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Piggy Breathing Issues

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I must admit it was a huge shock when she said his heart is failling, i assume if your heart fails it means the end? She explained the strain of struggling to breathe all day has meant he has gone into heart failure.

Yeh she said first priority is to calm him and give him some oxygen to help his breathing, If he stabilises she can do more checks/tests but she didn't want to do anything till he was a bit calmer.

She said even if the infection/fluid goes he may still have heart issues but those can be medicated. If we can shift the immediate problem hopefully he will be ok, or at least start to improve. It's news to me but if theres even the slightest chance he will be ok, even if we have to medicate him for the rest of his life then we will

Just hoping he gets through this next bit. Thanks for your info and good wishes - its gonna be a long night x
 
I've got everything crossed for your poorly piggy. We're all rooting for him here and hopefully once he's gotten some well needed oxygen in him he'll get the strength to fight<3
 
Really hope Arthur pulls through, sounds like you've got a good vet there. Sending healing vibes to Arthur and all best wishes to you Xx
 
So it's been a strange night...let me update you

A few hours after we dropped him off the vet called to say no real improvement and it was her advice that we put him to sleep. My gf and i had a long discussion (through the tears) and decided that because it had been less than a day and because last time he had this he did get better we weren't ready to do that. We've had piggies put to sleep before and both times we felt we'd done everything we could but we didn't feel that this time. So we collected him (against the vets medical advice). He was a bit groggy from the sedation - no better but no worse either.

We brought him home and put him back and immediately he ate a load of his veg, i mean he was a piggie possessed, literally wolfing down anything in front of him, veggies, hay, grass, his popcorn stick, his food...it was great to see. And his breathing was better, he wasn't gasping or struggling.

So we went to bed (this was about 3am). This morning his breathing is ok, normal, but he didnt come out for his breakfast and hadn't done any poos. When we put his veg near him he nibbled a bit. So we took him to our vets (the appointment we arranged yesterday). Our vet said that he felt the other vet was premature in saying he needed to be put to sleep. Our vet says its a respiritory infection. By this point Arthurs breathing was ok, but he was kind of grunting, maybe sounding wheezy is the best i can desribe it, with each breath. The vet says that it is an infection and we will give him meds to clear that up like last time - as it worked well last time. So he had a listen to his lungs and was not overly concerned. He gave him a 2 day shot of amoxycillin and said to go back monday for more antibiotics if no better( he said syringing was still risky and piggie bacteria can become immune to baytril etc as so widely used hence his decision for amoxycillin.

So we brought him him and put him on the floor to get him moving around, and he started wolfing his grass and hay down. I cheked his bum and he was a little impacted so we dealt with that and popped him back in his cage and he went to munching his popcorn stick. He is currently laying down chilling. We will syringe him a little later if needed.
Was all abit confusing with two seperate diagnoses but it did not feel like it was his time yet or we'd run out of options. If no better Monday we'll go back to the vets but he seems certainly better with breathing, just a little under the weather but hes had a tough 24 hours.

So again fingers crossed we'redoing the right thing bless him
 
Definately sounds positive after a rough night! I can see your vets reasoning behind opting for injectable antibiotics over oral, but i would think that would need to be daily rather than 3 days between next dose? Iv never had a pig treated with amoxicillian but just seems logical to have it daily.

The fact he is eating is good- keep an eye on his weight. Mushing up pellets in boiled water can be used for tempting off a spoon or syringing.
 
Hopefully! Yes i asked him specifically if we needed to take some home etc and he said the injection would last 2 days and then we can take him back on Monday. He understand the risks with amoxycillin but said as it workes last time its worth a shot.

Yeh it's good he is eating on his own but will sringe to top him up a bit and also try sringing some water, carefully, now his breathing is a little better. Want to also try giving him some peace and quiet poor little thing! He doesn't look happy. I know piggies can turn very quickly but it feels like we've done the right thing bringing him home and trying more antibiotics
 
Where there's life, there's hope and where there's a will, there's a way. it sounds like Arthur has the will to pull through and it also sounds like you are doing everything in your power to help him through.

