Literally. It makes me feel sick to my soul to think about writing this. Max has an enlarged heart. He was diagnosed with a mid-grade heart murmur in April 2010 and he has done fairly well. Don't get me wrong, he is still doing well, he is active, plays, eats, gets annoyed, but we had his checkup yesterday. His appointment was delayed a few months due to finances/graduating. A heart murmur is when either the left or right valve of the heart pumps out irregularly. We caught the murmur by accident. In late February 2010 I took him to a new vet in Topeka because he wasn't feeling well. Everything was normal. In the middle , if April we were at petsmart looking for allergy medicine and the vet techs offered to look him over for free. The moment she listened to Max's heart she knew it didn't sound right. They tested him for heartworms to see if that was why his heartbeat was irregular. That test came back negative. I made an appointment with the first vet we had seen and two weeks later we were having xrays done to see what was wrong and what needed to be done. The vet determined Max had a grade 3/4 heart murmur out of grade 6. He has been on heart medicine since. He has taken it on/off for multiple reasons-the first being my negligance, unfortunatly. Each year since, Max has an xray done to measure his heart, check for any fluids in his lungs, etc. The amazing news is that there is no fluid. The sad news is that his heart has grown a little, and is now pushing on his trachea, not a lot but enoughe that his trachea isn't straight anymore. I pushed that information out of my mind for the first couple of hours after the appointment. Then it hit me, ONE DAY I WILL HAVE TO SAY GOODBYE TO HIM. It might be in one year, it could be in five. If we are lucky...only if we are very lucky. How do I handle that? I know everything dies, that's a part of life. And I trust that means u will be with my loved ones for eternity. Does that include Max? I pray it does. I know he is okay right now. His vet, who I trust, has not put a time on Max, but I know that day will come. Max will be 8 in December. God, how I wish we could get another 8 years.
I have had Max since I was 20. He was 5 weeks old. We are inseperable. I got him the day before I moved to Kansas. He was with me during my transition. He was with me when I decided to move back to Kansas after a breakup. He was my only friend in Lawrence for around 8 months. He was my shopping buddy. When I wanted to go eat somewhere we would sit on the patio together and eat. When I had nothing to do we would go on hour long walks. When I cried over heartache, Max was always there. He has been my constant road trip partner when I travel alone. My heart broke into a million pieces this past summer when he escaped from my patio and was gone for over an hour. The lady I spoke to at the humane society couldn't understand a word I said through my tears.
A lot of people say dogs are "just a dog", but Max is my best friend. He could be the only "child" I will ever have.
When Eric left for witchita last spring I was sooo sad. I grabbed Max to go get ice cream. I just don't go too many places without him. Work and the grocery store are the only places he doesn't go. And I would take him to work with me everyday if I could. Max is my family. I give him the best life he can have.
For now, Max gets no more scraps and as little sodium as possible. He eats Nutro Ultra small breed dog food, which is a great brand I think. But we have to change treats and canned food. I've also discovered that crushing his pills completely and sprinkling it on his canned food is the best way for him to take his meds.
div>
