Request for heart pig stories

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CavyHouse
Supporter in '11

Post   » Wed May 07, 2008 11:53 am


1. Bert - American smoothhair adult male; age unknown when rescued 12/1/07;

2 - 12/12/07- Vet exam for crusty eyes; vet noted 4/6 grade heart murmur.

3 - XRay showed him to have a very enlarged heart.

4 - Enalapril .2 ml BID; (200mg Nealapril + 18 ml Oraplus + 2 ml Orasweet)

5 - Bert was gaining weight. Was 838 grams on 12/1/07; went to high of 910 grams. Started dropping a lot of weight around 4/15/08; Was drinking lots of water before this (16 oz daily between his buddy and him) but water consumption went way down too. Refused hand feedings. Didn't want veggies. Did followup XRay 4/25/08. Heart had decreased in size. Took blood for blood panel. I didn't get the results of blood panel because Bert was doing so poorly that we had him euthanized a few days later.
6 - Had 2 UTIs during treatment for heart condition.

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LAWomans
"Live Long and Prosper"

Post   » Fri May 09, 2008 3:32 pm


1. Baby - Aby female - approx. 18 months old when I got her, 2 years old now.

2. Seen by vet because stopped eating - owner could not care for her. X-rays showed very enlarged heart. Had very fast heart rate and labored breathing.

3. Also, severe scurvy (she had no vitamin C for the year and a half the owner had her). Very small and underweight - 589 grams. She had to be syringe fed for 3 months, plus subcue fluids for 1 month. She now eats on her own, weighs 730 grams, but has chronic head tilt and behavioral problems. (Hides all of the time, bites, and does not interact with me or other pigs)

4. On 1cc Lotensin daily plus 1cc vitamin C. I also have her on .15cc of Meticam in case she is still in pain.

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Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Fri May 09, 2008 5:50 pm


On 1cc Lotensin daily
Is this the 2mg/ml lotensin? In this case, for others who might be reading, this is 2mg of lotensin :-)

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LAWomans
"Live Long and Prosper"

Post   » Tue May 13, 2008 7:34 pm


Sorry, it's .5cc twice a day, right?

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Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Tue May 13, 2008 9:11 pm


Yes, 0.5cc at the concentration of 2mg/ml is 1mg.

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LAWomans
"Live Long and Prosper"

Post   » Thu May 15, 2008 7:28 pm


Sorry Mum, I forgot about the 2mg/ml....that is what it is.

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pigsforlife3

Post   » Fri May 16, 2008 9:14 pm


1. Toffee is 1 year old, rex, female.
2. Hooting, coughing/sneezing, re-occuring URIs,
3. Vet listened to her heart and found it was slow, this combined with her other symptoms led the vet to put her on a trial of heart meds
4. Enalapril, half a 2.5mg tablet a day.
5. - Not known yet
6. - Not known yet

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pigsforlife3

Post   » Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:43 am


UPDATE:

1. Toffee is 1 year old, rex, female.
2. Hooting, coughing/sneezing, re-occuring URIs,
3. Vet listened to her heart and found it was slow, this combined with her other symptoms led the vet to put her on a trial of heart meds
4. Enalapril, half a 2.5mg tablet a day.
5. Positive response. No longer hoots, or sneeze/cough and as of yet *touch wood* no further URIs. She has had some scary episodes where she was "panting" (very pronounced breathing), but within an hour of taking her meds the breathing has significantly improved.
6. The vet did suggest we try and cut her doseage to a 1/4 of a tablet, compared to 1/2 a tablet but the result was that Toff started hooting again. So we are back up to 1/2 a tablet.

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BReit81

Post   » Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:38 am


1 - Louie- 11 months old, Golden Agouti American, male
2 - Coughing, hooting, persistent URIs
3 - Coughing was just awful and constant, crackling in lungs, put on antibiotics for one month and only got worse, put on antibiotics twice before that with no change, labored breathing, could hear him breathing from 3 feet away, vet took x-rays but we couldn't see an enlarged heart but could see that his lungs were not filled to capacity with air, possibly filled with fluid
4 - He recieves 3mg of Lasix twice a day and 1mg of Lotensin once a day (considering increasing that to twice a day based on Guinealynx info sheets)
5 - It's only been a day but I noticed increased activity and appetite only two hours after treatment
6 - Given 6 treatments of Ivermectin for mites

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LAWomans
"Live Long and Prosper"

Post   » Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:28 pm


Update on Freddie.

He stopped eating three weeks ago and appeared to be in congestive heart failure. He was very quiet, and had coughed once or twice during the week.

I took him to the vet. immediately. He lungs sound clear but he had crusty eyes. No other symptoms.

He has been on Vetmedin, 1/4 of 1.25mg tablet twice a day. He was syringe fed 4 times a day.

As of today, he is improved, eats on his own and is more active, but still quiet. I still syringe feed him twice a day but he is only maintaining his weight. He weighed 2lbs 6oz for years and is now at 2lbs 2oz.

He is on .5cc Lotensin, twice a day, and .3cc Lasix once a day, plus the Vetmedin. The crusty eyes have improved.

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LAWomans
"Live Long and Prosper"

Post   » Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:38 pm


Update on Eloise - 3year old sow.

She was returned by the adopter after Muffin died about 2 1/2 months ago.

She seemed depressed but stopped eating entirely at the same time Freddie did. It was during our really hot spell.

I took her to the vet and we thought she too was in heart failure.

She had lost a few ounces but is still a big pig at 2lbs 12oz. She has always had that early morning "heart pig" cough. People heart patients have the same thing. She was diagnosed at 6 months old with an enlarged heart.

She is currently on Vetmedin, 1/4 of a 1.25 tablet twice a day. .6cc Lotensin twice a day, and .4cc Lasix once a day. She has improved and is eating on her own.

She is still depressed acting and not her usual wheeking self, but this could be the loss of Muffin and the sudden change of environment. I have tried her with several pigs and she is extremely agressive, even drawing blood. She does not have any symptoms of cysts.

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sus4rabbitsnpigs

Post   » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:04 pm


I meant to ask you how Freddie is. How old did the vet think he was? His shelter card said 1 when I got him but that's usually the default age in their system.

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