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Several years ago, our 14 year old Boston Terrier was diagnosed with renal failure and CHF the same afternoon. The vet said it would be very difficult to keep her stable because she needed increased fluids for the kidneys and decreased fluids for her heart. We were sent home with 3 different meds I had to administer every 4 hours. I got up at 2 am to medicate her and she was dead in her bed. Very sad and traumatic for us, but thankfully it looked like she peacefully passed in her sleep.
My beautiful little baby Mugzy just passed. We took her in to get her teeth cleaned and they told us the pre medication they give to prepare the body was not a success so they decided not to give her anestesia. They kept her for the day until she recovered but she never did. She was ten and was very energetic and happy I don’t know how we could have ever known anything was wrong with her. At 4pm they told us we would have to come get her and take her to an emergency center so they can watch her overnight. We saw her in a cage groggy but alert. That’s when the vet told us they found that she had an enlarged heart it was 3 Times the size it should be. Before we had a chance to take her to the emergency room she passed. We spent 30 mins with her kissing her petting her telling her how much we loved her. I miss her so much and it is going to be hard to imagine life with out her in the morning, in bed, she was a funny dog. Love your pets while you have them because in a blink of an eye things can change with no warning. I feel for everyone posting and my love and best wishes go out to you. Stay safe and love your companions as they love you!
My dog Scooby Doo passed away on Friday night, November 3, 2017, after being diagnosed with cancer, then CHF. Scooby was 14 years four months old. On May 21, 2016, Scooby refused to eat and I rushed him to the overnight emergency clinic where, after x rays, I was told that he had cancer of the liver and may not make it through the night. He was given a strong sedative before I returned home with him and took him to our regular vet the next morning. Further testing confirmed the emergency vet's report, and I was told Scooby had a few weeks to a few months to live. I took him home and placed him on a nutritional supplement with cancer fighting properties and gave it to him 3 times a day for the rest of his life. Scooby never had another attack from the cancer and was absolutely fine. In May 2017, I took Scooby for his annual check up and the doctor detected a heart murmur and said he had CHF. Because we had lived with the cancer diagnosis for a year and Scooby was doing so well, I was concerned the side effects of the heart meds may cause insult to his liver and kidneys. I didn't want to rock the boat, so I turned again to a natural supplement, which I began in August of this year about a month after Scooby's 14th birthday. Scooby did extremely well until early October. He coughed some, but never experienced labored breathing nor a reduced appetite. The only difference was our walks were slower and shorter. On November 3rd, I arrived home about 4:30 and took Scooby for our walk. He climbed up the steps normally and seemed to be doing well. He slept on the floor while I worked on my laptop. About 9:10 I gave him his evening meal which he devoured showing no signs of distress. At 9:20 he came to the back door to go out. He suddenly became incontinent and urinated and defacated on the floor. I noticed he was having laboured breathing so my husband picked him up and placed him in the car. I rushed him to the emergency clinic once again. It is about a half hour drive and by the time I got there, I knew Scooby's heart was barely beating. The vet placed a breathing tube down his throat and and administered oxygen. He passed away peacefully with me by his side. Scooby was my special dog who became part of my family when he was 4 months old. He was being passed around in a housing project and one of the children brought him to me. He was so hyper, but an area dog trainer donated her time to our center for underserved youth and held classes for some of our youth to train Scooby, and later participate in her agility training where Scooby shined. Scooby found his forever home at 4 months old with my family, and took part of my heart with him at 14 years, 4 months old, almost 14 years to the day since we adopted him, when he left us. It has been 3 weeks ago tonight that I took Scooby for his last walk, gave him his last meal, and took him for his final visit to the vet. I fully expected Scooby to be with us these holidays. The past 3 weeks have been so hard, and Thanksgiving has been especially tough because he was such a big part of our holidays. I discovered this site and have been reading everyone's stories over the past 4 nights. I really want to thank everyone for sharing about your personal journeys with your beloved pets. Each story has helped me work through my lingering questions regarding if I had done this or that would Scooby still be with me. I am coming to terms with the decisions I made, and am thankful Scooby didn't suffer long and that I was with him his final hours on this earth. The pain is very real as you all know, and I will always be thankful for the 14 years I had with my Scooby. He was a very special dog, and seemed almost human. He will live on in my heart forever, as will your pets. Thank you all again for sharing your stories that have helped me more than you will ever know.
We have an 11 year old pomeranian who was diagnosed with CHF on 26 January 2010. We had taken him to the vet mid-January 2010 where they first heard a heart murmur (grade 3 – 4) and put him on fortekor and lasiks. On the night of the 26th he passed out, vomited and we had to take him to the emergency room. He was put on oxygen for the night, then sent home. He had no symptoms other than the cough.
About 2 weeks later it happened again, he was in the hospital for 2 nights on oxygen. The vet put him on vetmedin in addition to the medications he was taking already. Within a few days he started to perk up again. He did not have another incident of CHF until August 2012, which they believe was triggered by tracheal issues. They adjusted his meds (did not increase, just changed when they are administered). They also added a small dose of children’s cough syrup for the cough. It is now January 2014, and he has not had an episode since then. Knock on wood!
