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Joshua is our Doberman Pinscher that we raised from a puppy. He recently turned 11 years old. He's usually had a smiling, happy demeanor and other than being mischievous is always very obedient so his nickname is Sunny Jim. About half of his "tricks" weren't things that he was actually taught, they were just things that I told him to do and he figured them out then did them. The "usually" above is because sometimes when he wasn't allowed to have something he wanted or to do something he wanted to do he would lie on the floor and sulk, so another of his nicknames is the Sultan of Sulk.

After having had a chronic cough for two weeks and being misdiagnosed with a bacterial infection and not responding very much to treatment, yesterday his appetite suddenly decreased. I managed to get him to a proper animal hospital this morning where he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a lot of fluid in his lungs, which was confirmed by a chest x-ray. I had to leave him there in their ICU. The head vet (and chief surgeon and owner) was the one who examined him and sent a blood sample to a lab. If the results are good Josh will start on an "aggressive" intravenous diuretic therapy to get rid of the chest fluids, then I'll suppose he'll be on other heart medications to strengthen his heart's muscles and prevent a recurrence.

Here's a picture of him trying to sit on my lap, taken a few years ago (all of my recent pictures are of him sleeping because otherwise he'd move and they'd be blurry.)

Asking for prayers, good thoughts and well-wishes for my smiling little boy.

hang in there buddy

Hope that works out OK, Jay. Not easy on the human emotional system...

Thanks, Dolphin. I'm doing my best. Allso salamat, Jerry.

Oof.. yeah I hear ya on the worry. Hoping for a good result and then swift feeling better. And for both

went through 24/7 care for 5 1/2 months with my last dog due to firbocartilagenous emboli. killed me to see him with the stroke like symptoms. had to put him down due to all 4 legs useless - so I feel for you- Good luck. (I ihave had dogs for 70 years. and was an ex K-9 trainer and behaviorist)

p.s. it was so bad i had to carry him....

Hoping for a good result.

Jerry3904 wrote: Sun Nov 15, 2020 6:40 am Hope that works out OK, Jay. Not easy on the human emotional system...

Ditto from me Jay and as Jerry said it certainly is not easy ....

Fingers crossed. Always tough when a beloved pet is sick.

Awww, poor puppy! Sending positive vibes, willing him better. Hang in there, guy...

Best of luck and quick recovery to the Sultan of Sulk.

Best thoughts and wishes for Joshua. A lovely animal person for sure.

We wish him good luck and a speedy recovery and send out positive vibrations

nice shepherd! had them for 40 years for schutzhund and police. all from germany too.

JayM wrote: Sun Nov 15, 2020 6:33 am Asking for prayers, good thoughts and well-wishes for my smiling little boy.

You got them.

I wish everything turns out alright for this handsome guy, and the other one with the glasses.

Hello Jay,
I was wondering if you might update your avatar with your doggie Joshua and it seems you have - looks great. Hope he is on the mend real soon.

Good news! I just spoke to one of the vets and Joshua's on the diuretic and is responding favorably to it, so apparently his blood test results were good also. He's standing up, his "cardio cough" is gone, his chest x-ray shows a lot of improvement, his appetite's back, and he's been peeing in his water bowl like he does when he has to go and I don't let him out of his cage fast enough! (I don't know how he manages to aim so accurately like that. Grown men can't. I've seen him do it at home and he isn't even looking.) So he's acting like his normal self again. He'll continue on the diuretic IV drip for two more days then they'll do more tests and advise me further.

Now maybe I can get some sleep tonight. *Phew!*

A HUGE thank you to everyone for your well-wishes too!

