LuvAPuppy

See! This is exactly what I was talking about. Hope she doesn't need it after her sutures.

You may have to, and she'll look really funny, bandage the afflicted ear to the top of her head to immobilize it. I wish I could give you good verbal/written instructions for it but I'm not the best bandager. Someone on here will know how to describe it!

check Target, Kroger if you have one, Walmart, Meijer if you have one. All have $4.00 generic programs. M's enalapril is $4.00 at our Kroger. Vetmedin isn't FDA approved for human consumption in the US but someone posted here not long ago that some Targets have a veterinary medicine program. Mine doesn't. Lasix (furosemide) should have a $4.00 generic, so should the Norvasc (um...amlodpine is the generic I think....I'll try to get back to ya on that. been out of nursing for almost four years. Yay). I'm not sure of the other two. Aldactone I've heard of, but not the Fork-one.... HTH. Glad he's home and stable. Except for her occasional cough after she drinks, at this point, I really can't tell M has any heart problem. She has good color, she doesn't retain fluid and her Lasix dose is 2.5 mg, yes 2.5 mg every other day. (Can't get that at the pharmacy, too tiny of a dose.) ETA: Amlodipine is generic Norvasc, Fortekor one is benzapril and it's like the first BP med ever created so I know it's on a $4.00 program somewhere in some form. Just don't know about the Aldactone, I don't remember ever writing a patient's Rx for that....

This is what Mousie's on and has been for almost 2 years.

Didn't read everything, probably this has been already covered , for yorbut yes, his heart will enlarge as it works harder to compensate for the murmur. Mousie's heart is enlarged enough that it is elevating her trachea causing her to periodically cough, especially after drinking. The heart, being a muscle will thicken or essentially "bulk up" with the work out, just like any other muscle will.

gutted.... and speechless....

Indiana wasn't on the Pet Rx list

My cat likes his version. It makes him incredibly thirsty though so he only gets a small handful as a treat when I have to leave (learned from the dog who gets treated before she gets put in her room when I go...). He gets the chicken.

What I said out loud after opening isn't printable here. You fought the good fight and he maybe had something that wasn't just epilepsy You have my healing thoughts and prayers for your broken heart

I've opened two threads and both made me utter something not printable on this board. I kind of figured though too after so many days without an update that silence was it's own update. Thinking healing thoughts and prayers for your broken heart.

This is awesome! are you tight enough with him that you'd trust him to access your house/dog and walk/play for a half hour a day, if he'd be willing to help out? do you have a room, maybe unfurnished? (my IG will pee on the bed when she's mad. she also has toothpicks for legs) I keep Mousie in an unfurnished bedroom. It has hardwood floor, her crate with a bed in it and open, a loose bed, her radio and a lamp. That's it except for a dresser and the linen cabinet. This is where she stays while I'm gone. the floor, while able to be damaged is easy to clean up and she can't hurt herself jumping up and down off of furniture. She also has no problems being alone and she's been here for 9 years so a few variables that are different from you.. Or, do you have several babygates that you can use to barricade him someplace. I have to stack two for Mousie because she can jump one. Of course, the cat tends to push down the lower one and let her out....

Danes are prone too, ours didn't have it or didn't tell us. If she's still feeding puppy food, I'd get the dog off of it. It's packed with "growing puppy stuff" that the Dane breeders believe rushes them through their growing stages and adds to the growing pains likely hood. I had my Dane puppy on high quality adult food by 5 months

My understanding (not a vet either, work in human medicine) is KC is just plain old viral bronchitis. Miserable for the patient and pet-parent, usually non-fatal but like any respiratory illness can progress to the lungs and become a viral pneumonia; however it usually doesn't. the abx are to prevent secondary infection and the cough med is for his comfort and your sleep. Sage may get it. As he coughs he expels virion in to the air and if she's close by she can inhale the virus. Just the risk you take going out in public yourself. If you walk through a sneeze cloud and inhale rhinotrachial virus, you're gonna get a head cold 3-10 days later unless you've had that particular virus before. Almost all viral illnesses are one shot deals.

