Poor Poochie

Pre-script: Chris, Charlie and I are happily watching TV on the couch as I write this. Annie is snoring away in the next room. Everyone's fine.

This was a really tough week for the Humphreys family. Chris left for NYC on Sunday morning, so I was a single mom for the whole week. We've been through this before and survived, so I was confident.

Monday started almost like any other day. Charlie woke up with a bit of a cough, but it quickly subsided and he was his normal Poochie self in no time.

Tuesday was pretty much the same. Charlie had a cough again, but he shook it off like a champ.

Wednesday was not the same. Charlie woke up at 4am with a terrible cough that he couldn't shake. His breathing was "crackly", and I started to worry. We were about to go the ER, but when we got in the car, he was fine. I left a message for our vet, and hoped we could be seen as soon as they opened at 8am.

The vet was also concerned about his cough, especially considering he has a grade 3 heart murmur. The vet took a chest x-ray, and they were sent off to a specialist. The specialist thought his lungs looked ok, and he was sent home.

After dinner, Charlie had another coughing attack. This one was much, much worse. I took him straight to the ER where he was put in an oxygen chamber. The ER doctor took more chest x-rays, and it turns out he had fluid in his lungs. They kept him overnight and gave him a strong diuretic. The next morning he was much better, and we had an appointment with a cardiologist.

The ER doctor stressed that dogs with heart conditions should see a cardiologist on a regular basis regardless of symptoms. I wish I had known this before. The last time Charlie saw a cardiologist was 3 years ago.

The cardiologist was great. The bad news is that Charlie's heart condition has progressed. The good news is that he has a great appetite, is still quite spunky, and has oxygenated blood flowing to all of this extremities. The fluid in his lungs can be managed with a daily dose of a diuretic. Charlie is now drinking lots of water and peeing lots of pee. He doesn't seem to mind.

It was a very scary couple of days. Charlie and I are both still recovering from the stress and lack of sleep. Chris arrived home on Friday night after a 3 hour delay in NY. We've settled back into our normal routine.