Bella has to be carried down the stairs now, too. She has an inflammed spinal disc and isn't supposed to exert herself at all. Guess she'll be using MY wagon now, too.

Guess I forgot to tell you that I'm now also taking digoxin. Dr. Barrett wanted to slow my heartrate just a little bit so I take 1/2 of a 0.125mg pill once a day. So here's my updated med schedule:
6:30 AM enalapril, furosemide, hydralazine, aspirin, spironalactone, pimobendan
2:30 PM furosemide
6:30 PM enalapril, hydralazine, aspirin, spironalactone, pimobendan, digoxyn
10:30 PM furosemide

Mom used a new photo of me in her monthly MSNBC column, Creature Comforts. She mentioned my ER visits to illustrate how to know to go to the ER. Dad took the photo last Saturday. I don't usually pose well; I look very serious and always try to approach the camera while the picture's being taken.

My pimobendan arrived on Saturday from Globaldrug.tv. It only took 11 days to arrive and it came in the original package. Dad says we can highly recommend this online pharmacy.

Saw our neighbor Bud yesterday. He was working in his garage. I like him cause he always asks how I'm doing, and he commiserates with me about how many meds we both have to take.

I just really love Indian Hawthorne berries. They grow all over SoCal and the berries ripen in late fall. Both Bella and Twyla likes the berries, also. Dad has hard time keeping me from eating too many, although we haven't found out just how many that would be. We've never seen any bad effects and we've eaten lots.

We had a time getting several of my prescriptions refilled. CalMed Pharmacy in Mission Viejo called in the refills almost four days before the Doctors at Advanced Critical Care in Tustin returned their calls. Dad had to call ACC and read them the Riot Act. No way were Mom or Dad going to let me run out of any med! ACC is great and they saved my life when I first got really sick, but they seem to be a little disorganized away from the ER.

Guess I was lazy for a few days and didn't post anything. Oh well.

I had my lungs xrayed Saturday and they're borderline for fluid. Dr. Barrett took me off the electrolyte solution. She said I can't have any sodium, it's fighting the furosemide which wants to remove fluid. The sodium wants me to retain it. We'll see how I react.

Dad found a very good page from Balgownie Vet Hospital that explains how pimobendan (vetmedin®) works.

My cough came back a little today after having tapered off the last two. Dr. Barrett wants to take some more xrays Saturday to see if there's any fluid left in my lungs. If so, I may have to take more furosemide or spironolactone. At least the furosemide will be in pill form; Dad got a new prescription for it today. The liquid has alcohol in it and I don't like the taste. Dad says people should buy it from drugstore.com or some other online pharmacy. Local ones charge way too much.

Mom and Dad took me for a ride in my wagon today, but my ancient older sister Bella decided she wanted to ride in it, too! She convinced Mom and Dad it was too hot to walk any further. She is such a manipulator! So then we meet Max and his dad when we're walking back. I can't believe he saw me riding with my sister! It's ok...I humped her this evening so we're even.

Somebody told Dad about a place to order pimobendan online, called Globaldrug.tv. They were about half price of the first place, so Dad ordered some. I think they're in Australia, but someone on this Yahoo! group! called! MVDincavaliers! told! us! about! it!

I've been rather lax about posting the last two days, but that's because everything is pretty much status quo, and Dad says that's very, very good. I still have to cough every so often, but I feel so much more active and alert.

I had my electrolytes and kidney values checked yesterday and everything was right in the middle of normal, except for my chloride, which was 100 (rather than 102). My triglycerides were 24 (Dad says that's the least of his worries about me!) and my magnesium which was 1.4 rather than 1.5. The vet said it really couldn't get any better for a dog that's peeing so much!

Mom and Dad say I'll probably be on electrolyte solution for the rest of my life. If my numbers stay this good, they say it's well worth it.

I tried to run down the stairs again today but Dad stopped me before I could get very far. I just wanted to see what Bella and Twyla were doing outside with Mom. I made Dad take me out at 3AM this morning cause I really had to pee. I also made him take me back out around 6AM. Mom slept all night and woke late. I guess she doesn't have to pee so much.

My good friends Mike and Tamela come over for dinner and Tamela brought me a toy, but Twyla stole it and has been dragging it around ever since. It's OK, even if the toy was intended for me. I guess she needs it being the baby of the family and all.

It will be good to have the cardiologist back this coming week; Mom and Dad want to ask about my coughing. It's more frequent than it was last week, but I seem to be much better so they're confused about how much they should worry about the cough.

This morning I did yoga with mom. Mainly I stayed in what she calls child's pose. I like to think of it as puppy pose. Twyla's favorite is downward-facing dog (also known as a play bow), and Bella prefers shivasana, as it's best suited for getting tummy rubs.

I must really be feeling better! Yesterday Mom brought me back in from peeing and I trotted up the stairs before she could stop me. Of course, both Mom and Dad watched me like a hawk the rest of the night to see if I was going to collapse. Dad checked my respiration rate every 10 minutes (it seemed like it anyway). My breathing did feel a little labored but I was fine (told them so). I'm still going through that electrolyte solution like crazy, but at least I held everything through the night. I hope that lasts; Dad is so sleepy when he takes me out, I'm afraid he'll fall down the stairs.

We walked (I rode in the wagon) around our condo complex last night. It was good to get out of the house. I even got to pee in a different spot than usual. It's pretty cool just riding around while everyone else has to actually exert themselves. Twyla likes to walk right next to the wagon and she gets so close it looks like she's going to get run over. I think she wants to ride, too. She wants to do whatever it is I do. Little sisters can be such pests!

My enalapril dose gets changed today from 5mg QD to 3.75mg BID per Dr. Barrett. QD is once a day and BID is twice a day for the latin-challenged among us (Twyla!)