Baby Joshua

[Eadwine Rose]

I hope he continues to do well!

[JayM]

He's still doing well. They're going to taper off the diuretic, then do an ECG tomorrow. He may possibly be able to be discharged soon depending on the results.

I don't know if they're still doing it during the covid-19 situation but they normally rotate on-site duty for a week at a time where one of the vets and an assistant have to sleep at the clinic and the vet has to get up at intervals, make the rounds and check on all the patients, make any adjustments to the IVs of those that are on them, and be available for after-hours emergency cases. (They don't give out to the public that the vet is already on site after hours, they let on that you have to phone ahead and the vet will come in and meet you. but one of them told me how it really works. They just want to make sure people call ahead so they can be prepared when you arrive.)

[Eadwine Rose]

I sure hope so.

[JayM]

Joshua was discharged from the hospital this afternoon! He still has a touch of chest congestion but it's improved tremendously over how it was when he was admitted and it's no longer bad enough that he needs an intravenous diuretic. He's been prescribed enrofloxacin antibiotic tablets, firozimide diuretic tablets (which I had to go get at a human pharmacy up the street from the vet's), Pet Tabs vitamin supplements and three cans of Hill's Science Diet h/d heart care formula canned food per day, all for seven days at which time he goes back for a follow-up chest x-ray.

As expected the food is a problem with five other spoiled dogs in the house: Joshua thinks the other dogs are getting something better than him so instead of eating his entire meal he stopped and growled at the other dogs, and the others smelled his food and three of them refused their own dinners because they wanted what he was getting. I knew this would happen. Unfortunately I was unable to start him on his medications tonight other than the Pet Tab as they must be taken after meals and he only had a few bites. I don't want to add an upset tummy to his woes. It could also be that he just wasn't that hungry tonight because of the stress he's been under, coupled with the excitement of riding home in the pet ambulance arriving home just an hour before dinnertime and his appetite may be better in the morning once he's back to his usual routine. Otherwise I'll call his doctor and explain the situation and see if I can just mix the canned food in with the communal mixing bowl of their normal dry dog food and cooked rice (3 parts dog food, 2 parts rice, mixed with water and allowed to soften for an hour) just so he eats and can take his medicines.

He's happy to be home but still pretty tired. He was in the hospital for five days in strange surroundings, strange dogs around him and barking, and lights on all night, plus he came pretty darn close to dying. He's still coughing occasionally, just a wee bit, which is concerning but hopefully even that will go away after a few days on the diuretic pills. It's not nearly as bad as he was doing.

It sure is good to have him home. I missed him so much. He's just enjoying a nap now, along with Rahab the female Doberman he grew up with.

[Eadwine Rose]

That food thing is SO typical. Greener grass and all that

Hopefully he'll eat better in the morning, and otherwise I'd say something is better than nothing, after talking about it with the vet, of course :)

[JayM]

That food thing is SO typical. Greener grass and all that

Hopefully he'll eat better in the morning, and otherwise I'd say something is better than nothing, after talking about it with the vet, of course :)

I was thinking the same thing. Better he eat something and take his medicines than neither one. I did give him his diuretic tabs anyway, just not the antibiotic tonight. The poor guy's beat! He's just sleeping. Meanwhile his soul mate Rahab's as happy as a clam to have him back again. :)

[Eadwine Rose]

Could also be a different brand of similar oriented veterinary pet food will work better. At least there is more than one brand that the vet carries :)

[JayM]

He'd been heartily eating the same food when at the vet's so I'm sure he likes it. It's just now he's back in his pack that there's the jealousy thing happening, I'm sure.

[Eadwine Rose]

Children, the lot of them

[JayM]

He ate about a third of his food this morning so I was able to start him on his medications including antibiotics. I just spoke to his doctor and it's OK to mix his canned food with the dry dog food and rice that the other dogs eat, I just have to give Joshua more of the canned stuff than the others because it's specially formulated for dogs with congestive heart failure. I'll try that tonight at dinner time and see what happens. Hopefully I can find a sweet spot where everyone eats and he gets enough of the veterinary food to help him.

He's still coughing a cardio cough just a little bit, usually after waking from naps and after barking (or howling as they all started doing when I went outside to feed some stray cats, thinking that I'd gone somewhere without feeding them when I was just outside the back door) which is worrisome, but at least it's not nearly as bad or as frequent and hopefully after a few more days on the diuretics that will go away. It's taking some time for him to "decompress" after having been in a hospital for five days, and get used to being at home and with his usual pack. That might also be causing an appetite issue, but I really think it's mostly jealousy from watching his behavior: he's not just not eating from poor appetite like he was last weekend, he keeps looking at the other dogs' bowls like he wants their food and even growling a bit.

Please keep the prayers, good thoughts and well wishes coming! They've helped so far. And thank you, everyone!