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Poorly Daisy Again, At Wits End

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I haven't I'm afraid, your Daisy has taught me something which is good.
 
I believe
@furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary

has had this prescribed for one of her heart piggies back in 2010


It is what is called a "potassium-sparing" diuretic so unlike furosemaide it does not encourage the excretion of potassium into the urine. However I suspect the main reason for prescribing it is that it also is reported to slow down fibrosis of the heart muscle which is a degenerative feature of congestive heart failure.

I have looked this up in the 7th Edition of the Small Animal formulary and there is no information at all for prescribing this drug in small mammals (which is unusual as normally even for off license drugs there would be dosing for e.g. rabbits, ferrets and rodents - but this is not the most recent edition so things ma have changed)

However I have found a research paper published in 2005 that has shown it to be beneficial in rats with congestive heart failure and when compared to other types of heart meds such as ACE inhibitors (eg enalapril) as it was the ONLY one to slow down fibrosis.

HTH
x
 
If I remember rightly , this was prescribed as a last ditch attempt to save my piggy, Poppet, when she went into congestive heart failure and was retaining a huge amount of fluid. We initially tried frusemide without success and so we gave this a go. Sadly it didn't help and I lost Pops.
 
Found a couple of references to heart pigs on guinea lynx being given this in addition to other heart meds: The following dosage regime is for a 1kg pig with enlarged heart

furosemide- 10 mg/ml- 0.4 ml given 2x daily

pimobendan- 2.5 mg/ml- 0.1 ml given 2x daily

enalapril- 2.5 mg/ml- 0.1 ml given 1x daily

spironolactone- 0.2 ml given 2x daily (concentration is 5 mg/ml).

Ref furosemide dosage Daisy is currently being given: 4mg for an 850g pig is equivalent to approx 5mg/kg which is a higher end maintenance dose for heart pigs once they are stabilised. With my heart pigs the furosemide dose is variable and adjusted according to the amount of fluid/breathing issues. To "kick-start" the fluid removal process for very fluidy pigs we have on occasion started with 10mg/kg 2x daily for no more than 48hours, reducing to 8mg/kg the following 2 days, then 6mg/kg and finally settled on either 2 or 4mg/kg as maintenance. Obviously care is needed with these higher doses to ensure the piggie doesn;t dehydrate.

However the fluid can intermittently build up again in which case we up the dose until it clears.


Edit: If vet doesn't want to use higher doses, I have found that injections of furosemide (especially to kick-start the process) work more effectively than using tablets (I use 20mg tablets ground up in water) which in turn is more effective than the liquid frusol preparation.
HTH
x
 
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Miss Daisy is now on prilactone 2mg/ml, dose given is 0.87ml once a day; just given her first dose and also a dose of bisolvan. Will have to see how this helps.
 
Daisy isnt too good this morning, not eating. I have crushed some pellets and syringe fed her a little and some water, she then had a nibble on cucumber and a little hay. If she doesnt eat herself I will give her some more via syringe. Poor jasper doesn't know whats going on.
 
Poor Daisy. Are your local vets open to get her checked over?
 
Daisy has done a turnaround again! She is eating, trotting round living room, breathing is normal and quiet. I think the prilactone in one dose was a bit too much so I have decided to split it yo twice a day, I have increased the fortekor slightly, reduced the frusol slightly. I think its a case of adjusting till we get it right but she is definitely a lot happier.
 
I sometimes wonder if we are being cruel in trying to keep Daisy. She is so up and down, this morning she has had breakfast but is now not looking happy at all, her breathing is clicky again! Last night when she was trotting round I thought yes we are doing something right, then we seem to go backwards again and I hate seeing her unhappy.
 
It is such a juggling act with heart medication. I know you were going to look into Dioralyte, have you tried this at all?
 
I have some dioralyte mixed but she is not keen on taking it and is being very bossy by jerking her head up. She just seemed so well last night and now she is miserable again.
 
Try to get her to take it if you can. It could make all the difference.
 
Just a quick addition to say that if you do give the Dioralyte, please give her in small drops as she may be struggling to swallow so take it a drop at a time.
 
Had to take mum shopping, just got back. Daisy seems fine swallowing, she has eaten some romaine lettuce and taken a couple of mls of dioralyte quite eagerly. She looks bright but has a clicking sound on breathing.
 
Glad she is taking the Dioralyte. If you can speak to your vet in the morning she may want to adjust the doses some more.
 
If anything should happen to Daisy, I dont want jasper to be on his own. Do you think I should think about getting a rescue female now or wait?
 
I would wait for now, it may just be she needs further adjustment to her meds and in the meantime get as much Dioralyte in as you can. Do you have any rescues nearby that you could give your details to so you are on the list.
 
I gave Daisy 0.4mg of co enzyme q10 at about 9.30 this morning along with her other meds. Got home from work at 7.15 and she is the best she has been for a few days. More active, difficult to catch for her meds and eating like a horse. Lol.
 
So pleased at this latest turn of events. Co-Enzyme Q10 is fantastic for heart pigs, I have hardly had to give diuretic at all since mine have been on it.
 
Daisy has taken a turn for the worse and is having oxygen at the vets now. She is having injection of vetmedin to get it into her system and also Abx injection just in case she has a secondary infection. If this doesn't work then the vet says there is nothing else to try.
 
Thank you. At least the vet hasn't rang to say she has gone down hill further. Jasperseems oblivious to it all at the moment, all alone in cage eating.
 
Daisy is home, breathhing a lot better and eating well. Vet said she had eaten a little hay and done lots of poops so her guts are working. She is now on vetmedin and Abx and we will have to see how she goes.
 
Am so pleased she has rallied Karen, Vetmedin can really turn heart pigs around so fingers crossed that it is what is happening here.
 
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