I think it might help others if included on the impaction page, as they, like me, might just dunce right over the idea. It's silly since we all know piggies feel safer with feet on firm ground, and when would they need that more than when you're messing with their bums? :-) Sometimes we miss the most simple of things in our concern to take good care of them, hunh? So thank you again for the good idea.
I'm using Tri-Otic to treat the yeast infection. It's always worked great for all my pigs and is a catch all treatment - antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antifungal.
Miles - Heart Base Tumor/Mass
Just curious: What happens when he collapses? Does he come out of it on his own? And relatively quickly? Or do you have to do something to manage the episode? Sounds very scary. I guess try to keep him calm as much as possible. Also, is one of your consulting vets a cardiologist? Even if not familiar with piggies, a cardiologist may have some ideas about meds (or whatever) based on other animals.
With Trixie, think it was mostly a case where her heart had to work harder due to the mass, plus she had faster/deeper breathing because the mass likely compressed one lung a bit (based on post-mortem photos). She slowed down on her own (became a cuddler, whereas she never was during 6 years prior), though I did worry when she sometimes ran laps around the cage just for fun. I guess her only "collapse" was when she died, and I wasn't there to see it.
Again, good luck with your guy and keep us posted!
With Trixie, think it was mostly a case where her heart had to work harder due to the mass, plus she had faster/deeper breathing because the mass likely compressed one lung a bit (based on post-mortem photos). She slowed down on her own (became a cuddler, whereas she never was during 6 years prior), though I did worry when she sometimes ran laps around the cage just for fun. I guess her only "collapse" was when she died, and I wasn't there to see it.
Again, good luck with your guy and keep us posted!
Sorry if my postings are a bit sporatic. I'm working a lot and quite stretched for time, but I will definitely post when I get the chance.
Miles starts his lotensin tonight and I'm a bit nervous, as it could go either way for him. Good or bad, it's worth the chance.
Regarding his collapses: He just gets profoundly weak when it has happened, though there have been two or three times that it was a more profound collapse where he could not move at all for a few seconds and even his blink response was not functional. However, he has never completely stopped breathing even during his worst collapses. My Ang, who recently died, was very frequently collapsing, but she would stop breathing when she collapsed and her episodes were more frequent and lasted longer. She struggled much more to get herself back up and often required my stimulus to do so. She had a collapsing trachea, chronic sinus congestion and an undiagnosed underlying heart condition discovered only at necropsy. So, comparitively speaking, Miles is doing pretty good. He is able to get up quickly and on his own, and as long as he is not stressed he doesn't collapse.
Miles starts his lotensin tonight and I'm a bit nervous, as it could go either way for him. Good or bad, it's worth the chance.
Regarding his collapses: He just gets profoundly weak when it has happened, though there have been two or three times that it was a more profound collapse where he could not move at all for a few seconds and even his blink response was not functional. However, he has never completely stopped breathing even during his worst collapses. My Ang, who recently died, was very frequently collapsing, but she would stop breathing when she collapsed and her episodes were more frequent and lasted longer. She struggled much more to get herself back up and often required my stimulus to do so. She had a collapsing trachea, chronic sinus congestion and an undiagnosed underlying heart condition discovered only at necropsy. So, comparitively speaking, Miles is doing pretty good. He is able to get up quickly and on his own, and as long as he is not stressed he doesn't collapse.
Mile is doing quite well on the benazepril solution. Still giving it to him only once a day, though I may soon increase to twice per day.
His breathing is stll difficult or hard, of course, because of the collapsed lung lobe. But, he is holding his weight (steady right around 2 lbs. every evening). His impaction issues are almost non-existent. His circulation has improved, with his back feet being warm and nice and pink and his ears no longer developing dead tissue around the edges.
Since last I posted, Miles has lst his cage mate, Amos, who was a little over 5 at the time that he died. I'm concened about his loneliness, as he has become quite cuddley in the past couple of years and he misses Amos a great deal.
Miles has always had a strong desire to be the Alpha male and didn't do well with any of my other adult males in the past. He took to Amos very easily though, as Amos was older and blind and rather sedate himself.
I've taken in a baby male, Cyril, hoping to introduce him to Miles and hoping that Miles will take easily to a baby without much stress involved. I'm worried about the stress but also worried about Miles being sad and lonely.
Cyril is sick and in quarantine now, with the intro hopefully happening next wekend after his ABs are done.
The one big question I have right now concerns all the air Miles holds in his belly these days. Since he breathes as he does because of the collapsed lung lobe, I'm wondering if I can actually do anything for him to lessen the constant air in his belly. It isn't standard bloat issues, so I don't know if there's a way.
His breathing is stll difficult or hard, of course, because of the collapsed lung lobe. But, he is holding his weight (steady right around 2 lbs. every evening). His impaction issues are almost non-existent. His circulation has improved, with his back feet being warm and nice and pink and his ears no longer developing dead tissue around the edges.
Since last I posted, Miles has lst his cage mate, Amos, who was a little over 5 at the time that he died. I'm concened about his loneliness, as he has become quite cuddley in the past couple of years and he misses Amos a great deal.
Miles has always had a strong desire to be the Alpha male and didn't do well with any of my other adult males in the past. He took to Amos very easily though, as Amos was older and blind and rather sedate himself.
I've taken in a baby male, Cyril, hoping to introduce him to Miles and hoping that Miles will take easily to a baby without much stress involved. I'm worried about the stress but also worried about Miles being sad and lonely.
Cyril is sick and in quarantine now, with the intro hopefully happening next wekend after his ABs are done.
The one big question I have right now concerns all the air Miles holds in his belly these days. Since he breathes as he does because of the collapsed lung lobe, I'm wondering if I can actually do anything for him to lessen the constant air in his belly. It isn't standard bloat issues, so I don't know if there's a way.
Guess my question is: Do you treat air in the belly of a heart pig in the same manner you treat bloat? Simethlicon? Or should I simply leave it alone? It seems like it would be uncomfortable for him, but I also know that it will just fill back up due to his breathing issues and the heat condition. Any thoughts here? Previous experience?
-
Tracis
- Let Sleeping Pigs Lie
Sending good thoughts for Miles.
This is an older thread, but it contains an informative discussion about guinea pigs with heart issues and swallowed air. It seems that many gas problems eventually resolve themselves as the heart medication takes effect, unless there are other issues.
Baby Joey
I hope others will share their experiences.
This is an older thread, but it contains an informative discussion about guinea pigs with heart issues and swallowed air. It seems that many gas problems eventually resolve themselves as the heart medication takes effect, unless there are other issues.
Baby Joey
I hope others will share their experiences.
After not visiting the forums for a while, I was just reading through the last few pages of "Request for heart pig stories" and then did a search for my posts about Trixie. Seems I mostly wrote about her here, so I will try to add her story to the heart-pig records, including (I hope) a link to proceedings from a conference when my vet included her case (need to ask doc about that)... and perhaps a link to some photos showing her giant heart mass (from post-mortem). It was just the anniversary of her death, and certainly sharing experiences in the forums can help other owners and pigs.
On a more personal note, miss you Trixie! My superhero piggy.
On a more personal note, miss you Trixie! My superhero piggy.
SHOP AMAZON