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Congestive Heart Failure


Guest WhiteWave

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Guest WhiteWave

Pongo my little Jack Russell mix has CHF. He has been on meds for months. Took him to a new vet and they made some adjustments after doing an xray and his heart was so enlarged it was shoving his windpipe into his spine. He goes back Thursday for bloodwork to check kidney function.

 

I don't think the Lasix is doing a good enough job. I was reading up on treatment plans and it said Spironolactone could be used in addition so I'm going to ask about that.

 

Anybody have any other suggestions? I just want to keep him comfortable as long as I can.

 

He is taking Vetmedin, Benazepril and Lasix right now. His belly is still swelling some and he is coughing again. Still eating/drinking fine though.

 

 

Spironolactone (Aldactone)

When the maximum dose of furosemide diuretic is not longer sufficient to eliminate fluid buildup in your pet’s lungs (pulmonary edema) or tummy (ascites), another diuretic, spironolactone, can be added to the medications your pet receives. Spironolactone has the advantage of not depleting the body’s potassium reserve.
You need to be patient. Unlike furosemide, it takes 2-4 days for the full effect of spironolactone to be reached. Spirolactone can increase the toxicity and effect of digoxin so if your pet is on digitoxin, its dose may need to be lowered. It can also cause an increase in serum potassium, which can also be dangerous. To monitor potassium, a blood sample need to be taken and measured for serum electrolytes and kidney function. Often this is done on the 3-4th day, the 7th day and periodically there after.

 

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Does he have room to go up on his Vetmedin dose? Adding spironolactone may help, but increasing the Vetmedin may have more of an effect. The cardiologist I consult with will sometimes even recommend going above the label dose for Vetmedin. There are also other diuretics that may be more effective - one that the cardiologist has recommended is torsemide. If your vet is not familiar with these options, maybe they can do a phone consult with a veterinary cardiologist.

Jennifer &

Willow (Wilma Waggle), Wiki (Wiki Hard Ten), Carter (Let's Get It On),

Ollie (whippet), Gracie (whippet x), & Terra (whippet) + Just Saying + Just Alice

gtsig3.jpg

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Good thoughts for Pongo. Our angel Jack had this and unfortunately it took his life too early.

Kyle with Stewie ('Super C Ledoux, Super C Sampson x Sing It Blondie) and forever missing my three angels, Jack ('Roy Jack', Greys Flambeau x Miss Cobblepot) and Charlie ('CTR Midas Touch', Leo's Midas x Hallo Argentina) and Shelby ('Shari's Hooty', Flying Viper x Shari Carusi) running free across the bridge.

Gus an coinnich sinn a'rithist my boys and little girl.

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Guest WhiteWave

Thanks. There is probably room to increase the Vetmedin. He is only getting 5 mg a day, 1/2 am 1/2 pm. But I'm not sure I can afford it. The pills are over $1 a piece as it is and super hard to get in him. I have to grind it to a powder and mix in can food and even then he won't take it sometimes. It is a superhard fight to get pills into him.

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Guest WhiteWave

They put him on spironolactone, potassium supplement, and antibiotics for a tooth infection. Bloodworked showed his potassium was low. And x-ray showed the heart hadn't changed much, but the fluid was a little less with the increase in lasix, but his it at the upper dose for it. :( Said he is in the finally stages of heart disease so not sure if he will make it to his birthday in October or not. :(

 

So now I got to give him Vetmedin, Lasix, Benezapril, Spironolactone, Potassium, Cyclosporine oil for the eye, neo poly dex ointment for the eye, and antibiotics for the teeth. All to a dog that hates medication to the tune of about $200 a month just for the meds.

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:( Prayers and gentle scritchies for your little guy.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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Guest BlueCrab

IIRC, Vetmedin is the same thing as pimobenden? If so, I order ours in "tiny tabs" which are REALLY tiny and cost about 59$ for 100 tabs from Wedgewood Compounding Pharmacy. Our big dog leyland (67pounds) gets on tiny tab 2x per day, so for a JRT, the dosage - and thus pill size - would probably be even smaller! We just started Leyland on the spironolactone. He seems to be doing well, but I've heard two coughs on the last two days, so I'm going to be hyper vigilant this weekend to make sure we're not retaining more fluids.

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Guest WhiteWave

IIRC, Vetmedin is the same thing as pimobenden? If so, I order ours in "tiny tabs" which are REALLY tiny and cost about 59$ for 100 tabs from Wedgewood Compounding Pharmacy. Our big dog leyland (67pounds) gets on tiny tab 2x per day, so for a JRT, the dosage - and thus pill size - would probably be even smaller! We just started Leyland on the spironolactone. He seems to be doing well, but I've heard two coughs on the last two days, so I'm going to be hyper vigilant this weekend to make sure we're not retaining more fluids.

Yes, it is. I will have to look into it. I just paid $8 for 5 pills to get us through the weekend as a friend who just lost her pit bull has 2 bottles she is mailing me.

I just got his spironolactone filled and his amoxicillin for his teeth. Thankfully Publix does free antiobiotics and the other was $4 at Walmart.

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