i am $875 poorer, but took chan to the vet today bc her belly was big and i didn’t think it was from too many cookies. turns out she was filling with fluid from the congestive heart failure. they xrayed her and determined that it was indeed fluid and she gave me the option of having her drained. They use a syringe to suck the fluid out and got a HALF LITER, that’s the equivalent of a bottle and a half of soda, single serve size. They need to do a sonogram to guide the needle etc. So yeah, it was expensive. they are upping her meds and we are hoping to stave off any more accumulations of fluid. She said there are several cavs in the practice with congestive heart failure and they need to go in every few weeks to be “tapped.” i said we would not be doing that, that i would do it this time and hope that it would not recur. I have told them that we will not undertake extreme measures. i am not taking her to a doggie cardiologist. We will do what we can to keep her comfortable and happy for as long as we can. Since we thought she was going to die that night a few months back this is all gravy to me now. they have reconfigured her meds to help keep the fluid down. They are also expensive. I’ve been delaying Jules well visit bc of the $$$ we are spending on chan each month.
Can’t they put a tap in her and leave it in?
Omg. ..iAm so sorry. i pray she will be ok. And you too. Everyone of us with a dog, regardless of type...knows that feeling.
I’ll cross my fingers that the meds work-I know how hard that choice is-our Chow developed congestive heart failure, late in life, and we were asked if we wanted a referral to the doggie cardiologist, we declined, and instead concentrated on feeding him right, giving him some moderate priced pills, and making his life as happy as it had ever been-we didn’t want to do something that would not only be bank-busting, but might compromise the quality of his life.
He collapsed and died at the age of 17-a long and happy life-he was one of the best guard dogs I’ve ever had, but very gentle with kids and cats-and I still miss him.
How sad. I hope she is more comfortable now. Buffy stopped eating for a few days and I have been in a panic, but she is eating better now. If it hadn’t been the weekend, I would have taken her in.
I’m so sorry for you all - Chan has had a wonderful like in your home.