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Poorly Daisy Again, At Wits End

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karenben

karenben

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Daisy finished her 10 day course of abx last sat, her 2nd lot and 3rd visit to the vet. She has been fine, gaining weight; last night running around, constantly grazing and I get up the morning and she has laboured breathing again. Rang the vet, no exotic vet on this weekend, dont know what to do.
 
The vet has given some more engymycin Abx until an exotic vet can see her. No idea what it is, it cant be infectious as Jasper, who lives with her, is fine. The vet says further investigations can be done such as x ray but said that this could be inconclusive. Do I put her through this procedure only to be told nothing has shown? She is not one yet and looks thoroughly fed up again.
 
I am not aware of your original thread but is this a recurring respiratory infection? If her breathing is laboured has she ever had any diuretic?

Does she ever seem difficult to rouse from sleep? Does she nod in time with her breathing and has she ever made a hooting noise. How old is she and what is her weight?
 
Iv only just joined but for xrays and scans they only use gas, so its easier to bring them round, and no side affects . X
karenben said:
The vet has given some more engymycin Abx until an exotic vet can see her. No idea what it is, it cant be infectious as Jasper, who lives with her, is fine. The vet says further investigations can be done such as x ray but said that this could be inconclusive. Do I put her through this procedure only to be told nothing has shown? She is not one yet and looks thoroughly fed up again.
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I didn't mean rouse from xray which can be done conscious. Being difficult to rouse from sleep can be a sign of a heart condition as can a recurring respiratory infection.
 
Have looked at your original thread which I remember now. Did you ever get any Bisolvon?
 
[quoteis "helen105281, post: 1504669, member: 5819"]I didn't mean rouse from xray which can be done conscious. Being difficult to rouse from sleep can be a sign of a heart condition as can a recurring respiratory infection.[/quote]
Daisy is 10 months old and weighs 985g, she has been a little lughter and a little heavier but has regained most of the weight she lost. We first took her to the vets 23rd dec with crackly breathing and I had heard her cough. The vet is an exotic vet and recommended. A full check revealed nothing and sent home with no treatment. She seemed fine but on 2nd january her breathing was crackly again and this time she was making the noise in the vets who diagnosed upper resp inf and gave metacam and Abx. She picked up from this but 2 weeks later started again and this time she was given a 10 day course of engymycin and metacam. She soon picked up and last night was trotting round the living room with Jasper and grazing constantly. This morning she was bunched up, fur on end and crackly again! The nurse at the vet has given us more engymycin without her being seen until she can see the exotic vet next week and advised to restart the metacam. The female we got with her from pets at home died of similar in sept last year ( we did not go to exotics vet) and we now have a rescue piggie Jasper who is fine. I wonder if she has something congenital even though I don't think Kitty and Daisy were from same litter. Sorry for the long story and thank you for looking.
 
helen105281 said:
Have looked at your original thread which I remember now. Did you ever get any Bisolvon?
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No, I will ask vet when we go. If it was URI would Jasper not have picked it up?
 
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Please for give my spelling as i do have problems I'm in stoke on trent if you have a scan it should show up any thing like pnewmonia or any thing else around the lungs an xray will show up things like to much calcium in the wrong place but if its tiny crystals its to small to pic up i think thats what your vet ment by inconclusive x
 
Most likely yes though some pigs have better immune systems. So is it all nasal and doesn't seem to be on the chest? They can have children's Sudafed but speak to the vet first as am not sure how it would affect the antibiotics as it is not one I have used.
 
Is there any chance you could post a video of her breathing? It may be that you need to see a vet with her today even if they are not an exotics one.
 
It doesn't sound like its from her nose and her nose is dry. She seems to have sttled now, had her metacam and Abx, coaxed her to eat a little, Jasper helps cos if he tries to pinch it she becomes interested in it. Lol. I will keep a close eye on her and syringe feed if necessary.
 
Ok that sounds better. If her breathing becomes laboured again though I would get her to the vets for diuretic as she could have fluid on her chest.
 
What about trying her with some thing like critical care or a probiotic see if that helps my shona has had 3 lots of baytrill ,metcam ,and zantac but because the antibiotics have slowed the imune systeme right down the vet is goin to put her on some thing simular when i take her for her check up on monday
 
I am beginning to wonder if this is a heart problem. How much can I expect to pay for an XRay at the vets, any idea? Would they prescribe heart meds without x ray?
 
karenben said:
I am beginning to wonder if this is a heart problem. How much can I expect to pay for an XRay at the vets, any idea? Would they prescribe heart meds without x ray?
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I have had a heart pig myself, who was diagnosed over xray. It was a long time ago but I think the xray was about 20-25 pound, but that varies dependent on the vet. Esme's chest had nothing to hear over stephoscope but on xray showed fluid on her lungs and an enlarged heart, the xray was done conscious.
I agree with helen about the furosemide if there us any fluid on the lungs it will make a major improvement to her breathing. X
 
