Hi there! I'm new here, and this is also my first time with pigs. I have two boys, Oreo and Snickers. I originally obtained Oreo from my job, as he came in as a sick little thing. He was diagnosed with pneumonia. And once we found out he was a male, they could not sell him so I rescued him and took him home with me. We completed the antibiotics but he was not getting any better. He had a horrible time breathing, however his energy level was normal and his appetite is that of an army! So we went back to the vet and she did an X-ray of his lungs and she said his prognosis did not look good. His lungs looked so bad she could not tell if it was cancer or fluid, however he did not have a heart murmur. She pretty much gave me two options. Put him on a stronger dose of antibiotics (Enterofloxacin) or euthanasia. She was pushing for the euthanasia. I chose the antibiotics. Because something inside me said this little guy was sick but not that sick. I asked her if she could see the size of his heart but she said the lungs were so bad that she couldn't see it. So we tried the antibiotics and for two days he did great. Then he regressed again. His breathing got even worse. I had been doing a lot of research on heart failure in pigs and ALL of Oreo's symptoms matched up. So I called her back and told her I wanted Lasix to drain the fluid off his lungs. She said that we could try it, but she did not want me to get my hopes up. At this point I am furious because what vet tells you that they don't want you to get your hopes up? They should be caring! So we go and get a SHOT of Furosemide (which pissed me off even more) and in two days, Oreo was breathing like normal. He even had a wheeker! But here we are, a week later, and he's starting to get fluid on his lungs again as well as his abdomen. I know I need to go back to the vet but before I do I want some advice and names of meds that had helped your piggies. I live in the US and in my area we don't have true exotic vets that specializes in small animals. We have regular vets and large vets like farm animals. And I want to go prepared to demand meds to help my boy get better!
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Heart Pig Need Advice
- Thread starter JulieAnne
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Jesse's pigs
Adult Guinea Pig
Oh I'm sorry for your predicament. It's horrible when vets don't seem to be any help. I'll tag @Wiebke and @sport_billy but many of the users here live in the UK.
D
DM030819
Lasix is a diuretic that helps to drain fluid, which it has done effectively with Oreo. I would definitely ask for more. If the vet is not willing ask to go to a different vet. I've offered to sign a waiver form to cover the vet if there was any issues.
I had a pig like this years ago and I got a lot of information from the Guinea Lynx website. I printed out some stuff and took it with me to the vet.
I came away with a diuretic and then later some additional heart medicines.
Persistence is the key.
I had a pig like this years ago and I got a lot of information from the Guinea Lynx website. I printed out some stuff and took it with me to the vet.
I came away with a diuretic and then later some additional heart medicines.
Persistence is the key.
@helen105281 has heart piggies and probably the best experience with them.
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helen105281
Senior Guinea Pig
Adelle probably has more up to date information than me as she has done lots of research to keep her heart pig Fudge stable. It's great that the diuretic has helped, you basically need to ask for diuretic in either tablet form or a liquid that you can give at home. In addition, an ACE inhibitor is usually given in the form of Benazepril, in the UK the brands are Fortekor, Nelio and Kelapril. This changes the way in which the heart works. The diuretic is good in that it deals with the symptoms but you need to treat the underlying heart issue too. Vetmedin can also be added in, though none of my heart pigs need that at this stage. I would ask your vet for a further xray or scan once the fluid has cleared so that they can see if the heart is enlarged.
I agree with @Jaycey and @helen105281 that the fact a diuretic helped clear his lungs, he definately needs to continue on these daily In oral form at home.
If you can try and find a more piggie savvy vet, that will be half the battle!
Diuretics are a vital part of managing heart problems but they are only keeping the symptoms at bay and not actually dealing with the problem. . Sort of like taking pain killers for a pain but not treating the cause of it. Diuretics normally need to be given at least every 12 hours to keep the fluid down consitantly. It may take a while to find what dose he requires and regular tweaks will be needed.
Chest xray are also a very good way to see what's going on I.E to work out if the diuretics need adjusting and to look for an enlarged heart. I appreciate his chest was too full of fluid to tell before, but once his breathing settles again with regular diuretics, I'd request another xray. This will also help show if there is any masses in the chest that should be clearer to see when the fluid is reduced. Always go for a conscious xray as it's too risky (and unnecessary) to anaesthetise a possible heart piggy.
As far as a heart problem goes, if this is suspected then he will need something to help the heart function better. Usually benazapril is a good starting point (has many trade names but benazapril is the actual Drug) which helps the hearts function and means less fluid will build up. This could mean he would require a lower dose of diuretics once stable but this isn't always the case.
There is another heart med that can be added in if benazapril isn't enough to manage the condition- pimobendan (trade name vetmedin) which can help strengthen the hearts pumping action and reduce the amount of fluid pooling into the chest.
Depending on if you find a more heart knowledgeable vet, you may be offered spironolactone. Its a potassium sparing diuretic as apposed to a loop diuretic like furosemide so it works differently. It is still used for fluid management but also has heart protecting properties and iv found it to be excellent in my sow.
How old is he? Is he an adult or just a baby?
