmingham), confirmed through stethoscope that his lungs were clear. We persisted and he was given nose drops and 2 sessions of daily nebulisation for 18 minutes. 1 week later and the wheeze was still there. Another vet visit and his lungs were found to be clear again.

1st vet visit - discovered fatty lumps around his legs (he's a chunky guy)
2nd vet visit - after a long time decided there were lumps on his throat nodes and therefore this could be a sign of Leukemia and felt a full CT, blood test etc was needed.
He wasn't sure about the URI but couldn't rule it out. Chip didn't have nose discharge at all.

After much deliberation we decided against the CT scan etc after reading several posts on Guinea Lynx. We felt he was already a poorly guinea and doesn't handle the car journey to the vet very well (40 min drive), and he always loses weight after it. We felt strongly it could be the return of the URI especially as the last time he got the URI the only sign was a wheeze. Chip is good at hiding symptoms.

He was prescribed the following for 10 days:
Zantac and Sulphatrim. Each twice daily
Metacam - twice daily

4 days of Bisolvan - twice daily
4-5 days of Probiotic - we gave this with some critical care
twice daily sessions of nebulisation 15-20 mins

He has a husky wheeze that had a low undertone and when it got bad, it was very wheezy and stopped when he coughed.

Record of wheezing and other symptoms:
Saturday after morning nebulisation + slight tummy gurgles
Sunday morning after nebi + slight tummy gurgles
Sunday evening nothing + slight tummy sounds
Monday full day nothing (although not 100% as no one was in for the full day) + tummy sounds
Tuesday bad wheezing from 04:20, he coughs at 05:53 but still wheezes. Coughs at 06:20 and it finally stops. Wheezing after evening nebi lasts only 5 mins. Drop in weight this morning from 1530 - 1500 so 5ml crit care given.
Wednesday - wheezing after morning nebi (slight wheeze under his breath before nebi). weight is at 1503 morning and 1495 evening. 15ml critical care given across three rounds
Thursday - wheezing weight has gone down to 1494 morning and 1489 evening. 10ml crit care given today
Friday - wheezing at 07:00 before nebi for 15mins and then stops with a cough. Chokes but no cough. Tummy sounds. Weight is down to 1488 morning and 1586 evening, 15ml critical care given
Saturday - no wheezing at all. Some calcium powder in pee - cucumber given. weight was 1481 in the morning and went up in the evening to 1511 (he has a little cucumber)
Sunday - wheezing straight after nebi for approx. 1hr45 mins in counting. Gets really bad, then light and then stops, and then reverts back. morning weight is 1491 and evening is 1496.

Twice daily they both get some romaine lettuce (this has been a staple throughout their lives). For the medicines, to entice Chip, it is interleaved with parsley or basil which we think caused the tummy gurgles which we hear daily in the evening and sometimes gets worse. His poo has been acceptable. He's had one or two bad poos but not diarrhea. He has been eating some of his poos, but more than the normal guinea. This has reduced over the course of the past few days. Since Wednesday his activity has gone up, his coat is perfect, he's brighter and more inquisitive and he has returned to clucking. What we cannot understand now is where the wheezing is coming from.
Him and Fluff stay in the cage overnight, and during the day have a mattress with play things in the adjacent office. The wheezing appears to only happen in the mornings or evenings and mostly after nebi. It always takes place when they're in the cage. All hay has been checked, one bag was dusty but this was changed over a week ago. Laundry detergent for their fleece blankets (they don't sit on hay) has not changed. Both my partner and I have not changed perfumes etc either.

We are at a loss. We are wondering if it's an aggressive URI that is not responding to meds? OR is it a heart condition? If so, his only symptom now is the wheezing (he sometimes has a grey nose that turns pink but he's had this his whole life) but this seems to coincide with time of day and the nebulisation, so does this rule it out?
He appears to be improving a lot outwardly as shown through his activeness, he's also eating hay properly again and his pellets (grain free) and drinking water. We did reduce the critical care to only 10ml a day as well for the past 2 days so he is gaining weight by himself. His poos are also looking better. So what's causing the wheezing?

Our vet, for background info, needs encouraging to think outside the box. We have asked if it's a heart condition but all he did was check his heart with a stethoscope and said no. He's not ruling out a URI, but he's not sure if it's Leukemia - I've checked the nodes and didn't feel like they were enlarged. Reading others' posts it seems like the lumps would be fairly obvious.

We are at a loss and looking now to perhaps do an X ray on Tuesday with a new course of antibiotics, perhaps Karidox if it turns out to be a URI. We are hoping the Xray may show fluid in the lungs etc. However, what's bothering us is that the wheezing is not frequent, it seems scheduled like something is triggering it.

Any help would be great and much appreciated.

x

[Lynx]

You've read the heart page?
www.guinealynx.info/heart.html

Were there any signs he might have heart issues? (there is a list on that page) I wish I had enough knowledge to offer better suggestions.

[bpatters]

I don't have much to offer, except to say that I've got a pig that wheezes. She's been evaluated six ways from Sunday, given antibiotics both orally and nebulized, and nothing has helped. She coughs occasionally, but it doesn't seem to be in conjunction with the wheezing, but probably with eating.

Her weight is stable and her behavior is normal, so I've just decided we'll live with it.

Pigs (and everything else, I guess) can have fungal respiratory infections, which would not respond at all to antibiotics, except to maybe get worse. But oral antifungal meds are very hard on any animal/human taking them, and I don't think I've heard of a pig being treated for a fungal URI.

Since he's having an x-ray, have the vet pay particular attention to the heart. An enlarged heart could produce those sounds, but wouldn't necessarily be found just by listening with a stethescope.

Good luck to you and him, and keep us posted on how things are going.