mites/sore/labored breathing/skinny

Post » Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:45 pm

The vitamin C likely has trace amounts of sugar and not enough to cause problems. Good luck.

LER · Post » Tue May 03, 2005 12:15 am

Fuzzy Lumpkins had his appointment today. My vet was able to successfully draw blood from the inside of his left leg, but it took some effort and tryng. Poor Fuzzy - his entire underside is one huge edema. He must be miserable. But we got a fair amount of blood and also she used an ultrasound to get a tiny, tiny urine sample. It was like only one drop, looked exactly like water. They couldn't do more than tell that it had glucose in it. They were going to run some blood work in house just to check for renal failure I think(?) but were also sending some out. I think she might be sending it to Idexx but I am not 100% sure. I will keep everyone updated regarding the results. Please keep Fuzzy in your thoughts.

We wondering if this could be diabetes brought on by his poor nutrition.vit. C defiency? Does anyone have any info? Thanks . . .

Josephine · Post » Tue May 03, 2005 12:19 am

Edema? We're sure this isn't heart?

LER · Post » Tue May 03, 2005 12:25 am

Hi Josephine,
We aren't sure of anything. He drinks excessively, came to me (2 weeks ago) severely underweight with a likely vit C deficiency. The edema is around his back end more so then the lung/heart area, I believe.

Post » Tue May 03, 2005 4:12 am

Sounds more like kidneys. Has the vet considered Lasix to get rid of the fluid and hydration subcues to compensate for the Lasix? This is what we did for Rachel when she had pitting edema from kidney failure.

LER · Post » Tue May 03, 2005 8:38 am

Hi Pinta,
I mentioned lasix but she said it could cause renal failure and would only be something she would consider as a very last resort. I did tell her about how it seems a lot of people have success when treating frequent uri pigs with lasix and enecard and she was very surprised. She's willing to consult, though, and we may actually end up sending Fuzzy (and Kirk too) to a foster home near Boston and having him go to Angell - she would give us a referral. (we really need to hold a fund raiser for these poor piggies!) I just thought I would run the bloodwork and such here to get a better picture of what is going on. Thanks for weighing in.

Post » Tue May 03, 2005 7:09 pm

It can cause renal failure which is why hydration subcues are so important. My really bad kidney pig had her life extended a few weeks with twice daily max lasix doses and twice daily subcues. Her edema was so bad she needed the lasix to rid her body of the fluid for her comfort level.

My current kidney pig hasn't needed lasix yet but he has heart problems and is on Fortekor. Twice daily subcues for him as well.

LER · Post » Tue May 10, 2005 9:53 pm

I'm still waiting on the results of Fuzzy's bloodwork. I will call tomorrow and ask, but I was just in today and no one mentioned it. I didn't ask specifically, though.

I weighed him today and he is up 152 grams from last Satuday (10 days). I think all of it is fluid/edema. It feels like it must be so very uncomfortable!

Does anyone have any thoughts that I can pass along to the vet in regards to helping reduce this? Pinta it definitely sounds like you think Lasix could help. I will ask her again about it. (Hoping the bloodwork has some definite answers.)

Post » Tue May 10, 2005 10:46 pm

See www.guinealynx.info/medicatons.html#lasix and follow the link to marvistavet.

LER · Post » Tue May 10, 2005 11:03 pm

Reading this from the website:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_furosemide.html
"Furosemide is associated with an increase in blood sugar levels. This is not a problem for most patients but a different diuretic may be a better choice for a diabetic patient."

Makes me definitely want to wait on the blood work results since diabetes is on our suspect list. We drew blood on the 2nd so the resultsreally ought to be in now or soon.

Josephine · Post » Wed May 11, 2005 12:44 am

Where'd you send the blood? Usually I get results within 12-24 hours.

Something like 150 grams of weight gain is concerning. My heart pig was in CHF to cause such a weight gain in him. Waiting long periods of time may cost you dearly with diuretic and/or heart issues. Usually, if edema is present, I would push for Lasix within 12 hours if heart is suspected. Hmmmm.... It's hard to say since you're still waiting on lab results. I just wish I had started Lasix sooner on my pig. I started as soon as the edema occured, but by that time things were really serious.

LER · Post » Wed May 11, 2005 12:52 am

That's extra frustrating that it's taking so long then! I'll be angry if the results are back and sitting in a folder waiting for them to get around to calling me! Depending on what we see in the results, he (and Kirk) are going to go to Angell for further work. Like i said, it depends on what we see in the bloodwork - hopefully that will give us a clear indication of what we are dealing with here. I'm not sure where they sent it but I think Idexx.