Ohh that is SO good to hear!! Fingers continue to stay crossed for more good news :)

wdscharff wrote: Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:09 am We wish him good luck and a speedy recovery and send out positive vibrations
archi-and-me.jpg

By the way, that's a very beautiful black German Shepherd. My next-door neighbors have a female one named Whitney that belonged to their deceased father and she's a very friendly sweetheart. I used to tease my wife that I have a girlfriend, Whitney. When her original owner was alive Whitney always used to come up to the fence and stick her paw through to "shake hands" with me. I'd always tell her "Pleased to meet you" and her owner would laugh and laugh. Now she's being cared for by his adult children, who brought her with them to his funeral service as a family member. (Not the church service but the graveside one.) I remember going next door to attend his wake, and she came over to pay me a visit and be petted, and try to climb into my lap and kiss my face. (Unfortunately they stopped her. I wouldn't have minded.)

Thank you, Archi is a typical representative of the so-called Ostlinie (descendants of the GDR breeds).
Robust mind, intelligent (a double-edged sword :-) ), friendly towards people and currently still in the bully phase (18 months old).
I think I have hundreds of pictures of him on Facebook, on my WWW online gallery and in our Whatsapp group. The breeders and all those who have a puppy are still in active contact.

wdscharff wrote: Mon Nov 16, 2020 5:27 am intelligent (a double-edged sword :-) )

I know that well, having two Dobermans (one Doberman and one Doberwoman. ) If they aren't given something to do to occupy their minds they'll find something themselves, which usually involves making a mess.

One thing about Joshua is that many of his "tricks" are things that I never trained him to obey, just things that I told him to do, and he thought about them, figured them out, and did them. For example, I properly taught him the "down" command using clicker-training and treats when he was quite young. Not long ago, maybe three years or so, after a "down" I told him to put his head down too. I could tell by his eyes that he was thinking about what that meant, then he did it, and now obeys the "head down" command after a "down."

Of course many of our other dogs including our native Visayan ones have learned by the example set by the Dobes who were trained as puppies. None have ever been clicker-trained. All of them will sit on command and they all know and obey "leave it!" (except perhaps for Jingle whose picture was my former avatar. She's rather stubborn and refuses to do much of anything when told to except come when called.) Then they're our Vincent, one of the Irong Bisayas, who's crippled and cant really do much of anything, though he comes and moves out of the way when told to plus one or two other things. He can't exactly sit because his hind legs don't work anyway. (Special needs dogs are the best!) It's not because he's stupid or disobedient, it's because of his physical limitations. He was shot in the spine with a pellet from a gas-powered pellet rifle when he was a puppy on the streets (he's a street rescue) and the pellet's still there. It can't be removed without causing even more nerve damage.

Good news - Jay. Glad he is improving. my dogs have always been my best firneds.

Excellent!

Oh boy, guess being away for a bit, I missed this thread.

I hope everything works out for the best Jay, thinking about you an the small shelter you have.

So glad he’s improving Jay!

Leaving this here for anyone who dog gets cancer:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2687140/
Unexpected Antitumorigenic Effect of Fenbendazole when Combined with
Supplementary Vitamins
“Neither diet supplemented with vitamins alone nor fenbendazole alone caused
altered tumor growth as compared with that of controls. However, the group
supplemented with both vitamins and fenbendazole exhibited significant
inhibition of tumor growth. ”

My brother’s shepherd died from cancer 2 years ago, 1 year before we found the above study

Hoping no one or their pets ever get that dreaded disease,
Michael

@Michael-IDA: Interesting. I didn't read the article, but per your quote it seems that giving a multivitam suuplement along with regular deworming could also help prevent cancerous tumors Very interesting indeed.

@SwampRabbit: yeah, it's been pretty stressful around here the past few weeks. We thought we were going to lose him, and he's still not out of the woods yet. Hopefully there's no significant heart damage and they don't find anything else wrong with him. I'm hopeful that he can come home by the end of the week, then do whatever they say regarding management medications, diet, etc.

Hi JayM,

I haven't been here very long and don't know anybody very well yet but as a fellow dog owner and someone who has said goodbye to a few great dogs (and had to break the bad new to kids) I empathize with the roller coaster you are riding, all the best to you and best wishes for Joshua's continued improvement!

On a side note I have to say that the support and compassion of folks of this forum is really something..

That’s hopefully good news Jay. Got my and thinking about it.

