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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I’m a long-time lurker (13+ years), rare poster.
We’ve just found out Jasper has a heart murmur and I’m hoping
others here who have experienced this with their hound(s) can inform me. Jasper
started coughing infrequently. It continued to be more frequent and progressed
to a pattern of 3 to 4 coughs, and a wretch every hour or so. He was bringing
up phlegm, but since being on furosemide (20 mg “once or twice a day”—he
needs 2) the cough is dry (still followed by a wretch) and noticeably less
frequent.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Jasper will be 11 in July. He’s been healthy up until
now with the exception of some allergy issues and a bad knee. He was a rescue
at 6 months. My role was to just pick him up for the rescue, but he stayed. He
was severely underweight , shoulders like a komono dragon, and ribs that were
s-shaped/caved due to malnutrition or over-crating, perhaps both.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The x-ray shows an enlarged heart, not horribly enlarged yet
round rather than the shape it should be. The vet said the heart appears to be
resting on the sternum more than they like to see (along with the caved ribs he
has a sternum positioned oddly). She remarked about the ribs and said he looks
like Gumby inside.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>We’ve been referred to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Cornell</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
in NY. Being a kid that grew up in 4-H, I know Cornell is an exceptional
facility so I’m not worried about that. We’ll be getting an
ultrasound. We’re told they’ll probably want to do their own x-rays
and probably some bloodwork. Since the furosemide is working ok at this point,
she didn’t want to load him up on it as she wants his bloodwork to be as
clean as possible. She felt he is at grade 2 to 2-1/2. I understand the
ultrasound will tell us exactly where he is as well as why he has the murmur
and what the best meds will be. She told us that she could give him cardiac
meds but it would be basically just taking a “shot in the dark”
although she understood someone not wanting or not being able to afford the
testing and was willing to help us that way, if we so choose.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I should mention his lungs are clear but he does have what
they term “old dog” lungs. We’ve decided to do the
ultrasound in the hopes of getting a better idea of correct meds so he can have
the best quality we can give him. We’re also hoping we can get an idea of
how long he’ll have before this gets really bad.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I know this group are some of the few that understand the
heart-ache of watching our beloved pets age. The thought of what lies ahead
just makes me cry. But I want to be as informed as possible as to what to
expect…for him, for us, medically..and what to look for at the end.
I know there’s got to be people here who have gone through this. I’m
begging for you to share your experiences with me. The good, the bad and the
ugly.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Kathy<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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