The Dreaded Road Trip

Since Mabel has come to live with us, I've occasionally heard very faint wheezing from the cage.  It usually stops when I come over.  Once or twice I saw her right eye was a little goopy.  Her weight is stable, she looks fine.  But I caught her heaving slightly with the wheezing and that decided me.  Given my track record of sick guinea pigs over a holiday weekend, we headed to the vet on Thursday.

Road trip!  It was a chance to see how well they travel together in a single carry case.  They did very well:  some whining, but no tussling, no biting.  They simply chilled together on the ride.

Both girls were very curious and outgoing at the vet.  Mabel looked wuzzy and perplexed as she was examined.  Dr Fiske spent a lot of time swabbing out Mabel's mouth before it was it was clear enough to see her teeth.  Look at all those green swabs!  Mabel was very good at being manhandled, although she looked a bit offended at  having her teeth examined (I wish I got a photo of that!).  The vet was amazed at how young her teeth looked, given her age.

Lungs sounded clear, and of course Mabel looked fine while she was in the office.  We decided on some x-rays to see if there were anything obvious causing the wheezing.   

Mabel was an instant hit with the remaining vet techs as she was whisked off to the x-ray room.  I could hear them:  She's adorable!  I'm dying of the cute!  Shortly after that, Mabel had no trouble telling everyone at the top of her lungs that she did not like getting x-rays.  She has a pretty, high, clear voice:  Unhand me!  She was returned to me, befuddled looking but otherwise calm.  Unfortunately, she had to go back for a second round.  She protested a bit less, and the vet tech said Mabel calmed right down once she recognized what was happening.  She's a fast learner!

Good news - lungs are clear, heart looks normal.  It was a clean x-ray (one of the best I've seen of my pigs).  But that means we don't know what's causing the occasional labored breathing and wheezing.  The vet witnessed a little of the labored breathing, but attributed that to Mabel being stressed.  So I am to record her breathing, make notes of when I notice things out of the norm and get back to the vet.  I'm reassured for now that Mabel is healthy and have confirmed that these two are good at traveling together.