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My chihuahua was just diagnosed with chf. Dr says 5 on the scale of 1-6. She is losing weight has a cough/gag and fluid in lungs. What is the life expectancy for this condition. Dr said very severe. I dont know what to expect at this stage. Any help/advice greatly appreciated.
Welcome to the board, shereeo! I am so sorry about your chihuahua!
There are many threads on dogs with congestive heart failure on this forum, especially with regard to treatment and life expectancy. If you use to the search function at the top of the page, you should be able to find info about the condition itself and meds.
I wish you the best of luck. It's a tough journey.
Last edited by barndog; 02-15-2015 at 01:29 PM..
Reason: darn bouncing cursor!
My chihuahua was just diagnosed with chf. Dr says 5 on the scale of 1-6. She is losing weight has a cough/gag and fluid in lungs. What is the life expectancy for this condition. Dr said very severe. I dont know what to expect at this stage. Any help/advice greatly appreciated.
Sorry to hear about your dog. Has your vet put her on heart meds and diuretics. Is she home or hospitalized? Unfortunately, nobody will know how much longer she has. Just keep up with her appointments so they can monitor her and the meds. Give her lots of love and comfort. Good luck.
Thanks for your response. She is doing ok with lasix but cant handle the enalapril. It gives her a dry cough and loose stools. Guess we are gonna try something else. She seems to cough the most in the morning and when sleeping at night. She sometimes is very perky and others very slow.
Thanks for your response. She is doing ok with lasix but cant handle the enalapril. It gives her a dry cough and loose stools. Guess we are gonna try something else. She seems to cough the most in the morning and when sleeping at night. She sometimes is very perky and others very slow.
Curious if the enalapril can be broken into smaller pieces and slowly work up to her dose? Hopefully someone can weigh in on that or you could ask your vet's office.
I am sorry to hear your sweet pup has chf. My Pom lived a good 5 years after his diagnosis. Every day is a gift. He was on Lasix and enalapril and lived to be 18.5 yrs when he passed. Although he slowed down quite a bit he still enjoyed life until the end. Keeping her calm is helpful.
Shadowne was your dog diagnosed with a severe case and still lived 5 years? They were making it sound to me that she was far gone being 5 out of 6 severity. I talked with the vet today and she has ordered benazepril sp? Since the the elanapril didnt work.
My chihuahua was just diagnosed with chf. Dr says 5 on the scale of 1-6. She is losing weight has a cough/gag and fluid in lungs. What is the life expectancy for this condition. Dr said very severe. I dont know what to expect at this stage. Any help/advice greatly appreciated.
I'm so very sorry. I have a 13 year old chihuahua mix who was diagnosed with chf 2 1/2 years ago. We suspect he's had it all his life and it has just begun to progress. He takes lasix and enlapril and a diet high in fluid and low in sodium (I water down his dry food and mix it with wet food) I feed him just enough to feel food so that his other organs aren't crowded. No dog comes with an expiration date so no vet can accurately say. Chihuahua's have a small abdomen area which tends to get crowded easily. My mix is part rat terrier so he has the broader area. I also encourage him to walk just a little each day to keep fluid from accumulating. We had to euthanize our other dog (a 13 year old rat terrier) in Dec. he had a brain tumor. His labs came back normal and the vet attributed his symptoms to old age. He eventually went into full blown seizures (which were not controllable with meds) and began circling left day and night. We knew it was time. The vet wisely told me your dog will let you know when it is time. Only you (the owner) will recognize his/her clues. Just don't think about the illness just enjoy each day, minute, hour and second you have with your dog. May God bless you and keep you and your dog!
Curious if the enalapril can be broken into smaller pieces and slowly work up to her dose? Hopefully someone can weigh in on that or you could ask your vet's office.
I am sorry to hear your sweet pup has chf. My Pom lived a good 5 years after his diagnosis. Every day is a gift. He was on Lasix and enalapril and lived to be 18.5 yrs when he passed. Although he slowed down quite a bit he still enjoyed life until the end. Keeping her calm is helpful.
Shadowne - my pom was just diagnosed with chf & dmvd and has been on meds for over a week. 1.5 weeks earlier I had made an appointment with a cardiologist for chest xrays and an ekg but was told his lungs were clear and he had very early stages of heart disease. No meds were prescribed at that time. Fast forward 1.5 weeks later and my baby boy went into to chf. I don't understand how it happened so quickly. he had never been diagnosed with even a murmur until 4 weeks ago and now his lungs were filled with liquid.
Fortunately he bounced back very quickly once hospitalized. he is now on Lasix, vetmedin, enalapril and spironolactone and doing very well. So far he only has a loose stool but that is probably just because I am cooking for him now and his system has always been sensitive. I am also adding fish oil and taurine to his diet. His energy level is good. Not like is was 2 months ago but still perky, happy and pulls for longer walks.
Just curious - your pom lived 5 years after being diagnosed, do you have any tips? did you give yours anything for the kidneys? I love him so much and I am not ready to say goodbye any time soon.
any advise would be much appreciated. I am heartbroken!
Shadowne - my pom was just diagnosed with chf & dmvd and has been on meds for over a week. 1.5 weeks earlier I had made an appointment with a cardiologist for chest xrays and an ekg but was told his lungs were clear and he had very early stages of heart disease. No meds were prescribed at that time. Fast forward 1.5 weeks later and my baby boy went into to chf. I don't understand how it happened so quickly. he had never been diagnosed with even a murmur until 4 weeks ago and now his lungs were filled with liquid.
Fortunately he bounced back very quickly once hospitalized. he is now on Lasix, vetmedin, enalapril and spironolactone and doing very well. So far he only has a loose stool but that is probably just because I am cooking for him now and his system has always been sensitive. I am also adding fish oil and taurine to his diet. His energy level is good. Not like is was 2 months ago but still perky, happy and pulls for longer walks.
Just curious - your pom lived 5 years after being diagnosed, do you have any tips? did you give yours anything for the kidneys? I love him so much and I am not ready to say goodbye any time soon.
any advise would be much appreciated. I am heartbroken!
Pia, I'm so sorry about your little Pom. My Alex passed 5 yrs ago this month so my memory of what we did is not perfect. His vet put him on Lasix and Enalapril immediately but told me I could hold off as long as possible on the Enalapril, which we were able to do for a couple of years but I know we were lucky with that. I also used to take him to my holistic vet in addition to his regular vet. I wish I could remember what she gave him. If your budget allows, it might be helpful to find a great holistic vet who can help tweak his diet and give supplements to help any imbalances as well as help his kidneys and liver.
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pom with chf
