Hi everyone. Here is some history: my guinea pig Butter is a three-year-old female. She had pneumonia when she was very young, and since then she has always had a chronic URI and some labored breathing noise. Last month her breathing got drastically worse and I brought her to the vet and her lungs were clear while her heart looked normal (not enlarged or anything unusual). The vet heard no heart murmur too. She was under treatment for URI with Azithromycin and recovered pretty well but her upper respiratory sound still lingers so she is on Baytril for now.
Since she lost weight last time due to her URI and she recovered mostly, her appetite came back and she's putting some weight on recently. But I noticed that her belly was kind of big and distended, while it was soft to the touch. She was still eating and pooping fine (she had a BIG appetite) but got strangely lethargic this afternoon so I brought her to the vet tonight. The vet took an xray, and on the xray her organs looked fuzzy, unclear, and covered with more fluid than usual. They suspected cancer but thought it was not likely because she is not very old. They also emphasized that they heard no heart murmur, but heart disease cannot be absolutely ruled out. They kept her at the vet and will do an ultrasound tomorrow.
Does anyone know the potential causes of this? She was still acting fine, eating and pooping about 2 hours ago that I saw her before leaving her at the vet. However, another thing I want to mention -- on April 13th (three days ago), her cagemate Daisy passed away suddenly after being lethargic and picky with her food for three days. I am still coping with her sudden death. I did not want to send her in for autopsy, but could they have gotten the same infection of some sort that would cause this? The vet didn't think these two cases were related. Please help me, I can't stand losing another pig. Thank you!
URI, fluid Around Organs?
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Sef
- I dissent.
It sounds like heart issues could be a possibility, especially with recurring URI and also edema. Be sure to read:
https://www.guinealynx.info/heart.html
I hope the ultrasound gives your vet more definitive information. Is he/she very experienced with guinea pigs?
My condolences on the loss of Daisy.
https://www.guinealynx.info/heart.html
I hope the ultrasound gives your vet more definitive information. Is he/she very experienced with guinea pigs?
My condolences on the loss of Daisy.
Thank you for the replies for Butter and Daisy...I think her vet is pretty experienced with Guinea pigs. I do hope it’s nothing with her heart and it’s good that they never heard any obvious heart murmur. Butter has always been a loud and feisty pig...I am actually more worried about her kidney after seeing some posts with similar issues, and she also drank more water lately. I pray that she will be fine... will update tomorrow...
Good news! Butter's abdominal ultrasound "showed scant fluid which may be a variation of normal". They found nothing wrong with her heart, kidney or liver. The fluid should resolve themselves without any intervention from us. She also has normal blood sugar -- so no diabetes. She was not sedated and is now eating and pooping fine, though she has more dandruff on her body, maybe due to stress at the vet? The vet is not worried about the fluid and is more worried about her URI. We'll arrange a CT scan soon to figure out her upper respiratory issue, which may be a defect in the structure since she always has one nostril that's slightly wet and darker than the other.
Our scale broke so I will get a new scale asap, but she lost some weight since yesterday. She was very heavy and felt swollen yesterday and few days before that, but now she feels much lighter but probably still at a healthy level. Her appetite is probably at 50% so I will feed her critical care. Thanks!!! And do guinea pigs lose weight quickly in one day? Should I be concerned about her weight drop from yesterday to today?
Thank you!!! Will keep a close watch on Butters weight. She seems very lethargic today, has a bit more decreased appetite from yesterday but is still pooping well. At night I heard three consecutive sneezing/coughing sounds from her which scared me so much because Daisy also made two or three weird noises somewhat like that before she passed away quickly. But I checked on Butter and she’s fine. I also noticed her snore a lot when she sleeps which worries me if she is in pain and struggling to breath freely. Her URI seems to have worsened a bit and Baytril isn’t helping much. Will arrange a ct scan asap...so worried :(
But at least it’s a chronic, kind of mild URI that shouldn’t cause anything acute, hopefully.
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