With all the good wishes of this forum added in, he is being given every chance.

I'll be thinking of you today and watching for updates.

All the best
 
rufcjoe87 said:
Hopefully! Yes i asked him specifically if we needed to take some home etc and he said the injection would last 2 days and then we can take him back on Monday. He understand the risks with amoxycillin but said as it workes last time its worth a shot.

Yeh it's good he is eating on his own but will sringe to top him up a bit and also try sringing some water, carefully, now his breathing is a little better. Want to also try giving him some peace and quiet poor little thing! He doesn't look happy. I know piggies can turn very quickly but it feels like we've done the right thing bringing him home and trying more antibiotics
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You know him best so only you will know whats right for him or when hes had enough xx
 
tabelmabel said:
Where there's life, there's hope and where there's a will, there's a way. it sounds like Arthur has the will to pull through and it also sounds like you are doing everything in your power to help him through.

With all the good wishes of this forum added in, he is being given every chance.

I'll be thinking of you today and watching for updates.

All the best
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Thank you, thanks everyone for your advice and good wishes. He's a young lad and strong, he's getting plenty of love from us and from you guys and hopefully he will pull through! Really appreciate all the good vibes you guys are sending and I know Arthur does too - will post updates later. x
 
Hi guys

Bit of an update. Gave him his 'tea' this evening he ate some lettuce and parsley and munched on some hay. We got him out and syringed him some food which he took really well. Checked his bum and there was lots of poo stuck together up there, so i guess at least his system is working he's just struggling to get them out at the minute. Had a bit of a run round and even popcorned once! We offered him some treats and he took a couple himself (something he likes doing). He's currently just layying in bed chilling. His breathing seems ok, a tad more laboured than normal but nowhere near as bad as yeasterday and he is eating, though not as much. I'm hoping this is a good sign that he's improving? See how he is tomorrow. Thanks again for all your good wishes! x
 
He sounds on the right road- make sure he doesnt lose too much weight, top him up with with syringe feed according to how his weights doing.

The antibiotics are obviously working so make sure he keeps on getting them for at least a week.

So glad to hear hes improving!x
 
Thank you! Yes we will keep weighing him and topping him up. Yes if we can nurse him trough tomorro and he keeps improving, however small, and then we can go back to the vets on Mon and get soem more for him!

Thank you! x
 
This is all sounding really positive! Look forward to reading more about how Arthur is getting on!
 
Hi guys

Just a quick update for those of you interested in his progress - so this morning he didn't come out for his breakfast but he did eat the food put in front of him. Had to de-impact his bum again this morning

Spent most of the day in bed so we syringed him a bit, at tea time we put him back and he stayed out and ate all his veggies and was eating his danelion mix which we put in a ball hung from his cage, was quite happily playing with that for a while. This evening he's started pushing out poos by himself and as i write he has come out to munch on some hay

He doesn't come out as much and he doesnt stay out long but he's eating and pooing a little and his breathing is ok.

His injection runs out tomorrow so will possibly go vets and get some more. He's definitely not out the woods yet or 100% better but touch wood but he is improving and definitely better than when we went to emergency vets - so hopefully it's looking ok and we made the right decision

He's a fighter bless him!
 
Hes a beauty! Keep topping him up with food and i would recommend you continue the antibiotics for a weeks course- you dont want to stop it too soon and it comes back.

Hea on the right path which is great news!xx
 
Hi guys

Quick update - I'm always reluctant to say things like this but it seems Arthur has made/is making a full recovery! He was more like his old self last night - running aoround, coming out for food, lots and lots of poos! still not drinking too much but generally he *seems* ok! So glad we stuck with him - extra big cuddles last night!

Thanks for all your help, thoughts and prayers! :)
x
 
Marvellous news! I had a good feeling that this was going to have a happy ending. And thanks so much for the updates. I hope he continues to go from strength to strength!
 
I have been following this story, but no commenting as I have nothing helpful to add really.
Just wanted to say how happy I was to read that Arthur is doing so much better.
And well done for making the right decision for your pig.
 
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