When I rescued Bear-Bear from the local pound he was in sad shape; he had a bad mouth infection that had
spread to his paws, his hair was all matted (he had to be shaved), he had a bad left eye (that he alter lost),
and he kept falling over because of weak back legs. When they brought him out to me, he stumbled over,
looked up at me and placed his tiny paw on my leg- I had to take him home.  
With a lot of love, good veterinary care, and a proper diet, Bear recovered and lived a good life until he
passed away in November of 2007. He was active and playful with CHF for the last two years of his life.

Most information available on the internet about CHF is very grim. I am keeping this update for anyone else
with a dog with CHF to show that they can live longer than just a month or two after the condition is diagnosed.

Diagnosed with CHF: Summer, 2005
Status- December 2005: Still alive and well, 4 pounds lighter (which was water retained from bad kidneys).

Status- January 2006: Still going strong, but coughing a bit more. Appetite is back.
Status- February 2006: Thyroid is a little out of whack and now on a third medication.
Status- March 2006: A bad case of coughing turned out to be pneumonia this time. On antibiotics. Check-up
in April.
Status- April 2006: Is over the pneumonia, but has some blood in his good eye and also had three
seizure-like convulsions in the past few weeks. Bloodwork, x-rays and tests show everything normal- vet isn't
sure of the cause. Does not seem to be related to heart problems, past pneumonia, or old age. He's perked up
in the last few days.
Status- October 2006: Had a difficult summer with bear including a skin problem. Still running me around like
I'm his personal server.
Status- January 2007: Recovered from problems over summer and is still going strong. Continues to have his
"seizures" every so often. I've gotten used to seeing them happen.

Status- March 2007: no problems. Suffers from skin infections from time to time but otherwise okay.
Status- Late October 2007: During the fire evacuation, Bear started showing signs of slowing down.

End of the Story- November 2007: The last month with Bear was very difficult. He developed liver problems
and lost his appetite. Sometimes, he didn't seem to know where he was and stopped sleeping through the
night. I knew he was winding down, but it is hard to let go. For the last week and a half I force-fed him to see if
he could regain enough strength to get him over the liver problems, but the day after Thanksgiving he
completely refused to open his mouth for his medicine and a little food. I guess he decided it was time to say
goodbye. I wrapped him in a blanket and sat with him for hours that evening. The next morning (November
24th) he was pretty bad and couldn't stand up. His body was shutting down. My family came with me to take
him to the vet and I got to hold him one last time before we placed him on the table. The vet gave the shot and
in a few seconds he was gone. I sat alone with him for a while and arranged his blanket so he looked like he
was sleeping. I really miss him, but I know he is free from all his health problems now.

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