A trick of the heart

Dogs have so many things to teach us – nap whenever you can, don’t hold grudges, live until you die. One day at a time, Chloe is steadfastly ignoring the EKG, ignoring the stethoscope, laughing at the reports from the men in white lab coats.

It’s been a while since I’ve had the heart to update Chloe’s story, because the news has been all bad. Terrible really. Heartbreaking.

Just before Christmas, Chloe’s vet diagnosed her with atril fibrillation – the atrium of her heart didn’t pump with a steady rythm. Bad news, but not ... well ... deadly. As winter stretched on, I began to notice that she couldn’t keep up with us on walks. Her breathing, even when sleeping, seemed labored. Sometimes, it looked like her heart was going to jump right out of her chest.

Back to the vet. This time, everything was worse. Chloe’s heart doesn’t beat, it flips and flutters and winks and shudders. X-rays showed that her heart is enlarged – it all added up to cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure. Her arrythemia was so bad that she could literally drop dead – "sudden death" they call it. And, if she didn’t die of a massive heart attack or stroke, congestive heart failure would sap her energy, fill her lungs and belly with fluid and make her flesh melt off her bones.

There are drugs – enzymes and diruretics, ACE inhibitors – that would buy time, but solemnly, Dr. McLean would only say, "the prognosis is ... poor."

So. Chloe’s going to die. And it’s going to be sooner than later. We beat heartworms. We beat ear infections and gooky eyes. We beat demodex mange. We beat systemic infections. We would not be able to beat this – a heart that wouldn’t beat right.

Who in their right mind would adopt Chloe now? Who would adopt a dog only to watch it waste away and die in months, or maybe weeks ... or even, in the blink of an eye.

Chloe looked at me with bright, shiny black eyes ... fur growing here and there around patches that would always be bald. What she said – from her heart to mine – was this -- you would. And so. I did.

I’d like to introduce Chloe Moser – digger of monster holes, friend of cats, a dog that always sleeps sideways in my bed, who has endured so much and never gives up.

To look at Chloe as she prances from left to right foot when I get home, who still races through the upstairs bedrooms before leaping onto my bed and whipping around in circles that churn the bedclothes – you would never guess that she was a dog about to drop dead.

You would smile, chuckle and think – here is a dog that plans to live until she dies.

Good girl!

What a happy girl Miss Chloe is!
She prances like she's got a sugar daddy who gave her his American Express card! If she had an AE card, I'll tell you, she'd run it to the max on peanut butter and squeaky toys!

I do think she misses Shep -- Shep found a home right before Christmas with a family in Gastonia. I think Maverick scares her a little (he's almost twice her size), and lately, Mr. Grump has put the kabosh on any tomfoolery by dogs. If it gets the least bit rowdy, Maverick is up and ordering dogs around like he's a traffic cop.

She has tried chasing him a little, but I think I need to find her a more playful friend. They do still enjoy curling up on the bed together. That's Maverick in back, hogging the pillows.

I put the dog door up again, in hopes that would make a difference in Chloe's housebreaking trials -- and it has -- except, of course, when it rains. So ... at least when it rains, she goes back in the crate.

It's a good thing that Chloe likes peanut butter, because she's back on drugs -- this time baytril for 2 nasty systemic infections brought to you by Mr. and Mrs. Demodex Mites. The mites are gone, but they sure left a mess behind. But, thanks to peanut butter sandwiches, she doesn't mind getting her twice-a-day dose.

Maverick has a thing for peanut butter too, and I was afraid he was going to feint some illness just to get a sandwich, so, sometimes I fix him one just to keep him honest.

No spay, now or ever

Not sure exactly what made Dr. McLean do an EKG on Chloe this morning, but I'm very glad he did. It probably saved her life.

He showed me the printout of the EKG (I stared at it, hoping that it might mean something to me if I looked at it long enough) -- but basically there weren't enough spikes. It's a problem of electricity -- her heart misfires. She was probably born with it.

So -- no spay. Not today, probably never. The specialist Dr. McLean got on the phone said no sedation, period.

Here is the good news:
1. Chloe is alive
2. Her blood chemistry was perfect
3. Drugs can help keep her heart from working so hard -- they won't let her heart revert to normal size, but it will keep things from getting worse
4. Dr. McLean doesn't think this will affect her lifespan, nor does her activity have to be restricted.

The bad news:
1. Hormonal fluctuations will cause her demodex mange to flare up -- which is why you want to spay demodex dogs.
2. The drug, Enacard, is about $70 a month at the low dosage recommended for her -- not great, but not awful.

