Occasional blood in urine??? -- Gizmo's Thread
-
Talishan
- You can quote me
Lynx, I want to say there were a few entries to that effect on the heart pig stories thread? I may be misremembering or just have dreamt it, though.
Countrygirl: sorry, for some reason I thought you were in the UK. Antifungal cream here in the US would be Monistat or Lotrimin.
Countrygirl: sorry, for some reason I thought you were in the UK. Antifungal cream here in the US would be Monistat or Lotrimin.
-
countrygirl49
- Supporter in '13
Well, Gizmo’s eye barely had any discharge yesterday from the time I got home through the evening—looked almost normal. (Well, as normal as it can with Pea Eye.)
I doubt my vet is a veterinary ophthalmologist, but she is extremely experienced with guinea pigs. I’ll see if I can find out whether she can flush a guinea pig tear duct, or see if I can find a specific ophthalmologist who will treat guinea pigs.
That is quite interesting that the tear duct/drainage issues are more often than not connected with heart issues. I think I read that Pea Eye is frequently associated with it, though.
I had no idea they lose hair in an area if it stays wet; it seemed like that’s what was happening, though. Good to know.
When I’ve wiped around her eye the handful of times that I have, she definitely doesn’t like it, but tolerates a damp paper towel. I’m not sure if she would like anything in one spot for more than a few seconds, but I’ll give it a try.
Talishan—no worries on the UK bit. I am in Alaska, so it’s almost as far away from the Lower 48 as the UK. LOL
I definitely didn’t want to hear the heart support bit, but have suspected it if only for a couple very small symptoms. After reading (multiple times) possible signs of heart issues, the only ones that *might* match are as follows:
-Sometimes when she breathes, there is almost a little clicky-type noise, but I wouldn’t consider it labored breathing or wheezing. Not sure what I would call it.
-I’ve heard a slight “hooting” about twice in the past many months—both times when she was very excited after I chased her to pick her up. Otherwise, nothing.
-And, of course the pea eye and now watery eye.
Otherwise, she is definitely active, has a normal appetite and stable weight (even up about an ounce last weigh in), and they both sleep well, but wake up pretty quickly and are ready to bolt if I try to pick them up.
Questions:
-If the watery eye were associated with the heart, is it likely to be generally constant, or could it be intermittent?
-If I put Monistat on her eye area, when they “preen” (haha, our term for cleaning themselves), would they not ingest it? Is it safe?
-Re. the Benazepril—Would I want to just start a low dose right off if the vet would let me? Or is it recommended to have x-rays, blood work, other diagnostics before starting a low-dose trial?
-Re. the Benazepril—What are the risks?
I doubt my vet is a veterinary ophthalmologist, but she is extremely experienced with guinea pigs. I’ll see if I can find out whether she can flush a guinea pig tear duct, or see if I can find a specific ophthalmologist who will treat guinea pigs.
That is quite interesting that the tear duct/drainage issues are more often than not connected with heart issues. I think I read that Pea Eye is frequently associated with it, though.
I had no idea they lose hair in an area if it stays wet; it seemed like that’s what was happening, though. Good to know.
When I’ve wiped around her eye the handful of times that I have, she definitely doesn’t like it, but tolerates a damp paper towel. I’m not sure if she would like anything in one spot for more than a few seconds, but I’ll give it a try.
Talishan—no worries on the UK bit. I am in Alaska, so it’s almost as far away from the Lower 48 as the UK. LOL
I definitely didn’t want to hear the heart support bit, but have suspected it if only for a couple very small symptoms. After reading (multiple times) possible signs of heart issues, the only ones that *might* match are as follows:
-Sometimes when she breathes, there is almost a little clicky-type noise, but I wouldn’t consider it labored breathing or wheezing. Not sure what I would call it.
-I’ve heard a slight “hooting” about twice in the past many months—both times when she was very excited after I chased her to pick her up. Otherwise, nothing.
-And, of course the pea eye and now watery eye.
Otherwise, she is definitely active, has a normal appetite and stable weight (even up about an ounce last weigh in), and they both sleep well, but wake up pretty quickly and are ready to bolt if I try to pick them up.
Questions:
-If the watery eye were associated with the heart, is it likely to be generally constant, or could it be intermittent?
-If I put Monistat on her eye area, when they “preen” (haha, our term for cleaning themselves), would they not ingest it? Is it safe?
-Re. the Benazepril—Would I want to just start a low dose right off if the vet would let me? Or is it recommended to have x-rays, blood work, other diagnostics before starting a low-dose trial?
-Re. the Benazepril—What are the risks?
-
Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
I am not 100% sure the wateryness is cleaning fluid. I do not know if eye lubricant (like our tears) is different than the "cleaning fluid". If there is a blocked tear duct, supposedly warm, wet compresses can help to open it (though it sounds like your guinea pig would protest ;-).
