matters of the heart.

we found out yesterday that our sweet beau boy is experiencing congestive heart failure.  

on monday he spit up a little blood twice so i called the vet and luckily trey was able to take him in so i wouldn't have to do it with both girls in tow.  

his usual coughing spells had gotten a little worse and his breathing was labored which we found out is due to fluid on his lungs.  his heart is enlarged.  they gave him a shot - powerful diuretics to get that fluid off his lungs which caused some issues last night with his bladder control (hence the towel) but he has been fine today.  in fact, i need someone to try to teach him how to be a sick patient!  he is supposed to be very calm and lazy but he wants to be outside by his special tree chasing the birds and digging his holes.  it's nice to see his tail wagging, but i need him to nap a little more.

heading to get sister from school

we aren't sure what this all means for beau.  he is on 2 pills at night - one for his lungs and one for his heart.  we will have him checked in a week to see how he responds to his treatment.  i think the way he is acting today is a good sign!  maybe he is already responding well and will live on for years to come.  i hope so!!!  we do know that this could be the beginning of the end for beau.  but we have hope!  the vet said we caught it really early.  he has had a heart murmur for some time so we have stayed on top of that and knew that his heart health may become an issue for him.  i can even tell a difference between last night and today - his breathing was so labored last night just from climbing up the stairs and this morning as well, but this afternoon he has handled any little activity just fine.  his breathing seems back to normal.  he is begging for food and just acting like beau.  maybe these new meds are just what he needs.

he is still eating like a pig and is drinking lots of water.  which is another problem in our house right now - we are concerned about his hydration so we have bowls of water everywhere which means i have already heard a big splash and found hayesie covered in water once today.  another problem is that usually when the girls and i go outside to swing we would never ever leave beau inside!  but he is supposed to be calm so i feel like i should.  i let him go out with us today and watched him carefully - made sure he just sat by his tree and didn't run around.  

we are just trying to give him lots of extra love.  he's our first born and we love him so much.  

we are thankful to anyone who will pray for beau - beau!  
just the sight of him makes his baby sister squeal with delight (the feeling is not mutual - beau prefers adults over kids & is not tolerant of the fur-pulling).  he is a big time mama's baby so i have been so sad, but like i said.....today i have some hope!