Tropica, 7-8 years old (I've had her over 5 years-she was a rescue and was at least 2, possibly 3 when I adopted her).
Just 'not right', sluggish almost. Not excited about veggie time and would not voluntarily go to them. Once in front of them though, she would eat, but had early sateity. Small amount of weight loss but so slow it in itself did not concern me with her age and all.
Took her to the vet with another guinea pig just to get checked out. Ultrasound revealed large abdominal vessels. Heart enlarged, EKG/echo showed a heart rate of 328 and cardiac function of 20%. No fluid in lungs or abdomen. She also had thickened bladder walls so we started Septra.
On Enalapril (1/4 of a 2.5 mg tab daily) since Saturday. No change in behavior yet (3 doses so far). We go back on Friday for a recheck.
Request for heart pig stories
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewt ... t=vetmedin
Pimobendan for vetmedin
benazepril is the name for fortekor or Lotensin[/list]
Pimobendan for vetmedin
benazepril is the name for fortekor or Lotensin[/list]
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slavetofuzzy
- 4 the Good of all Pigs
What is the difference between the two, pinta? The Enalipril and Fortekor.
Fortekor is a newer version of the Enalipril and is more benign. For instance: no evidence of kidney issues with Fortekor while there has been some concern with the Enalipril.
Canada started using Fortekor before the U.S so my experience has been pretty much exclusively with Fortekor. I know my vet was happy when it became available.
Canada started using Fortekor before the U.S so my experience has been pretty much exclusively with Fortekor. I know my vet was happy when it became available.
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slavetofuzzy
- 4 the Good of all Pigs
Thank you. Mr. Piggy is going to be starting a course of heart meds and I wanted to be more informed so I can push for the best drug for him.
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slavetofuzzy
- 4 the Good of all Pigs
Mr. Piggy has been on benazapril and furosemide for a couple of weeks now. We started .2 ml of furosemide first then added the benazapril.
I want to ask about the dosage of benazapril. It is compounded at 4mg/ml and he is getting .25 ml twice daily. Is this high?
Also, I have cut the furosemide back to .15 ml. He still seems to be doing well. His breathing isn't as labored and the scary hooty sounds have disappeared. He is so much more active right now and prefers to be free range rather than in his cage. He can get in and out of it on his own so I let him do his thing!
I want to ask about the dosage of benazapril. It is compounded at 4mg/ml and he is getting .25 ml twice daily. Is this high?
Also, I have cut the furosemide back to .15 ml. He still seems to be doing well. His breathing isn't as labored and the scary hooty sounds have disappeared. He is so much more active right now and prefers to be free range rather than in his cage. He can get in and out of it on his own so I let him do his thing!
Ginger (Pumpkin)
1 - Female short-hair, 3 years
2 - brief description of symptoms
* sudden onset of very laboured breathing
* off food, sitting depressed in one corner
* always a very heavy-set guinea pig, she slowly lost about 220g over a period of 8 months (we did not notice first as we were told by our vet that she was a bit to heavy and should loose a bit weight for her health. She weighted 1'380g at her peak)
3 - diagnostics done and the results
* vet listened to nose, throat and lungs with stethoscope
* x-ray showed fluid in chest cavity, heart invisible
4 - treatment, med and dosage
* intially Baytril (suspected URI) 2.5% oral solution, 0.3ml twice a day
* after x-ray she got Frumeside 20mg, 0.25 tables twice a day
5 - other med issues
* from little on she had an allergy to certain hay and wood shavings (don't use it anymore)
* pea-eyed
6 - other observations
* Ginger had a very (!) healthy appetite and could not rest until she finished all the fresh food in the cage - even the left-overs from the others and even when it looked like that she was really not hungry anymore (that's why I called her also Pumkin, she was round and orange)
* she was not a laid-back lap-guinea. Ginger was actually very lively and would jump around - especially for her food
* She was a great singer. Sometimes it was triggered by being nervous or stressed (too much house-cleaning for example) and sometimes I don't know what started it but we would here her about once a week doing her guinea-song.
