My 13 n half YO jack russel terrier just diag. congestive heart failure

my jack russel almost 14 years old  she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure (apparently begining stages, but doesnt seem like it at all! Help!), she started losing balance collapsing and breathing weird after the bathroom and going up stairs, it kinda looked like a stroke or heart attackactually anxiety attackwould be better, then she would snap out of it after 10 mins and be a perky little puppy again happy n wagging her tail, she was put on 5mg ENALIPRIL once/day n 10 mg LASIX twice a day. she had her first pills today and now all of sudden doesnt want to eat really, peeing and diareahhing alot of time but iwth low amounts coming out, so if you could post an update to me or anyone else who reads this about what to expect or how long your dog lived for or if still alive would be HUGEE, im just in total shock n cant believe this or see whats going on just wanna cry all day long cuz she was just acting like her puppy self today.. i hope something gets better, she only coughed and gagged twice since this all started(about 3 days ago) but right now shes in the closet sounding HORRIBLE and coughing and i can hear the fluid in her lungs being stirred up now thats shes coughing, im afraid she doesnt have long considering the way  shes been last few hours, looks like anxiety attacks actually , the vet said he thinkns its in the early stages but i dunno why, i mean she acted lik nothing was wrong with her at vet but she must of been runnig off adrenaline. ANYONE CAN GIVE ME SOME INFORMATION?!?! thank youuu please email ***@**** being that i prolly wont see a post to forum as fast. or both if your so kind so other users in the future can see, also ANY info on these meds n what they actually do would help alot they say there for heart failure kidney disease low or high blood pressure, the vet said that one would help clear the fluid out her lungs but i dun knwo how when i research n they say nothing about for lungs both for heartfailure basically. IM TOTALLY LOST CAN SOMEONE HELP ASAP thanks morethen you know - Ryan

[dottie17]

I am so sorry to hear about your dog's diagnosis. We just lost our 16 yo chihuahua to this awful disease. It does sound like your dog is getting worse quickly. Our chihuahua had good days and bad days (days where she ran around like a pup) which is what makes this such a hard decision. We started using  a calendar and putting a happy face on the good days and a sad face on the bad. The vet said when we have three or four sad days in a row it is time to put her to sleep. Sadly at the end she sounded like she was drowning and was withdrawing from the family, it was time to go. Just an fyi, dogs rarely die in their sleep from this, you will probably have to make the choice for him. The suffering can go on a long time. We were using the same meds to the point where the lasix wasn't keeping the fluid out of her chest any more. There is a point where the meds stop working. She was diagnosed in August and had to leave this world in December. It was one of the worst things I have ever been through, but the vet reassured us we made the right decision.
hope that helps a bit.

[ryanamartin1]

Thank you so much for responding dottie, its peopel like you taht take time out to help others that inspire me to do the same on here, My little girl and best friend Jetta left me today around 1:30, im still in shock, she was diagnosed 4 DAYS AGO and with EARLY STAGES of congestive heart failure!! this is so horrible my house is quiet and empty now, last nights he was really acting weird and wouldnt eat her fav food so i boiled some chicken up and she ate that (which i really didnt want to change her diet being sick cuz she just got over diareahh, but i wanted her to eat something and i made her chicken jerky tenders in the oven all night and she didnt want anythig to do with it, she was "roaming" around the master bed and just sitting  in weird places like hiding but not laying down just sitting and staring with perky ears (no signs of pain) really only signed was her breathing since on the meds ( no more collapses and only 2 or 3 coughs in the past 4 days since on the meds! i thought she was doing better besides bearly moving which i thought wa sthe meds and was a good thing since she wasnt acting like a lil puppy and over working her heart which led to collapsing  and breathing weird attacks, today she was really bad head hanging off bed drooling she wnet out and then threw up n found her in the closet with eyes slightly open and lip a little up...maybe she died of a heart attack? i dont know im still in shock and for anyone else who reads this or had any problems or questions just ask ill help as best i can and will be on here daily
-ryan r.i.p. Jetta <3 she was with me a little more then half my life and how great it was