bpm

Odin is, at rest, taking 23 breaths per minute.

Inside outside cats

Peony, Poppy, and Kappa are now inside/outside cats. In unfortunate timing, the neighbors dogs (which I think are boxers but dad disagrees) were in my yard again today. Odin's new medicine is giving him some issues, and since I can't come home once an hour to let him out, we have to revert to two years ago and leave the back door cracked open while I'm at work.

Cardiologist Specialist

Odin weighed 56.3 kg (123 pounds), had "panting" as his respiratory rate; "irregular and of various amplitudes" as his pulse; and "grade 2/6 systolic, plateau-shaped murmur heard over the left cardiac apex" as his auscultation.

His echocardiogram diagnostic was "the left ventricular diastolic chamber dimension was much greater than expected (82 mm); measurements of wall thicknesses were within normal limits. Left ventricular systolic performance was diminished; the left ventricular end-systolic volume (indexed to body surface area) was increased at 170 ml (normal is <30 ml). The left atrium was severly enlarged (59 mm). The pulmonary veins were enlarged. ... mild mitral valve regurgitation."

Diagnosis is dilated cardiomyopathy; atrial fibrillation; impending heart failure

He got a new medication, furosemide, because his pulmonary veins are enlarged. Congestive heart failure is pending. He'll need a renal in a few days becuase the furosemide is a diuretic.

That's from initial evaluation. The in person report, I wrote:
pulmonary veins getting enlarged
soon edema - that's why he's not feeling up to snuff
His new drug should get rid of the fluid in his lungs and he should perk up
But it's tough on the kidneys
She'll call again after she talks to the vet who examined his Holter results
His heartbeat is fast and stressed, 140-160 bpm, and she wants to see if it was because he was there or always like that
Digoxin can be replaced (some dogs do ok on it), she'll talk to the Holter vet - it could make him weak (the new one)
Once he's in heart failure, which could be now (she's not sure), he may have 6 months
I should monitor his breathing at home, <40 bpm is normal. If it gets faster, we should increase the furozamide
It's important to call if his breathing gets fast or if he gets lethargic and weak.
It's best to let him be a couch potato, but if he wants to do something, do it very slow and short.
The least activity is best.
He should start his new medication tonight and keep him at what he's getting now (the reduced pills) so long as he's feeling well.
I can call her and leave questions.

Here's info on the new drug:
http://www.drugs.com/MTM/furosemide.html

I should probably feel happy about this, but I feel pretty sad. We looked at the Marymoor Pet Garden with Stampy today while Odin was getting his exam.

Maybe it was the digoxin making O feel so bad

We took Odin off the digoxin completely (he was on a half dose) and the diarrhea and butt leaking has stopped, and he actually seems quite frisky compared to how he's been. That could also be because I made an appointment with the cardiologist specialist in Seattle for a not-insignificant chunk of change, so of course he'll go in feeling great that day. The price is worth it though, for a week of him feeling good.
I'm working from home today, so he's sitting near me a lot, and I can still see his heart thumping all wildly. Poor O. I love him so much.
Attached are pictures of the "fam" on this dreary, rainy, chilly fall day.

Judith better hope I'm with her and the Velociraptor

I could survive for 60 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Is Daisy ok?

I forgot to mention that when I called the person who sets up the specialist appointments, she said "oh, Odin, he's the one that's got all the problems, right?" and I said "I guess." I guess having afib, ventricles that don't beat right, and an enlarged heart could count as "all the problems". I mean, I don't think there's actually anything else about his heart that could fail now other than total failure?
Though we ARE still missing some of the classic "couple months to go" symptoms, like the coughing at night, and the horror of the eventual gurgling when the fluid is in his lungs. Oh, right, and the passing out. Though I think he's got a leg up (ha ha) on that one with his maybe-a-stroke. His back legs seem to be doing lots better now, though.

