My guinea pig was injured and is breathing heavily. What home care can I provide?

I am so sorry that your guinea pig is having this problem. Since she is so young, it could be a congenital malformation/disease or possibly an infection. You could take her to a veterinarian for an examination to try to determine the cause and see if any treatment would help. Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do at home without veterinary care. So sorry.

I am sorry to hear about Pea. If she is consistently having heavy breathing with noticable body movement likely due to the effort I would recommend bringing her in to see the vet. She could have something like a respiratory infection that requires treatment, and with respiratory difficulty the sooner we address the problem the better the chance of a fast and full recovery!

I'm so sorry to hear that Lacey is unwell. It sounds like you are doing everything you can to help the little girl. Guinea pigs are delicate creatures and generally do not handle stress of illness well, but the good news is that it sounds like she is on the right medications to treat her pneumonia. If you are not seeing an improvement in her breathing in the next 2-3 days, I would take her back to the vet and see if they need to make any adjustments to her antibiotics or other medications. I hope this helps, and that Lacey feels better soon. Best of luck and happy holidays.

I am so sorry. If Brownie doesn't take a couple of breaths in 1 minute, he may have already passed away. If he is still breathing, even if very slowly, make sure he stays warm, you can try to rub some honey on his gums to prevent hypoglycemia. If he can swallow, you can syringe some water or pedialyte very, very slowly so that it doesn't accidentally go into his lungs. He should see a vet as soon as one opens.

Hi and thank you for your question. Sorry to hear about Baxter. The timing (wrt getting him a friend) sounds coincidental, as one day is too short for most infectious disease to incubate. I'm afraid there is no over-the-counter medicine that I can recommend. It sounds like he has a respiratory infection, perhaps pneumonia, and this requires veterinary treatment ASAP. I know there are funding options that will allow you to pay for the treatment at a later date, I would suggest that you ask your vet about this. I agree that delaying it by 2 weeks is not an option. Regards

Thanks for reaching out about Buttercup. No all bacterial respiratory diseases are treated with the same antibiotics, and not all respiratory infections are bacterial (could be viral). No all respiratory signs are infectious, as heart disease can appear similar (but unlikely in a young guinea pig). If increased respiratory effort continues, additional treatment needs to be sought. Good luck.

Hi there! I am so sorry to hear about Charles' accident. I would definitely have Charles checked out by his veterinarian. There is definitely a chance that he could have some internal injuries. He may need an exam to check his lungs, and even an Xray, just to make sure there isn't anything else abnormal going on. As you mentioned too, I'm sure Charles is a little bit shaken up from his accident. These small guinea pigs are prey animals and are normally a little bit stressed out anyway. Having an accident may have made him a little bit nervous, but his comfort level with you will return in a little bit of time. I would definitely take him in for an exam though, just to make sure everything is OK. I hope this answer was helpful. Best of luck!