My hound dog is 12 years old. She has a heart murmur and now has a prescription for medication (enalapril two times a day). When we went to the vet last week, we did two chest xrays, and found that her heart is enlarged, and her liver is enlarged. Well, I paid big bucks last week out of my checking account for the exam and diagnostics. Her liver function is elevated also.
I took two hundred dollars out of my emergency fund last night to get her to the Boyce Animal Hospital this morning for her liver ultrasound. The vet told me that it would cost anywhere from 50 dollars to 150. They could not give me an exact cost.
This brings my total in my emergency fund to 3600 as of this morning. I put gas in the car to get us to the hospital (it's in another town). If the test doesn't cost a total of 150 dollars, I'm going to put the remainder back into my account.
We are hoping it's a back up of blood in her vascular system related to her murmur, and not cancer. If it's cancer, then we are not going to treat it. We are going to keep her quality of life intact, promote pain relief, and comfort.
If it's the congestion, we will give medications to relieve it.
Have you gotten any results back yet? How is she doing on the meds so far?
ReplyDeleteShe was given enalarpril. It's a drug that reduces the work load on the heart. Basically, her heart won't have to work so hard when beating. The liver ultrasound was 150 dollars and that's what I had left after putting gas in the car, so nothing was returned to my savings account. She does not have cancer. Her liver is engorged with blood and fluid. She will be put in a "water pill" to make her pee to get rid of the extra fluid.
DeleteMany folks I am sure would have a problem with the medical expenses that can be brought on with having pets, but she's part of the family too. She has needs that should be considered in the budget.
She's doing ok. She takes her meds with a piece of sliced cheese.
I am glad to hear the results showed no cancer. We have a dog too so I understand about pet needs. Glad to hear she is doing ok. :)
ReplyDeletethanks. me too.
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