Diarrhea : Odin :: Canary : Coal Mine

We had another diarrhea incident this week. Mere hours after I called the vet back to let her know that never mind, the horror of the weekend had passed and he was back to normal. Then again, diarrhea every 3 days or so has become the new normal. (Like 40 is the new 30?)
I don't want to be a crazy lady, but I can't tell anymore what is significant and what isn't, so I just leave messages for the vet if anything "new" happens (like multiple days of barfing and diarrhea). Dr. W called the cardiologist specialist who said to take Odin off the digoxin and that he should come up for a consultation. That's going to happen on the 29th, while my mom is here. He'll get an echocardiogram and a few other things, though he's got a pretty ample history already, with two echos, x-rays, and the holter monitor results.
Dr. W also said that we are approaching the time where we need to think about Odin's quality of life. We can continue to try to mess with his meds to get the right balance (which, by the way, he gets about 20 pills a day now), but if he can't keep them down and we can't get them right, or if his system can't handle them at the point where they're doing any good, and if he continues to have diarrhea episodes and afib episodes and generally feeling icky - well - then it'll be time for me to think about if I'm keeping him alive just for me.
Right now he has so many moments where he's himself and maybe once a week he's prancy. And I don't want to be the type of person who puts a dog to sleep because he keeps spraying poop all over the house. So where's the line? How will I know when Odin feels so bad, and the good times are so in between (or non-existent) that he doesn't want to stick around just so I can squeeze him?
I want him to make it easy on me by being fine, and then just dying in his sleep.
At this point, I think we'll see what the specialist has to say, mess with his meds a little more, and then just keep an eye on him for how he's actually feeling. We've had two poo free days in a row! I just steam cleaned (again) which almost guarantees there will be a poop explosion tonight.
Poor O. He hates wearing the diaper.
Oh yeah, and I switched to all hot dogs for his pills. I slice one up and shove the pill in, and do like Daisy's owner and alternate non-pill hot dogs. I'm also trying to make him eat his dog food before the pills, so I alternate a slice of meat, chicken broth, an egg, or stirred in cottage cheese. Dr. W also suggested cooking him some chicken, cooked eggs, or tofu.

Tropic Thunder - Worth Dog Diarrhea? Read on for Review

I went out to dinner and to see Tropic Thunder with my friend Melissa tonight. We talked through the first and second showings, so we went to see the incredibly late 9:30 movie. I had left Odin in a doggie diaper because of the leakage in the car today, and there was a - well - thunderous accident.
He had diarrhea in the diaper, and then ran all over the house, so there are drops of slimy poo everywhere, a diaper full of diarrhea, a huge pile of diarrhea, two piles of barf, Stampy chewed up my rubber barn boots (and hopefully not anything else), and I am guessing, but am trying to muster up the courage to let Odin back in - that diarrhea is all over the back end of him.
I know this isn't his fault - he's been barfing up his meds, so his heart isn't pumping enough oxygen to his lower intestines, but it is still really, really, really gross and disheartening.
Was Tropic Thunder worth it? I'll decide after I finish cleaning shit up at midnight. I laughed out loud - really loud - kind of a lot. And I totally didn't recognize Tom Cruise for the longest time.
But my house reeks of poo ....

Vet Open House

We stopped at the vet's open house today on the way home from Costco. Stampy and Odin got to walk around and we got a tour of the vet office (like we haven't already seen it) and a free visit with Dr. Westcott, and a bunch of free stuff and a whole lot of people petted Odin & Stampy and Stampy only slobbered on two people (who told me). Dr. W is my favorite vet because she made a zen rock garden out of dog kidney stones.
And she had gorilla glue in the shape of a dog's stomach from where the dog ate a tube of it and she had to do surgery.
She also had those worms dad told me about that pop out of skin like barnacles and she said you can either catch them with "forceps" (I think she said something different) and pull them out, or you put a coke bottle over them and pop it for the pressure and they fly up into the bottle.

