Baxter's med thread

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zazzified

Post   » Mon Aug 17, 2009 9:26 am


Well, he's going in tomorrow at noon. He seemed ok this morning. I couldn't get him in with Dr. Stahl or Dr. Crum unless I was willing to leave him there all day, so I have an appointment with their new intern. He's already a veterinarian, but he's pursuing his internship in exotic animal medicine at SEAVS. He worked with exotic animals at a veterinary assistant before vet school. So we'll see. I figure as long as the other vets I trust are available for consult we'll be ok! Since he isn't performing surgery or anything. Makes me nervous but I need to cool it with the anxiety.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:41 pm


If he's young, hopefully he will be open-minded to further learning on cardiac issues.

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zazzified

Post   » Mon Aug 17, 2009 9:21 pm


Yep, hopefully!

Baxter is down in weight by almost an ounce today, but he is still very much interested in food so right now I'm not going to worry too much since he already has an appointment for tomorrow. I'm going to weigh him twice tomorrow to get an idea of how much he is fluctuating.

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Brenda B

Post   » Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:13 am


Sierra fluctuates quite a bit. At first it scared me a lot but now I know her "routine" for lack of a better word. So try not to worry.

Sending good wishes for the appointment.

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zazzified

Post   » Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:29 pm


Baxter was back at his normal weight today, yay.

We are at the vet now. Teeth look good, yay Bax! Heart sounds normal but he is being xrayed right now so we will find out soon. Fingers crossed for a smooth return from anesthesia, it's his first time.

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Brenda B

Post   » Tue Aug 18, 2009 5:40 pm


Fingers crossed here!

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zazzified

Post   » Tue Aug 18, 2009 6:18 pm


Well, his heart looks normal! We also did bloodwork and I'll have the first half of the results today (though the vet hasn't called yet), and the other half in 3-4 days.

They said his lungs look a bit more opaque (I think) than normal but that he thinks it's the xray, not Baxter. His heart and lungs both sound fine.

Since Baxter hasn't hooted in a couple of days, is still interested in food, is maintaining his weight, and isn't going downhill in any way that I can see, we're basically in an alert mode to see how things go over the next couple of days. I am going to continue weighing him daily.

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Brenda B

Post   » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:06 am


Is it possible for a pig to make a noise like that and not have heart issues?

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zazzified

Post   » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:32 am


I don't know, mehhh. I need to call today because they never called me with the bloodwork results, and I'm going to ask the vet to have one of the other vets on staff give a second opinion on the xray. I have seen the xrays here with enlarged hearts, and Baxter's heart definitely didn't look like those, but I am particularly interested in the lungs.
Last edited by zazzified on Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Bugs Mom

Post   » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:33 am


In my experience - Lady Bug's many x-rays and ultrasounds came back clear as did her blood work. It wasn't until she had been on the meds for a couple of months before her heart showed the enlargement on x-ray.

As bad as her breathing was LB didn't always hoot. Keep a very close watch on Baxter.

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zazzified

Post   » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:34 am


Ok, thank you. Would you recommend that I insist on medication? Lotensin? I'm glad you weighed in on this. I assume I can't do lasix unless they decide they CAN see fluid in the lungs.

I think I may just call and ask to speak to one of the other vets directly and ask them to take a look at the xray, as opposed to asking the vet I already saw to consult with them. Might piss him off but that's not my problem.

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Bugs Mom

Post   » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:38 am


I insisted and thankfully got meds. Go with your feelings and remember, no matter how good the vet is, you're the one who knows your piggy best.

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