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

[ryanamartin1]

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

[Douglas_JRT]

I;m sorry for your loss. We had the most beautiful, loving, sweet and smart Parson Jack Russell Queenie she was born on or around Feb. 1, 2002 and we put her to sleep on Sept 20, 2017. I was hoping she would be at least 16 or 17 before she passed on. She was high energy and but has problems the last several years  mostly arthritis in her hind legs. For a few weeks before she passed she had real trouble walking  on her front left leg. I thought she hurt or sprained it she would wake up yelping. I would hold her and rub her shoulder and it would pass. I took her to the local vet who had seen her for the last 10 years of her live he gave her pain meds and wanted to see her later in the week to x-ray her neck and shoulder. She was panting some but always did at the vets anyway.  While I was away at work my wife walked our dear one to her favorite spot on the pier an back. She enjoyed her walk. But after her nap she had some sort of stroke and thru up. Could not stand was very dizzy. The vet ( a stand in vet not her normal one) said she had heart failure and was dizzy, recommended euthanasia to my Wife for our dear one. I got there doggie was fine loved to see me so I took her home she was a little wobbly but walked home. She had been given oxygen she acted fine could not wait to get home.  My Wife got home and she and  I argued I finally gave in and I took our dear one back, cried all the way there.  We put her to sleep. I still think we should have tried to save her.   Our dear one did not know why she was back but her breathing was beginning to be labored again.  IF I had to do it over again I would have waited a day and seen her regular vet for options other than putting her down as that is not treatment but giving up on treatment. What some vets (who do not own dogs) do not realize is that the animals themselves are pretty tough and love their family and want to stay with them, they are not thinking I can't stand the pain they are thinking please don't take me away from my family, a strong will is a strong will to live, now dogs who can no longer walk, eat, poop or pee well that is a different story. Ours had many more good days than bad ect... I think in this case the stand in vet should have given my wife ALL the options before her recommendation. She did not do ANY diagnostic test to determine WHY this happened only that it did happen... Just because a dog is over 15 years old does not mean you give up on a treatment plan.  Our dog only had fish get and supplements as treatments with an occasional dose  of NSAIDS.  THEN we put her down? Sure maybe she would have passed on soon anyway but we never took the DAY to find out if she could have been given an extended life of months or so with a treatment plan... Anyway I m sorry for your loss. I;m assuming that congestive heart failure is common in older dogs.

[Limomen]

Hi I have a 10 year old chihuahua who has congested heart failure and maybe a tumor see tom the results I'm scared like everyone else on here ,mine still goes for walks but vet says only short walks and needs to be on a diet as he is 4 lbs to heavy..ideas of what kind of food I can feed him? If he loose weight the vet says can help the problem along with meds,she also says its common for congested heart failure in small dogs

[TWood1]

Last November we lost our Jack Russell x Chihuahua to congestive heart failure. He was only two years old! It all started off with slightly noisy breathing and lack of interest in walks. We took our little fella to the vets and they told us he probably just had a chest infection. Two days later his stomach was so swollen he looked like a pregnant cow! Back to the vets we went where they all panicked as they could hear a heart murmur. Our poor little boy spent the next two weeks back and forth from the vets, having the fluid drained from his ,taking so many pills (including Viagra) and being prodded all over the place. He saw a Cardiologist who started him on medication and we were told if the meds work within 48 hours its looking good! We brought him home and started on the medication. After a day we could see such a drastic improvement, we really thought he was on the road to recovery. Unfortunately a week later he went downhill fast and we had to rush him back to the vets. They kept him in for two days and then on the third morning I got the call to say he had died suddenly. Ill never forget that day, was one of the worst. Felt like I had my heart ripped out. I never understood how he could have just randomly developed the murmur as he had all his regular checks with the vet where they checked him over. I am so sorry to hear your news about Jetta. I know this happened a while ago but I have only just come across this post and wanted to share my story. Its been really difficult to talk about my little Rodney but I feel better knowing I am speaking to people who know what I have been and continue to go through.

[koreangrl]

Thank you for this post as I am going through something similar with my 15 yr old JRT. He will be 16 in September and just two days ago, he started coughing at night, sounding like a seal. It is his heart as he has an enlarged heart, erratic heartbeat and a heart murmur. He is on Enalapril and Pimobendan which I just started today. He doesn't seem like he is in a lot of pain or anything, just the sound of the awful cough at night. He is my first dog (when I moved out and lived on my own) and I have had him since he was 8 weeks old. He is a wonderful JRT and kinda breaks some of the JRT stereotypes, but non-the-less still is a JRT. :) I love him to death and I know I will do the "right" thing when it comes to that time. Thank you again for sharing.

[MzSPB1]

I just lost my Jack Russell Terrier, Jaxie Ray, to congestive heart failure. We put her to sleep (euthanized) this morning. She shared 12 wonderful years with us.

[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

[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.