Yesterday the vet pulled an entire pound of fluid from Ziggaro's abdomen (that's a full pint glass), which again brought much relief. We're doubling down on the diuretic Furosemide (generic for Lasix) and going to 40mg, 3x/daily with high hopes of slowing the fluid return.

I've also doubled down on my pilling skills. Over the last couple weeks he's been refusing any food with medicine in it, which threw a wrench into my whole system. Thinking maybe I wasn't crushing the meds fine enough, I ordered a mortar & pestle. Annoyed with carrying the old glass vials around, I ordered tiny baggies. This whole new set up now looks officially disturbing & would probably be a real hassle to explain to law enforcement. Hence came about the joke of tiny sandwiches for the tiny bags, which clearly seems legit. Am I right? And clearly way too funny not to attempt.

Since you've read this far, I'm going to share a secret with you. I want you to store it away because it is potentially invaluable. Thank me later... Strawberry Jam. It just changed our life. The sweetness masks the taste of everything. EVERYTHING, including bitter meds pulverized to a fine powder. Supposedly Hospice Nurses have been using it forever. Months ago I stumbled across this most precious of info, but dismissed it as total crap. This week I became desperate enough to try it and what a life saver (pun not intended but quite appropriate). Extra bonus is that even when Zig doesn't willingly lick it off my finger, a few simple swipes into his mouth gets it done.

Fighting the Fluid & Forcing the Meds