-
Delaine
- Supporter in '14
This eye problem interests me.
My sow Abbey (5 years 3 months) has had an issue with her LEFT eye since August 2013. Her eye weeps after she grooms herself and releases the cleaning fluid. The fluid doesn't drain away properly. In between grooming her eye is fine so I know in her case it is cleaning fluid.
I noticed in September 2015 Abbey was also developing pea eye in the RIGHT eye. It was very subtle at the time and her vet could hardly see it. It gets worse when she is hot or a bit dehydrated.
Otherwise she is very active and so far doesn't have any other obvious heart symptoms. Once she was in a very sound sleep and it took a minute for her to wake up but that only happened once and it was awhile ago.
I hope other members will comment on similar issues.
My sow Abbey (5 years 3 months) has had an issue with her LEFT eye since August 2013. Her eye weeps after she grooms herself and releases the cleaning fluid. The fluid doesn't drain away properly. In between grooming her eye is fine so I know in her case it is cleaning fluid.
I noticed in September 2015 Abbey was also developing pea eye in the RIGHT eye. It was very subtle at the time and her vet could hardly see it. It gets worse when she is hot or a bit dehydrated.
Otherwise she is very active and so far doesn't have any other obvious heart symptoms. Once she was in a very sound sleep and it took a minute for her to wake up but that only happened once and it was awhile ago.
I hope other members will comment on similar issues.
-
Talishan
- You can quote me
1. It could definitely be intermittent. If she is beginning to develop heart compromise, it may become more consistent.
2. Use only a tinytiny bit of antifungal cream, and rub it in well. Don't glob it on. If she ingests an infinitesimal amount while grooming after that, it won't hurt her.
3. Get an x-ray to check for heart enlargement. That's all I'd do right now, unless you have a vet that can do a cardiac ultrasound or ECHO. I wouldn't do anything more invasive or stressful than that.
4. Benazepril is a fairly benign med with a pretty good safety profile. If she gets it and doesn't need it, all that happens is that her blood pressure will drop (same as in a human). She would become lazy and lethargic, and in an extreme case faint (fall over, then reawake). That's exceedingly unlikely, especially if you start her on a low dose and work up. That has *never* happened at our house, and we've had several heart pigs, as well as a couple on whom it was tried and they didn't need it.
Heart compromise develops slowly over time (unless it's congenital), and it's a continuum of signs and symptoms, not clear-cut, definitive ones. If you try it and it helps her at an early stage, if she does have heart enlargement, it will help keep the condition from progressing, or progressing as quickly as it otherwise would.
We've had several pigs on heart support meds beneficially for years.
2. Use only a tinytiny bit of antifungal cream, and rub it in well. Don't glob it on. If she ingests an infinitesimal amount while grooming after that, it won't hurt her.
3. Get an x-ray to check for heart enlargement. That's all I'd do right now, unless you have a vet that can do a cardiac ultrasound or ECHO. I wouldn't do anything more invasive or stressful than that.
4. Benazepril is a fairly benign med with a pretty good safety profile. If she gets it and doesn't need it, all that happens is that her blood pressure will drop (same as in a human). She would become lazy and lethargic, and in an extreme case faint (fall over, then reawake). That's exceedingly unlikely, especially if you start her on a low dose and work up. That has *never* happened at our house, and we've had several heart pigs, as well as a couple on whom it was tried and they didn't need it.
Heart compromise develops slowly over time (unless it's congenital), and it's a continuum of signs and symptoms, not clear-cut, definitive ones. If you try it and it helps her at an early stage, if she does have heart enlargement, it will help keep the condition from progressing, or progressing as quickly as it otherwise would.
We've had several pigs on heart support meds beneficially for years.
-
countrygirl49
- Supporter in '13
Lynx- Yep. Gizmo definitely protests if I try to hold anything there, but will tolerate wiping it. She's learned how to "side-head butt" my hand. Lol.
Delaine- Abbey's eye issues sound interesting. Like I said, Gizmo's pea eye and the draining are the most prominent symptoms related to heart and she is pretty much lacking other symptoms except for the occasional other symptom like a hoot.
Talishan- Thanks for the great info. Last weigh in she was up to 1085g. With Benazepril, there a standard dose to start at, or is it weight based? Also, why try Benazepril first vs Lasix?
Delaine- Abbey's eye issues sound interesting. Like I said, Gizmo's pea eye and the draining are the most prominent symptoms related to heart and she is pretty much lacking other symptoms except for the occasional other symptom like a hoot.
Talishan- Thanks for the great info. Last weigh in she was up to 1085g. With Benazepril, there a standard dose to start at, or is it weight based? Also, why try Benazepril first vs Lasix?
