OK, here’s the deal with the mutt:
In addition to the usual allergy flare-up taking its toll on her coat (antibiotics + antifungals) and her arthritis (galliprant, joint stuff, etc.) she has taken to wheezing. I tried to post a 10 second video because it’s hard to explain but the file was too big. It’s basically a wheeze/cough, often with a hack at the end (but nothing comes up.)
Naturally, we were very concerned. The vet was booked up until 10/6 but said they would call if any cancellations. Two days later, we got her in.
They did x-rays and ruled out something swallowed/stuck and ruled out cancer. Her heart was mildly enlarged. Doc heard something odd while listening to it as well. They did an EKG and had to have it analyzed over Zoom later in the day. They wanted to do more stuff but I said one step at a time.
Doc called back and said #1 Zoom doc also looked at x-ray and confirmed enlarged heart, but mildly. Said otherwise looks like a normal old dog heart. No congestive heart failure. EKG showed arrhythmias: first extra beats and then a pause. No bueno. This could be related to the breathing issue.
Getting a medication tomorrow that is meant to address the arrhythmias, and that may address the breathing. Retest EKG about a week later. They want to ultrasound heart, spleen + X-ray abdomen. Again, I said let’s see what the meds do first before we torment her further.
It is infrequent, but usually 3 times in a row, maybe 2-4 times per day, and more likely those times are overnight.
She’s lost a few pounds, eating a bit erratically, but still eating every day.
Coming up on 14 years old next month.
Here she is pretending to be Carnie Wilson in every Wilson-Phillips video.
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I was shopping in the frozen fish section of Target this morning, and I thought I grabbed a box of regular fish, to oven bake. Apparently, I picked up the wrong box, and it's popcorn shrimp!
).