Some vets will agree to a trial of heart meds without xray, mine did but that was because they knew we knew what we were doing as they had been involved in diagnosing our late Nigel with xray. The vets where piggy clinic is charge £40 but my local vets charge £60. If you need any help please let me know as I have 6 heart pigs all on varying doses of Benzapril and they have Furosemide when needed. Basically with the heart med trial they go ont he meds for at least 2 weeks and if the condition of the pig improves thenit points towards a heart problem. One thing I have noticed is that not all vets are prescribing Benazapril and favouring other ACE inhibitors which are harsher on the kidneys than Benazapril such as Enalapril and Imidapril. Common brand names for Benzapril are Fortekor and Nelio.
 
Regardless of whether this is heart related I would speak to your vet as soon as you can about diuretics.
 
helen105281 said:
Some vets will agree to a trial of heart meds without xray, mine did but that was because they knew we knew what we were doing as they had been involved in diagnosing our late Nigel with xray. The vets where piggy clinic is charge £40 but my local vets charge £60. If you need any help please let me know as I have 6 heart pigs all on varying doses of Benzapril and they have Furosemide when needed. Basically with the heart med trial they go ont he meds for at least 2 weeks and if the condition of the pig improves thenit points towards a heart problem. One thing I have noticed is that not all vets are prescribing Benazapril and favouring other ACE inhibitors which are harsher on the kidneys than Benazapril such as Enalapril and Imidapril. Common brand names for Benzapril are Fortekor and Nelio.
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Thank you for this, I am waiting on a call from the vets but not sure really what to say.
 
Is her breathing still laboured? If so ask for them to check if she has fluid on her lungs and whether she needs a diuretic. When mentioning heart problems say that you have heard that a repetitive upper or lower respiratory infection can indiciate heart problems. Though it is possible that this is an infection that is resistant to the antibiotics she is on, either way though if she has fluid on her lungs she will need a diuretic. Are her lips, nose or feet blue at all? that is another sign, as is being difficult to wake from sleep, weight loss, ascites (fluidy type pockets down the sides), hooting, nodding in time with their breathing, random coughing.
 
I have noticed her tummy looks swollen at sides at times, she does do what I can only describe as a cough ( as if she is trying to cough something up) and she does the nodding. We take her to an exotics vet but I havent really built up a relationship with them yet and they are quite a bit more expensive than our local vet. I wonder if our local vet would consider this treatment.
 
They may do, you could try them first and see, my local vets are great but not all are which is why we always recommmed an exotics vet if you can. Even an exotics vet will not always acknowledge that a pig has a heart issue though.
 
Okay, the vet rang me yesterday and decided not to give diuretic, she said that it would have to be administerd by injection so would start Daisy on the Fortekor, 0.5ml once a day. She had her first dose last night. This morning she was a little quiet and her tummy is moving when breathing but she is eating and moving between floors in cage. I wonder if there is a diuretic I could buy to give her orally? I have been giving her celery leaves and she does seem to improve after this or am I imagining this.
 
I would speak to your vet again as diuretic can be given orally in the form of Furosemide tablets or Frusol liquid. At this stage the diuretic is more important than the heart medication, though please don't stop giving that. If there is fluid it is important that she has proper diuretic and not just foods with diuretic qualities.

As for the heart medication, it all sounds ok so far but please monitor her for any signs of lethargy or change in behaviour and speak to your vet as soon as possible if you are worried. What dose of Fortekor is she on? You say 0.5ml but what mg is that?
 
The bottle says 2x fortekor 5. The receipt says 2.00 x fortekor 5, 10.00 x syrup bp per ml. The vet did say there is scope to increase it if necessary and any problems to ccontact them.
 
Am wondering if that means 2 x mg tablets made into a solution. I always just have tablets.

How is she now?
 
helen105281 said:
Am wondering if that means 2 x mg tablets made into a solution. I always just have tablets.

How is she now?
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She seems very bright, has eaten loads and been quite active. She has coughed twice today but her breathing is settled now, just put her to bed with jasper. Oops, she just jumped up on ledge for pellets. And she was difficult to catch tonight.
How do you give the tablets and what dose.
I wondered if it was 2 x 5mg tabs in 10 ml of syrup which would be 1mg to 1ml so she would only be having 0.5 mg per day.
 
That would make sense, quite a low dose then but best to work upwards. Mine are on at least 1.25mg a day.

Glad she is lively and seems brighter, that's great. I wouod speak to the vet about diuretic though and having some at home in case. I always have some here as there are days when they have fluid.
 
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