Calcifer

Gpigsrock

Post   » Sat Sep 22, 2018 10:58 pm


There is a possibility that my 3 year old guinea pig Calcifer (Cal, for short) has eaten part of a mushroom. I found the mushroom growing in the corner of his cage today after I came home from work, and it appears to be a Shaggy Mane mushroom (I'm not certain as I avoid fungi like the plague and am generally clueless, but after looking up mushrooms in Ohio it looks to be the closest match, and I found a Reddit thread where someone found one growing in their rabbit hutch as well.) Since I was working today, I don't know when or if he ate part of it and he seems to be okay, but I can guarantee the mushroom was not there before I went to bed last night, and everyone in my family knows not to feed mushrooms to the pigs so I know it's the only mushroom he could have possibly eaten. Part of a cap of the mushroom is missing (a wedge about 1 square inch) but that could just be its' morphology. My vet is closed already (I go to Pfister Animal Hospital and it's a short drive for me) and I have work in the morning so I can't take him to my backup vet tonight. Also, my car is at the mechanic until at least Monday so I'm relying on others for transportation right now, so even taking him in tomorrow or early in the week is shaky. Is there anything else I can do for him before he can be seen by a vet? For now I removed him from his cage so he doesn't eat any more of it, is this the best course of action or am I just over-reacting? I plan to clean his cage tomorrow as soon as I finish work, the stores are closed right now and I need to buy Carefresh for him.

His medical history, for future reference:

He's dealt with bloat before and has been slimming down from that. His weight is fine, his belly was filled with gas but he's been de-puffing in his stomach since he was taken in. This is his most recent medical issue from March of 2018, and he has not had any other illness or injuries since he was a baby. As a baby his hind legs were hardly functional, but he gained most of his strength back within his first year and has minimal problems from that now. His legs are now functional and mobile, and he no longer drags them around at all.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Sep 23, 2018 9:29 am


Was this growing on wet hay in a corner? What bedding do you use?

I do not know if there is anything you can do right now but observe and see an emergency vet (providing the info you know) if there are serious issues. Hopefully there will be no bad reactions.

I would thoroughly clean out your guinea pig's cage. I don't understand how a mushroom could be in it.

Gpigsrock

Post   » Mon Sep 24, 2018 12:09 am


Yes, it was surrounded by hay since his hay bin (which is suspended on the side of his cage in a corner) was next to it. It was probably wet since he likes to pee under the hay bin. I use Carefresh or the Kaytee brand equivalent for his cage, but now I'm seriously considering switching him to a C&C cage so I can use fleece liners to keep this from happening again.

I checked on him throughout the day and he seems to be doing fine, he just looks a bit confused from his surroundings in his temp cage. Thankfully he's eating and drinking as normal so I think he'll be okay, but I'll still keep a close eye on him.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Sep 24, 2018 5:33 pm


You need to remove wet hay daily. Hay that gets wet can get moldy and will be bad for your guinea pig.

Gpigsrock

Post   » Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:15 am


Recently Cal has been having what my vet suspects to be heart problems. On October 17th I took him to the vet for what I suspected to be a return of his bloat (he looked very puffed up and had LABORED BREATHING, a key to the diagnosis), but his regular vet was off that day and he ended up seeing a non-exotics vet. He noted there was some crackling in his lungs, which I didn't think too much of at the time, and Cal was put on Albon for suspected infection. He didn't have much change while on the antibiotics, so I called the vet again on October 27th. On November 2nd he was seen again, by his regular vet this time. She also noticed the crackling in his lungs, and brought up the possibility of heart issues. Because his labored breathing was worse than it was in mid-October, she took an x-ray of him and examined his heart. There was a noticeable buildup of fluid around his lungs and heart, and she pretty much told me that if I hadn't brought him in that very day he could've gone into congestive heart failure over the weekend and passed away. This was on a Friday afternoon, the office is only open Saturdays until noon (but I work Saturdays), and Sundays the office is closed, so it was very likely.

