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My dog Scooby and Living with MVD

Thank you for your kind words and thoughts

Hi,

Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts , we are still battling on and scooby hasnot had another syncope episode so we are taking each day as it comes and hoping for the best....

While hes still here there are lots of cuddles and kisses and treats going about and we are keeping everthing crossed he stays with us a bit longer ..... :xfngr:

Will let you know how my little fighter is getting along.

Sharon and Scooby XXX
 
Dear Sharon and Scooby

Thinking of you at this special and precious (if heart-aching) time. Hospice care for Cavaliers...

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
Thinking of you Sharon and Scooby, we are going through it aswell, my dog Buster is 6 years old, and has been on meds for a year now, we are making the most of him as he has breathing troubles for the last fortnight.
 
Just bringing you up to date with scooby

Hi All,

Well its been a while so thought I would update you on my special boy scooby. He is still with us , no more syncope episodes since the last one a month ago . His cough is slightly worse so Iam adjusting his fruisimide to compensate. He is still happy , eating well on a short exercise program and getting all the love and care he could ever need.....

We dont wonder what the future holds we live for the moment and ever moment with scooby is special , hes my little fighter and has always been since he was a puppy..

Love
Sharon and Scooby
XXX
 
Thank you for the update.

Scooby is a very special little dog and there are many people here cheering him on.
 
Rocky and MVD

I am new to this site as of today and noticed that your situation with your Scooby is similar to mine with my cavi Rocky. Rocky is 8 and half and in advanced stages of MVD. He is on a lot of medication: frusimide, vetmedin, fortekor and prilactone. Recently he had 1litre of fluid drained from his abdomen as he couldn't lie down due to having to keep his head elevated to breathe. I read somewhere on the internet about the drug Moduret which is another diuretic and so far this seems to have worked very well in keeping his abdomen from re-filling. I just wanted to know if you had any experience of this medication at all?

Thanks
Sass:http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/images/smilies/loopy.gif

Hi All,

Well its been a while so thought I would update you on my special boy scooby. He is still with us , no more syncope episodes since the last one a month ago . His cough is slightly worse so Iam adjusting his fruisimide to compensate. He is still happy , eating well on a short exercise program and getting all the love and care he could ever need.....

We dont wonder what the future holds we live for the moment and ever moment with scooby is special , hes my little fighter and has always been since he was a puppy..

Love
Sharon and Scooby
XXX
 
Hi Sass,

Sorry to hear about your cavalier rocky , scooby is on the same medication apart from Modurat , I have never heard of that before ?????? How much is he on and is this aswel as his other medication??/

At the moment we have not had an issue with scooby and fliud building up but we have had numerous 'Syncope' episodes where he passes out and its very frightening....

I hope we can keep our boys going for a while longer.....

Take care

Sharon and Scooby
X
 
Things are going downhill with my scooby

hi All,

Until the last couple of days I was believing that scooby would tick on for a while yet , but 2 days his breathing went worse. He seems to be making a real effort to breath , hes not panting but his breathing sems 'laboured'. We took him to the vets this morning and they said there is no fluid build up on his chest , its just 'Part of his condition' and its obviously getting worse. They suggested I up his fruisimide tablets and see how he goes but he very restless and its tearing at my heart to see him struggle and it seems to have come on so quickly.

Does anyone have any experience with this happening and has anyone got any ideas of what I can do to help him.........

Thanks
Sharon and Scooby XXX:(
 
hi All,

Until the last couple of days I was believing that scooby would tick on for a while yet , but 2 days his breathing went worse. He seems to be making a real effort to breath , hes not panting but his breathing sems 'laboured'. We took him to the vets this morning and they said there is no fluid build up on his chest , its just 'Part of his condition' and its obviously getting worse. They suggested I up his fruisimide tablets and see how he goes but he very restless and its tearing at my heart to see him struggle and it seems to have come on so quickly.

Does anyone have any experience with this happening and has anyone got any ideas of what I can do to help him.........

Thanks
Sharon and Scooby XXX:(

You and Scooby have fought so hard and so long. I do hope that increasing his frusemide helps him.

You are such a loving and caring owner, Scooby has been so lucky to be owned by you.

Do you think that in telling you that 'this is part of his condition' the vet is trying to warn you that the symptoms will get worse?

I have had cavaliers for many years and fought the same battle. Sometimes the hardest thing is to realise they are not going to bounce back one more time.

I'm thinking of you both.
 
The later stages of Congestive Heart Failure put enormous strain on the heart, and eventually it just wears out, and there's not much medicines can do to help. So Scooby may be nearing that moment, though Cavaliers have a great capacity for keeping going, as you have already discovered. In the meantime, don't let him make any unnecessary effort - carry him out into the garden to let him potter about and do his business if he feels up to it, feed him by hand if eating is an effort (the meat from a fresh-cooked chicken thigh goes down a treat!), make sure he drinks by holding the bowl for him if necessary, and let him spend lots of time resting on your lap!

All Scooby really needs at the moment is your company on his journey - one of the greatest privileges of dog owning. When the heart can't do any more, Scooby will tell you, and then it's up to you to be beside him for the next step.

