To all who responded-
 
First off, I must apologize for not posting sooner, but the last two weeks
have been more fun than even normal mortals should be allowed to have.  :*||
Started out, I was out of the office all last week, and was trying to access
my mail service via dial-in server(s).  Let's just say that the technology
is less than stellar and leave it at that.  <sigh>
 
Then when I did get back, my "new" system developed a hard drive problem,
and I've been trying to get back to where I was before I started.  At any
road...I finally got my PC back in shape, and now have a few minutes to try
and update everyone as to what's going on with Whirlin' Merlynn (as my Dad
calls him). <grin>   And please remember that my memory stack is getting
faulty as it gets older...
 
We had Merlynn looked at about 5(?) weeks ago while he was being vaccinated.
The vet recommended that we get his teeth cleaned.  And while she was at it,
she would check his blood sugar for us.  OK.  Got the teeth cleaned the next
week...no problem so far.  The blood sugar came back low, so we decided to
have him operated on for a possible tumor.
 
Merlynn had his teeth cleaned on Friday and the following Monday he went
under again for the second surgery.  The vet that performed _this_ surgery
found one fairly large tumor on Merlynn's pancreas and removed it.  In the
meantime, he found a strange fluid in the body cavity and sent a sample off
to Dr. Williams for analysis.  Now the plot thickens...
 
Merlynn comes home and we believe that he's acting a little strange.
Barring any previous symptoms and being unaware of the fluid that Dr.
Edwards had found, we thought he had a cold and bought some Triaminic (which
we have always used with great success in the past) and fed it to Merlynn.
No improvement and some worsening of condition.  At this point (3 days after
the second surgery...and still unaware of anything else), we think it's
possibly a reaction to the Triaminic and I post.
 
Amy calls Dr. Edwards back, and we bring him back to the office for some
X-rays and other diagnostics.  While Merlynn is in the vet's, Dr. Williams
calls back and says that the fluid found in Merlynn's body is indicative of
a heart problem and the cardiomyopathy is discovered.  Please understand
that prior to this time, Merlynn showed no other symptoms of a heart
problem.  Dr.  Edwards has postulated that the two bouts of anasthesia
coming so close together are probably what pushed Merlynn's heart condition
into the open.  It's also on this visit that 90cc's of fluid are removed
from Merlynn's chest cavity.  (Yes Virginia...that's a lot!)
 
Anyway...Dr. Edwards now has Merlynn on Lasix and Anagard(?) with some
improvement.  However, over the past weekend (Easter), we noticed that
Merlynn's breathing is again getting labored, so on Monday it's back to the
vet's for more X-rays and a couple days under observation.  And to have some
more fluid sucked out of his body.
 
I picked him up last night and he's currently home getting more attention,
TLC, and good stuff.  Dr. Edwards has doubled his Lasix (basically, from
once/day to twice/day) and kept the heart medication at the same level.  And
that's where we stand today.
 
It was NOT a reaction to the Children's Triaminic.  It WAS a latent heart
problem that was aggravated by two anasthesia sessions so close together.
And it HAS been properly diagnosed and is currently being treated, with a
good prognosis.
 
   WHEW!!!  And with that I will attempt to uncramp my fingers...
 
Pete Ladd
 
"Ferrets are God's apology for cats."
[Posted in FML issue 1536]