Sick Guinea Pigs

Question
Hi,
I have two guinea pigs and yesterday I noticed that one appeared to be wheezing so I took her to the vet who said she has an upper respiratory infection.  I've been giving her antibiotics for the last day and she seems to be doing better but the other guinea pig now appears to be sick.  My main concern is that she's lethargic and appears to have mucus above her eyes as well as out her rear end.  Any idea what this may be?

Answer
Honestly David, I do not have an answer for you. The mucus drainage is a red flag for sure. You might try giving both of them the antibiotics.  If one has an infection it's pretty much a given that the other will too.

You haven't by chance recently acquired a new dog that might have been near your cages? The reason I ask is that there is one virus that dogs can pass to guinea pigs and it's extremely difficult to treat in the pigs. That's Bortadella, aka Kennel Cough.  You might ask your vet if there's any possibility that's what you're dealing with.

I wish I had something more to offer you but I honestly don't think I could do any better than your vet has already done.  I certainly wish you well with your girls and hope they will come through this. It's very tough with guinea pigs. They don't show their illnesses until it's almost too late, making it very hard to treat them.

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope the medication will work.