Leo was due to have his check-up on Friday 31st July 2009. Hubby and I have had stinking colds this week and so, as Leo has been doing OK, his appointment was changed to Saturday 1st August.

This check up was to enable the vet to:-

• See how Leo has been getting on with his new medication.
• See if he has improved at all since last week.
• Discuss his prognosis and possible future treatments.
• Show me his old X Ray and current one. This is so that I can see just what has changed regarding Leo's heart and trachea in the last year.

Leo is one of those dogs that as soon as he is outdoors on his lead he feels a need to pee and pooh. Unfortunately he needs to pooh and pooh and pooh again.

I had decided to take him on the bus as I was not sure how well he would cope with the walk. We were late as we missed the bus due to the half a dozen poohs Leo had managed during the short walk to the bus stop. This meant that when we got on the bus a slight smell accompanied us. I already had a bag full of pooh and no matter how tight you tie such a bag the smell escapes. One of the downsides with dogs is pooh.

Leo knows that this bus journey means the vets is imminent and so he was a little shaky. However he loves a bus journey and all the strokes and oos and ahs he receives from fellow passengers.

As we booked in at the vets even the receptionists all leaned over the counter to say hello. More to Leo than to me. I guess they were all so surprised at how well he looks compared to last week.

The vet rushed past and paused to take a second look. She too looked pleasantly surprised at Leo's appearance.

At last she was ready and we were called in for our consultation

LEO'S X RAYS

As Leo had travelled to and from the vets on their transport I had only spoken to the vet on the phone, the week before.We went into another room so that she could show me Leo's X Rays on the light box.

His first from last year was similar to the first X Ray shown here. However his heart was a little enlarged. His recent X Ray was not as worrying as the second one shown here but it was not good. Leo's heart was massively enlarged. His trachea has been pushed upwards with the pressure and is now very narrow. No wonder he had been coughing so badly and found it difficult to breathe.

One thing though is Leo's hugely swollen tummy has shrunk. This is thanks to the diuretic tablets, Frusemide.

THE VERDICT

Despite the shocking X Ray evidence the vet was really pleased with Leo's upturn in health. The medication seems to be doing the trick, at least for now. It was decided to monitor the Frusemide and reduce to two tablets a day if it was more manageable. He will be on both tablets now for the rest of his life.

He could have an Ultra Sound examination which may show in more detail of what is happening with his heart. This would then determine if he would benefit fron further tablets which would in turn help his blood flow. If his condition deteriorates they will prescribe these anyway. I opted for the conservative approach. Only time will tell. All medication has side effects and as he is well just now, why upset the balance. Leo these days is terrified of the vets and it is traumatic visiting. However he was perkier today and even impressed the vet by jumping up at me to tell me he wanted to go home.

The bad news. His heart will never reduce in size but could enlarge further. There was still talk of "when its time to decide" and so we know what the future holds but hopefully its a long way off.

NEXT APPOINTMENT

We left the surgery with a months supply of Leo's medication and another appointment for one months time. If Leo becomes unwell of course he will go back sooner. God willing we will see the vet in a month and then it may be just three monthly check ups.

One thing though is Leo is a fighter. As a much maltreated dog, who was rescued just in time, he has had many battles in his life.

Remember this little chap in your prayers.