piggygal
New Born Pup
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 45
Hey all,
I am new to this forum but this seemed like a good place to join.
My 3.7 yo male skinny Truffle is sadly in heart failure I believe. He was diagnosed with an enlarged heart a year ago and has been on Pimodenan twice a day for the past year. Periods of wheezing and hooting would present themselves, but he’d always bounce back. The past 2 weeks I’ve noticed his breathing looking laboured near his abdomen but he was still very much himself. Three days ago he started to go downhill however. He no longer purrs when someone enters the room, doesn’t seem to be drinking much, very lethargic and his poops have become very small, soft, green, and sometimes stringy (although I haven’t noticed the stringiness in the past day, and his poops seem to be more formed than before). He also doesn’t seem to be retaining as much body heat and has lost a significant amount of weight.
Three days ago we brought him to the vet and the doctor suggested for him to be euthanized that night. We couldn’t do it, and I believe we made the right decision because he has been holding his own. She said that she could hear lots of crackling in his lungs upon listening with the stethoscope and his sides/abdomen were squishy indicating fluid. She gave him a “one time injection” or furosemide to relieve the fluid retention. He still eats like a pig (ha, ha) and perks up when presented with food. But he is squinting his eyes (no discharge however), and facing the wall of his cage in a hunched position (both abnormal for him). His breathing is very laboured. I do note frequent grinding of the teeth, which I know can be an indicator of pain. He is no longer vocal; he used to be a purring machine.
With all of this, the compassion in me wants to make his passing comfortable and bring him to the vet to be put down. But he comes to life when he’s around food - his eyes widen and he eats everything, although his pace of eating has slowed down and he takes little breaks between chews (abnormal for him). He just wants to be cuddled all of the time and is sleeping a lot.
How do I know when is the right time? The doctor said the prognosis isn’t good, and as mentioned earlier she suggests for him to be put to sleep. This is so hard to come to terms with when I look at him eating food and he looks “normal” (minus body weight and breathing). I don’t want to hang on to him knowing that he is possibly suffering.
What do you all recommend? I am mentally prepared to bring him down to the vet today.... I honestly didn’t think he was going to make it through the night.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
I am new to this forum but this seemed like a good place to join.
My 3.7 yo male skinny Truffle is sadly in heart failure I believe. He was diagnosed with an enlarged heart a year ago and has been on Pimodenan twice a day for the past year. Periods of wheezing and hooting would present themselves, but he’d always bounce back. The past 2 weeks I’ve noticed his breathing looking laboured near his abdomen but he was still very much himself. Three days ago he started to go downhill however. He no longer purrs when someone enters the room, doesn’t seem to be drinking much, very lethargic and his poops have become very small, soft, green, and sometimes stringy (although I haven’t noticed the stringiness in the past day, and his poops seem to be more formed than before). He also doesn’t seem to be retaining as much body heat and has lost a significant amount of weight.
Three days ago we brought him to the vet and the doctor suggested for him to be euthanized that night. We couldn’t do it, and I believe we made the right decision because he has been holding his own. She said that she could hear lots of crackling in his lungs upon listening with the stethoscope and his sides/abdomen were squishy indicating fluid. She gave him a “one time injection” or furosemide to relieve the fluid retention. He still eats like a pig (ha, ha) and perks up when presented with food. But he is squinting his eyes (no discharge however), and facing the wall of his cage in a hunched position (both abnormal for him). His breathing is very laboured. I do note frequent grinding of the teeth, which I know can be an indicator of pain. He is no longer vocal; he used to be a purring machine.
With all of this, the compassion in me wants to make his passing comfortable and bring him to the vet to be put down. But he comes to life when he’s around food - his eyes widen and he eats everything, although his pace of eating has slowed down and he takes little breaks between chews (abnormal for him). He just wants to be cuddled all of the time and is sleeping a lot.
How do I know when is the right time? The doctor said the prognosis isn’t good, and as mentioned earlier she suggests for him to be put to sleep. This is so hard to come to terms with when I look at him eating food and he looks “normal” (minus body weight and breathing). I don’t want to hang on to him knowing that he is possibly suffering.
What do you all recommend? I am mentally prepared to bring him down to the vet today.... I honestly didn’t think he was going to make it through the night.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
