Hello and thank you for your wonderful forum where I am learning SO much. After losing our 13-year-old Yorkie mix in April, and wanting to find a companion for our distraught Maltese/Chihuahua mix, I decided to look into getting a Cavalier King Charles as my husband had always said that was the one breed he really was taken with. I believe in rescuing dogs who have lost their former forever families, so I went to the CKCS Rescue here in Houston, where we were shown two dogs. Our pick was 7-year-old Milo, who immediately made himself at home and started giving us so much love and affection. The person who brought him out said he seemed to be in relatively good health, although he had a heart murmur and allergies. She talked about this really cute mannerism he had where he chased his tail and occasionally caught it.
After getting him home and watching some very strange actions, I began to do research in earnest. I was complete undone by all the problems that have been bred into these wonderful little beings. Milo has episodes of running back and forth around the sectional apparently scratching both sides of his head and is very relieved when I take over the chore for him. He will often yelp for no reason and has bit me several times, never breaking the skin and looking very distressed at what he had just done and yet, it was an unconditioned response to some type of pain or sensitivity, especially toward the back of his body, around the tail, etc.
After several vet visits in the space of 2-3 weeks, I realized AND learned that Milo is having seizures, has an enlarged heart and breathes almost constantly like a marathon-running athlete. Right now, he is taking phenobarbital for the seizures, Enalapril to slow progression of the heart disease, and an antihistamine. I give Napoleon, our other one Metacam and now I'm wondering if I should be using it for Milo, too. We were told we probably needed to have an echo done, but it would be about $1000, and we've had so many human expenses, it just isn't possible to do that, but I also can't watch him and wonder if he's suffering all the time. He jumps up on the bed and the couch, usually, but you can tell he has issues descending the steps outside. But, he DOES love to eat!
As you can tell, we are quite new at the CKCS experience, and Milo is just a little dream boy. But at 7 years old and with so little history, I'm very frustrated at the rescue for not sharing more with us and I need to know what is the best course of action for Milo's benefit.
Thank you again for this forum and for the friendship it provides. Oh yes, Milo is the beautiful red and white with more red than white and with a spot on the top of his head. He's quite striking (AND SHEDS A LOT! another thing I didn't know...
) Thanks so much for your help and suggestions. Edwina (also known as "Supermimi"):thnx:
After getting him home and watching some very strange actions, I began to do research in earnest. I was complete undone by all the problems that have been bred into these wonderful little beings. Milo has episodes of running back and forth around the sectional apparently scratching both sides of his head and is very relieved when I take over the chore for him. He will often yelp for no reason and has bit me several times, never breaking the skin and looking very distressed at what he had just done and yet, it was an unconditioned response to some type of pain or sensitivity, especially toward the back of his body, around the tail, etc.
After several vet visits in the space of 2-3 weeks, I realized AND learned that Milo is having seizures, has an enlarged heart and breathes almost constantly like a marathon-running athlete. Right now, he is taking phenobarbital for the seizures, Enalapril to slow progression of the heart disease, and an antihistamine. I give Napoleon, our other one Metacam and now I'm wondering if I should be using it for Milo, too. We were told we probably needed to have an echo done, but it would be about $1000, and we've had so many human expenses, it just isn't possible to do that, but I also can't watch him and wonder if he's suffering all the time. He jumps up on the bed and the couch, usually, but you can tell he has issues descending the steps outside. But, he DOES love to eat!
As you can tell, we are quite new at the CKCS experience, and Milo is just a little dream boy. But at 7 years old and with so little history, I'm very frustrated at the rescue for not sharing more with us and I need to know what is the best course of action for Milo's benefit.
Thank you again for this forum and for the friendship it provides. Oh yes, Milo is the beautiful red and white with more red than white and with a spot on the top of his head. He's quite striking (AND SHEDS A LOT! another thing I didn't know...
) Thanks so much for your help and suggestions. Edwina (also known as "Supermimi"):thnx:
