The Follow Up Visit

After I posted yesterday, the vet came out to look at Parlay and see how things were going. She also came to give me new supplies for the injections which I find that I am quickly running through. Three needles a day at this point. I am going down to two this week.

Parlay had a heart rate of 54 and a respiratory rate of 28. "High," she commented.

She obviously didn't need to tell me. Historically, Parlay has always been on the upper end metabolically, even when quite fit, with a resting pulse of about 28-30 and a resting respiratory rate of about 12-14. I always just chalked it up to his *handicap* that both he and I decided long ago to basically ignore and to carry on doing what we did.

The vet bought out an assistant with her. She asked the assistant if she wanted to listen to the heart and lungs. Not surprisingly, after listening to Parlay's heart and lungs, the reaction followed suit with the many before. Not surprisingly, it didn't have the same effect of making me laugh out loud to observe that reaction like it had so many times before.

So, the vet was quiet and observant and noted that Par looked happy and bright (the handful of peppermints in my pocket probably had something to do with it). She listened to my thoughts about CoQ 10 and Hawthorn to be added to the diet (the diet of air, but more on that later) She agreed that we needed to figure out the lowest doseage of Lasix that he could exist comfortably on and reminded me of the electrolyte imbalance. She was gentle and kind to him AND to me. She is a great vet on many levels.

I asked her to go ahead and give him his next shot of Lasix since it was that time anyway. Parlay, of course, had just rolled in the nastiest, smelliest, soggiest part of the paddock--only on one side--so when he ambled up to me to be caught and I discovered this, I was appalled. However, I did get a chuckle about it because the vet is a total sanitary FREAK and was carefully scrounging around looking for a clean-ish spot to inject! Okay, I have a weird sense of humor, but it was nice to smile about soemthing. Parlay had a bit of a grin on too. I am sure of it.

As she was packing up to go, I talked to her quickly about the eating issue, or rather, the NON eating issue. Parlay has not completed a meal in a week. I think that he is living on treats with a few nutritious moments thrown in for good measure. She basically told me what I already know. He just doesn't feel good. I need to do what I can to encourage him to eat, so if it's treats he wants? Treats he gets! Carrots and Cones and Candy, OH MY! He is drinking okay and that is important, because dehydration on top of electrolyte imbalance would definitely be a wrench in the spokes.

The vet had one last comment before she drove away, "Why not feed him some Cheerios--they're Heart Healthy!"

Hmmm... not a bad thought.