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Heart conditions?

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lynne.collins8

lynne.collins8

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I was wondering if anyone knows the symptoms of a heart condition in guinea pigs. Gabbi has pneumonia at the moment, she's been on antibiotics since wed. Her breathing seemed to be getting easier yesterday but her sides are going in and out quite quickly tonight. I thought things would have settled down breathing wise by now an am starting to wonder if there's something more going on. She's eating more for herself now but i'm worried about her breathing.
 
Here is a link to the symptoms of a heart condition.

http://www.guinealynx.info/heart.html#signs

We have been going throught the process of getting Nigel diagnosed as he had a lot of the signs. Am working with a really good cavy savy vet but is trial and error on the meds at the moment until we find what works best for him.
 
Gradual weight loss, an inability to 'dart', sleeping heavily (having to be woken by owner, for example) hooting when breathing and an inability to shake an URI are all symptoms.

I read the very long thread on guinea lynx several times and I came to the conclusion that if the heart condition does not interfere with your pig's quality of life it is best to leave it untreated.
 
I had a piggie who became lethargic, had very pronounced breathing and lost weight. On examination it was discovered she had a very irregular heartbeat and a heart murmur. She was given Fortekor (1/4 tablet per day) and the improvement was amazing.
 
Gabbi hasn't lost any weight, i'm not sure what hooting is? I just thought her breathing would have started to get easier by now (6 days of baytril) She seems to be very slowly improving otherwise (eating and pooping etc) Yesterday I thought that she seemed to be breathing easier but today her sides are puffing in and out quite quickly. She's breathing through her nose though, is that good?
 
furryfriends said:
I had a piggie who became lethargic, had very pronounced breathing and lost weight. On examination it was discovered she had a very irregular heartbeat and a heart murmur. She was given Fortekor (1/4 tablet per day) and the improvement was amazing.
Click to expand...

Thanks, If her breathing isn't getting any easier by tomorrow I'll take her back to the vets. I wonder if she might need something to move fluid off her lungs?
 
lynne.collins8 said:
Thanks, If her breathing isn't getting any easier by tomorrow I'll take her back to the vets. I wonder if she might need something to move fluid off her lungs?
Click to expand...

Thanks.....I took Gabbi back on Tuesday and the vet put her on frusemide, A quarter tablet twice a day then on Thursday he said to lower the dose to an eighth. She's making slow but steady progress and is now eating nearly normally, she's pooping but they're still not quite the right shape ( still a bit soft) The vet said that she possibly had some fluid in her abdomen and the frusemide seems to be sorting that out. Her breating is still a little pronounced ( her sides are going in and out more than is normal) but not as bad as they were before. After speaking with the vet on the phone this morning I have to carry on with the diuretics and antibiotics and go back on Thursday to get her checked out. She's been so good throughout all this with the syringe feeding etc. She now just eats her diuretic and vit c when i offer her the tablet. Hopefully she will be able to be reunited with Ben and Apple soon. I really thought I was going to lose her at one point but I have everything crossed for things to keep going how they are. Thanks for the advice on the forum, it's a place that holds information that can mean the difference between life and death for our beloved pigs. :)
Ps: I have tried different ways of getting tablets in to Gabbi over the last few days and a way that I found the best when she was too poorly to just eat it when offered was to crush it between 2 teaspoons and add it in to her science recovery mix. I Put a tiny amount of SR in to the syringe then added the crushed tablet to it then put a bit more Sr in to the syringe from the end where the bung goes in and pushed it down so that the tablet was sandwiched in between. I had to make sure she ate all of the food that was in there but it was only a couple of mouths full. She was non the wiser :)
 
QUOTE: "Ps: I have tried different ways of getting tablets in to Gabbi over the last few days and a way that I found the best when she was too poorly to just eat it when offered was to crush it between 2 teaspoons and add it in to her science recovery mix. I Put a tiny amount of SR in to the syringe then added the crushed tablet to it then put a bit more Sr in to the syringe from the end where the bung goes in and pushed it down so that the tablet was sandwiched in between. I had to make sure she ate all of the food that was in there but it was only a couple of mouths full. She was non the wiser :) "

well done x)x)x) this is where us piggie parents have to be sneaky.......for their own good!

Sending lots and lots of healing wheeeeeeeeeeeks and very friendly brrrrrrrrr's to little Gabbi from the girls and I XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
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