Well this Friday 28th August 2009, Leo is due back for a check up at the vets. This means that it is a month since his last visit and that he has been taking his medication for a little longer.

It has been a difficult few weeks in many ways but at least Leo is looking perky. Here is the current state of play.

Leo takes two to three Furosemide tablets each day. The vet said that I should use my common sense, as to whether to give Leo two or three tablets daily. It is very difficult. This is because these tablets help Leo's body get rid of any unnecessary fluid. They do seem to make him very thirsty and constantly it is a cycle of drink and pee.

We are still trying to get ther right balance. If he has water or a pill too late in the day it can add to the problem. However the weather has been particularly hot lately. This means that Leo is panting a lot and drinking heavily.

There have been a few accidents around the home as Leo needs to desperately pee. However being the good little dog that he is he will run up stairs in the middle of the night and thrust his face in first mine or hubby's until one of us gets uo and lets him outside. Dilly dally too long though and the flood cometh.

However as he cannot help it and he does ry to let us know we are trying to be patient. At the present we are taking it in turns. Today however I was tired and needed to be up for work at 6am so hubby did the honours and got up at 4 and then 5am to let Leo onto our garden.

Obviously the Furosemide along with the ACE inhibitor is doing the trick as Leo looks better than he has for a long time. His tummy is no longer swollen, he is coughing less and plays with our other dog Jessie and his toys quite a lot, again.

The ACE inhibitor is to lower Leo's blood pressure and id palatable. This means that it has been flavoured in such a way that Leo nearly chomps my hand off to get it. The Furosemide is given in a small amount of cheese spread or cheese slice. This is not good for Leo really but makes giving his pills easy.

However we know it is a matter of time. I do hope that he peacefully passes away in his sleep but not doubt this will not happen and we will have to do the deed. Hard as it will be we will not see him suffer unnecessarily.

For now we have decided that we will limit the rooms Leo accesses when we are asleep and in time renew the carpets. For now my carpet shampooer is busy.

I will ask the vet for advice when we visit on Friday and if anyone reading this hub has any constructive advice to offer it will be most welcome.

Much as Leo is trotting about looking happy again the vet has said that his enlarged heart will not shrink back. However it could enlarge further. With his windpipe shrinking because of this it will not be easy. I do wonder if he is receives poor amounts of oxygen which are causing some confusion. Of course it could be the medication.

For now we are all enjoying what could be Leo's last summer, despite the waterworks problem.