Raleigh, Archie, Gus

Happy Birthday, Gus!

Happy birthday Gus. May all your poops be normal.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes for Gus!

Poops are not good. Especially Archie's.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RALEIGH!

Today is Raleigh's 12th birthday.

It is also my daughter Molly's birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Love you both so much!

happy birthday Raleigh and Molly!it is truly a day to celebrate!:D

Happy Birthday, Raleigh and Molly! :D

A Big Happy Birthday to Raleigh and Molly! Hope it's a lovely day for all.

Oh me too!!! All best wishes to both Raleigh and Molly (and all best wishes to their mom ;)).

:) :D :) :D :) :D

Thanks for letting us join the party, Vicki!

Thank you so much everyone for the birthday wishes.
Marianne, Thank you.

My daughter took off from work. We went to lunch. We then took Raleigh to a special place we have close by. It's called The Dining Dog and Friends. They make wonderful goodies for doggies. Raleigh had a special chicken and spinach loaf, some yogurt they make and we took home a cake. He enjoyed it so much. The lady who is part owner and is pretty much in charge is helping me with all 3 boys. Their poops have improved since she started working with them. Raleigh has had some vomiting going on recently too. She has been helping with that too. The boys love going there. They sell all kinds of top quality things. They have their own kitchen and bakery. I know the boys are getting good things from there.

Oh, it sounds like a grand party, and I'm so glad you girls could enjoy such a special day with Raleigh! From everything you've always written about Molly, she sounds like an absolute sweetheart of a daughter. So it's super nice that you could have both your lunch out and also the party with Raleigh. It sounds like doggie heaven at the dining spot. ;) :)

Marianne

Thanks Marianne. Molly is a sweetheart! (all 3 of my children are super).

I added a picture in my Raleigh, Archie, Gus album of Raleigh giving his birthday cake a taste test.

I just discovered how to view member photo albums. Still learning how to use this board! Cute photo of Raleigh. :)

Thank you Allison.

Hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas
and a safe and happy New Year!

The vet discovered a heart murmur in Raleigh at his last wellness check up.
Monday Raleigh will be seeing a cardiologist to find out what is going on.
Thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Hi Vicki, poor Raleigh sure has been through a lot! :o

Please try not to panic. You are getting it checked out, then you can make a plan when you know more. ;)

Sending wellness thoughts, hugs and prayers for our special boy.

Kathy

Sending Raleigh lots of good thoughts!

Oh Vicky, you've got all my thoughts and prayers coming, too. I'm so sorry Raleigh is having this problem, and I know how worried you must be. Please let us know what you find out, OK?

In the meantime, sending comforting wishes your way,
Marianne

Kathy, Joan, Marianne,

Thank you for the well wishes for Raleigh.
It does worry me. Seems like there is always something to worry about.
I will post a message after we find out what is going on.
Thank you again.

Let us know, Vicki.

You are right, always a worry:(

I will Addy.
Thanks

Keeping you both in my thoughts and prayers too.

Hugs, Lori

Lori,
Thank you so much!

The cardiologist confirmed that Raleigh has a heart murmur.

He said his blood pressure was a little high but he doesn't rest in the car (over an hour drive) and he was panting quite hard so I guess the cardiologist figured that didn't help his BP.

His EKG was OK.

The cardiologist said he can see the murmur on the ultrasound but everything else he could see looked OK. His heart is not enlarged.

He put Raleigh on Benazepril, told us to check his breathing and listen for coughing. Raleigh does not do much coughing right now.
Hopefully the meds will help with the murmur.

I took a disc with his chest x-ray but the nurse couldn't find Raleigh's pics in their system. The chest x-ray shows a collapsing trachea, according to our vet. I don't know if the cardiologist would have commented on that or not.
He did mention about the difference in coughing between the heart problem and the trachea.

I will be getting a report in the mail soon. I will see if there is anything else in the report that I didn't mention.

Did the cardiologist grade his heart murmur? Good EKG YAA!!!

My Marvin has a collapsed trachea and is taking medication for it which does help with his "goose honking" cough.

Yep, I bet that car drive caused a transient elevation in his BP, and I'm curious to know why the cardiologist started him on benazepril.