He was prescribed Lasix on the 27th of October and had been taking 0.2ccs every twelve hours with some improvement, but not a lot. He was then put on an additional 0.2ccs of furosemide (benazepril?) and his condition improved slightly. The Lasix ran out shortly after Thanksgiving (the 24th or 25th) and his condition worsened again. He was "puffing" very hard, hardly eating or moving, and his sides looked enlarged, though he felt lighter than usual. On November 28th I took him back to the vet again, but he was unable to see his regular vet and was seen by the one who previously prescribed the antibiotic in October. After seeing my vet's diagnosis of heart disease he decided to put Cal back on the Lasix (0.2ccs again), and to hopefully get the fluid out faster he even gave him an injection of Lasix (I'm not sure how much it was, but on the bill it says Quantity: 0.12).

Cal did slim down and was once again flipping his house over, gnawing on the bars of his cage for his medicines (he really loves taking his meds! makes things so much easier for me) though I think the vet called in the wrong flavour, since the new Lasix smelled like beef jerky to me and Cal initially would hardly take it (he did eventually, and he takes it fine now since I give him a treat afterwards). Once the Benazepril ran out (approximately the first of December) he worsened again, and he became more and more lethargic. Last night I noticed his coat was looking scruffy and puffy, but the office was closed and he seemed to still be acting normal.

This morning at approximately 6:30am, when I checked on him and gave him his medicine, he was spread out in a corner of the cage he never lays in and not responding when I made clicking noises. Usually when I come downstairs and make clicking noises he's already trying to climb the bars of his cage before I get to the bottom, so I was immediately alarmed. His breathing looked much more laboured than it did the night before, and he honestly looked like he had laid out to die... I put my hand in front of his nose so he knew it was me, pet him a little bit until he was awake (he rarely sleeps that heavily, especially after hearing noises) and he reluctantly moved. He showed little interest in taking his Lasix but once he bit down on the syringe he was excited for it. Based on the time of day (rush hour) I chose to not take him to the closest 24 hour clinic 35 minutes away (and that's without traffic!) and simply take him to his regular vet, once the office opened at 8am. He curled up on my lap - something he rarely does - and rested there for 20 minutes while waiting to call. There was fecal matter smeared on his rear, so I think he also has diarrhea or some trouble with his bowel movements.

He got in to see his regular vet at around 9, and he had lost an 1.1 ounces (I think about 31 grams) since last Wednesday. The fluid in his lungs and heart was even worse than last week too, and the x-ray taken today was displaying that as well. His heart was so surrounded by fluid that you could barely see the heart outline on the x-ray, even from a side view. His lungs were also mostly showing up cloudy, only about 1/3-1/4 of his lung tissue was showing black like it should. The vet said it was likely he was going into congestive heart failure and there isn't too much more she can do, and at the moment I'm waiting on the refill of his Benazepril and a call from my vet. She's contacting another exotics vet in Milford to see if he can recommend anything else or hospitalize Cal. If he were a cat or dog, he would've gotten an IV and been hospitalized, but they don't have the ability to do that at his usual office.

I decided to leave this information here for other people who have heart pigs, since there still isn't a lot on heart disease in guinea pigs. When my vet was looking into his Cal's symptoms in November she had to look online since her medical books didn't even mention it. Based on what she told me I think she used Guinea Lynx, which I find reassuring.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:44 am


I'm sorry he's having such problems. Plenty of pigs live a long time with heart failure, but it requires constant monitoring and tweaking of meds. Having them run out and waiting on refills just makes it much harder to keep him on an even keel.

I'd suggest emailing the user Talishan and ask her to weigh in on this -- she's had quite a lot of experience with heart pigs, and would undoubtedly do a better job than your regular vet at suggesting meds for him.

There's one other user with a lot of heart experience, but at the moment, I can't remember who it is. Maybe someone will see this and reply.

Gpigsrock

Post   » Fri Dec 07, 2018 1:36 pm


Thanks bpatters, I'll try contacting talishan about this.

ShawnF

Post   » Fri Dec 07, 2018 6:54 pm


It sounds like Cal has been in congestive heart failure all along (since when the vet first heard crackles, and follow up XRay showed fluid in the lungs).