Thinking of you both :hug:

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
I really don't have any advise for you other than to just enjoy whatever moments you have with Scooby. I'm so sorry you both have to go through this.
 
There may be one other factor influencing his difficulty breathing (called dyspnea) - and that is PAH or pulmonary arterial hypertension. This is something that can happen with advanced degenerative valvular disease, and it also happens with right sided heart failure such as heart failure caused by heartworms. It can also be caused by a pulmonary embolism. This dyspnea can get so bad that a dog cannot comfortably lie down (this is called orthopnea).

PAH is when the blood pressure is high only in the vasculature of the lungs - rather than systemic hypertension when the overall body blood pressure is high. Most GP vets know little or nothing about PAH, but cardiologists are quite familiar with this problem and with treatment. It is diagnosed from measurements taken during an echocardiogram - or ultrasound of the heart.

Sildenafil (brand name Viagra) and similar drugs in that class can be pretty successful at treating PAH. The drug made a huge difference when my Capers was in end stage heart failure, and he actually went on for two more years with very good control of symptoms from the cocktail of heart meds that he took. I also used the drug for one of my shih tzu that had acute severe PAH as a result of a blood clot to the lungs, but her case was so severe that she only lived a few weeks after she threw the clot to the lungs despite aggressive treatment.

Pimobendan (Vetmedin) addresses PAH somewhat, but adding sildenafil can be very effective. Also, adding furosemide when the problem is really PAH rather than CHF actually makes the PAH worse rather than better. (My shih was first diagnosed with CHF by a GP vet, and he started her on furosemide. When my cardiologist saw her, he diagnosed PAH and stopped the furosemide because she was not in CHF and started Vetmedin and sildenafil. Cardiologist told me that overdiuresis made the PAH worse.)

Pat (and I also agree with Kate and Margaret)
 
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Thank you all for your kind and helpful words - me and scooby appreciate it

Hi all,

Thank you all so much for your kind words and advice. Thanks to Pat for medication advice , its very helpful.

I have spent some of the day in tears , touched by all your support and also watching my special little boy as he coughs and makes such an effort to breath. His little tail is still wagging and we spent some time in the garden this afternoon, however much of the journey we have left together I have always treasured every moment I have shared with him , hes a special little boy.....

Will let you know how he gets on.....

Sharon and Scooby XX
 
My little fighter

Hi all,

The latest with my little fighter is his breathing is still laboured but he has perked up a bit. I came down this morning to give him his pills and got a nice greeting which I havenot had for a few days ....... He is still coughing but not as frequently..........

We live day by day but hes my special little fighter and I love him with all my heart....

Sharon and Scooby
XX
 
The latest.......

Hi All....

The latest with scooby is his breathing seems to have improved a little better with the additional fruisimide tablet Iam giving him a day. He is starting the show signs of exercise intolerance as we have been going for very short walks but he gets very tired and slow , he is so excited to go out but considering this time last year we were going on 30 minute walks a day and he was runnning around , we can only manage 10 mins max now and we walk slowly.

On the plus side we had a bbq yesterday and he enjoyed a burger and some turkey so he still loves his treats....:)

Love
Sharon and Scooby
XX
 
treasure those moments and memories - thank you for the update we often think of you x


It's good that he still wants to go and 10 minutes isn't too bad considering what's going on. I'm sure you know to avoid the heat - I think it's been quite warm in some areas?


That might make him a bit worse they tend to find the heat hard to manage.

Hoping for many more happy times yet for you.
 
I'm so sorry to read about Scooby. Our little guy Bobo is the same with this disease. A few weeks ago he started to really slow down & was panting constantly. He looked really depressed & his eyes were glazed over. I work in a vet clinic & took him in, we done bloodwork & rads & his white blood count was 31, way too high. Dr thought it was either a tumor or infection. I honestly thought we were going to lose him that day. It was the longest days ever waiting for the radiology report to come through on the fax machine.
Thankfully there was no tumor so e started him on Baytril antibiotic & within 2 days he was his usual bright self.
It was so hard trying to think of ways I was going to tell my husband. We adopted this little guy & he is definitely his puppy, (its too cute).
Its so sad to see his tail wag & him get so excited when we go to take the other 2 out for their walk, we did let him come but he gets to the end of the driveway & gives up! Thats when me & him get to send some special alone time with an extra treat that the other 2 don't get!

Hope your little guy is doing good?
Take care, xxx
 
You and Scooby are in my thoughts. I truly hope that he gets better. However, when you say you rescued Scooby from a pet store, does this mean that you bought him from a pet store? Although it may seem like a nice thing to do and that little face in the window is hard to walk away from, people who do this are supporting the puppy mill industry. I hope other people also realize this when considering buying a puppy from a pet shop to rescue him.
 
Thanks for your well wishes eg93.

I did buy scooby from the pet shop the reason I did this was that he was in an awful state , he was just 4.6kg in weight , with his ribs showing and I refused to let him stay in that awful place any longer. He was over 6 months old and not housetrained ..... We took him out of that place and gave him the treatment and care he needed and have loved him deeply for the last 8.5 years .

I do not support buying dogs from pet shops , but I will be honest with you if I saw another dog in the awful state scooby was in a pet shop window I would do it again in a heartbeat....

Sharon and Scooby
 
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