Pekingese Dogs Health Allergies Seizures Pictures

Teddy went into Congestive Heart Failure on Thursday Night 4/02/09……….started with coughing that would not stop and heavy panting.

As you all know he put on alot of weight after we had him fixed. He has been seen by the Vet every 3 months so this is quite a shock and quite an OVER SIGHT on the VET’s PART!!! How could they miss this?

This had nothing to do with Seizures. Those were under control.

Teddy started not looking right a few months back and I told the Vet he just don’t look right to me…then he started to walk funny.  The Vet assumed it was his back………which it turned out to be his back knee was going out on him.  We were about to get a quote for surgery on his knee when all of a sudden this HEART FAILURE kicked in out of no where.

One of the first signs of a bad heart is a swollen belly……well, sadly Teddy gained so much weight that we were not able to detect anything of the sort. He was coughing for about 2 weeks nothing serious. Always, sounded like a hairball and that would be it.  He’d been panting off and on quite a bit the past few weeks but again we just blamed the weight.

Never in a Million Years would we have even thought he had something going on with his heart. For instance, the Tuesday before he passed we were exercising him in the living room and he tired easily (thought it was the weight) but he didn’t have that face or look in his eyes like he was sick at all.

So all and all this came on SO SUDDENLY.  It started Thursday about 11:00 pm he just kept coughing and then would stop and then coughing, panting.  Teddy for the first time looked at me like he had enough, I’m sure you all know the look.  Ears down, no tail wagging, not eating, just starting at you hopeless like “Help me Mom”… I knew then and there this was it and I was so shocked at how fast this was happening. I knew in my heart he was going to die.

I stayed up with him through the night. I wanted him to see his Doctor who has been treating him all this time not some emergency vet who would just put him down in that shape.  I also knew again in my heart that he wasn’t going to make it, but felt more comfortable if he were to see his Doctor. 

As the morning approached, he was 100 times worse where it came down to me holding him up so he could catch his breath…you could hear the gurgling in his lungs and I rushed him to the VET.

The Vet said after checking his lungs and heart………how far do you want to take this? I said how bad is it? She said REALLY bad, I am so sorry, I really cannot help him long term. Meaning he would die soon regardless. There, Teddy just laid on the Table helpless .. I looked at him and just knew he was done.  I told the Vet considering the weight issue, his knee and now he is totally suffering that I loved him very much and couldn’t bear to see him in this pain any longer.  She said she agreed and was so sorry.

Before he was put down I spent some time with him and told him my Mom would watch over him and his brother and sister are going to be waiting for him on the other side.  I told him I was so sorry and didn’t know he was sick at all……it came on so suddenly.

I think he knew if I knew he was sick I would have taken care of him.

She gave Teddy a hug and kiss and said I’m sorry baby………  we then euthanized him and I held him through it all and told him I loved him and of course cried my eyes out.  It was very peaceful he did not even flinch throughout the entire process. When he finally passed I cried and told him “No More Pain, No More Pain”…..

I was there when Teddy took his first breath and was born into this world, and I was there when he took his last breath and left this world.

Teddy gave me 9 1/2 wonderful years, regardless of the Seizures. He was AWESOME!

I will miss him.

Please feel free to Post about Seizures still. Even though Ted is no longer with me I’ve dealt with Seizures for years now……….always see your Vet once the dog seizes. Always go with your gut. If you are not happy with your Vet’s opinion ALWAYS get another Opinion.

When you first see your Pekingese seize you get upset, freak out and it’s sad because you have to let them get through it.

DO NOT GIVE UP ON THE DOG

There is hope out there. Please read my posts to your right about Teddy and his battle with Seizures.

I hope Teddy helps other Pekingese out there.

I have a Pekingese and Lhaso Apso mixed his name is Buddy.

Buddy is 5 1/2 years old.  He like to rough house with MyGuy my Peke and when I was going to bed one night I noticed Buddy looked soar. That was Normal so I checked in on him in the Morning and sure enough he was down, hurt.

I made him walk over to me and noticed he was hesitating and when he sat down he moved his legs over to the side. I knew from seeing this three times already that it was his spine.

I hurried and called the Vet and got him in within the hour. They administered Cortizone and a bunch of numerous meds. I thought for sure we were going to lose him. That afternoon they called and told me that he wasn’t doing very well. Not moving that he is paralyzed, but they had the Second Treatment yet to do.

I told them to continue treatment and they wanted me to call the next morning. When I called that morning he still wasn’t moving his back end and he wasn’t going poop. They put a catheter in him so he could urinate, so it wasn’t looking good at all. This was on a Friday in December (right before Christmas) needless to say, when you see this 3 times and all 3 of the other dogs didn’t pull through chances were slim to none here.

The only good thing we had going here is that Buddy had deep pain that is the only reason that I didn’t give up on him. My other 3 did not have deep pain.

According to my readings: When deep pain sensation is present, 80% to 90% of patients make a functional recovery with appropriate care.

However, with the loss of deep pain sensation, reported reported success rates with medical, surgical, and supportive care vary from 30% to 76% with a cumulative mean of 54%.

 Needless to say my other dogs were in bad shape.  I called the Vet Friday after the treatment and they said that he isn’t showing any signs of improvement and even the deep pain in thinning. I was like OMG I am going to have to put this poor dog down.

I told the Vet please keep him over night and we shall take it from there in the morning. I prayed hard that night to God not to let me witness another animal this young in its life be put down because of a herniated disk.

That morning, with a lump in my throat I called the Vet and once again she said he doesn’t look good. I asked her for her medical opinon. What would you do? She said Debbie, honestly, I would put him down. She said he is not urinating or going poop and he isn’t walking.

MY GUT told me that this poor dog just didn’t have me around, maybe he wouldn’t walk for them, maybe he is scared, they were holding a towel under him to keep him up and he wouldn’t pee. WOULD YOU?  I told her I’m sorry I can’t do that, my gut tells me to keep him there over the weekend. Let him rest and I will call on Monday.

She said that was fine not a problem at all and she could understand why.

Well, Monday I was all ready to head on up to the Vet to put him down. Got myself prepared to deal with this YET AGAIN and called the Vet. She got on the phone she said OMG Debbie it is a Miracle. He pooped in the cage, so he can go on his own and I think you need to come and TAKE HIM HOME. She said they were going to give him a nice Spa Bath.  I could not believe this.

A Miracle had happened Buddy came home with me that day. When I let him outside, he went potty and POOPED on his own. He hated the towel so I let him walk 12 inches. He was around his family of other dogs and was at home.

We caged him for 5 weeks after that and although he’s a little loose in the back end he is doing just fine.

We also widened the ramp and put rugs every where so he cannot slip.

Although, he didn’t injure himself by jumping off of furniture (because there isn’t any around him) he easily could have slid on the floor or MYGUY hurt him rough housing.

It’s been 2 months now and he is doing just great.