Poppy the Piggy- Heart Condition, Benazepril Dosage, Critical Care Supplement

[Sef]

What has her water intake been like?

[bpatters]

The crusty white stuff around her eyes may be cleaning fluid. If she's not moving her legs well, she may not be grooming herself as much. You can try gently wiping it away with a soft damp cloth and see if it comes back.

I haven't heard of vitamin C affecting poop size. Is she eating as much hay as usual? And is she getting enough to drink? You could syringe her water two or three times a day and see if that helps.

[skuchi]

Thanks. We will try that! Though she is still eating and drinking, I don't think she's eating or drinking as much as usual.

[skuchi]

Poppy seems to be doing worse this morning. She's tired, sleeping more. She;s taking longer to wake up when we poke or pick her up, she still seems sleepy. Not quite as alert. She is gradually not eating as much day-to-day. Her back is hunched when she's sitting. Her poops are still very small, possibly because she's not eating much? She's a little unsteady on her feet but they aren't splayed out like they were. I think the Vit C helped there. It looked like she may have had a little discharge near her urinary opening last night, white. But there's nothing there today. She's not losing weight fast but she is losing weight. No breathing issues that we can hear or see.

We're giving her cc every 3 hours. Anything, within reason, that she's willing to and enjoys eating. Extra Vit C drops (about 25mg/day + cc). And trying to make her as comfortable as possible.

Any idea what's going on with her? Any ideas of what to expect moving forward? Any suggestions? We might, might be able to get meds from the vet.

She's old so, honestly, I'm not sure I expect her to make it through this, even without the constraints of the pandemic. They closed all non-essential businesses, put us on voluntary lockdown, and we have a house full of severe asthmatics. :( We are in the epi-center of the outbreak in Florida. I wish all of this wasn't happening at the same time. I really want to make her better. Barring that, comfortable!

[Sef]

I know you mentioned that kidney issues were considered a while back but ruled out. I do wonder about renal failure at her age, though. You mentioned that her water intake has decreased somewhat. Did you notice a marked increase in water intake at one time and then it dropped off? The white crusties around her eye(s) reminded me of our renal pig, Leonard, who would easily get dehydrated and would have slightly sunken eyes and some crusty around them when he needed more fluids. Also slow, a gradual weight loss where his hips became much more pronounced. I don't know if that's the case, here, but just thinking out loud.

You could try some unflavored Pedialyte if you have it on hand or if you can get it without putting yourself at risk. It always seemed to help Leonard bounce back, until finally the disease had progressed beyond what could be managed.

[skuchi]

Thank you, Sef. She isn't drinking as much, and she always was a 'thirsty pig'. But I don't really know if there was a time it increased remarkably. With both pigs in the same enclosure, and all of their food and water as a mixed bag it's hard to tell what one individual is doing unless it's a big change. I don't remember seeing something like that in her, but it's possible. They checked her kidneys and said they seemed to be fine, but that was almost a year ago. You piggy does sound similar, and Poppy's over 6 years old. Her heart was in question, and that was never firmly diagnosed. I really appreciate your help. Given everything else that's going on this is h.a.r.d.

[Lynx]

I am sorry for your personal risk in the pandemic. The symptoms you describe indicate she may be in pain. Do you have any pain meds? Could you call your vet and ask what would be appropriate for her if there were possible renal issues?

[skuchi]

Thank you, Lynx. We called them on Friday but they weren't taking appointments and told us to email. We haven't heard back. I'm sure she's swamped with questions. Are there any over the counter meds we can give her that we might have on hand?

[skuchi]

I called their answering service. We might be able to get some Metacam tomorrow. She's not standing very well on her back legs. :(

[Sef]

Be careful with Metacam, though. If her kidneys *are* compromised, NSAIDs are hard on them.

Can you get unflavored Pedialyte without too much unnecessary travel/risk?

[skuchi]

An update on Poppy and a question about meds.

She's on Tramadol and a small dose of Metacam. We're giving her vitamin C water, CC, and plain pedialyte 3-4 times daily plus her veggies/hay/etc. She's gained a little weight back! About 40 grams, though she's still underweight. She weighs 484 grams right now, and is taking x2 .04mg of metacam @1.5mg/ml + .1mg of tramadol @10mg/ml daily. Her meds are given to her in 3 seperate doses each day (metacam in am & pm, tramadol in afternoon). The vet says we can give her up to double those amounts daily. She's still sleeping a lot (maybe even more now with the meds) and is a little hunched but not nearly as much, and not chattering her teeth or so puffed up. She's walking much better and even scratching and cleaning herself from time to time. She's been on them now for almost 2 weeks.

Do we need to up her med doses or maybe give her more tramadol than metacam?

How do you figure out what the right dose is so they are not in pain but we aren't putting her in danger with side effects from the meds?

[Sef]

Thanks for the update. I am sorry that you're dealing with this, much less during this nightmare pandemic.

First, let me make sure I understand the dose that she's getting of Metacam. She weighs roughly 0.5kg. The suggested range for Metacam is anywhere between 0.1mg/kg to 0.3mg/kg. If I go middle-of-the-road with 0.2mg/kg, the amount of Metacam needed based on her weight would be 0.1mg every 24 hours. At a concentration of 1.5 mg/ml, that amount of Metacam is found in 0.06cc's.

In your post, you wrote:
"and [she] is taking x2 .04mg of metacam"

Do you mean 0.04ml (cc's)? Or do you mean that she's literally getting that many milligrams of Metacam? Because, I can't make the numbers jibe. And are you giving her that same amount each time, twice a day, or is that the total amount and you're dividing it up between the two doses?

Same question with the Tramadol. Is that the actual milligrams, or did you mean 0.1ml (cc's), and is that the dose you're giving each time or are you splitting it into multiple doses?

Just want to make sure I understand how much of each she is getting.