Jasper (12 yr old Mini Schnauzer) is now at peace

We do the 3 year rabies vaccine too. I think Molly is due this year. We have raccoons and other wild animals just enough that I worry if I don't vaccinate her. But only as much as necessary. Kennel cough is one I get too as she has had it before and that was awful.

Hopefully jasper will be just fine. Molly has never had a reaction to any of her shots. Knock on wood.

Glad to hear that wrist is healing up very well. 6 weeks. Take it easy Wonder Woman. Lol.

Good to hear from you

Hugs
Sharlene and Molly muffin

Hi Tina,

I so hate the vaccination thing. I begged for an exemption for Buddy when he was dying from 3 vets. I could not get one. Long story. Buddy did not get his shot.

I always pretreat with Benadryl before any vaccinations or flea treatment. Buddy went down after receiving a combination shot yearly booster. He almost died. He never received any more vaccinations other than rabies. I chose to safeguard him instead. That means no dog parks, leash only and exposure to vaccinated dogs only. Friends dogs that I know are vaccinated and healthy. I am now treating Rosie the same way because she has allergies too. As it is, she scratched like crazy for over two weeks following her Rabies shot. :eek: She'll need another one after I year, then every 3 years.:eek: Rabies vaccinations have caused me nothing but grief!:o

Hugs,
Kathy

Awww poor Jasper getting a jab. I guess the thing is we have to remember that most dogs DON'T have a reaction and it is unlikely he will if he has been fine up to now. So I hope Jasper is just fine, you do not want to have that worry about quarantine not that I can imagine Jasper biting anyone, the sweet boy! It would not work for me as I take Flynn every where I go and we like to go out a lot. But then, we do not have rabies here in NZ so do not have to vaccinate for it.

Glad the wrist is coming along Tina, seems you went back to work so quickly and it would have been nice to have longer off. We get 4 weeks annual leave here, plus all the public holidays. Plus I have 3 weeks of long service leave up my sleeve that I have not used yet. Sick leave as needed, well within reason, but I did not even have to give a sick note from the GP when I had 6 days off sick last month. So we have it pretty good at work!! Look forward to hearing from you later and having a catchup! :):Dxxxxxx

Hi girls,

Thank you for all the comments. Yes, the rabies vaccination that Jasper gets is a three-year vaccine. He was due this year. Addy, my vet would not agree to a waiver or medical exemption for him, she felt he needed the injection. And yes Marianne, we always pre-medicate him with injectable Benadryl, we did that today also. (You're so smart! :) ) Today in addition she gave him a Cortisone injection also, to pre-medicate for the vaccine and to give him an additional boost for the Addison's. (So he actually got three jabs Trish :( ). So he has been drinking and peeing like a big dog all day and night. As if he didn't do enough of that before!

I live right near a farm, small wooded area and a creek, so I do have wildlife here as well to be concerned with. My yard is fenced, but that doesn't keep out the occasional possum, bat or other critter that can find its way in. It's not often, but it does happen. Anymore, Jasper is completely supervised when he is outside, even in the yard, and Shelby is as well due to her naughty behavior at the fence with neighbor dogs. But I guess wild critters are also a concern for me regarding having him vaccinated, in addition to the groomer issue.

He has never had a reaction the rabies vaccine before, however in the past has had an acute type of reaction to the leptospirosis injection, and that is what started us pre-medicating him for everything. He doesn't get that one anymore. Shelby also gets pre-medicated as she had a reaction to her first leptospirosis also. As far as the rabies vaccine, I was more concerned and I guess still am about longer term effects that could happen due to his kidney issues, and since his immune system is suppressed due to the Addison's.

I brought in the urine sample for the UPC. It was checked in the office and didn't show any any blood or sediment, so it will be sent out for the UPC. Should have results Monday or Tuesday she said. The specific gravity was 1.015. :( So I am hoping for the best for that.

He did just fine after the vaccine, we ended up being at the vets for over an hour, so had plenty of time to monitor as it turns out. And he has been fine all day and night so far other than seeming more tired than normal. I am keeping a very close eye on him, and am very relieved.

Now for the bad news, and I'm not going to say a lot about it now because I'm pretty upset. The vet gave him a check over of course, and said he now has a mitral valve heart murmur. :( :mad: :( She had never mentioned any type of murmur before, and confirmed to me that she had never detected one before. So it apparently has developed since his last thorough check over, which was in May. She said it is grade 3, on a scale of 1 to 5. One is the least severe and five the most severe. So his is at the middle level.

I'll post later about the chest x-ray results and her comments there, and what the plan is for all of this. I didn't really ask a lot of questions, because I just couldn't think. I felt like I had been kicked in the gut. I guess I was just blindsided. Here I was so happy that he had what I thought was a good month, and that he was doing pretty well, haven't needed anything at the vet, etc. And now this.

