DMBernard
Junior Guinea Pig
Hello, everyone.
About two weeks ago, I noticed that my three and a half year old boar, Erik, was breathing heavily and had lost some weight. I immediately took him to the vet, who x-rayed him and discovered lots of fluid around his lung. There was so much fluid you couldn't even see his heart on the x-ray. The vet wasn't sure if it was or pneumonia or a heart problem causing the fluid. He couldn't see the heart to tell if it was enlarged, and Erik didn't have a fever to indicate infection. Also, the vet extracted some fluid and thought it wasn't as viscous as what you would expect with pneumonia. (I'm not sure how much I trust this assumption.)
He prescribed an antibiotic and diuretic for Erik, which I proceeded to give him for the next week. Since Erik has stopped eating anything but romaine lettuce (that pig has an addiction) I also force fed him Critical Care. He started eating again after a few days, and his breathing eased up. In my follow up appointment with the vet, the fluid had disappeared and his heart wasn't enlarged. The vet couldn't definitively say what had caused the fluid, and suggested I keep an eye on Erik while weaning him off the diuretic.
Now it's been a week, and I've kept Erik on the diruetic because I had to leave him with my parents while out of town. We just drove down to Florida for a week, and I didn't feel comfortable leaving Erik, so we brought him with.
However, he seems worse. He keeps crying while pooping, and it's really worrying me. He's still eating some, but I can't help but worry that it's decreased some. I've given him lettuce covered in water in case he's dehydrated, and I'm continuing with the diuretic, but I wanted to ask your guy's opinions about his symptoms. I fear since I haven't been able to treat the cause, poor Erik is only going to get worse.
About two weeks ago, I noticed that my three and a half year old boar, Erik, was breathing heavily and had lost some weight. I immediately took him to the vet, who x-rayed him and discovered lots of fluid around his lung. There was so much fluid you couldn't even see his heart on the x-ray. The vet wasn't sure if it was or pneumonia or a heart problem causing the fluid. He couldn't see the heart to tell if it was enlarged, and Erik didn't have a fever to indicate infection. Also, the vet extracted some fluid and thought it wasn't as viscous as what you would expect with pneumonia. (I'm not sure how much I trust this assumption.)
He prescribed an antibiotic and diuretic for Erik, which I proceeded to give him for the next week. Since Erik has stopped eating anything but romaine lettuce (that pig has an addiction) I also force fed him Critical Care. He started eating again after a few days, and his breathing eased up. In my follow up appointment with the vet, the fluid had disappeared and his heart wasn't enlarged. The vet couldn't definitively say what had caused the fluid, and suggested I keep an eye on Erik while weaning him off the diuretic.
Now it's been a week, and I've kept Erik on the diruetic because I had to leave him with my parents while out of town. We just drove down to Florida for a week, and I didn't feel comfortable leaving Erik, so we brought him with.
However, he seems worse. He keeps crying while pooping, and it's really worrying me. He's still eating some, but I can't help but worry that it's decreased some. I've given him lettuce covered in water in case he's dehydrated, and I'm continuing with the diuretic, but I wanted to ask your guy's opinions about his symptoms. I fear since I haven't been able to treat the cause, poor Erik is only going to get worse.
Lymohoma is an awful illness 