@Glenn (AvLinux), it’s been a pretty rough year for the MX Family as far as pets are concerned. They are part of the family too!

I just spoke to the vet and he's still doing OK. They'll give him another day on the diuretic then do another chest x-ray and check for improvement.

I hope he continues to do well!

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.)

I sure hope so.

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.

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 :)

Eadwine Rose wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:24 am 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. :)

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 :)

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.

Children, the lot of them

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!

hang un there jay!

Good luck finding that sweet spot indeed!

It didn't work. I ended up having to force feed him the better part of a can of that dog food tonight. The only thing I can think of is that the vet clinic has aircon and I don't, and it was hot today. It's supposed to be back to seasonal weather (rainy season and cooler) tomorrow though, lasting several days, so I guess I'll find out. Otherwise I get to force him to swallow chunks of canned dog food whole twice a day for the next several days. "Life gets tedious, don't it?" (YouTube music video from a 1948 recording.)

The rest of them loved their dinners though, so that's something.

It'll work out, staying hopeful here. Stressful for you though! You know that I GET it... ugh.

I know. All animal lovers do.

This thread has me in tears. But also some smiles seeing all the good wishes. I lost my german shepherd nearly 40 years ago and it still hurts. We also had a black dobie and a dobie mix when I was young.

I'm so glad to hear that Joshua is recovering nicely. Prayers and best wishes to you and your dogs Jay.

Seaken64

Joshua had his follow-up exam and his chest x-ray shows vast improvement in the amount of retained fluids, as in hardly any. He gets to continue with the diuretic pills (forosemide) but just once a day now instead of twice, plus a milder diuretic that also raises potassium levels (spironolactone) once a day, plus oral rehydration salts (electrolytes) mixed in their water. He goes back again in a week for another follow-up.

He wouldn't eat since he came home until this morning when he finally ate his breakfast on his own. I'd been having to force-feed him cubes of the canned food. In the process he lost 5kg which he'll hopefully start gaining back. Starting yesterday he's been acting more like normal, and this morning I caught him trying to steal cat food out of the sack which is just like him to do. he's a real thief that I have to watch. He has more energy already too.

The vet explained that this wasn't treating the underlying cause, just clearing up the symptoms. Once the congestion is all gone and his potassium level is in the normal range they'll consider what course to take regarding possible heart medications or whether it can be maintained via diet and exercise or what. She did say that our dogs should be switched to a dog food formula meant for seniors as even our youngest is around 8. Unfortunately there's limited availability of varieties due to Covid-19 and global shipping issues caused by it.

Bummer about the availability!!

But I am glad to hear he's back to his antics again. That DID take a long time for him to settle back in with the food.. dang. Glad that is over now, whew.

i should start calling him Liberace, because of all of the dogs he's the pianist (peein'est.)

How are things going? I hope slowly improving?

His appetite still isn't what it used to be but at least he's eating on his own, just not the same amount. It could be from all the water he's been drinking, besides poor appetite being a CHP symptom as well as a side-effect of the diuretics he's on as well as low potassium. He gets 80mg of Furosemide (Lasix) in the mornings and 60mg of Spironolactone in the evenings plus a 4.1g sachet of oral rehydration salts mixed in with his water (I've been pre-mixing it in around 3 liters of water which he's been going through every day.) He goes back for another follow-up blood test and chest x-ray tomorrow morning. I'm hoping that once his potassium level is in the normal range and chest congestion is OK they'll start him on an ACE inhibitor or something for his heart to prevent the situation from happening again. I'll find out tomorrow. Meanwhile I can tell he's still not feeling 100% well as he's a bit grouchy (like his papa, hehe!) but otherwise acts more like his old normal self, fairly happy and smiling a lot, and coming up to me to be petted or to give me a kiss. I'm also hoping that he's gained some weight back. He was originally at around 38kg before he got sick but was down to 32.7 last Thursday. He doesn't appear to be quite as bony now though, so here's hoping.

Thanks for asking BTW. I was waiting to post an update tomorrow afternoon, but since you asked...

