[Gpdd] HEALTH: Wheezing Piggie

Luita Spangler luitad at zedat.fu-berlin.de
Sat Mar 24 06:41:17 EDT 2007


Does anyone have any ideas about what might be causing Ernie to wheeze?
He is a somewhat older piggie, about four and a half years old (he was a
rescue, so I don't know his exact age, but I think he was between 6 - 8
months when I got him four years ago). He isn't quite a LAPS candidate,
but is near to it. Insofar as I can tell, he doesn't have pneumonia,
seems perfectly well, gets regular floor time, sleeps a lot, as befits 
an elderly gentlepig, but also has moments of tearing around his cage as 
if competing with the Indy 500. He has a good appetite - a splendid 
appetite, I might say - and the wheezing isn't continuous. It doesn't 
seem to be related to a hay allergy, because when I give the pigs 
fresh hay, sometimes he'll be wheezing, other times not. Days go by 
when he doesn't wheeze, and then he'll start up again. I hesitate 
to whisk him off to the vets, because her usual response is to give 
antibiotics, no matter what, and I'd prefer to avoid the digestive 
upset that always accompanies antibiotics as much as possible. 
Naturally I'll go if this goes on, but I'd also like to be armed with 
some well-informed ideas and possibilities from other GPDDers abut what 
might be going on. I just can't seem to find a pattern here.

Luita
Bert and Ernie, the wheezing wheeker




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