Two steps forward, one step back.

Thanks for all of you who kept Chloe in your heart and prayers today.

Merry Christmas

Chloe's mites are gone! She scraped negative, not even a dead one. Last night, when Chloe jumped up on the bed and chased her tail for about 4 circles, I laughed and told her, there was no going back now!

Never again will Chloe live outside, eat junk food (unless she wants it just for a treat) or be ignored. She will always have a weak immune system probably, but from now on, she will have someone who takes care of her.

What a wonderful Christmas present for her and for me!

Chloe is a wonderful dog. I got her a Christmas ornament tonight that says "World's Best Dog." Don't tell Maverick, he thinks he's the "World's Best Dog," because I've told him so.

Here's a picture of her in Christmas finery!

That's Maverick way in the background. Both he and Chloe are camera-shy -- I think it's the flash.

On Friday, Chloe goes back to the vet to be spayed.
I've very, very nervous about this because of her heart murmur. Dr. McLean says he's confident she'll do fine -- a couple of weeks ago, she had to be sedated to clean out her ears (demodex dogs frequently have nasty ear infections) and she did fine.

While she's under, she'll have a little cosmetic surgery to remove some skin tags and have her toenails clipped. They'll also do several more skin scrapes, just to make sure about the mites. Please keep Chloe in your prayers on Friday (I'm taking the day off).

Chloe's Public Debut

Chloe went to PetSmart today!

It was her first trip anywhere since she came to MAGDRL in May (OK, not counting trips to the Vet.) I wasn't sure how she'd do - lots of smells, lots of noise, lots of visual simulation -- and lots of people. So, I took a bag of cut up hot dogs to help make it a pleasant experience.

No need.

There was so much to see and sniff and investigate, the last thing Chloe was interested in was hot dogs.

I warned her about shoplifting -- no sampling the products without paying -- and we strolled up and down the aisles. She attracted a lot of attention, as Danes always do at PetSmart, and we got the opportunity to explain MAGDRL and demodex mange to a number of folks.

Chloe got the opportunity to get a lot of pets.
She's already figured out that kids generally have good-tasting things in (or on!) their hands.
She was very friendly to all the people and kids, even tolerating a hug -- and sitting quietly while I explained that it's not a good idea to hug a dog you don't know.

She wasn't as friendly to other dogs at the store. Not sure what that's about, unless it's a leash thing. I know that Chloe gets along with other dogs, so now we need to take the next step and get her to be friendly on leash.

We stayed about 20 minutes and Chloe was just grinning and wagging her tail slowly-- she's not a big tail-wagger in any case, so I knew she was having a great time.

We finished up the day with a short walk down the Gastonia Greenway where there were more fun things to sniff, like monkey grass:

Girls just wanna have fun!

Who is this dog that greets me with the leg of a stuffed lamb in her mouth? It's Chloe, aka, Miss Tug! If I won't play "pull" with her, she goes up to Shep and dangles the leg just close enough for him to reach and the game is on.

I can't help laughing at her, and laughing at the idea that somehow it's a bad idea to play tug with her. Whose crazy idea is that anyway -- that dogs can't be allowed to WIN at a game of tug?

It is obvious to me -- just by observing her -- that Chloe isn't the least bit interested in "winning," she's interested in PLAYING. If she pulls the toy away from me, she looks disappointed in me and brings it back to me to give me a second chance, and a third.

I'm so happy to see her blossom and see her spirit healing.

And, physically, she's healing too, but her skin isn't well yet. She's still itchy and her skin is dry and flaky -- which is better than bloody and oozy like it was back in May and June. Those demodex mites really have her in their grip though. Even with the daily ivermectin, she stil has one or two of the bloody pimples and I noticed a drop or two of blood on the kitchen floor this morning. One of her feet was bleeding a little.

This isn't enough bad news to worry about -- it's just sobering to realize that even though she has come so far, she's not well yet.

Wild woman

It is the first day we've had nippy weather here, and Chloe has gone nuts!

I got home from work, let everybody outside, and then back inside, Chloe tore upstairs and charged into the bedroom, jumped on the bed, threw herself in a circle, off the bed down the hall to the spare bedroom and back again.

She play bowed me (the first time ever) while she was on the bed! I didn't have the heart to stop her. This was the best bad behavior I've ever seen!!

In the last few days, she's given me a kiss, torn apart two stuffed animals, gotten the Zoomies and tried playing with me in the only way she seems to know how -- by mouthing my hand. I know it's time to start teaching her what's OK and what's not -- like putting her mouth on me -- and I will. But tonight, I'm just going to rejoice a little.