Note: check out the 'Healthy Solutions 'page in the coming weeks for more details on heart and lung problems, causes and treatments.
The weekend after my previous post and I was on the 'phone to Michael to get Roman to the vet a.s.a.p. Negative response from M - hysterics from me (which familiar over-reaction probably contributed to Michael's hesitation). There were several reasons, cash flow being a constant one - pension/incoming rent week has become the focus of each month and 5 other aging hounds to consider. Transport is another biggy- neither of us lives in town or that close to a vet. The 'car' (a big 4x4 animal carrier) is waiting for repairs and the hire car is just a small saloon at special rate with express request NOT to put dogs in it. A couple of years back we had what was known as the Cyprus Haircut when the island borrowed huge amounts of EU cash and hived off large sums of money from private bank accounts here, leaving many UK customers with a loss of savings - it the last straw for many ex-pats, during already difficult times, and they went home. Some of those remaining moved to cheaper properties away from the towns and, in short, we had few friends locally to call on for help and actually none available that weekend.
Roman surprised us by deteriorating rapidly. The temperatures had soared way above even what my desert dogs were used to and Roman's breathing had become so rapid I thought he might collapse and die but he was unable to lie down or rest without discomfort and exhausted himself pacing about in the heat. I tried to keep him cool, prayed hard and waited out the weekend in anguish; we would have transport by Monday. I vowed we would call the vet in or manage transport somehow if Roman grew worse. Our vet has the care of the local donkey sanctuary and is always in demand for every conceivable animal problem at his regular surgery so it was Tuesday evening by the time he saw Roman. By then Roman was a Technicolor display with gaping mouth showing scarlet red gums and a purple tinged tongue. Cyanosis! The vet asked many questions and was somewhat mystified that Roman didn't fit into any normal pattern of heart, lung or cancer symptons - he was eating well, voraciously actually, wasn't lethargic and didn't have the usual tell-tale cough. He listened to his heart and lungs for some while and then took blood. His surgery is very well-equipped and we waited for the full results of the blood work. They were inconclusive and further tests would be needed the next day. Even so he suspected a heart condition and gave Roman an ACE inhibitor - Fortekor - and a diuretic to help clear the build up of fluid on the lungs and told us to bring him back next morning early . We had used Fortekor before but only with old and ailing hounds not a 10 year old (not old for a Saluki) who had seemed in perfect health until recently but we trusted this drug and were a little comforted. I slept for an hour or two but Roman didn't.
The next morning Roman was anaesthetized and a full set of x-rays taken as well as ultra-sound to check other organs aside heart and lungs and the vet ran the blood and other tests again. The news didn't seem too bad - he did find that the dog had an enlarged heart but only slightly and he found no signs of any cancers(although he could not entirely rule out tumours) as well as eliminating other causes of trouble like diabetis or thyroid. He was concerned about the lung x-rays but considered that the abnormalities shown were a result of the excess fluid caused by the heart not functioning fully. He explained to me (Michael as an ex-paramedic already knew) that the lack of oxygen in the blood was causing the cyanosis (which I actually did understand but pretended I didn't as I wanted to be very clear in my mind) and we needed to strengthen the heart and clear the lungs. We went home saddened but relieved that much could be done to give Roman a lengthy and near normal life. As 2 tests had been taken that indicated the very slight possibility of tick disease we had 4 packets of big yellow pills for that as well as vitamin/mineral pills obviously made for giants, the colour suggestive of illness rather than health. To these I had a bag of goodies from which to count out daily Fortekor, diuretics, various minor potions and cure-all-else prednisolone. I waited hopefully for a positive response to this collective panacea.
6 days on: Roman - love of the loved, my darling heart, how could I lose him now, not ready , not nearly ready. Yet it looks like the end - another rush to the vet - more next time......
The weekend after my previous post and I was on the 'phone to Michael to get Roman to the vet a.s.a.p. Negative response from M - hysterics from me (which familiar over-reaction probably contributed to Michael's hesitation). There were several reasons, cash flow being a constant one - pension/incoming rent week has become the focus of each month and 5 other aging hounds to consider. Transport is another biggy- neither of us lives in town or that close to a vet. The 'car' (a big 4x4 animal carrier) is waiting for repairs and the hire car is just a small saloon at special rate with express request NOT to put dogs in it. A couple of years back we had what was known as the Cyprus Haircut when the island borrowed huge amounts of EU cash and hived off large sums of money from private bank accounts here, leaving many UK customers with a loss of savings - it the last straw for many ex-pats, during already difficult times, and they went home. Some of those remaining moved to cheaper properties away from the towns and, in short, we had few friends locally to call on for help and actually none available that weekend.
Roman surprised us by deteriorating rapidly. The temperatures had soared way above even what my desert dogs were used to and Roman's breathing had become so rapid I thought he might collapse and die but he was unable to lie down or rest without discomfort and exhausted himself pacing about in the heat. I tried to keep him cool, prayed hard and waited out the weekend in anguish; we would have transport by Monday. I vowed we would call the vet in or manage transport somehow if Roman grew worse. Our vet has the care of the local donkey sanctuary and is always in demand for every conceivable animal problem at his regular surgery so it was Tuesday evening by the time he saw Roman. By then Roman was a Technicolor display with gaping mouth showing scarlet red gums and a purple tinged tongue. Cyanosis! The vet asked many questions and was somewhat mystified that Roman didn't fit into any normal pattern of heart, lung or cancer symptons - he was eating well, voraciously actually, wasn't lethargic and didn't have the usual tell-tale cough. He listened to his heart and lungs for some while and then took blood. His surgery is very well-equipped and we waited for the full results of the blood work. They were inconclusive and further tests would be needed the next day. Even so he suspected a heart condition and gave Roman an ACE inhibitor - Fortekor - and a diuretic to help clear the build up of fluid on the lungs and told us to bring him back next morning early . We had used Fortekor before but only with old and ailing hounds not a 10 year old (not old for a Saluki) who had seemed in perfect health until recently but we trusted this drug and were a little comforted. I slept for an hour or two but Roman didn't.
The next morning Roman was anaesthetized and a full set of x-rays taken as well as ultra-sound to check other organs aside heart and lungs and the vet ran the blood and other tests again. The news didn't seem too bad - he did find that the dog had an enlarged heart but only slightly and he found no signs of any cancers(although he could not entirely rule out tumours) as well as eliminating other causes of trouble like diabetis or thyroid. He was concerned about the lung x-rays but considered that the abnormalities shown were a result of the excess fluid caused by the heart not functioning fully. He explained to me (Michael as an ex-paramedic already knew) that the lack of oxygen in the blood was causing the cyanosis (which I actually did understand but pretended I didn't as I wanted to be very clear in my mind) and we needed to strengthen the heart and clear the lungs. We went home saddened but relieved that much could be done to give Roman a lengthy and near normal life. As 2 tests had been taken that indicated the very slight possibility of tick disease we had 4 packets of big yellow pills for that as well as vitamin/mineral pills obviously made for giants, the colour suggestive of illness rather than health. To these I had a bag of goodies from which to count out daily Fortekor, diuretics, various minor potions and cure-all-else prednisolone. I waited hopefully for a positive response to this collective panacea.
6 days on: Roman - love of the loved, my darling heart, how could I lose him now, not ready , not nearly ready. Yet it looks like the end - another rush to the vet - more next time......
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