SqueakyBois
New Member
I’ve got two boys who are around 4 months old now, and I’ve been struggling with sneezing issues with one of them pretty much since I got them. I’ve taken him to two different vets now and both times they were like “well he seems really healthy, but the symptoms you mention (little bit of porphyrin around his nose, sneezing fits that go on for up to a minute or two) mean it could be the beginnings of a respiratory infection” so they put him on doxy/azithromycin for two weeks the first time, and a month later when I took him to the second vet since he was sneezing again and I wanted a second opinion, he put them both (since my other boy started sneezing a bit too) on doxy/baytril for two weeks. Well I just took them off the meds two days ago and today he got another sneezing fit again.
Do you think he’s just got a chronic thing? Does that mean constant meds or only when it gets bad? I don’t want to keep him medicated if I don’t have to, and I’d prefer not to keep paying for the vet just to hear that he seems healthy but here’s another $50 worth of drugs. I’ve seen some comments here about medication for longer than two weeks -should I ask the vet to prescribe more and try a full month? He's super healthy otherwise -playful, eats and drinks well, etc.
I’m also worried it could be an issue with their environment, but I’ve tried so many things. I used to use fleece, but it got stinky so fast, so I moved to this eco paper bedding, which seems better. I tried a bunch of cage cleaners and settled on vinegar/water solution and they don’t sneeze extra when I put them back in, so I think that’s working ok. I just noticed, though, that the inside of my cage walls have gotten rusty (the edges are hollow where they connect) -could that be harming their respiratory tracts? There’s just so much that can possibly be wrong, and I’m worried they’re going to die because I’m not cleaning properly but I don’t know what to change. Recently I haven’t noticed it smelling like pee, but their litter boxes smell awful. I don’t know if their poo is maybe smelly from the medication? They keep trying to bury their litter boxes so I’m wondering if I should just stop using them, and let them cover up their smell in the bedding?
Idk sorry I think that was definitely more than one question, and very rambly, but any advice would be so appreciated.
Do you think he’s just got a chronic thing? Does that mean constant meds or only when it gets bad? I don’t want to keep him medicated if I don’t have to, and I’d prefer not to keep paying for the vet just to hear that he seems healthy but here’s another $50 worth of drugs. I’ve seen some comments here about medication for longer than two weeks -should I ask the vet to prescribe more and try a full month? He's super healthy otherwise -playful, eats and drinks well, etc.
I’m also worried it could be an issue with their environment, but I’ve tried so many things. I used to use fleece, but it got stinky so fast, so I moved to this eco paper bedding, which seems better. I tried a bunch of cage cleaners and settled on vinegar/water solution and they don’t sneeze extra when I put them back in, so I think that’s working ok. I just noticed, though, that the inside of my cage walls have gotten rusty (the edges are hollow where they connect) -could that be harming their respiratory tracts? There’s just so much that can possibly be wrong, and I’m worried they’re going to die because I’m not cleaning properly but I don’t know what to change. Recently I haven’t noticed it smelling like pee, but their litter boxes smell awful. I don’t know if their poo is maybe smelly from the medication? They keep trying to bury their litter boxes so I’m wondering if I should just stop using them, and let them cover up their smell in the bedding?
Idk sorry I think that was definitely more than one question, and very rambly, but any advice would be so appreciated.
