I thought I would post an update as to how things are going with Belle. We have been very pleased with her progress. We had a minor setback, where we tried to decrease the amount of Lasix she was on, but had to increase it back to her original dosage because she developed some breathing problems. We have now decreased the dose back down again, and are not seeing any of the breathing problems like we did before. We will be further decreasing the Lasix over the next few weeks, with the hope that we can eliminate this medication altogether. We also had to re-adjust the amount of Digoxin she receives, and will be doing more bloodwork in a couple of weeks to make sure everything is good with regard to that medication. We had a consultation with a holistic vet, and are starting to incorporate some of her suggestions into our routine. The main thing we are doing is eliminating all grains from her diet. She can’t even have a biscuit. So far that hasn’t been a problem because Belle loves the freeze-dried liver we give to her instead. We also began some cardiac supplements, fish oil and a probiotic as suggested by the holistic vet, in addition to the L-carnitine, taurine and CoQ10 recommended by the cardiologist. It is such a relief to have our puppy back, and looking at her, it is difficult to believe that she went through such a horrible time. When the holistic vet read Belle’s records from when she was in the hospital, she started to cry because she couldn’t believe what bad shape she was in, and how far she has come from there. We were told that Belle would limit her activity and exercise on her own, but we have not noticed her slowing herself down in the least. She continues to play enthusiastically with her big boxer sister Lacy, and much to my dismay, will run wildly around the yard (by herself, because I don’t thing *my* heart could handle it to watch her and Lacy run around together). On top of all of that, she is always eager to give us a boxer wiggle and a big old boxer kiss. All things considered, I am thrilled with Belle’s progress, and I am finally starting to believe that we can have some semblance of a normal life with our puppy.