Heh yeah I was suddenly wondering since no updates for a few days


I hope he can go on those meds indeed and will continue to improve!

his potassium level's OK now, but the worry now is his weight loss. He continues on diuretics for two more weeks plus gets a small 150g can of hill's a/d urgent care formula dog food added to his regular food. It's sodium-free so won't add to his sodium intake and cause more fluid retention. We'll see if he'll eat more of his food now with this added to it. If not, i have an idea or two of my own such as adding cooked fresh vegetables like squash to the food. He's always loved that in the past when he got it. I can get that locally at the neighborhood 'mini market" where there are several vegetable stalls. I have to go there this weekend to get veggies for myself anyway.

Ah good.. yeah.. I would try that anyway. If you know that gets him eating better.

If there is anything I would hate it is having to change my food for health reasons, and the food being yucky to boot lol

That he ate at the vet, ok, but indeed he still smells the food of the others and goes "why do I have to eat carrots when everyone else is eating stake, bah humbug, I am not eating" They're just like kids really.

Exactly, he looks and smells what the others are getting, smells his own. paws at his bowl a bit and won't eat it. Funny thing, if I give him a little dry cat food he'll eat that. Last night he begged for my dinner. Children!

Yep.. point made.

Good news: his cardio-cough is almost completely gone since he's been on the new diuretic regimen. Bad news: he's still barely eating any food. Last night I spread a very thin schmear of peanut butter on a slice of white bread, pressed another slice on top and offered it to him and he gobbled it down but I don't want to be feeding him peanut butter sandwiches because both the peanut butter and bread contain sodium (salt) which he needs to avoid an excess of. Even with a little can of that delicious-smelling liver and chicken paté dog food added he won't eat very much of his food, whether it's dry kibble, kibble with water, kibble soaked in water and softened or kibble mixed with cooked rice.

I bought half of a kalabasa (a type of squash that looks like a green pumpkin with orange flesh) and plan to cut a piece of it into cubes, boil them in water, mash them up and add that to their dinner. All the dogs have always loved that in the past and it's supposed to be good for them. If he won't eat that I'll have to call the vet's tomorrow. This is worrying me. I'm afraid he's going to die if he won't start eating very soon. I hate seeing him so thin.

Other than not wanting to eat and just nibbling at his meals he acts pretty much normal though.

Buy him a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Sheesh.

FYI he still didn't eat much of his breakfast even with cooked kalabasa added so I called the vet's and asked to speak to one of the doctors about appetite stimulants for him, and she recommended a combination of Nutriplus gel and Liv52 tablets both of which help stimulate appetite. I got those today at the nearest branch of the vet's and also 20 130g sachets of sodium-free Pedigree dog food containing meat and gravy, 10 each of beef flavored and of chicken for variety, at the nearby supermarket. I gave him his first two Liv52s at 3PM so they'd have some time to take effect, and for dinner I gave him 2 1/2 cups of kibble, some kalabasa, half a sachet of Pedigree plus about a tablespoon full of Nutraplus gel and he ate almost all of it! That's more than he's eaten in a meal since I brought him home from the vet's. I hope this trend continues and he gains his lost weight back. (The Liv52s have the additional benefit of dilating the blood vessels which will help reduce the strain on his heart as well.) I'll follow up in a few days and let y'all know how he's faring. He certainly is livelier tonight than he's been too.

JayM wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 5:54 am I'll follow up in a few days and let y'all know how he's faring.

My eyes and brain processed that last word completely wrong


So glad that it is working, now fingers crossed it keeps up that way

JayM wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 5:54 am FYI he still didn't eat much of his breakfast even with cooked kalabasa added so I called the vet's and asked to speak to one of the doctors about appetite stimulants for him, and she recommended a combination of Nutriplus gel and Liv52 tablets both of which help stimulate appetite.

Appetite stimulants? Are gummies legal where you live?

Those are for stimulating the out-hole.