Running errands, Odin's butt leaked all over the car, which was pretty gross. I did like a meat shopping spree to try to mix things up so he'll eat his pills. I got pepperoni, peanut butter, hot dogs, tuna fish, and broth. So I think if I do three different ways of feeding pills a day, maybe we'll have more success.

Barf-o-rama

Odin has barfed three times in the last 24 hours. He barfed yesterday morning after I finally got him to swallow his pills. He barfed in the middle of the night (well, 5 am). And he barfed this morning almost immediately after I got him to swallow his pills. I guess it's time to call the vet.
Also, I have been trying to find this dog eulogy that I read in a dog training book. I rechecked all the dog training books from the library looking for it, and I've searched all the variations of "dog poem" and "dog eulogy" (however you spell it), and I can't find it. I'm really frustrated.

How to make a dog swallow pills?

Odin doesn't want to eat his pills anymore. This is especially troublesome now that he gets them three times a day, and this morning, after an agonizing (and slimy) fight, he immediately went outside and barfed them all up. I have a few ideas - cheese, spam, and hot dog slices - but that's not much, especially considering the meat roll-ups have been wildly successful.
I did, however, figure out the 3x/day schedule without completely abandoning the horses. I'm actually pretty pleased with it - there's good balance between the dogs, the horses, and work, and even some exercise for me. What there's not is any social life at all. I figure I can do that p.o. - if and when I move on.

What do baby wipes and cottage cheese have in common? Odin!

I bought baby wipes to wipe Ode's leaky butt, inspired by my diaper changing prowess when I visited my adorable nephew. Odin still hates it, but it is better than the other ways I was doing it (warm washcloth, paper towels and toilet paper).
Also, to try to motivate Odin to eat before his pills, I am stirring in cottage cheese. Usually something "fun" inspires him for a few days, then it gets routine and I have to switch. I guess I could rotate between cottage cheese, an egg, and chicken or beef broth.
I still haven't figured out how to do the 3x/day pill schedule.

Holter monitor results

Odin is still having afib episodes, and his ventricles are prematurely beating. He is getting another drug: mexiletine, which is supposed to help with the arrythmia. It may cause an upset tummy, and he should get it after food, which is going to be difficult since he doesn't like to eat, and to add to the complications, he gets it three times a day. The more evenly distributed the better, but Dr. W said I could do am, home, at bedtime, but I don't think she realizes that my "home" and "at bedtime" are only an hour apart. I've got to think about how I can rearrange my schedule without spending too much time in the car.
WSU is going to do a second holter in a couple weeks for free since it only got 18 hours the first time.
We are stopping Ode's digoxin for 48 hours, and then giving him a 1/2 dose, so just once a day instead of twice starting Monday.
Dr. W is also sending the Holter results to the other specialist to see if she has any feedback too.
The digoxin may be the cause of the pooping in the house. We'll see.
And Stampy's lumps are coming back.

4 stops in 2 blocks

We just went on a walk and Odin had to stop and rest 4 times in the 2 blocks we walked around.

Poop - a second time

Sadly, this evening there was another pile of poop on Odin's side of the house. This is not the leaky butt poo, but an actual (huge) pile of crap. The first time was Monday, and now this, and the last time Odin pooped in the house was approximately 7 years ago when he got sick and I wasn't home and he went on the rug right next to the door.
I don't know what's going on.

Stampenstein got his lumps drained today

Dr. W let me watch. Stampy got all woozy and fell down. He was really funny. It was viscous blood that came out, not saliva like I thought. Dr. W says that if they clog up again, she'll have to put him to sleep, then try to unclog them. She used a more technical term.
She said that Odin could have had a stroke, and that's why he's being odd with his back end. The gurgling she had no idea about because if it was fluid in his lungs, it should be all the time, not just at night, and he should be coughing, softly. She said that he might be growling and snapping at me because he feels like he's on pins and needles (like when our leg falls asleep) and so she suggested acupuncture.
Hopefully tomorrow his Holter results will be back.
I am sooo a regular at the vet now.