Google It (With A Grain of Salt)
I can't even begin to count the number of times I've gone to the internet for answers. It can be amazingly invaluable or incite inner havoc. Among the endless Google results I found plenty about how to prevent dog CHF (too late), list after list of symptoms all saying the same thing (already living them), technical articles full of confusing mumbo jumbo (simply don't care), heartbreaking youtube videos (for the love of humanity I implore you to not watch anything with "last breath" in the title) and forum threads packed with horror stories (genuinely sorry for their heartbreak). But, finding positive articles & stories by people who have lived with and managed a pet in congestive heart failure is tricky. Like, really tricky. So in a nutshell, here is the info I've spent the last year looking for...
A pet in congestive heart failure, even during end stage, does not always equate to a miserable existence. It's not always full of endless pain & suffering and is not always an immediate death sentence. The final earthly moments are not always full of drawn out writhing pain and in fact more often are the opposite. Your pet isn't frightened of death or the process of it. And choosing not to intervene doesn't make you irresponsible, mean, or a bad pet parent.
I've read post after post of people putting down their beloved best friend to avoid *potential* suffering. Different things are right for different people and pets. I get that & stand in judgment of no one. I have simply chosen the opposite route and there seems to be a lack of resources for people like me. That was the initial motivating factor for this blog. It's also for Ziggaro. He has always been a good steward of others emotions. Matters not who or what the circumstance, if there is comforting to be done, he's on it. Even now he continues licking my tears and snot (real talk here people). He is an innate helper & always doing so with a happy heart. It's only fitting for him to continue spreading love infinitely.