Todd Dog

When Chris lost his German Shepard, Heidi, in college his twin gave him Todd Dog. He is now 10 and going through some tough times. He has a heart murmur and trachea issues (always had those), and over the past 2 weeks he has been getting progressively worse. We knew something was seriously wrong when in the middle of one of our evening walks he just stopped and wouldn't continue. He was waking us up at night with his coughing and wheezing. He fell over 3 times in one week (kind of like fainting, but he stayed awake).
The first time it happened we were on a walk, the 2nd time was when the babysitter was here, and then on the third time I took him to the vet. They did xrays and discovered that he had an enlarged heart and that he had fluid in his lungs. They sent us to a cardiologist an hour later.
The cardiologist had better news (he's probably used to seeing these type of issues more so then the vet). They did a few more tests on Todd and sent us home with 3 types of medication - one of them for blood pressure, one was a diuretic (to help get the fluid out of his lungs), and a third one to help with his heart. He will be on these 3 meds for the rest of his life. It will cost around $80 every month.
We went back to the cardiologist on Tuesday for a check-up. Todd has been doing remarkably well. He has lots of energy and is doing very well on his walks. He is still coughing, but not nearly as bad. They decided to give him one more medicine that will help prolong his life by 30%. So Todd is now on 4 meds forever (about $95...which is still less then what it cost to pay the vet to tell me Todd was doing remarkably well).
We are very happy that Todd is doing well and has found a new sense of youth! They are giving him anywhere from 3 to 5 more years, but could very easily live longer now. That is great news for this family!