Thursday, November 29, 2012

Fluff again

Fluff is sick again. She's having trouble breathing and swallowing, and barely eats. I made her some rice; she likes that and she kept it down.

I think she might have masses in her neck, pressing on her trachea and esophagus. She has many soft tumors, and had one large one removed four or five years ago. She's almost 14.

I took her to the vet yesterday. The vet examined her and said there was nothing wrong. She did admit that Fluff's respiratory rate and effort were increased, but glared at me and said, "It's probably something like you 're wearing a new perfume and now your dog has asthma."

Yeah, I don't wear perfume.

Then the vet said, "She should have a chest x-ray."

"How much will that cost and what will it tell you?"

"$120, and if she has an enlarged heart," the vet said.

"An enlarged heart? You think it's congestive heart failure? Can you treat that?"

"Yes, there are medications. It could be heart failure. Does she cough a lot? That's a sign of heart failure."

"No, she doesn't cough. I'm going to have to think about an x-ray. I think I'll just take her home now."

So I did. She's having trouble breathing and swallowing, but she ate some rice. She sleeps a lot. I'm glad she's still here.