Oh no! I am so sorry, I never realised Dennis was ill
My poor wee orange man, give him a nose rub from me.
It makes sense, yes
I dont know how you feel about additional medication for his heart. There are more drugs that can be used, the Frusimide is just a diuretic. Other drugs could include vasodilators eg nitroglycerine given transdermally, ACE inhibitors eg Enalapril. If the problem is related to heart valve problems or cardiomyopathy then Digoxin.
But it may be that for Dennis more aggressive treatment is not appropriate, everyBun is different re when enough is enough. I am sure that whatever decision you make it will be the right one for Dennis xx
I agree with this post. The diuretic (your furosemide) is only helping to remove the fluid from the body. As it was explained to me, 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. We also had ACE inhibitors as Jane has mentioned, they inhibit an enzyme and help lower blood pressure I think? We had Enalapril as an ACE inhibitor.
The one which I found made the biggest difference was Pimobendan (Vetmedin brand name) which was developed for heart failure in dogs. I don't think it's common to be used in small furries, my vet had to phone the Royal D!ck vet in Edinburgh to ask about it. It's another inhibitor and I think has something to do with calcium - I don't know how it works. We found that the combination of the three meds made Oidhche-Velvet comfortable. We had another five months with her, but as the vet says, it's a case of 'how long is a piece of string?' as to how long they have.
As a very last ditch attempt we had, by injection, Dimazon (diuretic) to save me fighting with the Furosemide, vitamin B12, Colvasone (a steroid) and Millophyline (a respiratory stimulant). This
really perked her up, unfortunately we said goodbye the next day but she had been chewing at things the night before so was obviously feeling much better, if only for a short while. It may work for longer in other cases as every rabbit is different. The whole way through she also had Metacam (until we had to have the steroids) for the pain to use as and when we needed it. Normally they would worry about long-term effects but when have months you thankfully don't have to bother about it, so we kept her dosed up and pain-free.
Oxygen was recommended on the forum when we had breathing problems but we never used that as Oidhche hated the vet and I felt the journey would be counter-productive. I found a large cool room with well-circulated air helps, and in the early stages we gave chamomile tea which is a natural sedative. Although it will not help the heart, it may help him calm down, as humans panic when they can't breathe, so I suspect rabbits will too. We also found that sitting in a cool doorway and supporting her chest helped as well.
There are a few posts about him going by himself - although that would be nice unfortunately it doesn't always work like that. But he will tell you when it's time. Everyone told me I would know when Oidhche wanted to go and I didn't believe them, but in the end she lay in her hay box and didn't get up again, so we moved her to a carrier in the same position and went to the vets to say goodbye. It was very peaceful, and you do know when, you Dennis better than anyone. Hopefully you will still have a while with him before that day comes.
Please make sure and take care of yourself. You need to eat and rest too. You are no help to Dennis if you're not in one piece. He knows you love him and that is the most important thing in the world to him. I would check with the vet and then give him anything he wants - the day before OV went I asked K if there was anything we couldn't give her and he basically said let her eat whatever the heck she wants. Her last meal was my wooden cupboard :roll: but she also had biscuits and all sorts of sweet rubbish. It made her very happy and it's nice to have that memory of her so it may be something to bear in mind for the future. xx