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Cardiac problems- Pulmonary Oedema help!

Starlight

Starlight

Warren Veteran
Twilight has recently been diagnosed with Pulmonary Oedema (fluid on the lungs) and William, the vet, thinks she may have cardiac problems. She is on Frusol and will be going for a check up in a week or so, to see if the medication has improved matters at all or if she needs to go down the ultrasound route.

Has anyone else had a rabbit with this? Any information anyone could give on the long term etc on these problems would be great.
 
Can't comment on a rabbit, but I kept a rat on furosemide for almost a year (which is a long time for a rat) and he was exceptionally old (about 3) when I finally lost him. It's a very effective treatment with few side effects.
 
Starlight said:
Twilight has recently been diagnosed with Pulmonary Oedema (fluid on the lungs) and William, the vet, thinks she may have cardiac problems. She is on Frusol and will be going for a check up in a week or so, to see if the medication has improved matters at all or if she needs to go down the ultrasound route.

Has anyone else had a rabbit with this? Any information anyone could give on the long term etc on these problems would be great.
Click to expand...

My last girl, Oidhche, had an enlarged heart which caused PO and eventually cardiac failure.

She was on Furosemide (brand name is Frusol), Enalapril, and Pimobendan (Vetmedin). Furosemide removes fluid from the lungs which is putting extra pressure on them and making it harder to breathe. So it makes breathing easier, and takes some of the strain off the heart, but doesn't help the heart directly. The Enalapril is an ACE inhibitor, they inhibit an enzyme and help lower blood pressure I think? Pimobendan is another inhibitor and I think has something to do with calcium - I don't know much about that one, but it is used in dogs a lot apparently. My vet had to phone the Royal D!ck vet in Edinburgh to ask about it in small furries. We found that the combination of the three meds made Oidhche-Velvet comfortable, but the most improvement was when we started the Pimobendan.

There is no cure and it's just a case of slowing the progression. Oidhche lived five months after her diagnosis, however BBMommy has posted about rabbits who have lived a couple of years with treatment. Oidhche's thread is here if you fancy a read.
 
Last edited:
Hi. I'm so sorry to hear your news.
There's also a thread by a now inactive user - donnamt about her rabbit Pearl who had pulmonary oedema from cardiomegally. She posted some videos. Pearl lived for about 9 months after diagnosis, but there was a period of perhaps 3 months before diagnosis when donnamt noticed rapid breathing.
I'm sorry I can't find the thread for you, I can't use the search on the new format forum.

The Royal D!ck (Edinburgh) has an excellent reputation for rabbit vets with Brigetta Ruesh.
However if you find a good rabbit vet, they usually confer around the country with other good vets for difficult problems.

With every good wish.
 
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