Specialist Guinea Pig Heart Meds

[Becky N]

Hi,
My guinea pig has been diagnosed with an enlarged heart (seen on x-ray) and pericardial effusion (fluid surrounding heart - seen on ultrasound but not by an exotic specialist). Blood tests revealed infection which she is still on treatment for with baytril and metronidazole solution. I just wanted to find out what heart meds people are using with their piggies as the vet suggested 1/2 a 2.5mg fortekor (or whichever benezepril hydrochloride your vet prescribed) tablet twice a day which seems far too much!? :/ Do people divide tablets into 10 parts or however small it should be or how are you dosing at the correct level. I don't want to make the situation worse as I had a pig with heart problems before and it was heartbreaking to watch her deterioration. Hope this makes sense x

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
My guinea pig has been diagnosed with an enlarged heart (seen on x-ray) and pericardial effusion (fluid surrounding heart - seen on ultrasound but not by an exotic specialist). Blood tests revealed infection which she is still on treatment for with baytril and metronidazole solution. I just wanted to find out what heart meds people are using with their piggies as the vet suggested 1/2 a 2.5mg fortekor (or whichever benezepril hydrochloride your vet prescribed) tablet twice a day which seems far too much!? :/ Do people divide tablets into 10 parts or however small it should be or how are you dosing at the correct level. I don't want to make the situation worse as I had a pig with heart problems before and it was heartbreaking to watch her deterioration. Hope this makes sense x

Hi and welcome!

You can either get a pill cutter and divide the tablet up or dissolve half of a tablet in an amount of water that is divisible by 5. Shake well between and keep in the fridge. You may need to make it up fresh every two days.

@Abi_nurse @furryfriends (TEAS) may be able to advise you better on the medication.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

The only time I've used Fortekor, which was many years ago, I was giving 1/4 of a 2.5mg Fortekor tablet twice a day. It was easy enough to cut into four using a pill cutter and I then made up some syringe food, and popped the tablet into the end of the food filled syringe. I then syringed it in and the piggy chewed it up and swallowed it. Much easier than mixing with water, when a lot of the tablet gets wasted as it sticks to the side of the bottle you mix it in.

 

[Becky N]

These are both really helpful suggestions, thank you! I will wait to see if I need to question dosages of the meds with the vet that has been dealing with the case as I don't want to cause further problems such as her blood pressure becoming too low etc from overdosing. One of the vets I know (not experienced in treating many guinea pigs) showed me the drug formulary and I can't knowingly give around 20x the amount the vet said in comparison to the book without proof it is safe to do so.