Should I worry? Lazy "rag doll" pig

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poppypiggy

Post   » Fri Oct 22, 2010 2:58 pm


Yes, Pinta - morning and evening around 9, local time. This morning she got a double dose of Fortekor (2.5 mg) and the usual doses of Vetmedin (0.6 mg) and Furix (5 mg). Plus 20 ml of water orally.

When I came home from work Poppy seemed OK, although her ears were a bit hot looking (red), but did not feel warmer than usual. She ate a whole lot of the grass I cut for her; there is still some to be found, but I don't know for how long, and also some hay when the grass was finished.

I will give her her medicines now, and see how she is doing; 1.25 mg Fortekor, 0.6 mg Vetmedin and 5 mg Furix. This is the doses she got in the spring, before the grazing season.

After the introduction period of a few weeks she ate much fresh grass during the summer, and now when the pigs only get little handfuls of grass Poppy became ill. I don't know if there is a connection, but it might be.

ETA: Forgot to mention that I read on the heart pig stories-thread, and found one poster that mentioned that larger doses of diuretics could cause inappetance due to low levels of potassium, so I gave Poppy two thin (about the thickness of a one dollar coin) slices of banana yesterday, and one slice today. That might have helped her, too.

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poppypiggy

Post   » Mon Dec 06, 2010 5:00 pm


Update on Poppy: Since my last post I discussed dosing of Poppy's medicine with my vet, and also tried out larger doses than usually recommended.

For a few weeks Poppy was on doubled doses of benazepril and furosemide (2.5 mg and 10 mg twice daily, respectively), the usual dose of pimobendan and a lot of water (at least 75 ml/day, orally), but she didn't seem to get very much better. She sat in her hut and looked uncomfortable much of the day, so I started to worry that we could not handle her heart conditon with medication any more.

Then suddenly I realized that she was very hormonal, as she was rumbling and making fuss when ever she was out and about. So I took her to the vet and she got a new shot of GnRH again. Poppy was well behaved and impressed the vet, who was pleased to see how well she was doing on the heart meds.

Since then she has been doing much better - after just a week I could feel that her cysts was getting smaller, and I gradually have reduced her medicine doses back to normal.

She is bright eyed and active, and seems quite content with life at the moment.

Debs4Pigs

Post   » Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:44 pm


I'm glad she's doing better.

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poppypiggy

Post   » Tue Dec 07, 2010 5:05 am


Than you, Debs4Pigs!

I think the most important thing I have learned from this is that ovarian cysts can make a heart condition much worse, and that a hormone injection is a good treatment for a compromised pig, like a heart pig is.

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Bethie
Still supporting in 2014

Post   » Tue Dec 07, 2010 5:08 am


Fab news! I'm so glad she's doing well. And you have been great in getting her sorted.

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poppypiggy

Post   » Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:36 pm


Thank you, Bethie!

The hormone injection helped at first, but then Poppy's weight bounced up again, so just before Christmas she got another treatment. That didn't do anything, so I had planned to take her to the vet for a third injection when I found her eye looked infected. My daughter then told me she had removed a grass seed from under Poppy's lower eyelid the evening before.

Fortunately we got an appointment with the vet the same day. Close examination revealed a small injury to Poppy's cornea, so she was prescribed drops of EDTA 4- 6 times daily, Voltaren optha 1 mg/ml (drops) 4 times a day, Fusithalmic vet (1%) twice daily and Atropine eye drops (10 mg/ml) once daily, or less, depending on how dilated the eye looks.

As this vet is not Poppy's usual one, and she not so familiar with piggies (but I think I got her interested!), I just want to know if it is safe to use Voltaren optha in her eye? The active ingredient seems to be diclofenac sodium, and the vet couldn't find anything that indicates it is not safe for piggies, but I guess that is no surprise.

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poppypiggy

Post   » Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:49 am


Update: Poppy’s eye healed completely about a week after the last update. She is still going strong, even though she is now 6 years old. During the summer she has been doing really well, and seemed to enjoy all the fresh grass she got during the warmer months. When I arranged an enclosure around a crop frame where I grow herbs, she and cagemate Pippi started to walk around the frame a lot [ “Just to see if there is some greener grass around the corner”, as they told me ;-)], she got more exercise than before, and that as well seemed to help strengthen her.

Poppy has almost lost her voice, so there are not many wheeks to be heard from her anymore, but over the last year or so she has been interacting more with me in other ways. Whenever I pet her or give her hand warm water by a syringe she will purr, and if I am late with treats she often chatters her teeth at me. I take that as an indication of her feeling well and trusting me.

Poppy's medication is about the same as before, given twice daily dissolved in water: 1.25 mg benazepril (Fortekor), 0.6 mg pimobendan (Vetmedin), and a slightly increased dose of 6 mg furosemide (Furix; Lasix in the US). Earlier she got about 25 – 30 ml of water with the medicine, but as she drinks so well on her own she now usually gets about 15 ml. I allways weigh Poppy before medication, and if her weight drops beneath about 1120 g she gets some Critical Care and some additional water.

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poppypiggy

Post   » Fri Nov 04, 2011 9:51 am


Too late to edit, but I want to correct myself - I give about 0.3 mg of pimobendan twice daily, not 0.6, as I dissolve each 1.25 mg tablet in 1 ml of water, and divide that into four doses. Pimobendan in water will keep for 48 hours in the fridge.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Nov 04, 2011 10:07 am


Good news about her eye! Hope she continues in relatively good health (with the medications).

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poppypiggy

Post   » Fri Nov 04, 2011 10:25 am


Thank you, Lynx! She is in good spirits, at least!

C Cole-Chakotay

Post   » Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:07 pm


I'm glad Poppy is doing well as she is and is in good spirits. Being in good spirits means a lot!

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poppypiggy

Post   » Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:03 pm


Thank you, C. Cole-Chakotay! Yes, it *does* mean a lot!

Image In August Poppy and Pippi spent much time outside, and here they came around the corner to see if I had some treats.
I'll post a few more pictures in the Random Piggie Thread

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