-
Talishan
- You can quote me
https://www.guinealynx.info/heart.html
Most of our pigs have stabilized at roughly half the dose listed on that page. If you try it, I'd start out at a quarter or less, and go up, if needed, in 10% increments.
Benazepril is an ACE inhibitor, a "direct" heart support medication for lack of a better way to put it. Lasix is a diuretic. It helps the heart remove excess fluid from the body's tissues if needed, helping the heart and taking some of the workload off a weakened heart, but it doesn't help support heart function directly. It's also pretty powerful. I wouldn't want to use it unless an x-ray shows excess fluid in the lungs or pericardial cavity.
In my observation, they have 1) normal eye lubrication (tears like us) and 2) a milkier, more crystalline fluid they use for cleaning themselves. Both drain out through the tear duct and drainage system under the corner of the eye, much like our eyes.
A pig can definitely have drainage problems or the occasional misfire without having any heart problem. We've had at least one. The two problems seem to occur together a lot, though.
Most of our pigs have stabilized at roughly half the dose listed on that page. If you try it, I'd start out at a quarter or less, and go up, if needed, in 10% increments.
Benazepril is an ACE inhibitor, a "direct" heart support medication for lack of a better way to put it. Lasix is a diuretic. It helps the heart remove excess fluid from the body's tissues if needed, helping the heart and taking some of the workload off a weakened heart, but it doesn't help support heart function directly. It's also pretty powerful. I wouldn't want to use it unless an x-ray shows excess fluid in the lungs or pericardial cavity.
In my observation, they have 1) normal eye lubrication (tears like us) and 2) a milkier, more crystalline fluid they use for cleaning themselves. Both drain out through the tear duct and drainage system under the corner of the eye, much like our eyes.
A pig can definitely have drainage problems or the occasional misfire without having any heart problem. We've had at least one. The two problems seem to occur together a lot, though.
-
countrygirl49
- Supporter in '13
Thanks for the info on the eye discharge and medication differences. Gizmo’s excess discharge seems to be clear most of the time.
It looks like Lotensin/Benazepril is always dosed at 1mg per pig, usually regardless of weight? So you’re suggesting that .25mg is where we should start, if deemed necessary, and that .5mg is where your pigs have usually stabilized?
We have an appointment on Monday morning for Gizmo, so we’ll see what happens. It’ll be interesting to see what the vet says with Gizmo’s very few “heart” symptoms, or lack thereof. And I was starting to think heart as well, but am still unsure because of her “lack” of symptoms. So we’ll see.
One interesting turn of events I started noticing Tuesday night… Panda Bear has started cleaning Gizmo’s left ear and under her left eye. At first I thought Panda was going to nip Gizmo’s ear, but she takes the edge of it in her mouth and licks up and down the front half of it and then moves on to under Gizmo’s weepy eye. I’m not sure why Panda is cleaning the edge of Gizmo’s ear, though… And I can’t believe Gizmo tolerates this (at least, that I’ve seen) as she usually doesn’t like it when Gizmo gets close to her to snuggle her, etc!
It looks like Lotensin/Benazepril is always dosed at 1mg per pig, usually regardless of weight? So you’re suggesting that .25mg is where we should start, if deemed necessary, and that .5mg is where your pigs have usually stabilized?
We have an appointment on Monday morning for Gizmo, so we’ll see what happens. It’ll be interesting to see what the vet says with Gizmo’s very few “heart” symptoms, or lack thereof. And I was starting to think heart as well, but am still unsure because of her “lack” of symptoms. So we’ll see.
One interesting turn of events I started noticing Tuesday night… Panda Bear has started cleaning Gizmo’s left ear and under her left eye. At first I thought Panda was going to nip Gizmo’s ear, but she takes the edge of it in her mouth and licks up and down the front half of it and then moves on to under Gizmo’s weepy eye. I’m not sure why Panda is cleaning the edge of Gizmo’s ear, though… And I can’t believe Gizmo tolerates this (at least, that I’ve seen) as she usually doesn’t like it when Gizmo gets close to her to snuggle her, etc!
-
Talishan
- You can quote me
They can sense when something's wrong with a mate, and groom the spot. We've seen this several times. Ditto Delaine.
Yes, that'd be my suggestion. Start at a quarter dose and monitor for response, then work up.
Note that those guidelines are twice-daily dosing. The one we have now is stable at about .7 mg per dose, or 1.36 mg total daily (a bit over half).
We've had a couple pigs to need the full dose, but not all.
Yes, that'd be my suggestion. Start at a quarter dose and monitor for response, then work up.
Note that those guidelines are twice-daily dosing. The one we have now is stable at about .7 mg per dose, or 1.36 mg total daily (a bit over half).
We've had a couple pigs to need the full dose, but not all.
SHOP AMAZON