Heart Disease In Dogs

Heart disease in dogs, can be present at birth, however, most often it is acquired in older dogs. Cardiomyopathy is the term for heart disease and the two most common types of heart disease in dogs are:

The dog's heart mitral valves lose their ability to close properly, causing abnormal blood flow. This is a valve on the left side of the heart and prevents blood from backing up when the heart contracts. An aging dog's valve thickens, preventing it from closing. This then leads to an enlarged heart.

Or the muscular walls of a dog's heart become thinned and weakened. This will lead to an enlarged heart as well.

Both types get worse over time and result in heart failure.

In dogs, this condition is also the most common form of the condition and usually starts at between 4-10 years of age, occurring most frequently in larger breeds

There are signs of heart disease in dogs.
In the early stages there are not visible signs, but when the disease starts getting serious is when you notice your dog has difficulty breathing, is lethargic, and sometimes starts coughing. Once heart disease has progressed the heart becomes enlarged. The dog then can go into heart failure and you will notice they have trouble even standing and profoundly difficult time breathing. In addition, the dog will have a loss of appetite as well.

Here are the symptoms for heart disease in dogs

Tiring more easily than normal
Low pitched deep cough
Labored breathing
Coughing during the night or after exercise
Fluid retention in the legs and abdomen
Bluish look to the tongue and gums
Excessive weight loss

Be sure and check with the right vet to detect heart disease early.
An x-ray, blood test, and EKG are important for testing regularly for early detection of heart disease.

Many times dog owners do not take their dog to the vet for these tests until the severe signs of heart failure are displayed. By this time it may be too late.

How can heart disease be treated?
There is no cure for most heart disease. Typically the vet will give heart medication. However, these meds only help regulate the heart and do not cure the heart disease. When a dog is in severe heart failure, these meds may only give the dog from a few months up to a year to live.

The conventional heart meds includes diuretics which are used to control the sodium and water retention that accompanies heart failure; vasodilators which are used to lower blood pressure and digoxin and related drugs which help the heart beat more efficiently.

Here is a list of the heart drugs commonly prescribed by veterinarians:

1. Enalapril - belongs to a general class of drugs known as angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors. (ACE-inhibitors). These are classified as vasodilators because of their relaxing effect on blood vessels. Enalapril also reduces the concentrations of harmful chemicals and hormones that injure heart muscle.\

Enalapril can cause side effects in some animals.
1. Should not be used in animals with known hypersensitivity or allergy to the drug.
2. Enalapril may interact with other medications. Consult with your veterinarian to determine if other drugs your pet is receiving could interact with enalapril. Such drugs include furosemide, spironolactone and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories.
3. Enalapril may relax blood vessels to such a degree that some animals become weak due to low blood pressure.
4. Less commonly, enalapril may affect the blood supply to the kidneys leading to kidney failure. This is most common in dogs and cats treated with higher doses of the drug. It is also more common in animals with kidney disease and when diuretic drugs (such as furosemide) are administered.
Also, side effects include changes in urination, decreased appetite, vomiting, sudden lethargy or weakness. These symptoms should be reported to your veterinarian.

2. Digoxin - This drug has direct effects on cardiac muscle and affect the electrical conduction in the heart. Digoxin increases cardiac output by increasing myocardial contractility.

Side effects of digoxin such as vomiting, not eating, or lethargy, are not uncommon and may require a dosage reduction.

3. Disal (lasix) - This is a diuretic that removes excessive fluids from the lungs and heart region.

4. Spironolactone - is a diuretic drug and also inhibits the activity of the hormone aldosterone. This hormone is released in great quantity in heart failure and acts upon the kidneys to encourage the retention of sodium in the blood. Here is a resource for more info. Medicinenet

Will these heart meds cure the heart disease?

Although these meds will usually help your dog (especially in heart failure), the prognosis is short term. I have seen some dogs become better for a few months and maybe up to a year or so. However, the long term is that your dog will eventually go into heart failure.

Another big problem is that the heart drugs are very harsh on the kidneys and can cause kidney problems. Thus, you need to check your dog's kidneys regularly.

Plus, if your dog is on other medications such as phenobarbital, then you need to check the dog's liver as well. As the heart meds combined with phenobarbital may be very harsh on the liver.

Resources On Dog Heart Disease

Facts on Drugs

Small Animal Veterinary Association

health heart

Vet Info

Novartis Animal Health

Are there other alternatives to helping with heart disease?

I always believe that nearly all drugs for dogs can help a short term problem, however, it seems they all can have side effects in the long term.

I prefer to find natural ways to help attain good health in dogs. I have found some natural herbs and remedies that have shown to be very beneficial in dog's with heart disease and prevention of heart disease.

In addition, make sure your dog eats healthy foods, especially foods that are low in sodium and do not contain any artificial ingredients or preservatives.

One of the first things you need to do is get sodium out of the dogs diet, as sodium is a factor in heart disease. You need to feed your dog low sodium diet that will help decrease fluid retention.

Also, some dogs also are lacking Taurine and L-Carnatine, which are amino acids essential for heart function. Many dogs who have heart disease are lacking in both Taurine and L-Carnatine.

Fish oil, and coenzyme q10, may have some beneficial effects in some dogs with heart failure, although scientific studies in dogs are limited.

Here are a few sites that offers natural herbs and tonics for dogs with heart disease, kidney disease, and liver disease.

Caninehearthealth

Petsage

Animalherbs