Jump to content
BC Boards

Experiences please?


traadilooar

Recommended Posts

Meet Kenzie, my little red devildog! I recently began noticing that Kenzie,while showing no signs of distress was never the less breathing very fast after hooning about but given how hot it was at the time combined with her little miss me first attitude I wasn`t overly worried.Until a friend commented as well which confirmed that I wasn`t being overly anxious.Cue trip to the vet.

 

DSC00184.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DSC00156.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Initial examination shows nothing wrong,no abnormal sounds on stethoscope and nothing wrong on bloods but 5 minutes with a ball and vet agrees that something is wrong so booked in for ECG.

 

ECG shows irregular heart beat and enlarged left ventricle.

 

Vet tells me to stay away from Dr Google as I`ll only scare myself to death. Yes.

 

This is very mild so far,so mild that most vets apparently wouldn`t begin treatment yet but my vet is treating now with betablockers and vivitonin to hopefully stabilise things and allow Kenzie to "be a collie" for as long as possible.Currently restricted to 20 mins daily off lead.

 

This is not yet,but will be,Dilated Cardiomyopathy.And Dr Google has indeed scared me silly.

 

Kenzie will be 2 years old in december.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

*IF* it is indeed dialated cardiomyopathy, there is a link between dogs who develop this disease but are not genetically prone to it and diet (taurine deficient). Supplementation can help to a degree.

 

Have you been to a cardiologist yet? Unless you have had an echocardiogram done, you do not really know exactly what sort of heart disease she has or how to best treat it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

*IF* it is indeed dialated cardiomyopathy, there is a link between dogs who develop this disease but are not genetically prone to it and diet (taurine deficient). Supplementation can help to a degree.

 

Have you been to a cardiologist yet? Unless you have had an echocardiogram done, you do not really know exactly what sort of heart disease she has or how to best treat it.

 

Thanks for replying Liz.

 

A couple of details, We are in the UK so don`t have the same specialists as you seem to have on that side of the pond.I`m not saying they aren`t there just possibly not in the same numbers.The second problem is I`m a 4hour/ +/- $500 boat ride from the mainland which makes accessing said specialists problematic to say the least.

 

 

Echocardiogram = ECG yes? If so she has had two a month apart and they do show a difference from first to second.

 

Taurine deficiency I admit to discounting as they are both raw fed and meat seems to be the source for taurine?

 

Vet has said repeatedly to "calm down" "it`s very mild" " it`s NOT DCM yet".

 

Unfortunately my usually pragmatic attitude has seemingly deserted me in the face of my baby having a "dicky ticker".

 

 

 

 

Thanks

 

Lynda and Kenzie

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Added short video that shows Kenzie breathing. This was after a 10 minute "potty break" no toys,no encouragement to hoon about just free time with her big brother.It should be noted that Jake (who is dreadfully unphotogenic but visible enough) has had the same exertion at the same time has just turned 9 years old.

Link to photobucket as I can`t work out how to embed video.

 

Kenzie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No experience really.

 

But My brother border collie (After she had passed) they found she had an heart issues. She died around 5 years old, a week after being vaccinated. I dont know all the details but what I was told from brother and SIL. The vaccines added too much stress to her already damaged heart and she had a heart attack.

 

Guess what I am trying to say be careful about vaccinations and heart problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish I could say that I had no advice but my little non-BC heart dog was diagnosed this morning with CHF from cardiomyopathy. He is an older guy though, 13 years, so its not the same disease process I don't think. Dr. Google is scaring me silly too.

 

My vet told me that the prognosis is good for him as it relates to his age and size, but good is still losing him way sooner than I want.

 

He is now on Vetmedin and Lasix (and temporarily a antibiotic and cough syrup) with the hopes we can wean him off the Lasix or at least minimize the dose as it has side effects.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My childhood family dog (a ?kelpie-terrier mutt) was diagnosed with post-viral dilated cardiomyopathy in her first year or so of life. She was on a diuretic and nothing else (we were very blase about the whole thing, for some reason) and she lived a very happy and active life. We did obedience classes, she chased frisbees and later on she was my training buddy when I started distance running. She died at 8 years of kidney failure.

 

Good luck, don't panic, enjoy your girl.

 

(BTW, ECG is electrocardiogram, the "line with blips" tracing of the heart's electrical activity. Echocardiography, or "echo", is the ultrasound scan of the heart that gives much more information about the heart is actually functioning as a pump, valve function etc)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the input folks, mjk05 that helps a lot thank you.

 

re the ECG vs echo, I think maybe she has had that to.I remember ultrasound being mentioned but wasn`t taking much in at that point.However she did spend the day at the vets on that occasion,the second ECG took about 1/2 hour and I stayed with her.It also resulted in less shaved areas. The vet did explain that a special ECG tape is used to measure the "spike" and that gives size of left ventricle and did show a slight difference between first and second.

 

I know that her sounds are fine,she doesn`t have a murmur so the valves are fine at this time.She also has sinus arrythmia which it seems is really good.I think I`m so out of sorts because I can`t "do" anything and she is only a baby and I can`t "see it".At least when Jake decides he needs more x-rays I can see a problem(lameness) and help him with it (hydrotherapy).

 

These two are the only dogs I`ve had from puppies and I can`t say I`m inspired to "go there" again.They are also my first collies (ditto) although always collie-ish.

 

Sorry to hear about your old guy rushdoggie,hopefully he`ll keep you entertained for a couple more years yet.

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...