So kind of had a rough afternoon and evening, but I'm trying to pull myself up by the bootstraps once again. I haven't done a lot of reading yet on heart murmurs in dogs, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm so worried and scared about this additional issue on top of everything else that my little boy has going on. Every time I look at him I just get choked up and the tears well up. I am trying so hard not to cry in front of him.

So if anyone here has experience with heart murmurs and wants to comment, I would welcome it and be very appreciative.

We are up now for our second pit stop of the night, he is peeing tons more than the usual tons due to the Cortisone injection. So I think we're going to head back to bed for a little bit. I am not sleeping well as you can guess. Well, I guess now I am thinking that I'm glad I took him in for the rabies vaccination, or who knows how long it would be until this was detected. Who would've thought. Sorry I wasn't on the forum earlier, I just couldn't bring myself to post until now.

Hugs,
Tina and Jasper

Tina

Woody had a grade 4 heart murmour so have plenty experience on that. I knew woody had a heart murmour grade 2 when I resecued him and I will admit to "wrapping him In cotton wool" for the first few months and not letting him run to much etc but then i spoke to a specialist who told me that he could have a happy long life I began to relax. Woody took meds for this everyday and in the 3 and a half yrs he was with me it did go up to a grade 4 but it caused him no problems.

Things to watch for are coughing sign of fluid around the heart, swollen abdomine as in rounded another sign of fluid, lethargy is another symptom but to be honest I don't think you will need to worry (hard I know) as dogs an live up to 2 years with complete heart failure and your sweet boy is no where near that :)

Things I did when Woodys heart got to grade 4 I didn't walk him in hot weather or severe wind, tried and failedto keep him calm lol as stress puts pressure on the heart and I just loved him, had the demon cancer not got him he would still be running around like mad man . It is a bit of a shock that it's a grade 3 I would have thought it may have been detected in his May exam, did they say if it was on the right side or left, Woodys was on left side, I don't know if the heart meds if you choose to go down that route would interfer with any other meds he is taken the vet would tell you that.

So big deep breaths although it's scary being told that it is treatable. If it is possible and puts you mind at rest I would suggest and ECG for him and that will tell you all you need to know, as this will give a true reading of what grade it is. I had two done on Woody one when he first came and one the week he died, he wasn't sedated and just had to stand for the test :). Sorry I've written an essay x

Oh Tina! I know this is a blow! I am so glad that Tracy responded though as she has been through this with her Woody. It is treatable and the main thing is to make sure that the treatment is one that is consistent with his other medications.

I like the idea of having an EKG done, that is definitely the next step and then of course, working out a plan of action for it.

Hang in there Tina! I'm sure the others will be along soon to give their input. I don't personally know anything about it but I know others here have had it going on with them too.

hugs,
Sharlene and molly muffin

i owned a top agility dog with 2/3 heart murmour.
she was a very active dog and i let her do whatever she wanted to do.
she could not stand the heat very well, that was the only thing i noticed.
no meds, no real limitations, and she reached the age of 14 when she died.
[kidney failure, not her heart].
like woodydog said, a dog wants to be a dog, so hot days, stormy days, and stress will be a bit of a concern, but when he is feeling fine, just let him lead a happy doggy life.
there are good meds these days to help the heart.
but the strange thing is that nobody ever noticed it before with jasper.
from 0-3 murmour in just 2 months?
i think i want him checked over again for a second or even a third opinion to be sure this is what he really has.
hope our stories will give you some relief.

I cant tell you how many times we went back and forth with Zoe- she has a heart murmur, no she doesn't, back and forth for I cant remember how long. The IMS finally stopped talking about it. I had other vets listen to check if they heard anything and they did not so I never pursued it and when they did xrays before her vulva surgery and the surgeon checked her over, I asked again and was told no, she did not have a heart murmur.

So, maybe you should have it checked again.

Big hugs, Tina.

Tina, I'm so glad to hear Jasper didn't have any problems with his vaccination and I hope things will be just fine with the heart murmur.

I just read about everyone's concerns about vaccinations.
Kathy, I so agree with you!
Just wondering, has anyone ever done titer testing for rabies?

Archie will need his first booster in Oct. but since he had that seizure the day after he had his first rabies vaccination and then with the other issues after that I am so concerned about him getting any more. His immune system is not right and it scares me that things will get worse if he gets any more.

I have read that holistic vets feel one vaccination will last many years.

Hi Vicki, just wanted to let you know that I have posted a reply to your question about rabies titer testing on Archie's thread:

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/show...834#post158834

Marianne