What would you do with Beni? (even better update 4/10)

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A friend of mine is going to let me have some lasix and fortekor to try Beni diagnostically on it for heart issues :thumbup:

I thought I would take a few pics of him tonight so he's not just another nameless health story LOLOL

Beni2mar27.jpg


Benimar27.jpg


He's on top, thats one of his many sisters with him
Beniandsistermar27.jpg


And sadly my sweet tiny timid "blonde" wheelrunning Faerdae has a URI....she is not timid with the baytril syringe. I am hoping it responds well :D
Faerdaeissicktoomar27.jpg
 
Beni took a downturn last night and I was sure he was not going to make it, but he rallied and stabilized. Today I got my Fortekor (Benazapril) and Furosemide (Lasix), but decided I can only give him one since I am taking a chance at him inhaling the meds while he is gasping. I decided on the heart meds Fortekor, and gave him .07 cc of it just now. He gasped but didn't seem to inhale any, which could lead in aspiration pneumonia and would kill him. :(

I have my fingers crossed tightly. :(
 
Aww, I hope it helps Shelagh.

Poor Beni (I totally spelled his name wrong in my last post... I don't know WHAT to blame that on :? )
 
I posted on goosemoose asking how fast I *might* see results and Lise posted this in response

Lasix would do more... if there is a fluid accumulation hindering his breathing.

Fortekor just (in a nutshell) stops the body from re-uptaking as much water... but it isn't a diuretic so it doesn't flush out any accumulations of fluid that are already there.

For heart disease we start the animal on both lasix & fortekor. And the lasix probably does the most right off the bat because it removes that fluid that is causing the immediate breathing problems. The fortekor is for maintenance of the condition.

The lasix is the better diagnostic tool because you can also see it working after only a few hours.

Does that make sense?

So I just grabbed him (literally) out of his cage and popped in the .11 cc of lasix before he went into a full-blown attack. He was swallowing and I left him to recover with a quick kiss of course.

Now we should know soon. :sad-p:
 
Oh lord, I'm so sorry for you both that that you aren't able to cuddle & ease things for each other thru this.
I hope that the lazix is the answer to his troubles and keeps him from having suffering times.
But if not I'm sorry, but I'm agreeing with bruxxy. I'm of the belief that Life should be about quality not quantity if there is no cure. And having had some really bad breathing episodes myself I know how terrifying and awful they can be and they can make you wish only for the comfort of escaping your body.
I'm sorry Shelagh, it's easier to say when it's not your kid, but it's said with all respect for Beni's life & value. I just hope that the meds can keep these awful episode from recurring for him and I'm praying for him and it's so much esasier to put my heart into that looking at his sweet self in the pictures. He's so precious.
 
Crossing my fingers and toes for Beni! Hope the heart combo works well for him. With Melissa it was like a miracle.... from near-dead to lively within two days.

I had to start her on the Lasix; she was too ill to eat or drink except for a little bit from my fingers, so I got her to take Lasix from my fingers and that got her on the road to recovery.

Looking forward to seeing how he's doing by morning.
 
Well....this morning I wouldn't say there was a miracle, but he seems brighter, his breathing seems to have eased, and he let me stroke him, and when I was rubbing his cheek he tipped his head and started seriously licking me. :shock:
He then let me feel his paws, and tail and they are warm not cold. I think he's feeling a bit better. I'll see how he is tomorrow after tonight's dose. To be fair I will give it 3 days to see if its really going to help him.

If he has a congenital heart defect this will help but not "cure" will it?
 
I'm glad Beni is feeling better but if it's congenital heart disease, nothing will "cure" it, and meds will help for so long. My Boo had that and he was retaining water and got huge. But at the time my vet was not so savvy and we were treating him for myco. After the post mortem she realized Boo should have been on totally different meds.
 
mamarat said:
I'm glad Beni is feeling better but if it's congenital heart disease, nothing will "cure" it, and meds will help for so long. My Boo had that and he was retaining water and got huge. But at the time my vet was not so savvy and we were treating him for myco. After the post mortem she realized Boo should have been on totally different meds.
Click to expand...

So do not expect the miracle so many people talk about?
 
No miracle, I'm sorry, Shelagh. Although I have to wonder if Boo had received the proper meds, he would have lived longer. Boo was 20 months when he died.
 
With Rhonda, whose condition was worse than Melissa's, she never recovered enough to regain her former stamina. For example, she was no longer able to climb the bars of the playpen or cage. I had to give her Atenolol as well as Lasix and Fortekor, and eventually needed to double the dosages of those meds. She needed Lasix three times a day. But she lived for six months after starting the heart meds, and she had a decent quality of life. She was still curious, loved chewing and exploring, and she hauled herself up and down the levels of the FN with rests in between. One night she refused her meds and the next morning she died.

With Melissa, she is not as active as the others (perhaps that's why she always weighed more than her sisters) but she is livelier than Rhonda was. I am fortunate that her appetite is good and so she never refuses medication. Sometimes that was an issue with Rhonda. Melissa has not needed Atenolol, and I have been able to reduce the Lasix by half. I tried eliminating it, but her breathing got noisy again.

So it's hard to guess what will happen with Beni. You should know within a couple of days. Good luck!
 

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