# Lulu update



## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

Lulu's been doing great for the past 2 weeks. Other than the occasional cough you would never know she had any issue. I could have almost fooled myself into believing nothing was wrong with her anymore--almost. For the past 2 weeks I have had her on 1/2 tablet of enalapril and 1/4 tablet of lasix 2x a day. She gets this at 8am and 8pm. Last night at 9:30 she was in her spot on the couch asleep, but her breathing was FAST! I checked her and she was breathing 72 breaths a minute. I gave her 1/2 tab of lasix right then. At 10:30 when she was still at 70 breaths a minute I gave her another 1/4 tab lasix. That would be a total 1 lasix tablet in 2 1/2 hours. I called the ER and of course they said if I didn't feel comfortable bring her in. Her heart rate was hard to get with her breaths so fast, but when I got it, it was 120--not high. I decided to take her to the ER when breaths didn't go down by 11:00. The dr. didn't hear crackling upon exam. Did X-rays--only saw very minisule "cottony" area she said she might could call fluid if she really wanted to make something of it judging it against her x-rays from 2 weeks ago (showed it to me as well). She did an ultrasound and didn't see any fluid around her heart. Checked her electrolytes, and her potassium was normal but low normal. 
I really don't feel they could give me a reason for that fast breathing--not sorry I took her because it did give me peace of mind. At her 8am med time I gave her 1/2 lasix with her enalapril. 

Susan, has Zarita ever had fast breathing with no fluid? What would you do in the future if Lulu is acting perfectly fine and heart rate is fine but breaths are increased even after another dose of lasix? I guess I'm trying to figure out if this is normal for CHF. I could have not been giving her enough lasix for the past 2 weeks, and the fluid finally got to be too much. Was that very small amount of fluid enough to make her breathe that fast? And why does this kind of thing NEVER happen during regular vet hours! LOL


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Zarita scared the h--l out of me tonight. I gave her a treat, which evidently she choked on. She went down, all legs out. I grabbed her and did a heimlich (sp?) but nothing came up. I held her while she gulped for air. Slowly she become herself. Now she is totally back, barking like mad at something in the backyard! Now to your question: I tend to ignore fast breathing. If the dog is 'normal' in other ways, I wait until the dog is really sleeping deeply, then count the respirations. One of my chi's has a high rate, but not as fast as LulU's. I guess that unless there are other symptoms I would forget it. Lulu would cough a lot if there was fluid around her heart. Check with vet, but I'm pretty sure coughing would be the first symptom.


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

Susan, what a scare! So glad all is well now!! I texted my vet tonight with what has been going on, and he said early edema can increase her respirations but not show up on the X-ray. Also, she can have some early edema with no cough (or at least no more cough than she's been doing). He said my increase of the lasix was fine, and I could actually give her 1-2mg/lb up to 3x a day if I feel like she needs that. He also said it may be time to think about restarting the Pimobendan in a lower dose to see if she tolerates it better. Last time it gave her terrible diarrhea and loss of appetite. I'm scared to but feel like I need to try again.

I'm so grateful she doesn't seem to be stressed or uncomfortable. I can only hope Lulu does as well as Zarita does!


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## almaviva (Jun 12, 2014)

lulu'smom said:


> Lulu's been doing great for the past 2 weeks. Other than the occasional cough you would never know she had any issue. I could have almost fooled myself into believing nothing was wrong with her anymore--almost. For the past 2 weeks I have had her on 1/2 tablet of enalapril and 1/4 tablet of lasix 2x a day. She gets this at 8am and 8pm. Last night at 9:30 she was in her spot on the couch asleep, but her breathing was FAST! I checked her and she was breathing 72 breaths a minute. I gave her 1/2 tab of lasix right then. At 10:30 when she was still at 70 breaths a minute I gave her another 1/4 tab lasix. That would be a total 1 lasix tablet in 2 1/2 hours. I called the ER and of course they said if I didn't feel comfortable bring her in. Her heart rate was hard to get with her breaths so fast, but when I got it, it was 120--not high. I decided to take her to the ER when breaths didn't go down by 11:00. The dr. didn't hear crackling upon exam. Did X-rays--only saw very minisule "cottony" area she said she might could call fluid if she really wanted to make something of it judging it against her x-rays from 2 weeks ago (showed it to me as well). She did an ultrasound and didn't see any fluid around her heart. Checked her electrolytes, and her potassium was normal but low normal.
> I really don't feel they could give me a reason for that fast breathing--not sorry I took her because it did give me peace of mind. At her 8am med time I gave her 1/2 lasix with her enalapril.
> 
> Susan, has Zarita ever had fast breathing with no fluid? What would you do in the future if Lulu is acting perfectly fine and heart rate is fine but breaths are increased even after another dose of lasix? I guess I'm trying to figure out if this is normal for CHF. I could have not been giving her enough lasix for the past 2 weeks, and the fluid finally got to be too much. Was that very small amount of fluid enough to make her breathe that fast? And why does this kind of thing NEVER happen during regular vet hours! LOL


Lulu's mom, I have a CHF dog who was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension after several hospitalizations where they had ruled it out. She was finally diagnosed at a follow up appointment. She is now on Sildenafil (Viagra) and the scary breathing incidents have stopped. Just thought you should know about pulmonary hypertension just in case it's happening to little Lulu. 

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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

almaviva said:


> Lulu's mom, I have a CHF dog who was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension after several hospitalizations where they had ruled it out. She was finally diagnosed at a follow up appointment. She is now on Sildenafil (Viagra) and the scary breathing incidents have stopped. Just thought you should know about pulmonary hypertension just in case it's happening to little Lulu.
> 
> Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk


Thank you so much for your response! I have seen in my research viagra mentioned and pulmonary hypertension mentioned, but have not studied it. I will definitely do so now!


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Pulmonary problems could indeed make Lulu's breahing fast. I had previously, a puppy mill mama who at the end of her life was breathing like Lulu, but she had interstitual pneumonitis, from fumes of her own urine for 7 years. At least the last 3 years, when I had her, she had the life of luxury. Pulmonary hypertension is something that you could discuss with the vet. I would think there would be some x-ray evidence of it?


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## almaviva (Jun 12, 2014)

lulu'smom said:


> Thank you so much for your response! I have seen in my research viagra mentioned and pulmonary hypertension mentioned, but have not studied it. I will definitely do so now!


I don't remember what the test was for pulmonary hypertension but she took it three times before she was finally diagnosed. We had ER docs and cardiologists disagreeing about it until the third test. Her xrays confused them. They kept trying to solve the mystery with lasix. Didn't work, of course. I hope Lulu has a better time of it. 

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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

I'm definitely going to mention it to my vet. Her breathing is fine today so far thank the Lord. I gave her her first dose of Pimobendan this morning. At the advise of my vet I cut it in half of what was prescribed by the ER vet. I prayed she would be able to take it without the diarrhea and loss of appetite. So far she ate very well about 2-3 hours after her dose and no diarrhea! So far so good!


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## almaviva (Jun 12, 2014)

lulu'smom said:


> I'm definitely going to mention it to my vet. Her breathing is fine today so far thank the Lord. I gave her her first dose of Pimobendan this morning. At the advise of my vet I cut it in half of what was prescribed by the ER vet. I prayed she would be able to take it without the diarrhea and loss of appetite. So far she ate very well about 2-3 hours after her dose and no diarrhea! So far so good!


Oh, no. I'm sorry about the sensitivity to Pimo. Both of my dogs take it without problems and one of them has IBD. My pulmonary hypertension dog did react badly to Sildenafil initially and had to take an anti-diarrhea med for a week. It fixed the loose stools and disinterest in food. She's a major chowhound so getting her appetite back was probably easier than encouraging an already finicky eater.

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