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Heart of crystal
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| Ziggy pauses during a busy day to clean his teeth and just ponder. |
ZIGGY was always an active little boy - a shih tzu X Jack Russell - and it always seemed to me that he had received the best genes from both breeds. He had large, alert, stand-up ears and a curl-over spitz-type tail. His colouring was fawn with white around his mouth and chest, white tip on his tail and white sox. Down his back was a panel of fur that revealed his parentage - a thicker, courser type of fur with no undercoat - but it did not grow long like his shih tzu mother. Although he was overactive and nervous of disposition he also had an amazing sense of humour and when I went away for a few days and left him at the kennel, the owners asked if he was always such a clown. I had to admit he was.
Then one day when he was almost eight he came to me and leaned on my legs, then walked around and seemed not to know whether to sit or stand or where he was going. This lasted only a minute or two and he seemed okay after that. We had just been for a day at the beach, and he had taken a liking to a stone that was slightly soft in texture, so after taking it away from him we decided that it must have been a very dried jellyfish of some type that had made him a little sick and dizzy. We threw the stone away and thought nothing more of the episode.
Then a few weeks later he had a return of the seeming dizziness and again only for a minute or two. This time he had been to the vet only a couple of days before to check out an itch or hot spot he had developed. The vet in his wisdom had decided that although he found no evidence of a flea there must be one there somewhere and put some tube liquid on his back (I never use chemicals, just brush and comb a lot). So this time I blamed the chemicals and rushed him into a warm bath and plenty of suds to get rid of what I could.
Shortly after that we shifted, and then Ziggy had to get a tooth out because of an abscess. It was not until he had another little episode a few weeks after that, that the new vet said: "Of course you know he has a heart murmer?"
No, I hadn't known and had never been told before. So we decided on an x-ray. Ziggy was amazing. This little fellow who could not sit still for a minute was laid on the table under the x-ray machine and told stay there ... and he did! Then he repeated the stay when he was turned over and the other side x-rayed. It was as if he knew this was a necessary discomfort and anaesthetic was not a good option for him.
But the x-ray revealed an enlarged heart. Only a few days later on his walk he seemed to tire suddenly and began to walk slowly. This was so out of character I picked him up and carried him home, then made an appointment for the next day.
The vet decided that it was time Ziggy went on to medication - Fortekor was prescribed at the rate of half a Fortekor 5 tablet daily. He picked up and all went well for another month or so. Then he ripped his claw and I took him to the vet to get his claws clipped and a dressing on the one that had been torn. He was perfectly okay at the vet, but later that night after an hour or so in bed he began to cough and bring up froth and liquid. The only way he got through the night was when I surrounded him with pillows and kept his head up all night.
Next morning he was quickly in to the vet and he stayed there until he was stabilised - two days later he came home but he was now on a whole Fortekor daily, a diuretic night and morning, and a new drug for heart problems - Vetmedin - also twice daily.
The Vetmedin is given to him on an empty stomach - at least an hour before or after food - so his medication requires good timing - no more can I get up and dress in 10 minutes and rush off to work, I now get up at least an hour before I have to leave, and give him his pill before doing anything else. Then I can dress and have breakfast at leisure, and just before leaving for work I first give him his Fortekor and diuretic, then follow it with the rest of his breakfast (his favourite breakfast is possum roll). The same when I get home from work - pill first, then at least an hour before he has his evening meal.
He has been on this regimen for some months now and seems to be doing well. He has had one or two little episodes lasting a few minutes, but otherwise seems stable. I have also been giving him hawthorn tablets to help with heart health for some months now.
I hope he will be with me for some time yet. He personally does not acknowledge his heart problems, and chases cats, competes with the Pekingese next door in running races up and down the fenceline, and when I mention time for a walk he jumps in the air with joy. He still manages anything up to a metre high!
And he is still a clown. I decided one day that it is probably best that I lift him down from my bed rather than let him stress his heart with his over-energetic jumping down. He decided right then that he enjoys being lifted down, and when he feels like a cuddle he will bark from the bedroom even if I am out in the kitchen to let me know that he wants attention. But this is only when he remembers - other times he will jump down as usual!
His medication alone costs me about $4.80 day, so he is not cheap to maintain. But to me he is worth every cent. I am so grateful that I am so far able to pay for what he needs and feel so sorry for those who can not afford to maintain their own little companions. One thing is for certain - all the terrier breeds do have a genetic tendency towards heart disease, so what we must do is to breed from only those dogs with clear parentage and try to eliminate this genetic fault. It would not be hard if all breeders helped each other and cared mainly for the health and welfare of their breed rather than their own bank balances and their status in their breed club.
For myself, I intend to make sure that Ziggy enjoys every minute of quality time that he has left, whether it is measured in months or years. - EP
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