- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
How is Holly this morning? I hope there is more improvement.
Holly
- Thread starter Hollysdad
- Start date
- Location
- Herefordshire, UK
- Location
- Monmouthshire, Wales
She had a better night last night. Until now she’s been very restless, which apparently is a sign of heart disease. Last night she settled A lot more and only got up a couple of times. Hopefully its the new pills starting to take effect, but it could be that she’s tired. She’s currently dozing in her bed.
The current challenge is getting pills into her without stress. She seems to take the heart pills OK in a bit of chicken, but the antibiotics are more of a challenge. Ruth found that she‘ll take them in peanut butter, but most PB contains salt and some have artificial sweeteners. I’ve just found some organic salt-free peanut butter with no artificial sweeteners or additives in Waitrose. I hope she likes it because its a big tub!
Lisa
Moderator
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
Glad she’s feeling a bit better!
Re: peanut butter - maybe you’ll get to like the salt/sugar free type. I made the switch to that a few years ago and now I find the other too salty. I just have the 100% peanut butter and I love it, although it’s a bit of a chore having to mix it up at the beginning.
Re: peanut butter - maybe you’ll get to like the salt/sugar free type. I made the switch to that a few years ago and now I find the other too salty. I just have the 100% peanut butter and I love it, although it’s a bit of a chore having to mix it up at the beginning.
- Location
- Monmouthshire, Wales
This PB claims to contain zero salt. Very important as we need to keep salt to a minimum with her heart. I quite like it on toast and crumpets so Holly and I might end up sharing this tub.
Things always taste better shared. At least that's what my dogs tell me when I have something they think might make a nice doggy-snack...
- Location
- Monmouthshire, Wales
Holly's had another day of mixed signs.
On the 'plus' side of the sheet she's shown a little more energy and actually managed to fetch one slipper. She's also eating well and her excessive drinking has just about stopped.
On the 'minus' side her breathing rate remains high and very variable. Sometimes its a low as 30 per minute, then it will suddenly got to 50 or 60 and she'll become restless. She's also starting to get wise to our pill delivery methods and starting to resist them. Trying to give her pills must be stressful for her, which is what we're trying to avoid.
We've noticed that she's a lot more clingy than before. She like to have both of us close by, and shows signs of separation anxiety if one of us is away for too long.
On the 'plus' side of the sheet she's shown a little more energy and actually managed to fetch one slipper. She's also eating well and her excessive drinking has just about stopped.
On the 'minus' side her breathing rate remains high and very variable. Sometimes its a low as 30 per minute, then it will suddenly got to 50 or 60 and she'll become restless. She's also starting to get wise to our pill delivery methods and starting to resist them. Trying to give her pills must be stressful for her, which is what we're trying to avoid.
We've noticed that she's a lot more clingy than before. She like to have both of us close by, and shows signs of separation anxiety if one of us is away for too long.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
I'm sorry to hear about your 'minus sides'. The breathing changes must be especially scary to watch. 
I’m so sorry to read about Holly’s health issues. What a shock for you all. She is such a legend in this little group.
I hope the meds will bring much relief. I find that slippy food is best for administering meds. PB is sticky and she might not swallow it quickly enough and then find the pill to spit out. We use butter for Snowie. The 1-2-3 method works well. 1st treat is pill free, followed by 2nd treat with pill, VERY QUICKLY followed by 3rd treat pill free. The 3rd treat is the chaser! They have no time time to think about finding the pill in the 2nd treat. Some people use fish paste. Anything that can be swallowed very quickly.
I hope the meds will bring much relief. I find that slippy food is best for administering meds. PB is sticky and she might not swallow it quickly enough and then find the pill to spit out. We use butter for Snowie. The 1-2-3 method works well. 1st treat is pill free, followed by 2nd treat with pill, VERY QUICKLY followed by 3rd treat pill free. The 3rd treat is the chaser! They have no time time to think about finding the pill in the 2nd treat. Some people use fish paste. Anything that can be swallowed very quickly.
Liver pate? Tuppence wouldn’t have her Drontal tablet, not even in smelly cheese… until I found some pate!
I hope things settle down soon for Holly.
- Location
- Monmouthshire, Wales
We took Holly for a checkup today. The drugs seem to be doing some good. Her heart is beating more strongly , her breathing rate has reduced, and the heart murmur has improved. To keep it in perspective, all the above are still too high but they're heading in the right direction.
We've agreed that its OK to keep her on very gentle walks but increase them to 30 minutes providing that she can cope. This might help her quality of life. She still needs to avoid stressful situations.
She needs to stay on the antibiotics for many weeks to ensure that the infection is absolutely cleared up. The current aim is to get the heart pill doses to a level where everything is stable, so we can expect weekly checkups while the vet monitors her progress. Long term prognosis depends on how she responds to treatment.
We've agreed that its OK to keep her on very gentle walks but increase them to 30 minutes providing that she can cope. This might help her quality of life. She still needs to avoid stressful situations.
She needs to stay on the antibiotics for many weeks to ensure that the infection is absolutely cleared up. The current aim is to get the heart pill doses to a level where everything is stable, so we can expect weekly checkups while the vet monitors her progress. Long term prognosis depends on how she responds to treatment.
- Location
- Welsh borders, near Chepstow
That's very encouraging, I have been wondering how she is. I hope you can extend her walks, it will be so much nicer if she can manage it. Fingers crossed for a steady progress upwards.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Slow and steady wins the race, Miss Holly. You're going in the right direction.
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
This is positive sounding Phil. Still I know you will worry, but more positive.
- Location
- Herefordshire, UK
Pleased to hear that Holly is making progress in the right direction, albeit slow but steady. Hope it continues.
Thinking of you both and dear Holly.
- Location
- Monmouthshire, Wales
Holly had a good night last night. Her best so far. She slept soundly and only woke up once for a restless episode.
The last few days have seen a steady improvement. She’s been a bit more playful and has had fewer breathless episodes. Yesterday she fetched both my slippers (I deliberately left them close to the chair). She managed about 25 minutes on her walk and dipped her feet in a muddy puddle. She even found the energy to start on a new hole in the flower bed!
The last few days have seen a steady improvement. She’s been a bit more playful and has had fewer breathless episodes. Yesterday she fetched both my slippers (I deliberately left them close to the chair). She managed about 25 minutes on her walk and dipped her feet in a muddy puddle. She even found the energy to start on a new hole in the flower bed!
- Location
- The Hague, The Netherlands
Lovely news to hear Holly is improving and that she managed a small mud pedicure and helped with the gardening 