[Whitney L]

Hi,
You’re so good at all this, you have the luckiest dogs in the world! I just wish the dog food bags would read for dummies so I could have an easier time and not have to involve anything mathematical. I’m awful at it… my husband is the engineer, so I’ll have to turn that over to him. I’m going to have him review the sodium contents and variables because he’s usually the one stopping for food.

It sounds like the Fromm we’re feeding may be okay for my Crested, and I’ll have to get a canned version for the foster girl. Or maybe soak hers in water and see if she’ll eat it that way. She has quite the underbite and the wretched teeth, so the soft food gets stuck all in her teeth and mouth. When we were giving her canned food we would wipe it off her as best we could, but she would still proceed to rub her face all over the living room rug. We also can’t get in her mouth to wipe it out from in there. We’re due to have a baby in three days, so we are trying our darndest to keep stuff like that off the rug. The joys of doggies, haha! At least it builds immunity in kids, my 10yo son never gets sick.

Anyway, the vet that the foster girl initially saw was one that the rescue uses. As far as I know, he didn’t give food suggestions, and I know he did not prescribe Vetmedin since none came with her. I got her several weeks after she came into the rescue. I ended up taking her to another vet, also part of the rescue but a different vet’s office and location, and specifically asked for the Vetmedin. I also asked for the incurin and recurring clindomyacin to help her mouth from possible inflammation. That vet ended up giving her a shot of the lasix and enalapril to boost it up in her system, and upped the lasix. She’s peeing a lot more, and coughing a lot less, so I think things are helping! They did do xrays of the little foster when we were at the vet this past weekend, but they didn’t show us and I wouldn’t know what I was looking at anyway. Her prognosis was still not good, but she wants to see her back in two weeks to do bloodwork and make sure the difference in meds aren’t inadvertently interfering with anything.

I’ll have to look up the Vetri Cardio Canine you mentioned, as it sounds like good stuff.

So on top of just trying to be a good doggy mom for my little medical babes, and the fact that we have a baby due in three days, my Crested is now not feeling well. I took him to his vet on Tuesday, and the poor little guy had to suffer through getting his temp taken, a fecal, a blood draw, an x-ray (thankfully one scan gets all of him), a dosage of fluid injected under the skin, and then a shot for anti nausea/diarrhea. The good news from all that is that his heart and lungs are looking wonderful compared to a year ago, and the vet was happy that the meds are doing their job on him and his lasix doesn’t need increasing. Bad news was that they couldn’t really find anything going on. His bloodwork was mostly good except a few things creeping the wrong way due to him being a little dehydrated, and the vet wasn’t concerned so long as he stays hydrated.

He seemed to feel better Tuesday night, and now we’re back to him moping around, refusing even canned food, watermelon, etc., and today he threw up the little bit of watermelon he did eat about 10 hours ago. He did take a small poop yesterday, and I was hoping that would make him feel better. It looks like he’ll be going back if he’s not better by the morning, and he’ll likely be getting a Barium test to see if there’s a blockage somewhere. More not fun stuff because he HATES x-rays. I have to go in the back with them when he gets them because he will freak out and half kill himself from setting himself into a breathing episode, then he gets placed on oxygen. I nearly cried on Tuesday because I can’t stand next to the x-ray machine being pregnant, and he was so scared and crying so loud. I stood off to the side where I hoped he could see me and talked to him. I hate it. Fingers crossed he starts feeling better today. 🙁

I really appreciate all your knowledge and for taking the time to fill me in on everything since you’re way more experienced at this than I am. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Whitney L]

Hi Laurie F.,
Thank you for the link. I see Fromm is listed, but the sodium contents still seem higher than some others. Currently, all of my dogs but one eat Fromm (including one CHF dog). My other dog, who is a recent permanent foster, is the other CHF dog and she’s on really crappy food. She got a 3 month prognosis a month ago when she came into rescue, so we just picked up cheap Moist and Meaty. I know, it’s awful. I feel guilty about it, and despite the vet saying she didn’t have long, I’d still like to give her better food. We also saw a different vet (within the rescue) this past weekend because I wanted to get her meds adjusted, and this vet said the same thing about her health. Said she’s super sweet and friendly, but a hot mess. 🙁

My two dogs with CHF: the new foster is a chi/corgi mix, approximately 11lbs and between 12-15years old. It’s really hard to tell because of her health and her teeth are WRETCHED. I mean, just downright awful. This weekend her Lasix was upped to 5mg, she’s on Enalapril already, and I had the vet add Vetmedin. I also got another round of clindomyacin, and we’ll make that recurring monthly to help keep down any gum infection. She’s also now on incurin because she’s a leaker. It’s not a big deal because we diaper her inside, but it can make a mess on our lanai if she’s not diapered right away after piddling.

My other CHF dog is a 9-10yro Chinese Crested (hairless). He is the one w/pulmonary edema, and he’s currently on the same medications as the chi mix, and he’s been on them since I began fostering him 1.5yrs ago (I failed and adopted). He overall does great, just has the occasional breathing episode. Usually they’re slight, but every now and then there is one that is so bad that he can’t even stand up from the oxygen deprivation. It’s awful to see, and his vet is actually surprised he keeps on living. When he gets like that, there’s nothing we can do but sit with him and stroke his head hair. If we tried to put him in a car at that time, it’d likely kill him. It’d be nice if I had an oxygen tank at the house for those times. 🙁

Sidenote: I give my dogs zero treats. My crested thinks his medication is a treat, and he happily devours the pills twice a day without us having to stuff them in a treat haha. He also eats poop sometimes, so his taste buds must be wonky.

[Whitney L]

Yikes. Definitely go online and start ordering from Allivet or another similar site (accredited, like someone mentioned above). I pay just under $33 for a bottle of 50. If you put your order on recurring, you’ll save 5%, and orders over $50 get free shipping. You’ll need to input your vet’s information and they can contact directly. I think you can fax your script, but I think it’s easier to let them do it. Their customer service reps have always been pleasant to work with on the few occasions I have spoken with them.

As for the samples at the vet’s office, I can’t offer any advisement on that.

[Whitney L]

Laurie F, did you end up finding a quality dog food for CHF with low sodium? I have two rescues with CHF, one also has pulmonary edema.

[Whitney L]

I’ve been ordering Vetmedin through Allivet.com for a year and a half with no issue. Try there: http://www.allivet.com/
It’s also a lot less expensive than what you pay at the vet. I also order my dog’s enalapril and lasix there too.

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