Does the new neuro have all the test results from the other vet(s)? If not, do no new tests until s/he does. Get the original MRI films if you can, if the new neuro says they see something super suspicious that a new MRI is going to show progression of and influence treatment/cure, then do a new MRI. But a new doc with no test results is going to have to recommend repeating everything cuz they've got nothing to work with but an exhausted, exasperated Mom and a patient who can't talk. AFAIK from people medicine, those two meds are ok together. Keppra I know is a relatively new, good seizure med.

You know you'll know when the heart hurts days outnumber the squeaky toy days.... but at least she's having a good one today!

My vet is also an acupuncturist, understands energy and alternative healing practices. She knows all the oils and herbal supplements i'm giving. she hasn't twitched an eyebrow over it,, but hasn't endorsed it either. the cardiologist knows i am doing holistic supplementation.. thru speaking with my vet, I actually haven't spoken with the cardiologist since our last ultrasound on the 14th. The first ultrasound done no the 10th, we looked at his heart,, but we also looked at all his organs. At that time, he said the kidneys looked perfect. so as long as they keep working , "all" we have to worry about is the protein loss from filtration issues. his specific gravity is normal. BUN and Creatinine normal too. I am hoping we can discontinue the Plavix. the next ultrasound will be very useful,,, keeping my fingers crossed for that one,,, Essential Oils and herbal supplements keep doing your job! i'm counting on it!! My opinion and not walking in your shoes, I love holistic medicine, but if he were mine and I were dealing with a clotting issue, I would NEVER d/c the Plavix. And I know you won't without the blessing of the specialist and the regular vet, but as a nurse, that's just my opinion. If the repeat testing shows this magic combination is working, just let it keep working!!

Yes. It's generic Lasix, a diruetic to flush excess fluid from the lungs/body so the heart doesn't have to work as hard to circulate the blood. It's a common drug for high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. And now I'll go read the rest of the posts put up since last night. And now that I've read, Lasix is not for bronchitis as someone else mentioned. I hope they're not mistaking inflammation/infection in the lungs (pneumonia) for just excess fluid....

I agree with Batmom For what it's worth, and when you're grieving it's worth nothing, but I agree with them. As others have posted, use of NSAIDS in pets and people can cause catastrophic GI bleeding but it's USUALLY (extra emphasis on that usually) consecutive usage and/or long term usage. A few random doses sporadically don't generally do it. Everyone is different, but it sounds unlikely to me as well.

I never realized you changed your user name, I thought you left us. Regardless I'm so thankful for True that her illness was very short duration and she didn't suffer long term, although their sudden departure is usually harder on us. You have my thoughts

That makes the health care provider in me wonder if it really is a clot or if it's like a hemangioma, but it really doesn't matter, the end result is going to be the same

Fib patients are usually short of breath, that's one of the earliest human signs and it's because the body is not getting oxygenated. A cough is not unusual either because if the heart isn't working effectively, the lungs are collecting fluid so do call if you haven't because he may need a diuretic (laxix, salix or bumex although I'm not sure if they use bumex in critters). If he were hospitalized they could put him on IV cardizem and lasix I suppose...they do humans....

I know only of the disease in humans - the AFib part and it's manageable with blood thinners (coumadin and/or plavix) and meds to regulate the heart rate (ditilizem and enalapril and coreg and digoxin among others). In some cases the heart converts back to normal rhythm and in others the meds are used to make the heart work around the normal rhythm. Keeping the blood thinned so it doesn't clot is of utmost importance. Atrial Fib is (essentially) spasming of the upper heart chambers, they beat too rapidly and without pace therefore not effectively filling the ventricles which are the chambers that feed blood to the body and lungs. Some Fib patients do convert on their own or with use of meds. Some Fib patients have a pacemaker implanted and others fibrillate the rest of their lives. Hope the information helps somehow...

speechless, as always because words are never enough...

My black Dane used to sun fade in the summer, however she also did get brown, brittle coat after a food change once so your brown patches could go either way

Could he have hurt his neck when he went down? It could be worth a cervical CT to see if he's herniated or ruptured a disk or, worse, severed his spinal cord. That could tell you if you really need to worry about the seizures or not.