guinea pig illness

Question
My guinea pig seems to be either coughing or sneezing.  It doesn't happen too often, maybe 2 or 3 times every hour or so.  Today he didn't eat his food, or the carrot/apple that I offered him.  He is a very good eater, so I was instantly worried.  Is there anything I could do, short of taking him to the vet.  Thank you for any help you may provide.

Answer
well there is a chance that he is just reacting to dust in the cage or hutch, removing dusty hay and sawdust will fix that, though if it is a cold then it is quite serious, a common cold to us is quite deadly to a guinea pig.

there are a few things that you can try, but be warned, these things can kill your guinea pig faster than the illness you are trying to cure.

essentially a vet will give you the same things as I am likely to recommend but you will knw that what he is giving you is not harmful to the guinea pig and that it is in the the right amounts.

to treat the cold your best bet is an antibiotic called baytril, commonly used on horses if that helps you narrow down a search for it. for directions on use see peter gurney's website

I think this is a link http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/
this guy was basically the mosses of Guinea pig keeping and it provides dosage amounts mixing ratios and what to mix with and how frequently it needs to be administered, you are just looking for a fairly standard treatment, two to three weeks of baytril should be enough.

best of luck.