Majerle has Congestive Heart Failure
This is Tootsie and Majerle (pronounced "Marley", named after Phoenix Suns' basketball player Dan Majerle). Tootsie's on the left, Majerle's on the right:
They are littermates, born Valentine's Day 1993, and are the eldest members of our doggie family.
This past Sunday, Majerle was having a difficult time breathing. We took her to the emergency animal clinic around 9pm. Usually crowded, the clinic was thankfully virtually empty, and the vet tech took her in immediately for triage, where she received a mild sedative to calm her down enough to be evaluated.
The admitting vet, a really sweet lady, told us that Majerle had fluid in her lungs and a serious heart murmur. An Xray confirmed the fluid buildup as well as an enlarged heart. The decision was made to keep her overnight for observation and intravenous dosing of lasix to reduce the fluid buildup. At midnight we went home with assurances that Majerle was resting comfortably and was in good hands.
Within half hour of arriving home, the clinic called; Majerle had taken a sudden turn for the worse and was being moved to an oxygen cage. Both the vet we saw and the other vet on staff were concerned that she wouldn't survive the night.
Fortunately the clinic is a ten minute drive from home on the almost empty streets that one encounters Monday morning at 12:30am. We arrived and were ushered to the hospital area. Majerle was lying half on her chest/half on her side on a pile of towels, gasping for breath. The vet allowed me to open the cage door and greet the poor baby. Majerle weakly flicked her tail once in recognition, then closed her eyes and dropped her head between her feet for a moment. Then, her eyes opened slightly as she raised her head to struggle for another breath. Hubby greeted her, and received a similar weak response.
The other vet, a very kind man, explained that Majerle had not responded to the two doses of lasix that had been administered. Her condition was rapidly deteriorating, and he explained if she didn't start responding soon, her lungs would continue filling with fluid and her level of discomfort would increase. Hubby and I made the decision to sign the paperwork for euthanasia should her condition worsen to a state where there was no hope for recovery. Feeling that this would be our last few moments with the dog whose been part of our family through all sorts of goods times and bad, we decided to stay until that point in time should come. I had decided that I would hold her while she received that final relief from her agonies.
As we stood in front of the plexiglass-fronted oxygen cage discussing her condition, it was as if Majerle suddenly really, truly realized that we were THERE. She is a very sociable dog and does not like being alone. She struggled to her feet and looked at us with big sad eyes... then peed. Not wanting to put the veterinarians (both were by now with us, thank goodness for the slow night!) in a tough spot, I hesitated saying what was on my mind; "That's a good sign, isn't it?" Everyone was quiet for a moment, then I explained that Majerle does not soil her bedding and would not lay down again until she had clean bedding. While the vet tech cleaned the cage (letting me hold Majerle, something I thought I'd never do again only a few minutes earlier) the gentleman vet said that her activity level and urinating were good signs but it was still too soon to tell which direction her health would turn.
Another dog came in and we were asked to leave the kennel area. We waited out front for about an hour, and the lady vet came out to say that Majerle was rallying a bit. About half an hour later, the gentleman vet came out to tell us he felt that Majerle had "turned the corner" and appeared to have been stabilized. It was 2:30am when we left for home. Although we only had about 6 hours before we needed to leave to pick her up again, neither of us could sleep well. I kept waiting for another call saying things had taken a turn for the worse again.
We picked up a rather subdued Majerle from the clinic. Our regular vet had been contacted and was waiting for us.
They are littermates, born Valentine's Day 1993, and are the eldest members of our doggie family.
This past Sunday, Majerle was having a difficult time breathing. We took her to the emergency animal clinic around 9pm. Usually crowded, the clinic was thankfully virtually empty, and the vet tech took her in immediately for triage, where she received a mild sedative to calm her down enough to be evaluated.
The admitting vet, a really sweet lady, told us that Majerle had fluid in her lungs and a serious heart murmur. An Xray confirmed the fluid buildup as well as an enlarged heart. The decision was made to keep her overnight for observation and intravenous dosing of lasix to reduce the fluid buildup. At midnight we went home with assurances that Majerle was resting comfortably and was in good hands.
Within half hour of arriving home, the clinic called; Majerle had taken a sudden turn for the worse and was being moved to an oxygen cage. Both the vet we saw and the other vet on staff were concerned that she wouldn't survive the night.
Fortunately the clinic is a ten minute drive from home on the almost empty streets that one encounters Monday morning at 12:30am. We arrived and were ushered to the hospital area. Majerle was lying half on her chest/half on her side on a pile of towels, gasping for breath. The vet allowed me to open the cage door and greet the poor baby. Majerle weakly flicked her tail once in recognition, then closed her eyes and dropped her head between her feet for a moment. Then, her eyes opened slightly as she raised her head to struggle for another breath. Hubby greeted her, and received a similar weak response.
The other vet, a very kind man, explained that Majerle had not responded to the two doses of lasix that had been administered. Her condition was rapidly deteriorating, and he explained if she didn't start responding soon, her lungs would continue filling with fluid and her level of discomfort would increase. Hubby and I made the decision to sign the paperwork for euthanasia should her condition worsen to a state where there was no hope for recovery. Feeling that this would be our last few moments with the dog whose been part of our family through all sorts of goods times and bad, we decided to stay until that point in time should come. I had decided that I would hold her while she received that final relief from her agonies.
As we stood in front of the plexiglass-fronted oxygen cage discussing her condition, it was as if Majerle suddenly really, truly realized that we were THERE. She is a very sociable dog and does not like being alone. She struggled to her feet and looked at us with big sad eyes... then peed. Not wanting to put the veterinarians (both were by now with us, thank goodness for the slow night!) in a tough spot, I hesitated saying what was on my mind; "That's a good sign, isn't it?" Everyone was quiet for a moment, then I explained that Majerle does not soil her bedding and would not lay down again until she had clean bedding. While the vet tech cleaned the cage (letting me hold Majerle, something I thought I'd never do again only a few minutes earlier) the gentleman vet said that her activity level and urinating were good signs but it was still too soon to tell which direction her health would turn.
Another dog came in and we were asked to leave the kennel area. We waited out front for about an hour, and the lady vet came out to say that Majerle was rallying a bit. About half an hour later, the gentleman vet came out to tell us he felt that Majerle had "turned the corner" and appeared to have been stabilized. It was 2:30am when we left for home. Although we only had about 6 hours before we needed to leave to pick her up again, neither of us could sleep well. I kept waiting for another call saying things had taken a turn for the worse again.
We picked up a rather subdued Majerle from the clinic. Our regular vet had been contacted and was waiting for us.
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