Bud came to CockerPals from a Troy shelter. It was obvious that he was not well although there were no outward signs. He was taken to the vet that same day. The vet started his checkup and listened to his heart, stopped and listened again. He called me over to listen. Bud's heart was beating a mile a minute. We immediately did an EKG and heart x-ray. The x-ray was normal but the EKG showed that Bud's heart was beating at 282( normal is 100 give or take depending on the size of the dog) beats a minute. Poor Bud was a heart attack or stroke waiting to happen. After trying various dosages we have been able to get his heart beat back to normal. Bud needs three pills a day for the rest of his life to control his heart beat.

UPDATE 11/8/08

Bud has done great on his heart meds. He is a happy active senior, probably 12 or 13. However, he was recently diagnosed with glaucoma. His vision is diminished and he has a severe hearing loss due to bad ears. We put him on Cosopt which brought the pressures in his eyes down to almost normal. While he did suffer some vision loss we are hoping to maintain some limited vision for him. So far so good. He will remain on his heart meds twice a day and the Cosopt drops for his glaucoma three times a day

UPDATE 07/30/2011

Bud is now at least 15. He had chemical ablation done on both eyes when the drops could no longer control his glaucoma. He is totally blind and profoundly deaf. It does not slow him down too much, he knows when we are fixing food, and even if he is asleep he knows when I come home.