Ginger fell very suddenly ill when I noticed her sitting very quietly in corner with her fur fluffed up. They day before she had still been literally jumping around and enjoying her food (and that of the others). As this was on a Sunday (2nd August 2009) we went to the emergency services of our vet where Ginger was diagnosed with possible pneumonia and prescribed Baytril. This did not show any effect and we took her to see our vet again the next day.
I don't know why but I had the suspicion that the issue is not an URI but that there was something else causing these symptons and researched as much as possible on heart problems. Although I took plenty of print outs with me to the vet, they decided to continue her on the Baytril. However, after Ginger showed no signs of improvement the next day, the vet agreed that her heart could be the underlying cause and took x-rays. These showed so much fluid in her chest that her hear was not visible on the picture. Poor Ginger's lungs had to struggle against all that water. She was immediately put on Frumeside to first clear the fluid. The vet also ordered an ACE inhibitor (I think Fortekor but I am not sure anymore) to start Ginger on the next day.
Ginger seemed to struggle a tiny bit less during that evening and night. She even went to sit close to our guinea-boy Teddy when I checked how she was doing during the night. But she seemed also like drifting and not really there. When we went to her early in the morning she was just dying. It was so terrible to stay calm to give her strength and peace but she did not seem to suffer anymore. It was so quick. Just 4 days.
1 - Female short-hair, 3 years
2 - brief description of symptoms
* sudden onset of very laboured breathing
* off food, sitting depressed in one corner
* always a very heavy-set guinea pig, she slowly lost about 220g over a period of 8 months (we did not notice first as we were told by our vet that she was a bit to heavy and should loose a bit weight for her health. She weighted 1'380g at her peak)
3 - diagnostics done and the results
* vet listened to nose, throat and lungs with stethoscope
* x-ray showed fluid in chest cavity, heart invisible
4 - treatment, med and dosage
* intially Baytril (suspected URI) 2.5% oral solution, 0.3ml twice a day
* after x-ray she got Frumeside 20mg, 0.25 tables twice a day
5 - other med issues
* from little on she had an allergy to certain hay and wood shavings (don't use it anymore)
* pea-eyed
6 - other observations
* Ginger had a very (!) healthy appetite and could not rest until she finished all the fresh food in the cage - even the left-overs from the others and even when it looked like that she was really not hungry anymore (that's why I called her also Pumkin, she was round and orange)
* she was not a laid-back lap-guinea. Ginger was actually very lively and would jump around - especially for her food
* She was a great singer. Sometimes it was triggered by being nervous or stressed (too much house-cleaning for example) and sometimes I don't know what started it but we would here her about once a week doing her guinea-song.
Ginger fell very suddenly ill when I noticed her sitting very quietly in corner with her fur fluffed up. They day before she had still been literally jumping around and enjoying her food (and that of the others). As this was on a Sunday (2nd August 2009) we went to the emergency services of our vet where Ginger was diagnosed with possible pneumonia and prescribed Baytril. This did not show any effect and we took her to see our vet again the next day.
I don't know why but I had the suspicion that the issue is not an URI but that there was something else causing these symptons and researched as much as possible on heart problems. Although I took plenty of print outs with me to the vet, they decided to continue her on the Baytril. However, after Ginger showed no signs of improvement the next day, the vet agreed that her heart could be the underlying cause and took x-rays. These showed so much fluid in her chest that her hear was not visible on the picture. Poor Ginger's lungs had to struggle against all that water. She was immediately put on Frumeside to first clear the fluid. The vet also ordered an ACE inhibitor (I think Fortekor but I am not sure anymore) to start Ginger on the next day.
Ginger seemed to struggle a tiny bit less during that evening and night. She even went to sit close to our guinea-boy Teddy when I checked how she was doing during the night. But she seemed also like drifting and not really there. When we went to her early in the morning she was just dying. It was so terrible to stay calm to give her strength and peace but she did not seem to suffer anymore. It was so quick. Just 4 days.
SHOP AMAZON