My husband and I had the most difficult Thanksgiving week imaginable

[Pea-n-Me]

It seems the impossible has happened again. My husband and I took our doggie to the ER last night and he's been in severe congestive heart failure for the past 10 hours.

This is his third episode in the past 2.5 weeks since his diagnosis on the T-Day. We are frustrated, devastated, and stressed to the max.

When we first brought him in we were told that with heart meds we'd be on our merry way, and our dog would live another 1 to 2 years. On Thanksgiving night, I told my DH all I wanted was for our doggie at least to celebrate this Christmas, and if he didn't make it for the next holiday season, I'd have to make peace with that.

Now we're not even sure about today. My husband and I are in complete shock right now. We're supposed to call back in 1.5 hrs if they haven't called us yet.

My husband and I are sadden and scared that we'll have to make "that choice" today if the congestive heart failure doesn't take him first.....With fluid in his lungs, and him needing to be in an oxygen cage, he can never leave the ER. Plus they are shooting him up with extra meds that (worked in the past), but aren't working today to resolve the fluid in the lungs.


Prayers, PD, good thoughts.....anything anyone is kindly willing to throw our way today, we appreciate from the bottom of our hearts.

Came over to look at your thread from the other thread. Again, so sorry about your loss. It is very difficult to lose a cherished pet, especially when the pet is considered a true family member like yours was.

I thought I'd comment on some of the heart failure issues. Dogs vs humans, the principles are the same.

Loss of appetite is a sign of advanced heart failure, i.e. fluid build up, not just in the lungs (left heart failure), but in the abdomen (right heart failure). It is safe to say this was the case since his appetite improved when some of the fluid came off, as it does in people, too. But even in humans who are being closely monitored in the hospital, this can be a very difficult situation to manage. Medications that diurese also cause electrolyte disturbances, and hearts that are failing are often very enlarged, which disrupts the electrical conduction system (due to the fibers being stretched). Those factors together can lead to lethal arrythmias - in people we actually place internal defibrillators for that reason. But even with those types of devices in place, often, death occurs because the failing heart can no longer support circulation, and organs fail as a result, unfortunately. All this to say that, based on what you've said here, your little guy was very, very sick. It is a terrible feeling to not be able to breathe due to fluid in the lungs, and every breath is a struggle. So he gave it a valiant effort but I'm sure he was very tired in his struggle, just as people are.

I saw in your posts how shocked and devastated you were to grasp all this. I just want to add that it's possible that at the outset, the cardiologist thought it would be more manageable, and was trying to get it under control. Sometimes, though, as I said, it becomes a difficult management situation, and every "patient" responds differently to treatment, i.e. different issues can crop up, etc. So I think you can take comfort in the fact that you all tried your hardest to help him, and I'm sure he appreciated how cared for and cared about he was, in his own way. He was certainly a fortunate doggie to have that type of caring, even if it didn't ultimately save his life. I can tell you after several decades of caring for people with this disease, sometimes they are just "done" when they've been fighting it so long and/or so hard. (Some fortunate ones move on to a heart transplant if they are eligible and one is available, or a mechanical device that assists the heart - not something done with animals at this time.) With what you've described, I would be willing to bet your dog was relieved when his struggle was over.

I hope this helps in some way, and I hope you are doing better.

 

[robinb]

Oh no! I missed your post when your pup crossed the Rainbow Bridge. I'm so sorry {{hugs}} (*wiping the tears from my eyes*).

 

[diznee25]

Came over to look at your thread from the other thread. Again, so sorry about your loss. It is very difficult to lose a cherished pet, especially when the pet is considered a true family member like yours was.

I thought I'd comment on some of the heart failure issues. Dogs vs humans, the principles are the same.

Loss of appetite is a sign of advanced heart failure, i.e. fluid build up, not just in the lungs (left heart failure), but in the abdomen (right heart failure). It is safe to say this was the case since his appetite improved when some of the fluid came off, as it does in people, too. But even in humans who are being closely monitored in the hospital, this can be a very difficult situation to manage. Medications that diurese also cause electrolyte disturbances, and hearts that are failing are often very enlarged, which disrupts the electrical conduction system (due to the fibers being stretched). Those factors together can lead to lethal arrythmias - in people we actually place internal defibrillators for that reason. But even with those types of devices in place, often, death occurs because the failing heart can no longer support circulation, and organs fail as a result, unfortunately. All this to say that, based on what you've said here, your little guy was very, very sick. It is a terrible feeling to not be able to breathe due to fluid in the lungs, and every breath is a struggle. So he gave it a valiant effort but I'm sure he was very tired in his struggle, just as people are.

I saw in your posts how shocked and devastated you were to grasp all this. I just want to add that it's possible that at the outset, the cardiologist thought it would be more manageable, and was trying to get it under control. Sometimes, though, as I said, it becomes a difficult management situation, and every "patient" responds differently to treatment, i.e. different issues can crop up, etc. So I think you can take comfort in the fact that you all tried your hardest to help him, and I'm sure he appreciated how cared for and cared about he was, in his own way. He was certainly a fortunate doggie to have that type of caring, even if it didn't ultimately save his life. I can tell you after several decades of caring for people with this disease, sometimes they are just "done" when they've been fighting it so long and/or so hard. (Some fortunate ones move on to a heart transplant if they are eligible and one is available, or a mechanical device that assists the heart - not something done with animals at this time.) With what you've described, I would be willing to bet your dog was relieved when his struggle was over.

I hope this helps in some way, and I hope you are doing better.

Pea N Me - Thank you so much for being insightful about congestive heart failure. It does really help, and reminds me that he's in a better place. That was the one thing my husband and I hold on to, is that our precious doggie is no longer suffering. It was really hard to see him go through that.

Oh no! I missed your post when your pup crossed the Rainbow Bridge. I'm so sorry {{hugs}} (*wiping the tears from my eyes*).

That's ok robinb! Thank you so much for your condolences.