The past 10 days have been a roller coaster at Marilyn’s Way. It started off with a mini getaway with my cousin to coming back and making an emergency call to Lily’s veterinarian Dr. Andrea Hennen at 2 AM Monday morning.
It took a 48 hour trip to notice something was wrong with her. She began to stumble with her back legs. In fact she had done something similar right before I went on my trip. I thought it was her toe nails and clipped them. She seemed to walk fine.
If Our 4 Legged Friends Could Talk
When one sees them day in and day out, it makes it difficult to see a change in them. Lily is being treated for congestive heart failure. Lily also has had bad teeth her entire life. A couple of weeks ago I did notice the smell of her breath changing for the worse.
Making Things Worse
The problem was that she has never been known to let anyone fuss over her. Because of her breed half miniature dachshund and half sheltie she has always been a very strong and quick dog.
The other problem is I got her as a puppy when my Fibromyalgia and Thyroid were at their worst making it difficult for me to train her. I tried to brush her teeth and she fought me all the way.
The final problem was my first dog Meg, LOVED chewies! She was always chewing on one. Because of this, Meg had great teeth. I thought I could get Lily to do the same and she had no interest in it.
Lily’s Diagnosis
Tests showed she had a high sodium level and that needed to come down. They gave her IV’s to get that regulated. Changing her heart medication was also a factor.
Giving Lily The Best Chance At Recovering
Lily had a very bad case of infection and I have now learned that oral health is related to heart disease. The decision was made to remove all teeth that were infected. This came to a total of 14 teeth. She now has 2 teeth remaining that will aide her in chewing. Yes, I knew I needed to get her in for a cleaning. Limited budget kept me from doing it. Then time got away.
Lily remains on antibiotics, heart medication and fluid pills. She is improving daily. So happy she is home and I get another chance with her.
Thank you all for your support at this time. It gave me strength to correct the situation and to now enjoy what time Lily has left before going to Rainbow Bridge.
Photos Of Lily Happy To Be Home
This is the UPDATE for Lily. Again, thank you for all of your kind thoughts, prayers, and financial assistance. I am grateful to have her in my life a while longer.
Marilyn
[contact-form subject='[Marilyn%26#039;s Way’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]