Heart Attack/Stroke

A piggy belonging to a friend of mine had a heart attack yesterday, and it was really scary for her. She was at the vet because he was eating and drinking fine, but losing weight. The vet had a couple of emergencies, so she and her piggy were left in the exam room for about 90 minutes. During that time, her piggy got really anxious, then started having trouble breathing and moving. She opened the exam room door and called for help, and when she turned back, he was flat as a pancake, on his side, barely breathing. Attempts to give him water failed, as the water just trickled out the other side of his mouth.

The vet treated him with Lasik, and because he was so stressed, sent him home for the night. My friend fed him Critical Care all night, and finally he started drinking and eating on his own, earlier today, although very little and very slowly. The outlook is promising as he is eating and drinking on his own.

There is hope for piggies suffering from heart attacks and strokes, as outlined by the late Peter Gurney on his website. The link is as follows:

http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/heartproblems.htm

After reading the information, I thought it was worth posting so others would know the symptoms and what actions to take should their piggy have a heart attack or stroke.

Thank you for updating us about this, I must tell you that in your friend's situation I wouldn't handle it like she did, probably they would've taken me to the ER too next to my piggy. She's very brave and I hope the piggy gets better and healthy soon. There's always a second change for innocent and good animals that don't hurt no one. Poor baby been so little and had to go through that. I wish your friend the best with the piggy.

King George, the heart attack victim, is doing better. The Lasix (I think I spelled it wrong before) seems to be working. Since Lasix is hard on the liver, she's feeding him sugar-free cranberry juice to help cleanse his liver. He's off the Critical Care, but still not up to speed on his eating/drinking. He's eating veggies, but slow on the pellets.
The vet decided not to have him back for an MRI, as she's sure it's heart disease. He's now taking Baytril to fight off any URIs, and the vet is going to check him at home regularly to keep him from over stressing at the office.
She finally got a few hours of sleep, and he survived, so she's hoping for a little more sleep tonight.

Wow! it's so sad to find out about something like this do you have pictures of the little angel if not she's more then welcome to come here and post them. She must be feeling really bad right now. All my blessings for her.