Hi everyone!
Yes, it has been a while for me...
In any case, a little back story...I had two brothers, Maddie and Riley. Maddie was diagnosed with HCM in the fall of 2006. We had him on treatment (Atenolol) and ultrasounds every 3-4 months. Sadly, he passed away almost one year (Nov 2007) later after going into respiratory failure late one night.
Now we still have his brother Riley, who we have had getting annual ultrasounds since the death of his brother, with no problems. However, after witnessing him suffering from a fit (the same his brother experienced) I took him to the cardiologist on Dec 2 where a ultrasound was done and he was diagnosed with HCM. The Vet decided on a 1/4 aspirin every 3rd day and 1/4 of a 90mg Dilzem every day. Ever since starting the medication, Riley has been listless, losing weight and has had no appetite. We are simply watching him waste away. To make things worse, pilling him every night has become so stressful on him (the opposite of what we are going for). He is NOT food motivated...I have tried it all...pill pockets, food doh, tuna, regular treats, homemade goodies...he will not take a pill hidden in food so we must pill him. The meds are also making him vomit.
To make a long story short, the vet has given him about a year to live. I want to make the last little bit I have with him have quality, rather than a stressful situation where we are simply prolonging the inevitable. We have not been able to pill him for two days, and in those two days he is so much more brighter eyed, almost playful, eating, no vomiting...so I am beginning to think that maybe we should just take him off the meds and allow him to enjoy his little bit of time left? I have ordered his Dilzem in a liquid form from a compound pharmacy in the states, so I am waiting to get that...I am hoping he has a better reaction to taking that rather than pilling him... He has a follow up scan at the end of next month to see if the treatment has been working...and I am thinking that if there has been no progress (or a slowdown of the growth of his heart) that I might just take him off the meds and allow him to enjoy the last bit of quality of life he has. It is not a money issue or a time issue...it is simply my heart breaking as I watch him lose his zest for life and just fade away on me, and I know what is coming because his brother went through the same thing.
Has anyone else made the choice not to medicate? I want to make the right decision here, but feel guilty both ways. I am really praying that the new meds do not give him such bad side effects and are easier to give to him (less stressful)...but if not I am trying to decide on what is best for him, and if it is wrong of me not to medicate when we have such little time left...
Anybody else have any experience either way?
Thanks
Sarah
Yes, it has been a while for me...
In any case, a little back story...I had two brothers, Maddie and Riley. Maddie was diagnosed with HCM in the fall of 2006. We had him on treatment (Atenolol) and ultrasounds every 3-4 months. Sadly, he passed away almost one year (Nov 2007) later after going into respiratory failure late one night.
Now we still have his brother Riley, who we have had getting annual ultrasounds since the death of his brother, with no problems. However, after witnessing him suffering from a fit (the same his brother experienced) I took him to the cardiologist on Dec 2 where a ultrasound was done and he was diagnosed with HCM. The Vet decided on a 1/4 aspirin every 3rd day and 1/4 of a 90mg Dilzem every day. Ever since starting the medication, Riley has been listless, losing weight and has had no appetite. We are simply watching him waste away. To make things worse, pilling him every night has become so stressful on him (the opposite of what we are going for). He is NOT food motivated...I have tried it all...pill pockets, food doh, tuna, regular treats, homemade goodies...he will not take a pill hidden in food so we must pill him. The meds are also making him vomit.
To make a long story short, the vet has given him about a year to live. I want to make the last little bit I have with him have quality, rather than a stressful situation where we are simply prolonging the inevitable. We have not been able to pill him for two days, and in those two days he is so much more brighter eyed, almost playful, eating, no vomiting...so I am beginning to think that maybe we should just take him off the meds and allow him to enjoy his little bit of time left? I have ordered his Dilzem in a liquid form from a compound pharmacy in the states, so I am waiting to get that...I am hoping he has a better reaction to taking that rather than pilling him... He has a follow up scan at the end of next month to see if the treatment has been working...and I am thinking that if there has been no progress (or a slowdown of the growth of his heart) that I might just take him off the meds and allow him to enjoy the last bit of quality of life he has. It is not a money issue or a time issue...it is simply my heart breaking as I watch him lose his zest for life and just fade away on me, and I know what is coming because his brother went through the same thing.
Has anyone else made the choice not to medicate? I want to make the right decision here, but feel guilty both ways. I am really praying that the new meds do not give him such bad side effects and are easier to give to him (less stressful)...but if not I am trying to decide on what is best for him, and if it is wrong of me not to medicate when we have such little time left...
Anybody else have any experience either way?
Thanks
Sarah
