Friday, February 8, 2013

Please Pray for Princess





 Princess is having problems with her heart. It's been narrowed down to a right sided heart condition, no heart murmur, all other organs are functioning fine, and her appetite is excellent. She is retaining fluid. She looks like she is pregnant. Her weight has jumped from 17.8 to 19.6 in just one week. I'm updating our vet today on her condition. Hopefully he can just make an adjustment in her meds, otherwise, the next step would be to take her to a cardiologist for animals. He has just about tried everything he can to figure out why she keeps retaining fluid. The meds will work for awhile, sometimes for several months, then she'll start retaining fluid again.

Princess is currently on the following Medications:

Vetmedin (pimobendan)- 5 mg, 1/2 pill, given twice daily. Vetmedin is used to manage certain types of congestive heart failure. It differs from other commonly used heart drugs because it helps the heart pump more efficiently. Vetmedin opens up the blood vessels that take blood away from the heart, effectively reducing work the heart does to pump blood. At the same time, Vetmedin opens up the blood vessels returning blood to the heart, reducing pressure on the heart.

Lasix (furosemide)-20 mg, given twice daily. Furosemide is a diuretic used to treat fluid retention (edema) in dogs and cats with congestive heart failure, liver disease, or certain kidney disease. Furosemide is a potent diuretic which works by blocking the absorption of salt and fluid in the kidney tubules causing an increase in urine output.

Enalapril (Vasotec)- 5 mg., given once daily. Enalapril is used to treat mild, moderate, or severe heart failure and high blood pressure, and is usually used in combination with other medications. Enalapril is an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor. It works by blocking an enzyme in the body that is needed to produce a substance that causes blood vessels to tighten. As a result, the blood vessels relax. This lowers blood pressure and increases the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart.

Spironolactone (aldactone)-25 mg., 1/2 pill given twice daily. Spironolactone is a potassium sparing diuretic used in the treatment of congestive heart failure (CHF), edema and high blood pressure (hypertension). Spironolactone inhibits the effect of aldosterone, a hormone that causes the tubules of the kidneys to retain sodium and water. This increases the excretion of water and sodium, while decreasing the excretion of potassium.

I will keep you posted on her condition. 

Update-10:00 am, just talked to the vet, he wants the lasix increased to 1 1/2 pills in the morning and just one in the evening. I'll watch her over the weekend to see if she stays the same or eliminates some of the fluid. If she doesn't, then we'll have to take her in to have fluid drawn out of her. The fluid presses against her heart making it harder to breathe.

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