RUNNER'S VET VISIT JAN 22nd

I took Runner to my vet yesterday afternoon for an exam and to get their opinion of Runner's condition.

The doctor said that his heart murmur is pretty bad but the positive thing is that his heart rhythm is normal. He also said his lungs sounded ok...he does not think he has pneumonia as I had feared. He said he suspects that the coughing "could" be coming from irritation to the trachea either from his recent surgery (from being intubated) or it could also be that his heart is enlarged to the extent it may be pressing on and irritating his trachea.

He took an x-ray and sure enough, Runner's trachea is higher than it should be and his heart is definitely enlarged and looks very close to the trachea (in a dog, the trachea runs long-ways above the heart, but should slant down and his is almost straight). The x-ray was unfortunately taken on expiration instead of inspiration...so we couldn't see as much as we would like, but the doc's educated opinion is that Runner is not in congestive heart failure as of now. He said it does not "look" like there is fluid in/around the lungs and that the vessels do not look like they would if he was in CHF. He also said the cough would sound "wetter" if he were in CHF...I hope I know the difference if it happens because it already sounds "wet" to me sometimes :-\

Also, the doc said there is no benefit to putting Runner on heart meds unless he is in CHF. He did prescribe Torbutrol...which is a mainly a cough suppresent, but it is also a type of sedative (kind of like codeine for us). I am apprehensive to give it to him because he is so lethargic already; I'm afraid this will make him coma-tose! I've decided to give him a 1/2 of a 1mg tablet this morning because his coughing seems pretty frequent again. We were up most of the night with his coughing last night...so maybe this will at least give him some relief for bed time.

So the summary is - keep an eye on him, keep up with his meds and meals, and if he gets worse, call the vet again. He could not say 100% that Runner doesn't have a cold (or some form of kennel cough - there are several strains of the bacteria and also some are viral), so we will continue his anti-biotics to be safe. He also said that Runners mouth looks good (referring to his several extractions that he had only 8 days ago).

I'll try to get some pictures of him this evening to post for everyone.