Baby Joshua
Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 6:33 am
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.
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.
And for both 