orichalcum

Well, the good news is that she's feeling distinctly better today, even chewing on her IV cord, and her pulse and oxygen levels are back to normal, and there's less fluid in her lungs. We hope that she'll be able to come home tonight and meet, very quietly and restfully, karakara98 tomorrow.

The bad news is that they're still not at all sure why this happened, but that the Sherlock Holmes answer (least improbable) is that it's congenital heart disease, striking bizarrely early and despite all of her pedigreed generations of good-heartedness. Our vet is sending us to a special veterinary cardiologist on Monday to get a heart ultrasound and figure out whether that's the issue.

If it is, then, well, Eowyn's likely never going to grow up to be a big dog. There's not much they can do for heart failure except have her live peacefully and happily while she can, and that's more likely measured in months rather than years.

Obviously, we're really upset, and hoping as much as possible that the cardiologist will say, "Her heart is wonderful and strong! This is obviously a rare case of 48-hour Dog Lung Disease!" And there's no actual sign of heart problems - nothing on the chest x-ray, and her EKGs were fine, and her heart murmur seems to be gone.

But it's just not normal for little puppies' lungs to suddenly fill up with liquid.

And hey, it's not like I don't have experience taking care of loved ones with terminal illnesses.