ramonaghan
Member Since 2014
Hi everyone,
Some of you might remember Henry from a couple of years ago when he was diagnosed with diabetes. With the help of this board, he was OTJ within a month, and remains so today. He is now about 14. Lately he has shown some reluctance to eat, which is very unlike him, although he still cleans his plate when we sprinkle freeze-dried chicken or his civvie sister's Young Again (ground up in a pepper mill) on his wet food. Between that and a couple of troubling coughing/wheezing spells, we took him to the vet earlier this week. He had been in December for his annual and all was well, but this time the vet detected a galloping heart rhythm and elevated respiration. Chest x-rays were "abnormal" so we did blood work, which came back normal and negative for heartworm. Long story short, we took him to the specialist today for an echocardiogram and he was immediately put on oxygen because his breathing was so labored. The echo confirmed congestive heart failure.
He is being hospitalized overnight and they just called to say he's responding to the diuretics; the pulmonary edema is resolving. Although his breathing is still rapid, it's better (down to about 60 from 88; he's always been VERY stressed at the vet's...he's been mid 30s to mid 40s at home). They did find bacteria in his urine so he's on antibiotics, but kidney function was pretty good especially considering the diuretics on board. They plan to do another echo tomorrow morning assuming his respiratory rate is closer to normal. They're happy with his progress and think he'll be able to come home tomorrow assuming he continues on this track.
Obviously I'm devastated, though not surprised. My spidey sense has been tingling lately, and I'm aware he's not a young'un anymore. I just can't believe it got this serious this suddenly; I watch him like a hawk and still test his blood sugar every 2-3 weeks. I'm wondering if anyone has any positive experiences to share, since there's no shortage of depressing outcomes online and I'm feeling very disheartened. He's such a mama's boy and I'm so sad to not have him here, especially since I work from home and we're together all the time.
Anyway, thanks for reading this far. Please send healing vines for my sweet boy.
Some of you might remember Henry from a couple of years ago when he was diagnosed with diabetes. With the help of this board, he was OTJ within a month, and remains so today. He is now about 14. Lately he has shown some reluctance to eat, which is very unlike him, although he still cleans his plate when we sprinkle freeze-dried chicken or his civvie sister's Young Again (ground up in a pepper mill) on his wet food. Between that and a couple of troubling coughing/wheezing spells, we took him to the vet earlier this week. He had been in December for his annual and all was well, but this time the vet detected a galloping heart rhythm and elevated respiration. Chest x-rays were "abnormal" so we did blood work, which came back normal and negative for heartworm. Long story short, we took him to the specialist today for an echocardiogram and he was immediately put on oxygen because his breathing was so labored. The echo confirmed congestive heart failure.
He is being hospitalized overnight and they just called to say he's responding to the diuretics; the pulmonary edema is resolving. Although his breathing is still rapid, it's better (down to about 60 from 88; he's always been VERY stressed at the vet's...he's been mid 30s to mid 40s at home). They did find bacteria in his urine so he's on antibiotics, but kidney function was pretty good especially considering the diuretics on board. They plan to do another echo tomorrow morning assuming his respiratory rate is closer to normal. They're happy with his progress and think he'll be able to come home tomorrow assuming he continues on this track.
Obviously I'm devastated, though not surprised. My spidey sense has been tingling lately, and I'm aware he's not a young'un anymore. I just can't believe it got this serious this suddenly; I watch him like a hawk and still test his blood sugar every 2-3 weeks. I'm wondering if anyone has any positive experiences to share, since there's no shortage of depressing outcomes online and I'm feeling very disheartened. He's such a mama's boy and I'm so sad to not have him here, especially since I work from home and we're together all the time.
Anyway, thanks for reading this far. Please send healing vines for my sweet boy.
