Indigo

Today was an emotionally taxing day. We picked Indigo up at the ER this morning, fully expecting to have to put her to sleep. Instead, Dr. Lehman told us that Indigo did really well, the diuretics worked and that she ate as much food as they could put in front of her this morning. That relieved all of us. We were able to get an appointment at 10am with a cardiologist at the vet school.

We took her from the ER directly to the Vet School at CSU. Because it is a teaching hospital, we sat there for about an hour and then went through the initial interview and workup twice. They wanted to do an ultrasound on her heart. They asked us to leave her there and they would call us when she was done. About 4 hours later, we got a call. When we went back, they had us pay the bill - which included 5 new medications: three diuretics, an ACE inhibitor and an inodilator. She also has to stay on her thyroid and blood pressure medication.

The doctor confirmed last night's diagnosis of late-stage, severe congestive heart failure. With these medications, the average life span is 6 months. We are going back on the 11th to follow up with this doctor and see if the medications are working. If they are, we will be watching to see when her kidneys start failing. When that happens, it's time to put her to sleep. If they are not working, euthanasia will have to happen sooner.

We had to change her prescription dog food too - she no longer needed a kidney protection diet, just low sodium. The doctor said to cut out the treats - so "no more hot dogs or cheese". Chris and I both laughed at that...she would be so happy if those were her treats instead of dry, yucky milkbones on rare occasions. We bought a (much cheaper) "senior diet" dog food at the local pet store chain. We also purchased some wet dog food to entice her to eat more. Tonight though, we celebrated by giving all three dogs a dinner of wet dog food mixed with their dry food. Everyone was happy - Indigo was back and it was definitely cause to celebrate!