DOG with Leaky Heart Valve....
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 5:39 pm
Leilanae,
10 1/2 years old
They did the first echocardiogram and said the valve was too thick… causing the problem. What I don’t understand is that he was ALWAYS reverse sneezing. Joe and Irene dealt with that AFTER Dr. Dodds diagnosed “hypothyroidism”. From day one when I picked him up at the airport, he was a "different” dog… always searching for food, eating anything he could get in his mouth, reverse sneezing like crazy…always looking for food. To this day I’m not sure if he had hypothyroidism or not, but whatever Dr. Joe and Irene and Joe did stopped what was happening & he seemed healthy again.
So maybe it was the heart then? The first echocardiogram and the other testing showed the valve problem. They ordered Pimobendan 10mg compounded after the first and second tests in a NJ lab, 1/2 Pim given 2 times a day.
This time (2nd test) they ordered the same Pim (a half 2 times a day) and added the Laxis, which has another name on the bottle. He takes a whole pill with the 1/2 Pim and food an hour later.
He drinks a lot of water! I give him “natural spring water”… sourced/bottled in El Dorado Springs canyon near Boulder, so he gets no water from the Denver Water Board! I haven’t tracked the exact amount he drinks per day (should I track it?), but output quickly noted after we started the Lasix. I now have to take him outside every 2-3 hours and after eating!! I have happily changed my schedule so I can take him out. He signals me when he has to go out. I try to write it down, but NOT doing a great job of documenting… but I can say that when we go out, he urinates. Mostly a lot… I’m moving to Costa Rica when his problems are resolved b/c I can’t leave him.
He does make it through the night because we go out before sleeping. Then we go out right away upon awakening...
Now there is no coughing/sneezing with the pills. I don’t know what to do about his food. His lust for eating has stopped. He needs bones, but will NOT eat chicken period. He’ll only eat the Niman pork ribs and tenderloin (raw/some baked/broiled and mixed grain-free @#$%. His raw food diet w/bones has turned into the best grain-free kibble I can find + raw meat pieces and bone. He is no longer the dog waiting for food, and that is for sure.
Thanks so much,
Walter and Vicki
10 1/2 years old
They did the first echocardiogram and said the valve was too thick… causing the problem. What I don’t understand is that he was ALWAYS reverse sneezing. Joe and Irene dealt with that AFTER Dr. Dodds diagnosed “hypothyroidism”. From day one when I picked him up at the airport, he was a "different” dog… always searching for food, eating anything he could get in his mouth, reverse sneezing like crazy…always looking for food. To this day I’m not sure if he had hypothyroidism or not, but whatever Dr. Joe and Irene and Joe did stopped what was happening & he seemed healthy again.
So maybe it was the heart then? The first echocardiogram and the other testing showed the valve problem. They ordered Pimobendan 10mg compounded after the first and second tests in a NJ lab, 1/2 Pim given 2 times a day.
This time (2nd test) they ordered the same Pim (a half 2 times a day) and added the Laxis, which has another name on the bottle. He takes a whole pill with the 1/2 Pim and food an hour later.
He drinks a lot of water! I give him “natural spring water”… sourced/bottled in El Dorado Springs canyon near Boulder, so he gets no water from the Denver Water Board! I haven’t tracked the exact amount he drinks per day (should I track it?), but output quickly noted after we started the Lasix. I now have to take him outside every 2-3 hours and after eating!! I have happily changed my schedule so I can take him out. He signals me when he has to go out. I try to write it down, but NOT doing a great job of documenting… but I can say that when we go out, he urinates. Mostly a lot… I’m moving to Costa Rica when his problems are resolved b/c I can’t leave him.
He does make it through the night because we go out before sleeping. Then we go out right away upon awakening...
Now there is no coughing/sneezing with the pills. I don’t know what to do about his food. His lust for eating has stopped. He needs bones, but will NOT eat chicken period. He’ll only eat the Niman pork ribs and tenderloin (raw/some baked/broiled and mixed grain-free @#$%. His raw food diet w/bones has turned into the best grain-free kibble I can find + raw meat pieces and bone. He is no longer the dog waiting for food, and that is for sure.
Thanks so much,
Walter and Vicki