My sow was diagnosed at 6 years old with congestive heart failure. She was diagnosed by a specialist and finally stabilised on heart meds and diuretics- but the doses needed where so high that he deemed her case very advanced and gave her a week or two to live. We are not far off of two years later, my girl has celebrated her 8th birthday and her heart managed to cope with an anaesthetic for a "last resort" surgery due to a seperate health issue! Her meds need increasing over time as this advances but with regular veterinary attention this is manageable.
Another thing to rule out would be heart worm and lung worm (which would basically involve a course of worming) if this is a common problem with cats and dogs in your area.
I really hope you can get him stable soon. But PLEASE push for frusemide to be given at home. The doses vary massively from 1mg every 12 hours to 4mg every 8 hours (but can be higher in a crisis). My sow is currently on 5mg every 8 hours, and was on 4mg every 8 hours from the start nearly 2 years ago.
Have you checked guinea lynx for a better guinea pig vet in your area?
Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List
He is only 3 months old. He was born in February. The poor kid had pneumonia right off the bat, which I believe is what weakened his heart. The breeders here suck and our supplier for our store that I work at is the WORST. We have had nothing but sick pigs come in, right now we have 6 In our isolation room. It's pathetic. I HATE IT.
Anyway, he started out on Enterofloxacin (Baytril) for the pneumonia and that did not help the first time. So the vet put him on the max dosage for it the second time around. That's when he got better for like a week and then regressed and I pushed for the Furosemide. I am not sure how much they gave him I would lol have to look at the papers. But he got sooooo much better. Now he's filling up with fluid again. So now I have to push for more. I will check guinea linx for a new vet. I'm just frustrated the vet here won't listen to me. I know my pig and I know he's not "sick" with a uri like she keeps saying. It makes me mad.
helen105281
Senior Guinea Pig
If it does turn out that the Pneumonia is still there I have had success treating it with an antibiotic called Azithromycin. Not sure if it is available where you are but that together with diuretics helped my Buzz get through it.
With regards to heart issues though, even though he is a baby it is still possible for him to have a heart issue. Someone I know had a heart pig diagnosed at under 6 months old. Sometimes it can be a genetic issue.
With regards to heart issues though, even though he is a baby it is still possible for him to have a heart issue. Someone I know had a heart pig diagnosed at under 6 months old. Sometimes it can be a genetic issue.
I totally understand. It could be still be pneumonia if he's responding to antibiotics but the fluid in his abdomen is serious and he really needs more diuretics. Really hope you can find a better vet that can help him x
How long does Pneumonia take to go away? We completed the second round of 0.5ml Enterofloxacin (Baytril) on Sunday and now he seems to be regressing again. I did read on Guinea Linx Baytril is not meant for babies, and stunts their growth? Idk... I do know that he is a month older than Snickers, he was born in February and Snickers was born March 2nd, and Snickers is significantly larger and already going through puberty whereas Oreo still has not even dropped his testicles yet. We have Azithromycin here, I've taken it myself before when I have had pneumonia, however I am not sure if they have it for piggies. I will most certainly ask as I am sure his body is building up a tolerance to the Baytril. We are also on 0.03ml of Doxycycline until next Saturday but that does not seem to be helping plus after a week it seemed to all dry out? So when I call the vet for a refill, I will ask about the Azithromycin.
It all depends on if he receives the correct diagnosis and treatment and if his little.body can keep fighting. Azithromycin is zithromax which can be used in piggies but PLEASE don't administer any unless prescribed by a piggy savvy vet as doses vary and he is very young. @furryfriends (TEAS) and @helen105281 have experience of this antibiotic however I don't.
Did you find a better vet on guinea lynx?
Are you weighing him daily? This will help to determine if he is eating enough to help him maintain his weight and fight this off. Bearing in mind he is young and should be growing. If his weight is falling you can top him up with syringe feed of critical care or recovery food from the vet (or you can buy online). Very small amounts in the mouth at a time if he is a little.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
He really needs a more experienced vet soon before this advances further. Really hope you find somewhere x
helen105281
Senior Guinea Pig
I have never given Zithromax to a really young pig, so will see what Debbie (Furry Friends) suggests. If your vet doesn't stock it but are happy to try it then can give you a veterinary prescription for the pharmacy, well they do in the UK, hopefully it would be the same.
Ali_x
Junior Guinea Pig
I would definitely push for vets to look at the fact it could be a heart issue. It took me over a year to convince my vet it wasn't a chest infection, and that was an exotic vet by the way!
So £1,000 later, as they said the only way to diagnose a heart problem is through CT scan, they finally agreed a heart problem and now I'm pushing to get diuretics and ACE inhibitors for him.
Basically if they've ruled out URI with abx then they should treat for heart condition and go to another vet if this one is reluctant.
Good luck
So £1,000 later, as they said the only way to diagnose a heart problem is through CT scan, they finally agreed a heart problem and now I'm pushing to get diuretics and ACE inhibitors for him.
Basically if they've ruled out URI with abx then they should treat for heart condition and go to another vet if this one is reluctant.
Good luck
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