He has the added complication of a collapsing trachea, which we monitor. It can make the CHF more difficult to manage but we do the best we can. He has 6 monthly check ups (3 months during the warmer months, as he tends to get quite lethargic). He sleeps in an air-conditioned room during the summer to keep him cool. Dogs with this condition have difficulty regulating their body temps and struggle with the warmth. We watch out for snoring and lethargy, and we monitor his breaths per minute when he is sleeping. On very windy days we keep him inside because we have noticed that the wind causes him to cough, which can make all the other problems worse
He is a very lively little dog – acts like a puppy and his 12th birthday is in a few months. Our vet has told us that most dogs with this problem are put to sleep because it can be stressful for dog owners and difficult to manage. We just do the best we can and consider every day we have him in our company to be a gift. Unfortunately he has worked out that coughing will get him attention – we have learned to distinguish the heart / trachea coughs from the ‘that looks like delicious food you’re eating, can I have some?’ coughs!
We don’t know how much longer we have him for, but it has been nearly 4 years now with careful medical attention and a lot of hugs. We actually live 5 minutes away from the best vet hospital in the country, so we consider ourselves very lucky. I am happy to answer any questions people might have on living with a little mate with CHF.
My cutest little Pommernarian was put to sleep two weeks ago with the same problems as your Pom. She also had a cough and we took her to the wet and they gave her antibiotics and said it was kennel cough. The cough did not go away and became worse and we took her again to the Vet and then they said she had a memoir in her heart and put her on some tablets for the heart. On Saturday Even she was coughing non stop and we rushed her to the emergency services where they did an X-ray and found that her heart was enlarged and had a collapsed trachea. They then gave her more meds and some oxigen and sent her home. On Sunday after noon she fainted and I thought she was passing away. She came through that too and I was carrying her all evening and night as she could not lie down and sleep for some reason. By night she was struggling and we found blood come from her mouth. We again at 4 am Monday rushed her back to emergency. This is where it all happened. They told us that if we they treated her she would get bad again and it’s best to put her to sleep. We were so upset for the last two days and they put pressure on us to put my girl down and we did not want her to suffer so we agreed and it happened. When we came home and researched and found that a lot of dogs have lived more than six months and some even years. I am so angry that they did not even stabilise her and give us time to decide. They wanted us to straightaway put $700 dollars down and when we said we don’t have that right now they started putting the pressure to put her down and I am so angry that these Drs want money first before they save a dog. She was our life and joy and we are struggling to move past that moment we had to do it. It is tearing us apart as she loved life so much and was a very very active dog. Our house is like a morgue now without my angel. We have two other little girls too and they have stopped eating and won’t move from the front door. They are waiting for their sister to come back. We are all in so much pain right now and my advice don’t ever make the decision under pressure. Please give your pet a chance. I am crying my eyes out writing this. These Vets should know that people who love their pets just like people are not in the right frame of mind when their pet is critically ill and I would expect them to not put pet owners In this position that I was in but give them time to decide. When your emotions are high they must give us time or alternative steps to save the dog not put them to sleep without even stabilising them. I think this is so wrong on their part. Don’t they realise our pets are our family and human to us. Aren’t they trained to handle these type of situations?.???. I am sure my baby would have come through if they cared enough to see her through but if we don’t have the money our pets are doomed. That’s so very very sad and angers me to see that sort of attitude. These are decisions you can’t reverse and they know more than anyone we bring out pets because we won’t them back. No body wants their pet gone unless there is nothing left to do and the dog quality of life is poor. This is going to eat me alive and all they can say is sorry. I wish sorry takes my pain away.
Mitszy very sorry to hear about your loss.i lost my pom at 11 years old he had the chf thing for a year just kinda got worse he had a really bad coughing spell one night for hours took him to the vet in the morning changed meds and 1 month later the coughing came back.i made the decision to put him to rest that day because I was not going to see him have another coughing fit like he did that night.COULD he had lived longer with different meds and stuff maybe probably so but I was not going to wait until it got so so bad.am I comfortable with the decision I made I DONT KNOW sometimes I wonder.i had to base my decision on how my dog was doing rather then baseing it on my selfish feelings to keep him alive a little longer for me.its a very fine line I was hoping god would have took him instead of me making the decision myself.i will always wonder what if it has been 8 months since he is gone.
Mitszy, I hope I have the right name matched to the post above about the pom who was rushed to the emergency clinic and the vets put pressure on you to put your dog to sleep. I had a bad experience with a vet when I had to have a previous dog put to sleep before Scooby. The vet scolded me in front of others In the waiting room for not having eutha nized my dog earlier, and put pressure on me to do so. Such decisions are so personal and differ from pet to pet. I am so sorry for what you went through. You loved your pet more than anything and to feel the vets were out of touch with the special bond you shared with your dog is very painful at such a difficult time. My heart goes out to you at this time, and I hope you will eventually make peace with yourself about tbe decision you made. Your little pom is no longer suffering. I am so sorry for your painful loss.
we have a 15 year old jack russel mix who was diagnosed with chf about 5 years ago. Over the past few months the fluid has got worse and the lasix was no longer helping. She was swollen to the point she could barely walk and had almost quit eating entirely. We consulted our vet regarding having her stomach drained. We had also looked at some recommendations on webmd.
The vet discouraged us from draining her stomach and did not give us much hope. We discussed other options and we decided to try the drug spironolactone. She has been taking this for approximately 2 weeks in addition to the lasix. At this point all of her swelling is down, she is eating well and very active. It did take about 3 to 4 days for her swelling to go down completely.
We are excited about the results but do not know how long they will last. Given we were at the point that we thought she might have to be put to sleep we are grateful for any quality time we have left.
To all of you that have lost your pet and this will be the first xmas without them including myself god bless you and lets hope they are in a better place until we get to see them again one day.
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Scooby Doo
