a Taj MuttHall Dog Diary: Tika Update

Monday, November 12, 2012

Tika Update

SUMMARY: Consulted with the vet.

Tika was just about jumping out of her skin with enthusiasm this morning to go play ball in the yard. I explained that the emergency vet had said no running, be sedate, for a week. Then I gave her the usual sedative and headed off to see our regular vet. Poor Tika, shaking in her crate when I pulled into the parking lot.

We went over the results from the emergency clinic and talked about possible progressions of the disease, possible treatments, and next steps, which are:
  • Keep her sedate, no intense things (running, tug) for TWO weeks!! Ack!
  • Next week, repeat the chest x-ray to see how much the diuretic has helped.
  • Get an ultrasound for detailed info about the strength of her heart.
  • Keep her on the diuretic for the rest of her life. Later, add more heart meds as needed.
Ka-ching! Ka-ching!  Was I complaining not long ago about how much I've spent in vet bills the last 2 or 3 months? Well, dang, that number is rising quickly.  We'll survive, I suppose. Good thing I wasn't planning on any agility entry fees for the next 3 months.

Tika helping at the score table Sunday.




3 comments:

  1. glad you have things on track ... hang in there

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aw, poor Tika girl... Vet visits totally suck!

    I hear you on the vet bills too. I have four animals and Walter, at 8.5, is my youngest! (oldest is a 14-year old cat) Many, many big vet bills in my future too... sigh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a lot of older animals! Boost is going on 8 as well. I don't know whether my earliest dogs were healthier of if I just didn't pursue issues as much. Probably didn't even think to take the dog in if she was 11 and slowing down, you know? But an agility dog-- some things become very obvious.

      Delete