Bao has developed another new symptom, so the hernia surgery has been put on hold until we can figure out what's causing this latest complicaton -- fluid in his pleural cavity. Not in his lungs, but in the pleural cavity.

Just to make things interesting, he hasn't got any of the other symptoms one would associate with this condition -- he's not short of breath, his appetite is normal, he's alert and energetic (well, as energetic as a Shih Tzu gets) and his heart rate is also normal. In fact, without the help of an echo-scan, you wouldn't know anything was wrong with him.

Our regular veterinarian (Dr Mike) got married and has been away on honeymoon for two weeks. Meanwhile, Dr Chris (the cardiologist) prescribed Lasix on Thursday. So now the poor little guy (Bao, not Dr Chris) is constipated. On his advice, I stopped the Lasix today, because it dehydrates him. Sometimes I think the medications are worse than the illnesses.

A friend of mine pointed out that because Bao has me (rather than an insurance company) he probably has access to a higher standard of medical care than most of us two-legged Americans. That is a sobering thought.

On a brighter note, Bao jumped up on the medium-high couch today -- first time he's been able to do that since February!