Update: his 2 week follow-up was supposed to be tomorrow but the vet clinic's shuttle service was booked up so the driver rescheduled for this afternoon. (I don't drive and would be hard pressed to get a taxi to stop with a Doberman with me, many Filipinos are afraid of dogs.) He's gained around a kilogram of weight since the last visit, his baseline blood tests are normal, his activity and energy levels are fairly high and he's only rarely coughing. Their machine that does further blood tests for kidney and liver functions was down for maintenance so the vet will call me with the further results. Meanwhile he continues his diuretic prescription, plus gets Cetyl M for maintenance of his hips and joints (I'm not sure why except that Dobermans are also subject to hip dysplasia when they get old) and goes in again for another follow-up on January 15th. I have to go out to a pharmacy tomorrow and get his month's supply of diuretics.

He didn't eat much for dinner tonight. The poor guy's too tired after such a busy afternoon, riding in a shuttle van, hanging out at the vet's for over two hours not knowing if he was going to be left there again, then riding home. All that excitement wears a fellow out. I've gotten in the habit of saving any food that he doesn't eat during his normal meals in the ref then offering it to him as a snack right before bedtime and he's usually been eating it. I'll try that again tonight.

I went to a supermarket yesterday and among other things stocked up on lits more of those sachets ("pouches" to you) of Pedigree dog food with various meats in gravy so I'll continue mixing those in with his regular food pour encourager l'appétit. Side effects of one of his diuretics is decreased appetite, plus the extra water consumption decreases it further (they always tell people wanting to lose weight to drink more water so they feel more full and don't eat as much food) so I'm still struggling to get him to eat enough to gain back the weight that he's lost or at least some of it, just to the point where his ribs aren't visible.

That all sounds good! Hopefully when those results do come in it will also be good news :)

Quick status update: the vet didn't ever respond to my request for his blood test results for liver/kidney functions after his last check-up so I assume (hopefully not ASS+U+ME) that they came back OK. As of Thursday or Friday he's been eating more, most or all of his meals in fact, and has a lot more energy, acting pretty much like his old self.

I went grocery shopping the day before yesterday and bought ingredients for satin balls and made them yesterday afternoon. I had to substitute a couple of the ingredients, omit the wheat germ, and I forgot to add the oil, but meh, close enough. I've been giving him one mixed with his food ever since, along with half a sachet of Pedigree meat and gravy dog food, plus the occasional small spoonful of Hills Urgent Care chicken and liver pâté (well, that's what it looks and smells like) to get him to finish his meal which he's mostly been doing, and he's started gaining his weight back already. I plan to ask about alternatives to furosimide loop diuretic, such as perhaps torsemide which doesn't lost decreased appetite as a side-effect, when he goes in for his next follow-up a week from this Friday.

It's so good to have my Sunny Jim (one of his nicknames due to his smile) back! I came too close to losing him in November. Even Doc Ody the head vet, at Josh's initial examination when he said the plan of attack would be (depending on blood test results) to keep Joshua for a few days and give him an aggressive dose of intravenous diuretic and see what happened, actually asked me if I even wanted him (the vet) to even try. (There was no question about my answer of course, but it scared the heck out of me when he said that!)

Oh that is so good to hear that he is doing much better

And yeah.. that sure can be scary, but it is also good that a doctor is honest about it.

Joshua's finally eating all of his food, most times. He's also finally put on some more weight so he doesn't look like a walking skeleton. I was supposed to take him in for another follow-up exam tomorrow but I came down with a head cold a week or so ago and decided to treat it as though I suspect it's SARS-COV-2 (though I know from experience that it's a cold) and self-isolate for another week or two for safety's sake, so that will be delayed. I've ordered two weeks more of his diuretics from a local pharmacy chain's online system for home delivery. I have enough left for about a week or so which should last until the delivery. I haven't heard him cardio-cough in about 4 weeks so he's doing well, and he's full of beans as the saying goes.

Glad to hear. Not about the cold, but hopefully that will pass soon.


I hope he continues to do well!

