Mavis - Currently having a stroke/heart attack?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:34 pm


I am not an expert on coughs or hiccups but am guessing/hoping it may go away. I know you will be closely monitoring her weight and behavior. I hope they are not "ganging up" on her. Weight loss or injuries could mean you have to rearrange accomodations.

Hoping for the best for Mavis!!

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:11 am


It's possible there is fluid returning in or around her lungs. The fluid returns slowly, so if you reduce the furosemide, you may not see a difference for a week or two before the cough comes back or gets worse. Also, fluid retention is not only in the lungs but could be around the lungs. In that case, you won't hear it if you listen to her breathing with a stethoscope. Either way, the fluid increases pressure on the heart and causes the cough. Furosemide also has mild bronchial dilator benefits that help open the lungs to aid breathing.

If it were me, I would continue with the original recommended dosage of furosemide for a couple of weeks. The medication starts working immediately, like within an hour, to eliminate excess fluid. Within one week you should see a difference with the cough. Furosemide usually needs to be administered at least every 12 hours and sometimes every 8 hours. It just doesn't last long enough to administer once a day.

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Tofu

Post   » Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:41 am


Thanks, that's helpful information and I didn't realize there was also a longer term effect of furosemide. The timeline seems about right too (I decreased the dose about 1.5 weeks before the cough returned). Based on accounts of other heart pigs I was hopeful I could reduce the furosemide but perhaps Mavis will just need to be on this for the rest of her life.

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Tue Jan 19, 2021 12:18 am


I know how you feel. Our dog is on furosemide, and I was hoping we could get him stabilized and gradually reduce the amount, but that isn't going to be possible. At least it's not an expensive medication, and it's been around for a long time so it's pretty safe. Just a pain to administer.

I hope Mavis starts feeling better.

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Tofu

Post   » Fri May 07, 2021 9:47 am


Just wanted to bump this thread to say Mavis, who turned 7 in March (!!), is still trucking along. For a while I was giving her 5mg of Furosemide 2x/day because I kept increasing her dosage when I'd hear her start to cough. After some good advice from Pinta, I increased her dosage of Benazepril up from 1mg 2x/day to 1.25mg and this improved her breathing and the cough completely went away! I was able to decrease her Furosemide dose down to 4mg, then waited a few weeks, then down to 3mg.

After a few weeks of that and no change in symptoms I recently decreased the dose to 2.5mg, but within the last couple of days I've noticed Mavis' breathing has become quite labored. Her weight is good and she acts alert, but is breathing quite hard even though her lungs sound clear. I've bumped her Furosemide back up to 4mg for now and hope to see a positive change in a couple days.

I've got an appointment in for a consult with a different vet and will be asking them about Vetmedin. It's been a minute now since I've had to actually see a vet and I'd hoped it would be easier to get an appointment now that we're more than a year into the pandemic, but nope, had to call three places and the soonest I could get was 2 weeks out. :(


When I started this thread I didn't think Mavis had much longer to live, let alone still be here to eat grass again in the spring, but here's the whole herd enjoying themselves just the other day:

Image

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri May 07, 2021 10:20 pm


Thanks for the update! I am so happy to hear she is doing pretty well. I like how you have been able to fine tune her medications. You sound like a very observant person!

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Sat May 08, 2021 2:30 am


I hope you have a good vet visit and get the meds adjusted. So nice to know Mavis is out there enjoying that fresh spring grass.

Lisa12

Post   » Sat May 08, 2021 3:22 pm


I am happy for Mavis,too!
What a cool gang of pigs...and they re lucky, here is still too cold for pigs to be outside..:)

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Tue May 11, 2021 12:19 pm


Hooray for Mavis! Those are 4 cute & happy pigs.

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Tofu

Post   » Tue May 25, 2021 9:30 am


Mavis likes to keep me on my toes I guess. Her weight has been between 1000-1050g for the longest while, and in the last 9 days she's lost about 100g. Still eating well and very active- I modified the ramp in the pig cage for her a while back when I knew she was having trouble getting up it due to arthritis, and she's still running up and down it without issue. Her breathing is quite calm and easy today, it did take a good two weeks for the change in furosemide dose to take full effect. Soonest I could get an appointment with my vet is June 4 so I have that on the books now at least.

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Tofu

Post   » Tue Sep 28, 2021 5:43 pm


Just wanted to give an update on Mavis and hopefully get some suggestions. For the most part Mavis has been puttering along happily and healthily. In the last month she has had a couple bad days, I've increased her furosemide dose a bit on those days and she improved within about 24 hours. The bad days are coming more often and are closer together now. I asked my vet if we should tweak her meds a bit and she tells me that 10mg/kg twice daily is the max safe dose for pigs. Can I get a sanity check on that? From what I've read here it sounds like 10mg/day total is what is generally considered the max safe dose. Mavis had previously been on 4mg 2x/day, then was upped to 5mg 2x/day when she started having real wet breath sounds and it was obvious she was having difficulty breathing. I tried to decrease her back to 4.5mg but she went downhill when I did. Her last bad day she had 5mg in the AM, 2.5mg midday, and then 5mg at night, which seemed to get her back out of crisis mode but I am worried this was too high a daily amount to give.

Mavis is also on 1.25mg of benazepril 2x/day. The last time this dosage was changed she was on 1mg 2x/day and started to have a recurring cough, increasing to 1.25mg completely eliminated that. I asked if increasing to 1.75 or 2mg 2x/day [edit: mistakenly thought she was on 1.5mg dose now, but she is only on 1.25mg, so I would increase to 1.5mg not 1.75/2mg] would be ok to try but my vet does not know if this is risky or not. I also asked her about vetmedin, and she agreed to prescribe me some even if she thinks it is highly experimental in guinea pigs.

My vet is nice but does not have much or any experience dealing with heart disease in guinea pigs, if not for the information I have gleaned on this site I think Mavis would have died a year ago when she initially thought her breathing issues were due to arthritis.

Today Mavis is having a bad day, she mostly stays in her twigloo and isn't interested in any veggies besides lettuce. Still eating plenty of hay though but probably not drinking enough water. Her breathing is not great, she is using her whole body to breathe and is doing the classic head bob. Kinda feel like I'm at the intersection of "let's try this new med/tweak this existing med, and it will get us out of crisis mode again" and "maybe it will soon be time for euthanasia". I manage to get myself into an anxious depression every time, only to every time be delighted when she bounces back. Hoping for that kind of outcome here tonight/tomorrow.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:16 pm


I'm sorry she is having these issues. Other than point you again to the heart page (which has limited info), I don't have any other ideas.
https://www.guinealynx.info/heart.html

From what I understand, heart medications and furosemide can be used together and furosemide is fairly flexible for dosage, though it must be monitored.

I wish I had enough knowledge to offer you more helpful advice.

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