You can think of congestive heart failure as an inability of the heart to adequately pump blood. The blood effectively backs up into the lungs, and this essentially floods the lungs making it hard to breath. Treatment (at least in people) would usually entail reducing the workload of the heart by reducing the blood pressure the heart has to pump against (that is the ACE inhibitor your vet gave Cal....the Benazepril ), or adding a medicine which makes the heart pump stronger . If the lungs are flooded, then lasix (furosemide) works as a diuretic by increasing urine output and reducing fluid volume from the body. I would suspect the lasix would give the quickest response if Cal was having trouble breathing from his CHF.

I’m not a vet, but one thing I would be curious about is whether guinea pigs are at risk of potassium depletion while on lasix. I suspect they would be, just like people. If Cal ends up being on lasix frequently it might be worth asking your vet about that to see if he needs to be on potassium supplements. Hypokalemia (low potassium) can cause other health issues, include heart rhythm problems.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Dec 07, 2018 7:24 pm


I am so sorry he is struggling with this. I take it you have read the heart page?
www.guinealynx.info/heart.html

I hope Talishan is able to weigh in on this. Pinta has dealt with a lot of heart guinea pigs also.

Gpigsrock

Post   » Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:50 pm


Thank you ShawnF, that helped me understand CHF better than anything else I've read! Before I just thought it meant he would start to go downhill and that would be that. I think you're right about the potassium depletion. According to both the vets he saw, potassium depletion is a risk factor of the Lasix, and they suggested giving high potassium foods like bananas and dandelion greens or even some Pedialyte.

Thank you Lynx, yes I've read the heart page a few times over. I also emailed Talishan at the suggestion of bpatters, but I haven't received a response yet.

I took a nap this afternoon, but I got a call from my vet after she talked to the other exotics vet in Milford. He said there wasn't anything he could do for Cal that my vet can't, so my vet called the pharmacy and urged them to complete the prescription today. When I called in his benazepril I did mention that he's in CHF, but I was told there wasn't anyone to compound the medication until Monday. Thankfully they listened to her, and I got the benazepril into Cal at around 7:50. I also picked up some Pedialyte and gave him around 1cc.

It around 2 o'clock or so I gave him an extra 0.15ccs od Lasix since he looked like he really needed it (he hadn't moved in the past 4 hours) and he had perked up by 7pm. This was only because it was an emergency and I won't do it again without the advice of another more experienced person (or vet).

Right now I'm checking on him and after rousing him from his spot, he walked to his food dish and drank some water as well. He appears to be picking up a bit already.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Dec 07, 2018 9:44 pm


I emailed Linda (Talishan) to ask her to take a look.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:18 pm


ShawnF nails it. Also ditto bpatters and the other advice you have received.

Benazepril is a human medication. See if your regular vet, or an ER vet, will give you benazepril pills from a human pharmacy. You can crush these and compund them yourself. Many human pharmacies will also compound now (Walgreens does, Kroger might). This doesn't need to wait until Monday.

The other med you need is called Vetmedin (pimobendan). This is specifically used to treat CHF, developed for dogs. Cal needs all three right now; Lasix for the fluid, and benazepril and pimobendan to support his heart's function. Using all three is a tweak-adjust process as bpatters mentions. Pigs with severe heart weakness need all three, and he needs the pimobendan asap imo. The heart page Lynx linked to gives the dose. At our house we start with half that and work up if necessary.

In the meantime -- a little extra Lasix will help. You did well to give it to him. The excess fluid is a symptom, not a cause but it's the most urgent system right now.

Keep him well hydrated. If he likes the Pedialyte (many pigs will guzzle it out of a syringe), give him as much as he wants but do NOT attempt to force it.

Keep him warm (not overheated, but comfortable). Make sure his food and water are within easy reach so he doesn't have to move much to get them. Is he eating?

Given your description of him having mobility issues as a pup, I suspect this is congenital. But as mentioned, heart pigs can live well and normal lives with good supportive care.

Tl;dr: lasix (check)
Try to get human benazepril over the weekend
GET VETMEDIN if at all possible
Hydration and food. If he stops eating, his GI stops and you're looking at bloat again.

Good luck and blessings to him. Please keep us posted.

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