It's weird that I still managed to catch cold in spite of always masking up whenever I set foot outside my gate and washing or sanitizing my hands frequently, but some Duckduckgo-fu says that it's not actually uncommon. At least I was able to get a flu and pneumonia vaccination in August. Pity they don't also have one for colds, but there are just too many types of cold viruses.

Joshua had his follow-up exam this morning. He weighs 33.6 kilos so he's gained some weight back, though I can't remember how much he weighed last time. I only remember that he was down to 30.5 at one time. His prescription for furosimide (loop diuretic) is the same but his spironolactone (a second diuretic) was reduced by one 25mg tablet a day. Additionally he has to get oral rehydration salts (hydrolite) in his water again to boost his electrolytes plus L-carnitine (an amino acid of some sort) to help his heart. He goes back on the 19th of February for another follow-up plus another chest x-ray to compare with the others. Otherwise he's been acting more like his old pre-heart failure self: more energy, not just sleeping all day. My Sunny Jim is back! "And the beat goes on."

So glad to hear this. Yeah it will be a back in back out where checkups are concerned, but them staying on top of it is a good thing :)

I had to wait around 40 minutes for his blood test results was all, but they have the analysis machines in-house now rather than having to send the sample out to a lab like they used to. This animal hospital has lots of fun toys: x-ray, ECG, ultrasound, plus as I said a full blood testing lab. They do surgeries beyond just spay/neuter, fix broken bones, treat cancer, and sell many supplements, herbal remedies (which actually work), medications... (though for many of the latter still I have to go to a "people pharmacy" to get the prescriptions filled.) And they have their "pet ambulance" shuttle service available which is nice because many taxi drivers refuse to stop for you if you have a dog. Many Filipinos are afraid of dogs due to rabies still being a thing here, though not as much as it used to be 10 or so years ago. I also had to go up the street to a pharmacy. The entire trip took 2 1/2 hours from leaving home to arriving again. Poor Joshie was very nervous though and slept like a log all day after getting home.

Sounds like my animal hospital indeed. Loads of fun toys hehe. Much easier indeed, and faster, when emergencies hit. The other clinics in my area put you through to this one on their off hours.

We don't have the ambulance shuttle service though. I would have liked that for sure, we have to find our own way of transportation to the clinic (which is a 20-30 min drive but definitely worth it).


And yeah.. he knows now.. vet=annoying. Too bad you cannot just go there every now and then and just have cuddles delivered to take the ew out of the place.
Then again.. thinking about the dentist... yeah that likely won't work anyway "laugh"

The problem is going for a ride, being taken to a different place with lots of other people and dogs there, plus he still remembers having to be left there for several days in November so he's always scared that that'll happen again and he won't be able to come home with me. He was more relaxed during the trip home. On the way there he laid in my lap almost the entire time, or as much of him as would fit anyway. And he gets to do it all again in three weeks. (They all six have separation anxiety and start howling and crying whenever I put my mask on anyway, never mind jeans, because they know I'm going someplace which I need to do on Sunday to get the rest of his meds. They start before I've even left the house even if I'm just going across the street to the sari-sari store for a few minutes.)

They're just like kids huh.

I was very glad that when Rakker* passed away I already couldn't work anymore, so Doerak* wouldn't be alone.

You have cool names for cats. I'm starting to run out. I have Butch aka Mister Butch Sir, Jonathan, Rupert, Abshire, Hannah, Merle (my wife named her that), Marvel, Andromeda, Jupiter, Spotify (mostly black with some white including a spot on his nose), Jelly Bean, Yin and Yang (she named them too because I couldn't think of any), plus one I just call Pretty Eyes because he has one green eye and one blue one. He belongs to somebody but he keeps hanging out at my house.

Haha feel free to steal if you need them That is a LOT of cats over there.

I am still leaning over to the no more animals side here, especially given the health eek I had this past month. Wouldn't want to worry about what happens to them if get shipped off to the hospital! Almost all better now, no worries. Not clocking out just yet (goes he he he toward those who hate me, the fish lives on!)


