Concerned about breathing

[Nidchenko]

I have noticed no symptoms of illness lately but a bit unusual breathing in my chinchilla for the past 1 day. I don't usually pay much attention to this unless I notice some kind of symptoms but now I did and (call me paranoid) I saw that it is really uneven. I looked at her side and he took a few quick breaths (maybe even slightly deeper), then normal ones and then a quick inhale again. She had just woken up and it might be just this. I'm only wondering if this is common or if it is a sign of some sort of respiratory infection. Better safe than sorry.

And also, I would really want some opinions before I take her to the vet because if it is not so urgent I might save her the 1-2 hour trip (which tends to make everything worse, especially in the cold weather)

 

[Pepperpot]

I took the time to observe the breathing rate of all my chins after reading your post, and observed differences in every one. Breathing can appear more rapid on waking. Salt, my pink white boy breathes rapidly during rest periods, while at the other end of the spectrum, Pepper, my mosaic boy will lie in the road kill position with breathing barely discernible. He's given me many a serious scare in the early days of owning chins.