Long time since I was here, Bertie now poorly

[alibunnylady]

Hi all, it's ages since I was last here.

Bertie is now six and a half, my best friend.

Sadly, he has developed heart disease and some changes on his lungs too. He is now on Pimobendan and two diuretics. Vet has said he reckons sbout 18 months to 2 year left :-(

I'm so upset and am going to make the most of him.

Not sure what else to say now, will be reading any threads on this sort of thing to see if I can learn anything.

Alison

[MomObvious]

Sorry to hear about your Bertie. I think all of us know in the back of our minds we all need to make the most of every healthy day we have with our precious cavaliers. Is he doing well on the medications? Or has the heart problems slowed him down a lot? Heart problems in cavaliers do seem to be progressive however its still treatable. There is plenty of info here and don't forget to check out cavalierhealth.com too.

[jasperpaw]

So sorry to hear about Bertie, I have a cavalier that went on medication when he was 9 years, he was put on the medication because fluid had built up - he is on Fortekor tablets and Frusimide and has stayed on the same doage all this time, with a slight adjustment of water tablets when he coughs a bit more which I just give him for a couple of days, he tends to cough a bit more this time of year, we think it is because of the dryness of central heating, he has regular check ups every three months - he will be celebrating his 13th birthday in just over 2 weeks time, I never thought he would reach this age when he was diagnosed with his heart problem, he has been lucky with his weight he is not to heavy which helps with the heart condition. Hopefully Bertie will be with you for a long time to come.

[alibunnylady]

Thanks for those replies. Bertie is fine in himself most of the time thankfully. The tablets seem to be helping but the past couple of days he's been coughing more again and his breathing is always a bit on the fast side. I need to keep checking and work out what his normal is. His heart rate was 180 at calm, thats come down now but again, last couple of days, it's faster again. I can visibly see where his heart is beating as it makes his body "wobble"with each beat. The vet did say it would fluctuate. I'm constantly watching him.

When he was younger he underwent some extensive tests which showed a slightly elongated valve which was slightly floppy and his heart was ever so slightly large. Up to now, it wasn't a problem.

I wouldn't say he's slowed down alot, a little maybe but still very excitable.

It's not just his heart, there are some lung changes too. They're not sure what those changes are at the moment.

He's laying down now and I can see him "wobble" from the other side of the room. Will be ringing the vet later if it doesn't slow down. Don't want to run to vet at every fluctuation but equally, don't want to hold off too long.

Jasperpaw, that's encouraging to hear, nice to know that they can do well. Bertie is slender, he's never been fat, slightly overweight a couple of years ago but not major and I got on top of it straight away and have kept him slender ever since.

I hope he does as well as your dog

Alison