Loud Coughing....Hairballs?

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Dobby
I gave what I could!

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2002 3:31 pm


Hi guys.
Lastnight before I went to bed, I was startled by a loud coughing sound. I thought it was my cat under my bed or something, so I looked and no cat.
Anyway, I turned off the light and heard Buddy munching away on something and turned the light back on and he ws biting off the newspaper that had poked up through his bedding. I got up, tore off the excess paper, discarded it and when I was getting back into bed, he started wheeking and then let out this loud, crazy cough...like a whooping cough. I know it wasn´t the newspaper, because he hadn´t eaten any, just bitten it off.
He´s been shedding quite a bit,though, and grooming as usual... do pigs get hairballs like cats? He was horking and heaving for about 10 seconds, then went back to normal and hasn´t done it since, but could it be hairballs?

Thanks, guys.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2002 6:14 pm


While I have heard it mentioned on a couple sites, the general consensus no, they don´t get them. Since rabbits do, some people seem to think so and prescribe something to get the hair to pass through their system. I don´t think guinea pigs groom like rabbits which may account for the fact that it does not happen (or is very rare).

Also, guinea pigs reportedly cannot vomit and so could not eject a hairball if there ever was one.

My pigs will on occasion cough. Sometimes something gets stuck and this seems to help.

User avatar
Jill

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2002 8:20 pm


I don´t know if aspirating and vomiting are technically the same thing, but my Piggie had her abscesses lanced today and the vet said she aspirated. She is fine, but he did say it is very unusual for a guinea pig.

pinta

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2002 8:46 pm


I think aspirating deals with food in the throat or mouth while vomiting deals with food in the stomach.

My assumption, anyway.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2002 9:00 pm


Vomiting and aspirating are not related.

aspirate Surgery. 1. to draw in or take away by suction. 2. the material removed by suction.

Think of fine needle aspiration. Could be the pig inhaled something. Not discharged.

pinta

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2002 9:04 pm


The vets call it aspiration when food comes up when they´re under anaesthetic.

I believe when they aspirate under those conditions the food was actually on its way down to the stomach, not on its way up.

User avatar
Jill

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2002 9:16 pm


I think I see what you are saying. I guess I´m kind of puzzled because there was no food in her cage after 7:30 last night and the procedure was this morning. Must be something never quite made it where it was supposed to go.

pinta

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2002 9:54 pm


That is weird.

You´re not supposed to fast pigs before surgery. Our vet likes to withdraw food 2 hours before the procedure to make sure all the food is out of the mouth and throat so aspiration problems are avoided.

Maybe Josephine can tell us what the deal is. Maybe aspiration is just a catchall phrase for breathing problems.

User avatar
KarasKavies
For the love of my girls!

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2002 10:11 pm


I thought aspiration was when food and the like went into the lungs. I know that you are not supposed to give small children popcorn because they can "aspirate" it into their lungs. I think it means to "suck into." Into the lungs, into a syringe etc.

Where is Josephine?!

pinta

Post   » Tue Mar 05, 2002 10:50 pm


Well that makes sense - except for a pig who hasn´t had food for at least 12 hours.....

I was thinking it was a choking thing because our vets have described food coming out that was in the mouth when they were put under(hence the confusion with vomiting). Maybe the food went into the lungs and came out thru the mouth again?

Where the heck is Josephine?

cea2001

Post   » Wed Mar 06, 2002 5:52 am


Years ago (when I was a child) I had a male pig who was physically sick quite regularly. We gave him a new home when his old owners couldn´t keep him anymore. They told us quite matter of factly when they handed him over that he often vomited and I remember him doing it. It didn´t seem to bother him at all and he lived with us for another two or three years.

I have never known another guinea pig to do so though. However, my two males sometimes make a choking, gagging noise when eating for a few moments. Probably because a bit of food went down with its legs crossed.

User avatar
Jill

Post   » Wed Mar 06, 2002 7:43 am


Pinta, why no fasting before surgery on pigs? I didn´t question it because that is normal for humans. The vet said no food after 8:00 and no liquids after midnight.

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