About a month ago we had our dog Dax's teeth cleaned. He just turned 11 and has never had them cleaned. Over the past several years his vet has been tracking a heart murmur that has been getting persistently worse, and she recommended we get his teeth cleaned because if bacteria traveled from his teeth to his heart, well, it just wouldn't be good.
So while we had him under for the teeth cleaning, I asked if they could also take an X-ray of his heart. This had also been recommended a couple of years ago back when the heart murmur first appeared, but I couldn't see spending the money. Well, now I figured that since it would be convenient since he'd be under anyway, just take an X-ray while you're there.
I got a call at work mid-morning that the X-ray confirmed that Dax has congestive heart failure. As I understand it, this is when the heart gets weaker and weaker until it cannot pump away the fluid in the sac surrounding the heart. Eventually the pressure outside of the heart is more than the pressure in the heart, and it stops beating. Same thing that happens in humans.
Dax doesn't have fluid build up in his lungs (another symptom of congestive heart failure), nor does he have much around his heart. There's really nothing that can be done for him until fluid starts to build up, then he can take some heart medication and diuretics which will help clear the fluid. But eventually, we all know how this ends.
For now he is enjoying his days, tolerating the girls, and loves sleeping with them alternately at night. And when and if the day comes that we need to end his suffering for him, I hope I have the strength to stay with him until the end.
There is no good advice, just sharing our experience. Starting with Captain all of our dogs passed away at home and were not euthanized. If any, Mattie and Blondie should have been put down as they had cancer. However, they did not seem to be in intolerable pain and while I was not holding them when they passed they were home in their familiar surroundings. I have thought that if I had to have one of our pets put down I would pay the expense of having the vet make a house call. That way the beloved pet could pass in their comfortable surroundings. Cilla died of congestive heart failure. By the time it was discovered it was too late. I spent a couple of hundred bucks on diuretics and meds which were used less than one day. It was pathetic watching her spend her last hours panting trying to get a breath, finally her heart gave way and she died. Sometimes I wish I had stayed up, or stayed home to hold them in their final hour. However the timing of their passing is random unless you initiate the action like euthanasia. I'm not sure which is better, but I do know I'm OK knowing they were with loved ones in the home they knew and protected. While I didn't hold them in my arms I would've and I would not shirk that responsibility. So it is tough. Dax may have a year, more maybe. But death is part of life and we shall all come to that end. So I wouldn't spend too much time feeling sorry, because who you really feel sorry for is yourself and the missing of him. It'll be OK and Dax will enjoy everyday, because dog's unlike humans don't have the capacity to dwell on their time left. Be good to him.
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