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

skuchi

Post   » Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:25 pm


Bpatters- The vet is measuring it by asking us if the output is increased or not. Honestly, it's really hard to gauge. We have her out on a pee pad at least twice a day and we haven't seen any increase there, so that was the determination. But otherwise she's in her enclosure with Bella and there is no way to tell with the two piggies in paper bedding. The vet who listened to her heart today isn't sure there is a heart murmur. She said she could hear a breathing sound that could be mistaken for a heart murmur, but when Poppy stopped breathing she didn't hear the sounds. She said her heart sounded steady and fine. She also said she's not a mammalian cardiac specialist and knows the vet who diagnosed the heart murmur and has good respect for her. She suggested we may want to have it checked by a specialist.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Aug 27, 2019 4:04 pm


That's kind of what I thought. As far as I know, there's absolutely no way to know what urine output is unless the pig is housed alone and the bedding is perfectly dry -- then you can assume that it's zero.

Most heart pigs are on a combination of meds, and it usually requires pretty frequent tweaking to keep them balanced.

There's some good info here: https://www.guinealynx.info/heart.html. And there are several forum members who are particularly good with heart problems -- Talishan, pinta, and a third whose name escapes me at the moment. Maybe someone will come along and add it. But you could send a private message to any of them and ask them to check this thread and answer questions here on the forum.

skuchi

Post   » Wed Mar 18, 2020 10:56 am


Hello everybody!

I hope everyone on here is well. I know current circumstances for many of us are rough.
We're having some problems with Poppy again, the timing is bad but things rarely wait. :(
Quick background: She's a senior, was losing some weight (loss, plateau, loss, plateau) and was diagnosed with a heart murmur last year and put on Benazapril. She became lethargic at even small doses of that, we took her to another vet (under hurricane conditions) who said she couldn't hear the heart murmur and to take her off. We did, she improved. We checked back in with her regular vet who said, she may have a murmur but quality of life is also a consideration. She's been doing fine and the symptoms she has now don't seem related. She still gets cc at night, about 1/2 tsp-1 tsp is as much as she'll eat. We stopped giving it to her in the morning to both piggies because they wouldn't eat their salad through the day otherwise. They're both old and slowing down.

Poppy continues to lose weight and plateau. She has lost 40g over the past 2 weeks. (it's hard to say exactly because she loses, rebounds a little, loses, rebounds, etc and it's been going on for a long time.) But she's not rebounding this time and has hit a new benchmark for low weight. She's not losing daily, she does have an appetite still but is becoming noticeably more picky about what she will and won't eat. Eats smaller volumes. Last night when my daughter had her out it looked like she was walking funny. She's a silky so we trimmed off all her hair to see what was going and her legs seems slightly splayed out on her sides. She didn't eat as vigorously as usual, though she's still eating pretty well and was up and eating this morning, along with asking for her salad. Also, last night we noticed that all of her poops are about half the size they normally are. She's becoming noticeably sleepier again. Any advice? I'm not sure our vet is still open. We're only a few miles away from the epicenter of the Covid19 outbreak in Florida.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Mar 18, 2020 12:48 pm


I think most seniors need extra vitamin C. The older body doesn't metabolize as well as younger ones, so they don't get the full effect. I had a couple of seniors that I supplemented with C because of hair loss, and it cleared right up.

The splayed legs could be an indication of low C levels. Vita Drops makes a liquid vitamin C preparation that's stored in an opaque bottle, so lasts quite a while. Just don't follow their instructions to add it to the water bottle. Some people dilute with a little orange juice, and others, including me, just sprinkle it on the veggies.

skuchi

Post   » Wed Mar 18, 2020 1:30 pm


Thank you, bpatters. You are always so helpful, and your advice is a great relief. We've got some ascorbic acid on hand so we'll mix up a proper solution and start adding that to her veggies and/or critical care daily. :)

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Mar 18, 2020 2:39 pm


You'll have to mix the solution every time you want to give it. Vitamin C in water degrades almost immediately in the presence of light. You can't even make a day's worth of solution and have it be any good by the end of the day.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Wed Mar 18, 2020 3:19 pm


VitaDrops also makes a mist that you can spritz on veggies. I actually like that better than the drops.

skuchi

Post   » Fri Mar 20, 2020 6:40 pm


The vitamin C seems to be helping with her legs. She's got crusty, white stuff around her eyes now and still very, small poops. :( Is that related to the vit C? Just trying to do what we can for her under trying circumstances.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Fri Mar 20, 2020 7:13 pm


What has her water intake been like?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Mar 20, 2020 7:24 pm


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

Post   » Fri Mar 20, 2020 7:29 pm


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

Post   » Sat Mar 21, 2020 11:48 am


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!

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