CHF and possibly Syncope

by Jenn

(Rock Springs WY)

Last summer we got our daughter a little Pomeranian puppy for her birthday. We named her Gizzy, she was just over 3 months old. At her 6 month visit to the vet for rabies shot and spay, she was sadly diagnosed with a grade 5 heart murmur/congenital heart defect and started on 2 medications for CHF. I was shocked, she seemed perfectly healthy. She did have a little cough once in awhile when she got really wild playing, but it was so infrequent…? I had no idea… the meds pretty much took away the cough completely, for a few months, she’s now 14 months old and at the max dose of lasik for her cough. They are worried about doing damage to the kidneys with too much. 3 weeks ago, on Thursday night, she was sick, vomiting 3 times in an hour, then she was following me up the stairs, fell over backwards and down the stairs she went. For several minutes she seemed dizzy and confused, stumbling around… And then she was fine. Like nothing had happened. I kept a close eye on her that Friday and she was normal all day. Saturday morning we had her scheduled to be boarded at our vet as we were going on vacation. She would not eat for me before we left and was just lazy. So at drop off I let them know what had been going on, they decided to put her in the hospital, rather than the kennels, so they could keep a closer eye on her and let the Dr check her out. Later that afternoon the Doc calls to let me know that Gizzy had a high fever and still was not eating or drinking for them. They added an antibiotic and ibuprofen to her other meds and kept her in the hospital for observation. They suspected a possible stroke from the events on Thursday, and respiratory/lung infection. Gizzy spent 10 days in the hospital before they felt she was healthy enough for the kennels. on day 12 we picked her up and she was a happy healthy little puppy (well as healthy as she can be). So now, 3 days ago, she was eating her dinner, about half way through she stumbled, fell over on her back legs straight up in the air. her body was stiff when i picked her up, but she wasn’t shaking or having convulsions, like a seizure. It was all over in less than a minute. I gave her some love, sat her down and she finished her dinner. This morning she was running around with the kids, not real hyper, just mild activity, and it happened again. She has been hiding in a corner, sleeping all day now. She has an appointment later this afternoon, I’m hoping they can get her feeling better. Good days still outnumber bad ones for her, but her bad ones sure do take a toll on her.

I guess I just want to know if anyone else has been through this kind of ordeal, what i should expect, do i continue with meds and vets bills, or just let the poor girl go? Everything I read online about CHF refers to older dogs that have had a good long life, and owners feel at peace with letting them go. This little gal is just barely over a year old and full of love. I’m at a loss, I feel so bad when she’s sick, but then we get some good days, and she’s enjoying life again….