I hope Joshua continues to do well for a long time to come!

It doesn't matter what you decide, an animal will adopt you sooner or later whether you want one or not, I bet. One will just show up one day and make itself at home. That's what keeps happening to me, regarding cats anyway. Or you'll find a stray kitten along a busy street and it'll come to you being friendly and you won't have the heart to leave it there to be run over by a car, which was how I got Butch.

Yep.. I am hoping for the showing up one day. I have already determined that when that happens, it is coming with, straight to the vet to get checked over, and staying :)

I was finally able to take Joshua in for his follow-up exam this morning which included complete blood tests and a chest x-ray. He weighs 35.8 kilos so he's gained all his weight back, his heart isn't quite back to normal but it's way, way better, his blood test results were all OK, and he got his rabies and 5-in-1 vaccinations that he was way behind on (one dog down, four to go.) He had to have his diuretics' dosages adjusted for the weight gain and he goes back at the end of May for another weighing, blood tests, and possible dosage adjustment. As soon as he got home he crashed on the floor and is still sound asleep. (They're always sleepy after vaccinations.) I suspect what heart congestion he still has is due to the wight gain which caused his medicine dosages to be not quite enough. He's been cardio-coughing a bit again, beginning on last Friday, after not having done so for a month or two.

Next week I plan to bring Rahab, the female Doberman who's several months older than Joshua, to be examined as she's also been coughing and gagging lately. If she also has heart congestion (which I suspect) I want to start getting it treated soon, before it gets as bad as Joshua's was. After that, the rest of the dogs will be seen, one at a time, just for general exams and vaccinations as they're all rather old: the youngest of the pack is 8 already. It won't hurt to have everyone checked out by a doctor.

Just a follow-up: sadly, Baby Joshua our huge, always happy, male Doberman passed away in his sleep during the night of 26 October, 2021, just 5 days before his 12th birthday. I think all the strain on his heart was just too much and it failed. I took him to be cremated the following day and his urn is on a shelf in our wardrobe that I've reserved for such things. I really miss that dog! He was such a well-behaved sweetheart. I didn't post about it sooner because I was too heartbroken and numb, then Typhoon Odette happened last December, then real life got in the way.

His kennel mate and best friend Rahab, our female Dobie who we got as a puppy in 2009 and is our first dogHer condition, was diagnosed with beginning stages of congestive heart failure as well, which is a congenital thing with Dobes, and has been under treatment with furocimide diuretic tablets. Her heart condition wasn't nearly as bad as Joshua's was because now I that I know a cardio cough when I hear one I was able to got her to the vet sooner than Josh, before it became life-threatening. She's doing well but 3 1/2 weeks ago began having issues with her hips, another congenital issue. Once or twice she fell sown and couldn't get up again. I began giving her a hip and joint supplement, Pet One Natural Response, containing glucosamine HCL, cetyl myristoleate complex, garlic and ginger and she's doing much better. She still occasionally stumbles over something and falls but she's able to get up again under her own power. She has from 1 to 3 weeks left getting the initial daily dose of the supplement tablets then will get a maintenance dose of half the current amount, which is 6 tablets a day. Rahab will turn 13 in two weeks, God willing. That's very old for Dobermans, over 80. The median lifespan for the breed is around 9 years. She still has a great appetite. She used to be the feistiest one, more likely to pick a fight with another dog and to misbehave, but since Joshua died she's become more mellow and better behaved, also more considerate, going in her cage when asked to without a struggle.

Wow yeah, that IS old. Glad she is still around and kicking. :)

I am so sorry about Joshua, losing a pet is very hard. :(

Eadwine Rose wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 7:27 am Wow yeah, that IS old. Glad she is still around and kicking. :)

I am so sorry about Joshua, losing a pet is very hard. :(

The misery of keeping a dog is his dying so soon. But, to be sure, if he lived for fifty years and then died, what would become of me?

-Sir Walter Scott

Well I prefer a little older. Given my bad luck.

I'm sorry for your loss.