My senior dog has CHF, won't eat/drink, and meds aren't working.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Adrian. I am sorry to hear about all of her recent troubles. I would give her water through a syringe in small frequent amounts. One of the main medications for heart failure is furosemide (lasix). This is a diuretic to pull fluid off the lungs. This medication is life saving, but can cause dehydration and secondary kidney damage. So it is important for her to stay hydrated. Hopefully her attitude and appetite will pick up once the medications are working. Her breathing rate and effort are big indicators if the heart drugs are working. Her respiratory rate should be less than 30 breaths/min when resting if the fluid has resolved. She should also breathe easily and without obvious effort. The diarrhea can be secondary to the heart disease itself or even the stress of illness. Hopefully it will resolve with the new medication. If she is struggling to breathe, isn't eating or drinking well tomorrow and the diarrhea persists, she will need to see her veterinarian again. It is important to carefully monitor her blood work and blood pressure after starting heart medications. I hope this information helps!

I'm so sorry Duke is having heart and lung problems! I am very concerned that he has not eaten for several days and has no energy. He may potentially have something else going on besides his previously diagnosed heart and lung issues. I would recommend you take him back in to your vet as soon as possible to be evaluated. Often with heart disease, dogs need a combination of medication, including furosemide and pimobendan (the cardisure), and potentially a blood pressure medication. If he is not eating he may need more aggressive treatment and potentially injectable medication. He also may need another x-ray to see how his lungs look. He may need blood work to make sure his kidneys are okay as well as check his electrolytes. Again, I'm so sorry Duke doesn't feel well. Heart disease can be difficult to manage and is progressive, so over time medications sometimes have to be adjusted and/or dosages changed. I hope he starts feeling better soon. Your vet will help you determine what is the next best step for him! Good luck!

Unfortunately the dilation of the heart cannot be reversed, but the medications will help to slow its progression and improve the other side effects of enlarged heart. The vetmedin helps the heart pump faster and harder, the furosemide reduces fluid build up in the lungs and the benazepril stops maladaptive pathways being activated. You should see a difference in him within a week or two, the medication can help to improve quality of life greatly.

Hi. Is your pet on medications for heart failure? If so, and still coughing, your veterinarian may need to reassess xrays and possibly increase doses of medication. Prognosis for heart failure is guarded to poor. I'm sorry she isn't feeling well

I am so sorry to hear about Lola. It is so hard with senior pets to know when it's time to say goodbye. I know how hard it is as I lost my 15 and a half year old guy last year. The blood work values you report are very concerning. The question is if there is something that has acutely changed to make her become a lot worse, or is this simply progression of underlying chronic kidney disease. There are other disease processes that can complicate chronic kidney disease like infection, pancreatitis, high bood pressure, infectious diseases, etc. Really what your pet needs is to be hospitalized with intravenous fluids, supportive care (anti nausea medications, etc.), and to try to figure out if there's an underlying problem exacerbating the kidney disease. This will require more tests such as an abdominal ultrasound, urine culture, and potentially other things as dictated by the case. I would not give up hope until trying these things because you won't know if this will help her until you try. The opposite would be true if a pet in this situation were hospitalized for two to three days and there was no improvement in the blood work or symptoms. Then, if all the treatment options are exhausted, and the pet has poor quality of life a different decision may be reached. As dogs do not tolerate chronic kidney disease as well as cats being diagnosed for a year without progression is excellent. Sometimes having a consultation with an internal medicine specialist can really help. Your family vet would likely be able to provide a referral if you and he or she thinks this would be a valuable step. I hope this helps and that Lola feels better soon. Thank you for using pet coach.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Unfortunately, if Chloe is dealing with kidney failure and heart disease, the weight will decrease. Cardiac disease can lead to what is called cardiac cachexia (muscle wasting) and renal disease can also lead to weight loss. The prognosis for both of these conditions is not good and if Chloe is taking a turn for the worse and medications are not helping, it may be time to consider letting Chloe go. I would first have a veterinarian take a look at her so that you can discuss this option further with the vet. If it is too much for her to go to the vet, I would look up a mobile veterinary clinic that comes to your house. I hope this helps!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If Miko's blood was not tested yesterday, I would certainly recommend having this done to see if there are any changes that are concerning on the blood work. If this is infectious, keep in mind that it may take 3-5 days for the antibiotic to start working and showing improvement. If Miko is worsening, I would suggest taking him back in to your veterinarian for a recheck exam so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.