Hugs, Lori

Lori,
I received the cardiologist's report today. There is so much on it that I have no idea what it means. Raleigh has an appointment next week with the vet to have a lump checked out. I want to ask the vet about some things on the report.

It says: H/L: Grade lll/Vl left holosystolic murmur

BP: 170 mmHg systolic

Diagnosis: Stage B1 mitral and tricuspid valvular insufficiency with no congestive heart failure or hypertension at this time.

Start benazepril 5 mg tab, 1/2 tab sid (to control blood pressure and to reduce cardiac preload and afterload)

2 other meds are mentioned to be reserved for development of a persistent rapid resting/sleeping breathing rate (above 30 breaths per minute) radiographic pulmonary edema.

What medication does your Marvin take for his collapsed trachea?
Is it just to control the cough?
Is there anything to help strengthen the trachea cartilage?

Thanks

Marvin takes Terbutaline and Hydrocodone for his cough, it doesn't take it entirely away especially when he gets excited. As far as I know there isn't a way to strengthen the trachea and the surgery to fix it comes with its own problems. One of the things that is recommended is to replace their collar with a harness, Marvin doesn't mind his harness and when I'm at work I take it off of him.

Thanks for sharing Raleigh's cardiologist report.

Hugs, Lori

Lori,
Thanks for sharing the info.
I heard trachea surgery is not an easy one but don't know details about it.
I've always used harnesses on my pugs.
How old is your Marvin?
I wish him well!

I just adopted Marvin this February, the rescue told me that he was 9 years old but when I took him to my vet for a check up she thought he was closer to 11...so I guess he is between 9 - 11 years old. :)

Lori,
Bless Marvin's little heart!
Bless you for giving him a loving fur ever home!

If I get any more info about Raleigh from our vet on Tuesday I will post it.

Hugs to you and Marvin

Lori,
I took Raleigh to the vet today to have a couple things checked out.
Turns out one is a wart and the other is a skin tag.
The wart bleeds at times so it had me worried. The vet said we will just manage it.

I asked the vet what the grade Raleigh's heart murmur is. He said it looks like it is a 3 out of 6.

Happy Birthday to Archie. Today he is 3 years old.
Love him so much!

Happy Birthday, Archie!!!

Lori,

Thank you for the birthday wish for Archie.

I put a new picture of him in my album-Raleigh, Archie, Gus-if you would like to see him.

Oh gosh Vicki. Sorry I missed Archies birthday.

Happy belated Birthday Archie.

Happy Belated Birthday Archie!!!🎂😊

Sooo many pups Sharlene, so here's a little Update....

Raleigh is the oldest one. He has had some health issues lately.

Scoop is one of our precious angels. He passed one day before Buddy

Archie and Gus are the puppies who joined the family after Scoop flew. Archie is a little older than Gus. Gus will be turning three soon.

That's about it, unless Vicky wants to update us further, or make any corrections.😀

D'oh! Thanks Kathy. Archie is the puppy of course. Somehow I knew that but not really got it all together today. :) :)

Lori, Thanks for your nice comments on the pictures.

Kathy and Sharlene, Thanks for the birthday wishes for Archie.

Kathy, You're right on!

I don't remember if I mentioned that a couple months ago Archie was diagnosed with Lyme disease. He was on antibiotics for a month. He had bloodwork done the same day as the Lyme test. His white blood count was above normal. After the antibiotics were done his white count was in the normal range. He will be getting retested in the months to come. We have not seen any problems from the Lyme. Hopefully it will stay that way!

Raleigh is doing OK. Hopefully it will stay that way.
When it was hot for a few days he was coughing a little more. The last couple days it's been cooler and he hasn't coughed as much.

Gus is good.

Soon it will be 3 years that Scoop is gone. Still breaks my heart.

Belated birthday greetings to Archie! Thanks for the update on all your dogs.

Good to hear that Raleigh is doing better now. Our first cat had a heart murmur and one of our dogs had skin tags. The same dog used to get effected by weather too.

Relieved to hear that Archie seemed to have recovered from Lyme disease. Always scary when they're sick!

Wishing health and happiness for many years to come for all of your dogs. Hugs!

Allison, Thank you so very much!