Request for heart pig stories

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liland

Post   » Wed Sep 29, 2010 7:54 am


To be clear, Tesla doesnt have any fluid in the lungs, his heart is normal size and his pulse is normal too. For this reason both of the vets deduced that his heart wasnt under any abnormal pressure, and he also has no murmur.

pinta

Post   » Wed Sep 29, 2010 3:06 pm


yup. I know. If it was that easy to diagnose heart issues in pigs it wouldn't be such a fight to get them on heart meds. Lucky are the owners who are blessed with clinical signs. By the way - pigs can fake a good pulse at the vets. Prey animals have that skill. But they can't keep it up forever. My vet has often discovered a racing heart rate at the end of the appointment when at the beginning it was a prfect heart rate.

The fact is your pig is still hooting and wheezing. If he has a bacterial infection and the baytril isn't the appropriate AB, then after 3 weeks he should be very very ill. Pigs die from untreated URIs. If the AB isn't working essentially the "URI is untreated". But he isn't any sicker......At this point vets will go for the allergy diagnosis or asthma. Yet no matter what they do the hooting and wheezing don't go away.

Yes, it might not be heart issues but a simple course of heart meds will rule heart issues out or confirm them at very little risk to the pig. The other option is keep trying AB after AB (probably the same degree of risk to the pig as heart meds) until the vet decides it must be asthma or allergies.

liland

Post   » Wed Sep 29, 2010 4:08 pm


Tesla doesnt have a URI, the infection is in his heart only.

I didnt know that about heart rates - I cant work out the need for it in the wild, being as no-one in the wild would be listening to their pulse?

Today we had one very minor episode, only about ten mintues long of hooting and no wheezing, and after he did twenty minutes of zoomies! I'm on the lookout for the next episode though.

pinta

Post   » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:32 am


I'm gonna guess that and untreated infection in the heart would severely compromise the pig.....

It's nothing to do with listening to pulses in the wild. A sick animal in a herd gets picked off by predators therefore it is in the best interest of a herd (prey)animal to appear as healthy as possible. They have the ability to "fake health" in times of stress - for awhile. But they can't do it forever.

cavy_cool_crazy

Post   » Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:47 am


I should add that Gwenivere (notes on previous page) was suspected as an allergy pig for a long time, around a year, before the clinical symptoms appeared to suggested heart problem. It was not until February this year, her heart sounds were "muffled" on stethoscope; a trial of Lasix began, she responded a little but the fluid kept building up, so she moved onto the Lotensin in addition to the Lasix.

I know from previous experience as well, that we were actually very lucky that there were clinical signs with Gwenny and we have been able to get her on treatment without too much hassle - it took a long time for it to be recognised but at least we got there with her. My past sow Tuppy, I am absolutely positive she was a heart pig, but because her heart sounded fine on stethoscope, the vets and CCT were not willing to investigate further or run a trial of heart meds.

I very much regret not being able to give Tuppence that chance, so if you can find a vet willing to have Tesla on a trial of heart meds, liland, then please do.

pinta, thank you again for your advice with regards to my Gwenny pig, I shall update this thread soon with her response to the Vetmedin.

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dob65

Post   » Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:31 am


Heading to the vet in a few minutes with Olga. After reading this thread and looking at a few of the "hooting" videos, I'm worried that I might have a heart pig. I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions for you later today. A brief overview: Olga, 1 1/2 year old female TSW coronet, weight is stable with no recent illnesses. For the past few months she has had some heavy breathing that is very infrequent (on and off with no pattern) and lasts for a few hours up to most of a day. Yesterday was one of those days. No crusty eyes or nose and is eating and running around as normal. Wish us luck!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:37 am


You might want to reread the heart page, print it off and bring it along.

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dob65

Post   » Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:53 pm


Thanks Lynx that was a good idea. My local vet did a very thorough check of Olga and took an x-ray. No sounds in the lungs, no lumps or bumps and she check her feet, teeth and ears. The only thing she found was some pain in her jaw, so we are off to see the exotic vet next week for another x-ray of her teeth. We don't have the results of the x-ray from today yet, so she is going to call me later with that. Our exotic vet is wonderful (Dr. Brown in Warwick, RI) and also a good friend of our local vet, so I have faith that if there is something wrong they will find it.

Local vet asked me to weigh her every other day, keep notes on food intact and activity, and to try to video the next time she makes the hooting noises. I will also reread all the info here so I can be aware and informed.

liland

Post   » Thu Oct 14, 2010 5:00 pm


We ent to the vets earlier, and have been given fortekor (0.5ml twice daily) and Flagyl (0.4ml twice daily) to start along with the Metacam (0.3ml once daily). Tesla does not care for his new meds, and misses the yummy banana taste.
It's a shame the septrin didnt work, but I'm glad my badgering finally got me some fortekor, which everyone with heart guineas seems to have. Here's hoping for some improvement!

I realise the flagyl is supposed to be antiparasitic, I think my vet is getting a bit worried that the baytril and septrin didnt work, so is just trying anything she has. I checked it wasnt on the dangerous meds list, but am not expecting much from it.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Oct 14, 2010 6:28 pm


Flagyl might work. It has been used safely on guinea pigs.

pinta

Post   » Thu Oct 14, 2010 10:35 pm


Flagyl is also an AB that works very well on infections in the head area. It targets a type of bacteria (anerobic? - guessing can't remember) that are missed by the broad spectrum ABs.

Why the Metacam? Does he have a pain issue?

I would be concerned at throwing 3 new meds at him at once. If he has a poor reaction - you won't know which med is the culprit. If he has a remakable improvement - same thing. If he is maintaining well and not going downhill, I would do one med at a time staring with the fortekor. But I am not a vet and this advice is based only on prior personal experiences.

liland

Post   » Fri Oct 15, 2010 3:18 am


He's been taking the metacam for months, I just included it so we could keep up to date on what he's actually taking.

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