Concerned over Eyes & Sneezing
Hi everyone!
I recently adopted two sweet boys - Paulie and Silvio and wonder if anyone else has experienced any of the below.
Paulie
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he sneezes multiple times a day (yes his recent bag of hay is a little dusty, but before that bag of hay he still sneezed a lot)
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his nose has been wet for the past few days
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a few days ago, a small brown spot appeared on his nose. is this normal?
Silvio
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he gets this white consistency in his eye every day to the point that it fills his whole eye and he has that entire eye shut. he seems so uncomfortable and his eye twitches from it. Some of the white stuff ends up crusting on his eye. Is that normal?
Now, I did take them to the vet earlier this week, and I told the vet all of the above and he said, and I quote "Well I don't see that right now" and completely brushed it off. He agreed that Silvio's eyes closing shut from that white stuff on his eye isn't normal but left it at that. Just gave them a clean bill of health and sent me off. Am I overreacting by worrying about this?
Regardless, we will be taking them to another vet to get them checked out! A second opinion would be awesome, just to know how other piggy parents have dealt with this.
Thank you
Comments
3 comments
Did you use an exotic vet? A wet nose and sneezing a lot is not normal. The eye sounds infected.
Guinea pigs have very sensitive respiratory systems, which is why I switched to GuineaDad hay boxes.
Timothy hay is not soft and can poke the eye.
Please look for an exotic vet in your area. Ask through local animal rescue sites for a recommended vet.
hi @Skhoury8! yes, I made sure to go to an exotic vet who specializes in small animals. From the research i've done, I agree that a wet nose and sneezing a lot is not normal - yet the vet disagreed with me and told me that it was normal? it seems like this guy doesn't know what he's doing.
I would love to know what the difference is between GuineaDad hay boxes vs. regular hay? Will definitely look into getting them another alternative. The current hay I'm using is Oxbow.
I honestly don’t think most exotic vets see many Guinea pigs. I have one about a 20 minute drive and didn’t care for him. I drive one hour to see another exotic vet and she is good.
I have had Guinea pigs for the last 6.5 years. Presently have 10, all ages, all from the local human society where I volunteer. All hay is dusty. All brands. I just stopped using Oxbow, because of the dust. Small Pet Select, dusty. I use Orchard Grass Hay, because there are no hard, sharp bits that can poke eyes.
So far, the GuineaDad hay boxes and hay bars have been dust free. Only been using for about 3 weeks, but pleased so far. Plus, I don’t drop hay on the floor transferring it to the cage.
I only use the bottom openings on the boxes, and push or pull hay from the top to fill the bottom holes. Otherwise, there will be that pig that crawls into the bottom and pees on it all. I use a long handle flat wooden spoon to push the hay down. I do like the hay boxes more, stronger box. Because I have so many, I spot clean and pull hay down to the bottom of the box at least twice a day.
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